Which budget LCD monitor? upto £150 - Page 2 - bit-tech.net Forums

dragon2309 · 17th Oct 2007, 20:12

I can recommend the 19" widescreen Hyundai (1440x900), I have it and it's a great monitor. At the moment retails for just over £130 at most major e-tailers.

RostokMcSpoons · 17th Oct 2007, 21:14

I got the HannsG 22" screen email too... it's a lot of screen for the money! But I'm still a bit wary because of the extra strain it'd place on my system... I've always been framerate-sensitive, and though I don't mind turning down some in-game options (I'm not too fussed about jaggies, for instance), I don't like the 'soapy' look of lcd's running below their native res.
Hmmm, I'll have to think about it.

The Hyundai (assuming you mean the N91W) has been reviewed in a positive light - but I guess it's in amongst the two Samsungs for price, and I'd probably go with them. I'll bear it in mind though - it's a tidy looking monitor

I did notice another screen on the Staples website. I've got no idea what it is (and therefore whether it's actually any good), but it looks very smart! Any ideas?

specs:LCD Panel: 19" Wide Aspect TFT active matrix panel
Display Area: 410.4(H) x 256.5(V) mm
Pixel Pitch: 0.285(H) x 0.285(V) mm
Resolution: Maximum WXGA+ (1440 x 900) @75Hz
Recommended WXGA+ (1440 x 900) @60Hz
Colour: 16.2M colors
Brightness: 300 cd/m2 (typ.)
Contrast Ratio: 700:F1 (typ.)
Viewing Angle: Horizontal 160° (typ.)
Response Time: 5 ms (typ.)

I think the recommendation to run it at 60hz is a bit odd, isn't it? And the contrast ratio is a bit low these days, so maybe it's mutton dressed as lamb! But it'd be nice to know for sure

edit: just checked ebuyer, and bingo - it's there - it's a Cibox C1905. And lots of people like it, and they have it on sale for £112 + delivery!

And just out of interest, I looked at the 20-22" ebuyer monitors, and they've got the very nice looking Hyundai N220W-D 22" beastie for £149.

Argghh.... if only I could afford a new monitor *and* a cpu upgrade! (But I can't)

RostokMcSpoons · 19th Oct 2007, 01:28

Well, well, well!

Things are definitely looking up - I just got promoted (yay!) but without a payrise (boo!) but *did* get £200 in gift vouchers as 'compensation' (well, it's better than what I expected: nothing) so... I can now feel a bit more relaxed going to that £150 top of my budget.

Which means the Samsung 931BW, available off-the-shelf in my local Comet (I missed the particular shelf the first time I looked) for £149 is now the front-runner, unless anyone tells me different! I looked at 20 and 21" screens too, again, and I'm sticking with the 1440x900. 16x10 is just too many more pixels to push. (And the vouchers can't buy me a cpu upgrade, sadly - some of them will be going towards buying my wife a nice birthday present!)

Hazardous · 19th Oct 2007, 10:00

It's your decision at the end of the day, but I'd wager there's gonna be a time [possibly in the not-too-distant future?], when you'll say to yourself:

"You know... now that I've got a CPU [/graphics card] which can handle the screen resolutions... I wish I had bought that 22" xxx /1680 x 1050 screen when I had the chance

"

You don't need to use the higher resolutions, just because the monitor is capable of them... and it's unlikely a screen which offers higher resolutions, will require any more 'juice' to run, than a screen whose maximum resolution is 1440 x 900?

Besides that... it'll be a lot cheaper (50%+?) to upgrade the CPU, than it'll be to upgrade [again] to a screen which can output higher resolutions if/when you ever wanted/needed them

But as I've said... it's your money/decision

RostokMcSpoons · 19th Oct 2007, 11:06

I sat in bed think about this last night. (I tend to get a bit obsessive when it comes to tech purchases

Half the fun (or is it even more) is in deciding what to get, scouring reviews, seeking opinions on forums...)

Because, as you point out, I'm unlikely to change screen for several years, so I'v got to make the right decision now.

To go for 19" screen as I originally intended:

Pros:
Playing everything at native res for max image quality
Actually less pixels to push - small performance gain over current 1280x1024 res
Low cost - Sammy 931BW seems to be the best 19" widescreen and it's in-budget

Cons:
Very little actual gain in screen size - extra 160 pixels across, 124 pixels less vertically

To go for a 20/21/22"

Pros:
More screen estate: extra 400 pixels across, 26 pixels vertically (yay!)

