Looking to buy a new LCD...17-19", $500-$700

[eliu]

Hey all,
I'm in the market to get a LCD...I've been on CRTs for as long as I can remember...since I was like 4 or 5 (I'm 18 now). I figure it's time to make the switch

Anyhow, I'm going to be taking this thing to college with me. I want a 17 to 19" screen, and my budget is $700 tops, but <$600 would be preferable. I like to play a hodge podge of games...from like, Midieval: Total War to Far Cry to Knights of the Old Republic. But since this screen will have to serve me at school, I also want something with nice, sharp text for my many hours of essay-writing, google-searching fun...

I've been doing some reading, but I'm having trouble figuring this one out...is it better to have a 17" with a 16ms response time...or a 19" with 25ms? Can't seem to find any (inexpensive) 19s with the short response times.

Also, it seems like all the rave is about the Dell 2001FP...are Dell's 18 or 19" screens just as good? Other than that, people say Hitachi and Samsung are good...but it's hard differentiating everything w/all the models available (sometimes I hate having such a huge selection...)

Thanks,
-Eric

 

[Tar_Ecthelion]

Hey looks like nobody has replied yet so I will... Though I don't think of myself as an expert on the subject I really like the Neovo F419:

http://www.neovo-usa.com/products/F-419.htm

19.0" w/DVI-D
Brightness: 300cd/m2
Contrast: 700:1
Viewing: 170 Deg.
Native Res.: 1280x1024 @60Hz
Color: 16.7M
Rise/Fall: 15ms / 10ms

...in fact I'm thinking about getting another one for my wife. I got mine for ~$550.00 though a quick search on froogle shows the cheapest at $569.99, do some searching you may find a better price.

I've played games on it, both 3D and otherwise, with no noticable trouble. All together very happy. In fact it's so bright that I often run it at 40% brightness and the contrast and sharpness is equally impressive.

Best of luck,
-Tar

 

[a_rabbit]

Hi Eric,

I have a 19" 25ms Viewsonic VP191s (silver) at $720, my mom has a 17" 16ms NEC-Mitsubishi LCD1760NX-BK-1 (black) at $475, and my girlfriend has a LCD1760NX-1 (white).

On the 17" LCDs, there is very little ghosting. On the 19", there is ghosting. You can play FPSs, but don't expect great performance, more like "average performance". On cheaper 19" LCDs, expect "poor" performance. I believe everyone out there who says there's little ghosting on 19" LCDs just hasn't seen how a 17" handles it. If you have a 19" LCD and don't know what I'm talking about: go to www.gonegold.com, click the middle mouse button, and scroll the web page, you'll see lots of ghosting. (I believe it's gonegold's black background.)

However, there is one 19" LCD that is better in the ghosting department. This is the Samsung 19" 20ms 193P at $775. From all I've read, ghosting is just like the number says: somewhere between a 19" 25ms and a 17" 16ms screen. There is also a Sharp 19" fast-response LCD, but I read it's dark, and colors get washed out if you turn up brightness.

I also read ghosting in general is reduced if you use the DVI port. Go see the reviews on this site and anandtech.com. Most of all, go read reader reviews on newegg.com. This is the best site as far as user comments, if they're available for your LCD. You can also just type in 19" LCD in search and sort by price or user rating. hardforums.com is also pretty good, but it's down right now.

I read the Dell 1800FP 25ms 18" LCD has little ghosting (maybe like a 20ms or 16ms). But that model might be old.

All the 16ms 20" and 21" LCDs have ghosting at the same level as the 16ms 17" LCDs. However, I don't like the 1600x1200 resolution at 20". If you play games, you'll need to go lower resolution, and then you have interpolation (but then again, I play at 800x600 on my 1280x1024 LCD and it's fine ). These larger LCDs also tend to use at least 2x the power of a 17" or 19" and generate 2x the heat (when it comes to electronics, cool temperatures is good). Anyway, you'll need to bump up font size. I like the 1280x1024 resolution on a 19" LCD, and I don't need to increase font sizes. ;-)

If you ask me ... you have several choices. You can get a BenQ 19" 25ms FP951 at $535, which you can find on newegg.com and mwave.com -- this will make it easier on your eyes when working, and games will be "all right". (I just don't know how this model compares against my VP191s for ghosting.) If you just must have little/no ghosting for gaming, you can get a LCD1760NX-BK-1 or Viewsonic VP171b and increase the default font size a little. If you have dough, get the Samsung 193P. If you can wait and have the dough, wait 3-6 months for competitors to the 193P.

The same guy is the CEO of both BenQ and AUO. AUO makes the popular 16ms 17" LCD panels that go into the NEC-Mitsubishis and Viewsonic VP171b/s.

What would I do? At your budget, I'd get the FP951. User comments on newegg suggest some people think it's okay for FPS gaming.

(One small note: I purchased one LCD1760NX-BK-1 and two LCD1760NX-1s. The black one was perfect. The two white ones had bright green always-on pixels in different places; and one of the white ones had a weird wavy look you could see if you stood up. I ended up returning one of the white ones to Amazon, which has a great return policy.)

Finally, look for comments on what users say about how many dead pixels they get. In general, if you get dead pixels, you can't return it, not unless it's like 8 or 10 dead pixels total or 5 within an inch. The bright-green always-on pixels are annoying, especially if you use a black desktop background like me.

-a_rabbit