Which LCD

kyim74

Junior Member
Dec 23, 2007
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Hi, I'm planning to finally rid my big CRT and get a widescreen LCD around 19". I saw three on newegg that I liked but I'm not sure which one to buy. My budget is < $200 and I tend to watch a lot of DVD's on my computer, and some occasional gaming.

Two are from HANNS-G (a lot of good reviews) anyone own one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824254005

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824254023

^ is similar to the first but no DVI, does it make a big difference?

and my third one is from ACER
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824009091

any suggestions of feedback would be great. I don't want to end up impulse buying and later to regret it. THanks :)

 

ClockHound

Golden Member
Nov 27, 2007
1,111
219
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Part of the charm of impulse buying is the regret. ;)

With your needs, you'll want a wide screen for DVD viewing and a DVI input, which offers better clarity and much simpler setup. Does your vid card have DVI output? If you could spend a bit more than $200, you can get much better screens, like the NEC 19WMGX:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824002357
It is a glossy screen which makes colors more vibrant, but does reflect ambient light.

Well regarded for gaming is the:
Samsung 931BW: http://www.ncixus.com/products...19MEWSF%2FXAA/Samsung/
There maybe a panel lottery with these units tho...

I like the HP 1907, and so do many others:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824176077

And then there's this Viewsonic:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824116088

Since none of these are exotic monitors, you should be able to view many of them at a local shop. Coming from a CRT all these TN LCD screens will have restricted viewing angles and less accurate colors. Only you can decide if that is a big problem. If so, you can come back and whine with the rest of us about the lack of affordable S-IPS monitors.
 

imported_cinder

Senior member
Sep 19, 2006
258
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Before you buy widescreen, check the games you currently play. Some of the older games don't support widescreen fully. What I mean is that the game may not be scaled but it will be a similar resolution stretched to fit your screen. Battlefield 2 for instance does this. It makes the screen very stretched. On the other hand, most newer games do not have this problem as they completely support widescreen resolutions.

I currently use an NEC 90GX2 and love it. Great color, extremely low response time, extra usb ports, swivel base. Only problem with my LCD is that it has been discontinued and may be hard to find brand new. Also, you should totally check out the LCD Buyer's Guide. This should get you familiar with terms and help you decide what might be the best LCD specs for your needs.

Good luck with your search!

PS: I was all about CRTs just last year. Ever since I purchased this monitor I have had ZERO regrets :D
 

kyim74

Junior Member
Dec 23, 2007
17
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0
ClockHound - Yea, my video card has a DVI output though I am currently using VGA since my CRT does not support DVI.

cinder - I currently play CS 1.6 and it has a widescreen option under the video settings but I never tried or seen how it looks. I also plan to start playing COD4 on it as well. I stuck with the CRT because I heard it was better for graphics for games but this was way back then LCD's were just being released. Thanks for pointing out the LCD buyers guide, great read and I learned a lot :)

qbfx - Thanks for your suggestions on the 20". Never would've thought they would be around the same price range, if not a little more, than 17 or 19" LCD's.

After going through all the suggestions you guys gave, I decided to buy the LG 20" qbfx posted. Can't wait till it comes in for me to play around with. Thanks again guys :)
 

qbfx

Senior member
Dec 26, 2007
240
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After going through all the suggestions you guys gave, I decided to buy the LG 20" qbfx posted. Can't wait till it comes in for me to play around with. Thanks again guys :)

I think you made the right choice. Good luck ;)