Cons:
Extra 468,000 pixels to push... cut in framerates at native res.
Running below native res may create 'soapy' image quality
Larger screen sizes may make pixels noticeable (pitch size)
Expensive... can have either a 'budget' 22" for £150 or a 'quality' 20" for £180

I nearly put 'future proof' as a pro for the larger screens, but as I tend to run to a budget, then I'm always way behind the bleeding edge - so I'll probably never be able to run whatever's current at 16x10 comfortably.

Argghh!

Nexxo · 19th Oct 2007, 11:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by RostokMcSpoons

I think the recommendation to run it at 60hz is a bit odd, isn't it?

No, it's not. LCD screens do not flicker like CRT tubes do, so 60Hz is a perfectly adequate refresh rate. Your won't notice the difference by going any higher.

I think that you obsess a bit too much. You are not going to notice the slightly larger pixels on larger screens, and I think that your GPU can handle the extra pixels. lf your frame rate does not drop below 24 fps, frankly you will not notice any difference.

RostokMcSpoons · 19th Oct 2007, 12:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nexxo

lf your frame rate does not drop below 24 fps, frankly you will not notice any difference.

*** In the style of BBC2's 'QI', sirens wail, and a big sign flashes '24 fps'. You get minus 100 points ***

Oh no, you're not honestly trying to play the 'human eye only needs 24 fps cos that's what televisions play at' card are you? Because that's just soooooooo wrong! That's a fallacy that shouldn't be spread on a tech board. Wash your hands + mouth with soap!

In TF2, which is stealing most of my time at the moment, I get 40-70 fps depending on the map and the intensity of the firefight. Going to a higher res *will* knock my framerate, the question is by how much. I think I'm mostly cpu-limited so hopefully it won't be exactly the same percentage as the change in the number of pixels (30ish%)

I know LCD's don't flicker, but my I still need the higher frame rate if possible - once the rate drops below 50-60 then I can really see a drop in my abilities with any weapon that demands pin-point aim, because I can't track moving targets smoothly enough.

mushky · 19th Oct 2007, 12:18

Samsung 931BW 19". £150 at John Lewis and Currys, go and get one today. I got one at the weekend, very very happy with handing over £150 for it.

Awesome at 1440x900 but it actually handles lower resolutions well. Good viewing angles, although the colours look best head on. VGA port works well, good enough for me to save the DVI port on my PC for something else. HDCP DVI as well. Looks sexy too

RostokMcSpoons · 19th Oct 2007, 21:58

Right, between the interesting addition of those gift vouchers, and a thread I'm running at Tech Report (yes, I've been cheating on this forum behind it's back, I'm a forum whore!), I'm now coming round to the idea of 'more pixels = better' in spite of my misgivings about playing games below native res.

So here's the gist of what I just posted on t'other forum <slap> ...

"... I have to get this expenditure past the wife - she currently thinks I'm only spending £100 (That's the cheapest 19" widescreen price, for a Belinea 1925S1W)

I actually work all day with a Samsung 213T 21" 16x12, and when I come home to my little Hitachi I don't think to myself 'oh no, they stole my pixels' I just get on with it. I guess the reason is I don't multi-task like I do at work - I tend to have either Opera, or a game, or Media Player open... or a couple of explorer windows to copy files. Rarely any more than that.

However the issue I have now is that although the Sammy 931BW is a lovely bit of kit, it's quite a bit of cash to spend to actually lose some pixels. I've been too skint for too long to be able to let that pass easily, I want some concrete return for my cash! A 20" represents a gain in pixels and might be a good compromise, but then again I'm also thinking 'I have to lose native res game playing for this, let's have a really big screen to justify it' so I'm now sorely tempted by the 22" size. Though I don't know which screen I'd take!

Ok, here's a rundown of my current 'interesting' monitors:
('*' indicates my favourites)

19"
£100 Belinea 1925S1W * Staples.co.uk
£120 Asus VW193S Scan.co.uk
£123 Hanns-G HW191D MicroWarehouse.co.uk
£135 Samsung SM940BW LaptopsDirect.co.uk
£149 Samsung SM931BW ** Komplett.co.uk

20" (only just started looking at these, need to find some reviews)
£140 Acer X201W play.com
£150 Samsung SM204BW ebuyer.com
£160 Asus VW202S play.com
£171 Samsung 206BW * shop.bt.com
£171 Samsung SM2032BW ebuyer.com

22"
£150 Hyundai N220W-D * ebuyer.com
£152 HannsG HG216DP Saverstore.co.uk
£179 Samsung SM225BW ebuyer.com

... I'm still looking. £150 still represents my preferred max spend, but I'll *maybe* go higher (to £170) if the extra quality is demonstrably worth it."

