[Aphelion]

I've always had my heart set on a 24" monitor. Back in 2004, I watched the Ebay market for the first 24" HP LCD hover around $1400. Flash-forward 4 years.

I was trying to study for a test when I finally realized my 19" CRT takes up so much space I can't write on my notebook without it hanging half off my desk and periodically falling in my lap. This situation had EXCUSE written all over it.

Unfortunately, Tomshardware hasn't reviewed monitors for a very long time. My budget was originally around $200, so I was thinking a good 19" widescreen was perfect. Then I found a 24" no-name (Soyo) monitor at Office Max for $280. Crazy. I'm going to take a look at it tomorrow (instore purchase only, discontinued) so I'll tell you how it goes.

In the mean time, what monitors have you been happy with? I'm really sad that I can't find a professional monitor-review website, as Tomshardware was the only place I've ever found that had the really expensive test equipment for things like color accuracy and latency.

Monitor Linky

[Jump]

Costco has the Viewsonic 28 inch HD LCD monitor for $549. prettty good deal.

[Jump]

Here it is. Costco - $549.99 After $50 OFF ViewSonic 28" W True 1080P with HDMI 3ms 800:1 500 cd/m2

Here is a discusion on it and another place to get it online over at slick deals. Viewsonic VX2835WM 28" LCD, $549 after MIR! - SlickDeals.net Forums

[Jonboy]

On a general note, LCD technology is getting more and more toward default. So the level of quality you should expect is getting higher, even at the lower end of the market.

I bought the cheapest 1600*1200 20" LCD I could find. While I've had to use analog cabling, instead of digital, it's worked perfectly so far.

You should expect to be happy with what you buy.

[Hornet]

I have Hannsg 19" screens that im happy with, and got them cheap cuz they had a $100 rebate at the time. I think retail is around $190. Its offbrand, but they are very bright and colors are good.
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

[Jump]

Stop trying to make him buy your baby monitors. GET THE BIG ONE!!!!!

[ELPIRATA]

Im happy with NEC, but the one I have is not the usual end user stuff, this one was built more for industrial type of work. Its pretty simple and has a lot of openings to draw out the heat (if any). Its not cool looking, but works very well.

17" btw, and 4:3 aspect ratio. Its max res is 1280x1024 and I dont know why but I can't install ubuntu (tried 2 versions) on this machine because the res its higher than what I can display. Installer works fine on my 17" CRT.

ELP

[Aphelion]

Originally Posted by Jonboy

On a general note, LCD technology is getting more and more toward default. So the level of quality you should expect is getting higher, even at the lower end of the market.

I bought the cheapest 1600*1200 20" LCD I could find. While I've had to use analog cabling, instead of digital, it's worked perfectly so far.

You should expect to be happy with what you buy.

Jonboy, I don't believe there are any 1600x1200 20" LCD's on the market. Lenovo (IBM) just came out with the first 22" 1600x1200 last month. Hmm... I just looked it up and it's a 1900x1200 so I may be wrong. Oh, nevermind. 1600x1200 means you have a 4:3 monitor, duh... Lenovo 22-inch widescreen HD monitor an WUXGA industry-first - SlashGear

Though it didn't make the fiancee happy, I went $80 over budget and bought the Soyo 24" for $280. I AM REALLY IMPRESSED! Well, kind of... I brought my laptop and hooked it up to my new monitor and it had some tearing artifacts in the DVD of Serenity. Then I hooked it up to some 19" and it did the same thing, only worse. Then I hooked it up to a 19" Samsung and it was worse still. I figured, if they all tear and suck, I might as well get the big one!

Who would have thought that choosing a monitor was like voting for the president.

I've got 14 days to test it out and return it if I find something better (or the monitor really does something to piss me off). So far it's big, beautiful, and matches my black PC tower, black speakers, black drafting table, and black 50" Samsung DLP that's right next to it. I swear my living room just got 10-times more high tech this new year!

And Jump, you're terrible! I said my budget was around 200 dollars. That's US dollars, not British pounds. I had to be extra nice to the lady just to get her to agree to $280 (we're supposed to be saving for our wedding and her LASIK). But still, I have 24" of GLORY!

Now I'm worried that my 6600GT won't handle games at the native resolution of 1900x1200 and I'll have to scale them... There's no way I can spend the money to upgrade my PC until I get married, get the woman LASIK, and save a down payment for a house. DAMN YOU LIFE-PLAN!

[Jump]

6600? that may be tough on the newer graphical games at that resolution. But you will have to test it out.

[Aphelion]

HL2:Ep1 played pretty well as long as AA and Anistrophic were turned off. A bit sluggish for CS:S though. I've needed a new PCI-E system for awhile now, if just to take advantage of their cheaper prices/better selection in GPUs but building a computer with no $$ is hard. I think I might have to either cut back on my dream computer list-o-parts, or buy a used system.

My single-core 2.6GHz P4 can't even decode some of my 720p movie files.

[Jump]

Just start with a good motherboard that can use all your current components. Then upgrade them one at a time.

[Aphelion]

What if my components aren't compatible with new ones? (whips out CPU-Z)

Umm...so I need a mobo that supports PC2700 RAM and a socket 478 Northwood, and supports the latest tech. BRB, going to NewEgg.