Frustration in choosing LCD

[dodd444]

I want to buy a 15" LCD.

My choices are: (1) Eizo L365; (2) Samsung's new 151P; (3) Iiyama's new AX3835UT-BK; (4) Viewsonic's VX500.

I'm currently using a 5 year old 17" Dell trinitron running at 800x600. My computer usage is 99% web browsing. My computer is a 6 month old Dell with a 32MB NVidia GeForce2 MX graphics card.

Problem: It seems that I have to buy a pig in a poke. NONE of the retail outlets (Fry's, CompUSA, BestBuy, etc., etc) have any displays hooked up to the internet. Further, none of them carry any of the above 4 displays in inventory.

If I could see web pages with which I'm familar displayed on the above 4 monitors, I'm sure I could make a choice in a moment. But, I can't. I've read just about everything available on the 'net, and also reviews in the various computer magazines. So, I already know that stuff.

I'm very frustrated at not being able to see for myself the display image that I'll be buying. Reading stuff is helpful, but, as anyone knows, to use a lady analogy, "One guy's 10 is another guy's 7". When I read Tom's review of Samsung's 151MP, I wondered whether or not the problem with the rendering of blues would be something that really annoyed me, or, whether it's something with which I simply wouldn't have a problem. Sort of like the 2 horizontal thin lines on trinitron screens.

Does anyone know anything about the new Samsung 151P (the display whose looks I probably like best), or Iiyama's new display (I think it was the June issue of PCWorld that rated it quite highly on both text and graphics, seemingly a better rating than the Eizo).

I read a rather favorable review on the 17" Samsung 171P; can I assume that the 15" little sister would merit the same praise?

Although reading what I've read on Tom's certainly has been helpful, it's really a drag not to be able to see these monitors displaying web pages for myself. Hypothetically, although I might think the Eizo's image is better than the Samsung's, I might also conclude that it's so minimal that I'd prefer the Samsung because I like the looks of the cabinet quite a bit better.

Anybody have any info to help me make a choice??

Thanks.

 

[Dakhath]

Problem: It seems that I have to buy a pig in a poke

I feel the same way. I live in Canada and I'm interested in a 17" LCD (Samsung's 171p actually). Good luck finding one to try before you buy, most often the cheaper models are all most places have set up, which may not give the best impression of LCD's.

Most local places charge a restocking fee of say 15% or more if you don't like the monitor and want to return it, online stores often have a 30-day no questions asked return policy but few ship to Canada...

With regards to the reviews you've seen, you're probly right in thinking that each person has different responses. Any of those may be fine for you, or all of them might not be enough.

Being in much the same boat, with no way to try a bunch of models without a lot of hassle, I've pretty much decided to bite the bullet and just go buy a Samsung 171p. Maybe find a place with a 30-day returns policy and try each for 29 days...