On a side note, I've noticed that every feedback for monitors on the likes of Ebuyer etc seem to say the same thing: 'this screen is marvellous! bright colours, no ghosting blah blah blah'. If it wasn't for 'professional' reviews I could be fooled into thinking *every* screen is fantastic, and I can't make a bad choice. But that can't be true, can it?

btw thanks for all the helpful posts so far people, I do appreciate it

mushky · 19th Oct 2007, 23:40

Personally I'd lose a few inches of desktop real estate in trade for a better picture. It's easy to slip into the habit of thinking "just a bit more money gets me this" etc, so try and stick to your budget.

Hazardous · 21st Oct 2007, 10:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by mushky

Personally I'd lose a few inches of desktop real estate in trade for a better picture.
It's easy to slip into the habit of thinking "just a bit more money gets me this" etc, so try and stick to your budget.

Without seeing it 'in the flesh', there's no guarantee of what the image quality itself is like of course... but the 22" HannsG I linked to earlier has decent enough specs, and is right on his intended budget:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hazardous

... 22" HannsG HG216DP for just £129.95 / £152.69.

1680 x 1050, 1000:1, 300 cd/m², 5ms, HDMI/VGA, Kensington lock slot

Unfortunately... when you're on a limited budget... you're never going to get the absolute best quality.
But I shouldn't think the image quality of (i.e.) that screen would be "poor"... or so substantially inferior, that it would be better settling for a 19" screen at the same price?

RostokMcSpoons · 21st Oct 2007, 13:08

I've spent a bit of time oscillating between Staples, John Lewis and Comet this morning, primarily trying to decide which screen size to go for.
I'm still not sure!
The 19" screens still look good to my eyes, I looked at the Samsung next to a cheap 17" 4:3 screen and the difference is night and day - both in terms of the vibrancy of the screen display, and the apparent screen size. I'm sure it's to do with the way our eyes and brains work, but widescreen seems so much bigger than normal ratio screens.

Then I went to John Lewis and looked at the Sammy 19" 931BW sat right next to a 20" 206BW. Hmmm... the difference in pixel counts and the extra 1" are there, but not significant. Which is rather a shame because I could have stretched to the 206 (it's at £179 in Comet). I also had the attention of a reasonably helpful and clued-up sales guy, who let me fiddle with the settings. This meant I could test the picture quality at non-native resolutions. Not as bad as my Hitachi was, but still not ideal

In Staples I compared two Belinea screens, the bargain bucket 19" (which is now £99 in-store!) and the 22" version.
Now 22" is definitely noticeably bigger. But both screens were noticeably less impressive in terms of image quality, just sitting at Vista desktop.

So yes, it comes down to this: do 22" justify buying a 'bargain' level screen, or should I make do with 19" but get the best picture quality?
I've now reconciled myself to spending the full £150 of my budget, but still don't want to go beyond that.

Samsung SM931BW *** Vs *** HannsG HG216DP Which wins?

Hazardous · 22nd Oct 2007, 13:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by RostokMcSpoons

So yes, it comes down to this: do 22" justify buying a 'bargain' level screen, or should I make do with 19" but get the best picture quality?
I've now reconciled myself to spending the full £150 of my budget, but still don't want to go beyond that.

Samsung SM931BW *** Vs *** HannsG HG216DP Which wins?

We've already 'voiced' our opinions - over two pages. It's up to you now to 'bite the bullet'/make the final decision

RostokMcSpoons · 22nd Oct 2007, 14:27

lol

you're quite right... bullet biting will occur ... shortly

actually I've got another problem - I went ahead and sold my Hitachi to my friend, and it's playing up on his system (text is showing in a sort of double-vision). So if it turns out it got broken in-transit, and I can't get it to work properly, then I'm going to have to refund his money and be stuck with the budget 19" option

edit: fixed the problem - he had a crap unshielded monitor cable.

mushky · 22nd Oct 2007, 17:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hazardous

Without seeing it 'in the flesh', there's no guarantee of what the image quality itself is like of course... but the 22" HannsG I linked to earlier has decent enough specs, and is right on his intended budget:

Unfortunately... when you're on a limited budget... you're never going to get the absolute best quality.
But I shouldn't think the image quality of (i.e.) that screen would be "poor"... or so substantially inferior, that it would be better settling for a 19" screen at the same price?

