NEC NX series questions!

[einsig]

I'm on the cusp of ordering a loaded Alienware PC. They offer the NX line of LCD monitors from NEC. I'd like to make the jump to LCD with this purchase. I'm stuck between the 1760NX and the 1860NX models. The 1760 is a 17" with 16ms pixel refresh. There are some great reviews of this model (even from Tom's) and supposedly ghosting is virtually eliminated with the 16ms refresh coupled with the NEC Rapid Response technology. The 1860NX (18.1") has a pixel reaction time of 30ms (15 black to white, and 15 white to black). Of the few reviews I've found of this monitor all seem very impressed and claim ghosting on games is not seen. I'd really like to go for the 18.1" and eventhough the reviews claim no noticeable ghosting on games I'm still a little concerned about it. I play JediKnightII, Warcraft III, UT 2k3 and Madden a lot. I don't mind SOME ghosting as long as it doesn't detract from the gaming experience. I won't be watching any movies on teh PC as my theatre system covers that. Any thoughts or recommendations are welcome. FYI, whatever screen I choose it will be getting a DVI signal from a GeForce FX 5900 Ultra.

 

[DrHiggy]

A lot of site are offering the NEC lines of monitors to include the boutique vendors like Alienware, Voodoo, Falcon Northwest, and Hypersonic PC. The reviews are solid.

I've been looking at these issues for sometime including all the stuff here at Tom's. I have not seen a single entry of noting that LCDs with 25ms response times make games unplayable. The ghosting noted is there, but not anything like LCDs with longer response times.

A couple of forums have noted, though, that if you are very particular about your FPS games and ghosting, there is indeed a difference between the 17" 16ms panels and the larger >=25ms panels. I am hesitant as well, but I must remind myself that I am still using this old 15 inch Dell Inspiron 7000 notebook and I enjoyed plenty of games on it and only after being educated on ghosting do I now see it with my own eyes.

Personally, I don't see too much of a difference in realestate between the 17" and 18" monitor, especially noting that the native resolution will probably be the same (1280 x 1024). I'd go with the fast 17" in this case. If you were considering going larger say 19-20" this may change as some of the 19" panels and nearly all 20" panels have native resolutions of 1600x1200. If you go larger, stick with one that has a 25ms response time (or less if you find it ).

If you're looking for a sweet 19 inch LCD though, check out the Planar PX191. Very nice! Also the Planar PX171 is one of the sweetest gaming LCD panels out there for nice price as well.

 

[einsig]

Thanks for the insight. I completely agree with you. The native res for both models is 1280x1024, so real estate won't be too different between the 17 and 18.1. Still if the ghosting on the larger one is close to that of the 17 or at least tolerable I'd much rather have the 18.1 for the extra $70. Decisions, decisions.