Hi!
 
This is my first time experience of writing on a forum and asking for help, so kindly ignore the mistakes, iff any.
 
I am planing to buy a 19" wide screen LCD monitor. I have to choose one from these following three:
 
Philips 190CW7CS
ViewSonic VA1912W
Samsung 940BW
 
I am a Philips monitors fan. I have been using a Philips CRT monitor from 6 - 7 years & I am really very satisfied with its performance.
 
For Philips 190CW7CS, I have read 4 user reviews on net. 2 of them say that this is really very gud monitor, a perfect choice for professionals & photographers. & the other 2 users say that, this monitor is OK, but gives poor performance while gaming. One more thing, one local dealer told me about Philips monitor, that its sensitive or problematic, but if you touch the screen, it gets dead pixels or something like that.
 
For ViewSonic VA1912W, I have read more than 20 user reviews, but all say one thing, "this is very gud monitor, I am happy with my buying". nothing else.
 
For Samsung 940BW, I have not found any user reviews (I didn't search very much), but read 2 professional reviews, they were quite positive about this monitor.
 
Now, I want to ask that:
Q:1. If you have personally experienced any of these models, what are your comments, and which one do you think is best among these three and why?
 
Q:2. Is Philips really poor in performance and durability (dead pixels problem)? If you are a Philips LCD monitor user, using specifically this same model (190CW7CS), or any Philips 19" wide screen LCD, or any Philips LCD monitor, what are your comments about your monitor? How much happy you are with your monitor.
 
Q:3. In LCD monitors, how much contrast ratio practically matters? e.g. one is having 850:1 and other is having 500:1? (850:1 is Philips & 500:1 is Samsung)
 
If you have something else to say about any of these monitors, you are most welcome.
 
Thanks in advance for replying, and sorry for this lengthy post for this small matter.  

Try over at  http://hardforum.com/ in the forum under Displays,they  have a lot of info and a lot of people who go there...Although I love tomshardware you won't get a lot of feed back about monitors here.

I have the Samsung 941BW, which I like very much.
I does require monitor drivers which are included with it.
It is fast for video, so it should work well for games.
 
Just my opinion.

Can't comment on the ones you've listed, I've got a pair of Acer AL1917's myself and they've been really good. Games, Oblivion, Tombraider Anniversary, NWN 2. No dead pixels. Price was right when I bought them.(Newegg)
DC

I own an Acer AL1916WA and I'm very satisfied with its performance in video, games, etc. and cheaper than your choices. But in your case if I were to choose between the 3 choices you presented, I'd go for the Samsung. I found very good reviews on it.

Thanks Fonzy for your suggestion, I visited that website, registered, but I cant create a new thread, I don't have enough privileges.
 
Thanks all of you, for your replies, but I am still waiting for some more replies dealing with these specific monitors.

I would recommend the samsung.... I just bought one of their 19" widescreens and was absolutely amazed by its picture quality and performance. however, it seems to me that the syncmaster 906bw is a better deal. the contrast ratio is 2000:1 vs 500:1 for the 940bw, and the response timne is faster. unless the 940 has some special feature i overlooked, or it is priced $100 lower, id go for the 906bw.

I hear that Hanns-G has great gaming lcd's.  I do not have one, but my friend does and he absolutely loves it!  the price tag is quite good too.  They're all over newegg.

 
rebates arent good though
 
Wintergreen Systems
 
you wont get it

Answer1: I love my Samsung 940BW.  Be careful though, the Samsung 941BW could slightly be different.  One great feature about it is that it supports HDCP on DVI   No ghosting.  However, coming from a 17" LCD, it feels very small and wish the resolution could be higher... I mean, if you can get 1920x1200 on a 17" LCD laptop display, why not a 19" WS LCD???
 
Answer2: My mother got a Phillips 17" CRT a few years ago.  Still works till this day.  Don't know what else to say about it.
 
Answer3: Er... don't know much about the Contrast Ratio except that the higher might be better *shudders* I could be wrong about that.
 
Other comments: I use my Samsung 940BW for computer use and computer gaming... no ghosting... no dead pixels.  Only complaint is not having an adjustable stand.  Also, I hooked my XBOX 360 to it via VGA and it looks excellent.  Played games like G.O.W. and NFS: Carbon and no issues.
 
You might want to opt for a 22" though  :?   Because honestly, 19" WS just feels really small
 
Also, check out this website: Main Page - WSGFWiki

are youi serious? 19" Is the perfect size for gaming...

are youi serious? 19" Is the perfect size for gaming...
 
19" widescreen is pretty small, at that size i'd stick with 4:3, I can't stand small widescreen monitors, but that's just me. I personally own an acer 2017 and I love it, very fast for gaming, I have never noticed any ghosting, and it has HDCP