New Monitor Suggestions - 19 in LCD (ViewSonic?)

Hi everyone. I stumbled onto this board via some google searches/research and it seems like an active, intelligent community so I was hoping someone could offer some suggestions on a new monitor buy.

Just bought a new computer and don't like the basic 19in WidePanel Dell monitor that came with the system. I'm not sure if it's just crap quality but I'm used to a square monitor and am finding the text and images on the 1440x900 recommended setting to be incredibly small. When I set it to 1024x768 for a more familiar look, the general picture appears "normal" again, however the images appear stretched and poor quality when I view pictures and overall I'm used to more space on top.

Anyway, my previous system had a ViewSonic VP191B that I was very happy with and am very used to. Apparently that is no longer made. So it seems the VP930B replaced it but now that is no longer made either? I can't determine what the logical replacement is now as the ViewSonics all seem to have specialties (gaming, multimedia etc). My needs are fairly standard - home use for entertainment (youtube vids, pictures), surfing the net, and business (spreadsheets & docs). Ideally I'd like to stay with the square shape since I'm used to that - unless the issued I described above w/ the widepanel are just me doing something wrong. 19 inches is fine although I'd try 20-21.

Budget is, say, 200-300 range give or take a bit. Not looking for anything crazy, just something solid similar to the 191B that I had before.

Any suggestions? Thank you in advance for any help.

Well if you are interested, I am selling my 19" Planar PX191 which is a 4:3 S-PVA panel monitor from 2003 (naturally it is out of warranty). I have the original box and foam so it will be properly protected during shipping. The shipping weight is about 24lbs. so UPS ground shipping should not be more than $30.

You can click the following link for some reviews:

http://www.retrevo.com/s/Planar-PX [...] 151/t/1-2/

I had a buyer for it, but I haven't heard back from him.

Three of four corners have a little backlight bleeding, but there are no dead pixels.


The following is a short review I've written for the monitor back in 6/1/2005

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824016023