Help picking a new monitor..please..

[birdie_in_Texas]

witht he tax return, I am going to get a new monitor..virtually 99% of its life will be devoted to gaming, and i am almost exclusively playing 2124 right now..and we have a machine to deal with "business" in the other room..so this is going to be "all mine"..


now..i want "the" gaming monitor..but i am very confused over what to get..

i know that anything below a 8MS "speed" should be fine..right?

but the resolution question is freaking me out..

i play 2142 at 1280x1024 with no issues on my 19" CRT(i have X2 4600+ with 7600GS 256MB pci-X card)...but i was hoping to get a larger LCD like maybe a 22" or so...but most everything is "widescreen" and i do not know if i want to get one of those, or stick with a convention "non-widescreen" monitor..

you guys on here seem to know a LOT about this stuff..and i do not particularly have much current knowledge on what would be best..


can you guys please post your thoughts etc..?

i will most likely be buying off the net, and should have my money by the end of the month..(fingers crossed )

anyway..i look forward to reading any responses..

thanks!

birdie

[Grunt 70]

I'm no expert but here's my two cents:

First...don't buy off the net...You'll be bumming if you have 5 dead pixels and newegg says you can't return it because they won't take it back if it has less than 10. I got a really nice 19 inch samsung a couple of years ago on sale at Best Buy. List price was $360 or so and I ended up paying about $240 after getting an instant rebate at the store and a return on a manufacturers rebate.

Second. The video card you are running is an important consideration. If you have a middle of the line card than you should probably stay with a 19 inch lcd as the native resolution isn't too taxing. The higher your native resolution the more you'll tax your video card/computer set up.

My samsung is rated for 8ms. Never had a ghosting problem once.

I've heard lots of good things about Dell widescreens but I'd have to put a word in for my Samsung...it's been rock solid.

[Sir_Brass]

I'll tell you what I have, since I think this monitor is absolutely WONDERFUL for gaming.

I have a 19" Samsung Syncmaster 915N. It is vga, but the image is still beautiful with a contrast ratio of 700:1 (the higher the ratio, the better. if you get a big screen, make sure the contrast ratio is at least 1000:1, else you're getting robbed for the amount you'll be paying), and though its highest res is 1280x1024, it still gives me a nice big picture, and is nice and bright and sharp.

8ms response time and absolutely no dead pixels.

I bought it from newegg, which is where you should be buying your monitor if you plan to buy from the 'net.

[birdie_in_Texas]

i been lookin at newegg..and they have some really good prices..

i would love to buy local, but looks like i will pay an extra $30-$40 more to do so..

i was lookin at the scec on the monitor here in my office at work, it is an Acer AL1951..is a super image, nice and bright, and get this..is a 2ms monitor..!! maybe i should try and find one of these..!


my video card was a refurb and cost me like $80..but works great..is my first pci-express card...i could not at the time get anything "better" but i am lookin at the 512mb 7950GT cards...not out of reach if i stay with around a $200 monitor..

what ya think?

[birdie_in_Texas]

HOLY COW..! check out this one..

you guys seem to really like Samsung stuff..so how about htis one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001085

[=Sarc=]

I think it'll be worth getting a widescreen monitor. It's not a big deal but I think more games are going to be supporting widescreen resolutions. Microsoft is pushing the Games For Windows rating and one of the requirements is widescreen support.

Although, I'm pretty happy with a 19" LCD. It's pretty tough to run at 1280x1024 with a 7900GT with some newer games.

[Zoopy]

I have one of these and I think it's really good (warning, link is to a Canadian site):

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...%20Electronics

The real problem with this is most games today don't support 1680X1050 resolution. Although most games can be "hacked" to force this resolution.

Also, having a single 7800GTX on my computer, it's hard to run some games at the max detail when running 1680X1050.

Seeing that you have a lesser video card, I don't believe you'll be able to run 1680X1050 or above with max settings on newer games.

But man is widescreen LCDs sweet.

But if you plan on getting a new video card, I would suggest this (the far right one):

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...=AppleDisplays

[birdie_in_Texas]

wow..! that apple display is amazing! but a "bit" out of my budget! hahahah

looks like i will go ahead and try for the Samsung in my link..

[perry]

Do yourself a favor and check out your home team.. Dell.

[P8riot]

Originally Posted by perry

Do yourself a favor and check out your home team.. Dell.

Dell actually puts together some really good screens.

I'd pick them over half the Samsungs we've bought. Mid-price LCDs are constantly changing quality because of the LCD manufacturer.

Trust NOTHING when it comes to LCD facts and figures.. they all use their own math. It's worth doing a bunch of research before spending the cash on an LCD.. a good one will last you a long time.. and average one.. not so much. One thing that not many manufacturers talk about is the surface of the screen. That is the first thing to degrade with cleaning.. but check 'em out.

And yeah - the Apple displays are nice.

[Hambergler]

CRT for life!

[Sir_Brass]

Originally Posted by birdie_in_Texas

HOLY COW..! check out this one..

you guys seem to really like Samsung stuff..so how about htis one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001085

Oh heck YES that's nice!!!!

[Zoopy]

I would suggest finding a local store that sells said monitor so you can go down and look at it before hand. Note that in big chain stores they usually have it hooked up to a crappy source so it looks a lot crappy then it should. But you can still see things like viewing angles and what not. Or if you wanted you could ask if you can hook it up to something better.

[Zid]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001087

I got this for my birthday but i'm using a High-res dell screen now but while i had it, it worked great at 1680 x 1050 used it for BF2142.

[BlackLuck_13]

I have a dell 24 widescreen i love it.
Take a look at a dell they have some great deals.
Mine is a year old i have yet to see any ghosting. I run 2142 at 1600x1200 and it looks awsome. I will say read alot I did before I made my choice. Like I found out that the apple LCDS are great for movies and pictures. But they fail at games they dont respond as fast as other LCDS.