That's why the price is the same

RostokMcSpoons · 23rd Oct 2007, 01:03

I've been quite happy with the image quality of my old Hitachi with it's early gen screen and 16ms response, and the Sammy 152N I'm using right now - and that's only supposed to be an office screen... so although I think I'd choose the Samsung 931 in a head-to-head, side-by-side comparison, I think I'll be happy enough with anything I get. It's which choice I can live with, which won't leave me a nagging whisper "should've bought the other one"

Still a toss-up really. The vouchers I can get maybe the deciding factor: I can have 'em for Comet or John Lewis. Comet has the 931 and the 206, but not really any 22" screens I like the look of (they're too pricey). If I buy a 22" from an online store then I can't use the vouchers and have to use my own money or credit card.

The 931 is just the easiest purchase I can make. In budget, and with the vouchers. It'll probably be that. But I've not convinced myself entirely

djbone · 19th Nov 2007, 13:27

reading thru this thread looks like someone here may be able to help me. I bought one of the HannsG HG216DP screens last week from ebuyer.com, largely cos as per the other poster's thoughts it offered larger screen size and HDMI connection for the price of other brands' 19-20' models.

At the moment, we're *very* disappointed. We're getting jagged text and ghosting on images, this is a much worse picture than either our 7-year-old CRT or the TFT on my Thinkpad laptop, both of which are crisp as you like. Have connected via VGA, and can't help thinking I've done something wrong setup-wise. Have switched on ClearText in XP, so it's not that. I've sent off for a DVI-HDMI lead which arrives tomorrow, so hoping that will sort it.

Could it be our graphics card? It's a 2-3 years old ATI Radeon 9200SE. It was powering the old CRT just fine. Have downloaded and installed the latest drivers for it, still no difference. Another poster on the ebuyer comments section said a new graphics card (nVidiaGeForce6200) sorted the problem, but if that is the issue then i'm not sure what to look for.

Any help or ideas much appreciated!

djbone · 21st Nov 2007, 14:21

just to update from my previous post for anyone else having the same problem ... the DVI-HDMI cable I ordered arrived yesterday and now using that the monitor picture is *fantastic*! crispy clear text, glorious colours and detail on graphics. DVD playback very good. HD video playback is jerky but I'm sure thats due to my graphics card (GeForce 9200SE 128MB) and RAM (756MB). Looks like either HannsG ship a rubbishy cheap VGA cable or else my 9200SE can only do 1680x1050 over DVI

morris8809 · 22nd Nov 2007, 02:12

i would wait and earn some extra cash and go get a samsung 206BW, it extremely great picture. i have a 6600GT 128mb card and im not able to run games at their full resolutions but they still look awesome

RostokMcSpoons · 22nd Nov 2007, 15:36

Hi, blimey, interesting to see the thread still generating replies!

To put this to bed, I've got a monitor. It's a 2nd hand Acer 1916W that I got off ebay for £75. Sure, it's not the best screen in the world, I'm still fiddling with the settings to find a bit more 'punch' to the image, but at that price it was too much of a bargain, I couldn't resist it!

The low price certainly kept the wife happy (well, happier), and that's got to count for something

Except that I went and spent the money I saved on a new mobo, cpu and memory! So I'm now running an oc'ed E2180 / Giga P35C / 2gb Geil Ddr800. Which means my gaming performance is now noticeably better.

I'm now also fairly certain that 19" / 1440x900 is fine for me .. the lack of vertical screen estate isn't really an issue, and the low pixel count = high framerate thing *is* the best choice for me.

17th Oct 2007, 21:14	#22
RostokMcSpoons Minimodder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Milton Keynes, England Posts: 37	I got the HannsG 22" screen email too... it's a lot of screen for the money! But I'm still a bit wary because of the extra strain it'd place on my system... I've always been framerate-sensitive, and though I don't mind turning down some in-game options (I'm not too fussed about jaggies, for instance), I don't like the 'soapy' look of lcd's running below their native res. Hmmm, I'll have to think about it. The Hyundai (assuming you mean the N91W) has been reviewed in a positive light - but I guess it's in amongst the two Samsungs for price, and I'd probably go with them. I'll bear it in mind though - it's a tidy looking monitor I did notice another screen on the Staples website. I've got no idea what it is (and therefore whether it's actually any good), but it looks very smart! Any ideas? specs:LCD Panel: 19" Wide Aspect TFT active matrix panel Display Area: 410.4(H) x 256.5(V) mm Pixel Pitch: 0.285(H) x 0.285(V) mm Resolution: Maximum WXGA+ (1440 x 900) @75Hz Recommended WXGA+ (1440 x 900) @60Hz Colour: 16.2M colors Brightness: 300 cd/m2 (typ.) Contrast Ratio: 700:F1 (typ.) Viewing Angle: Horizontal 160° (typ.) Response Time: 5 ms (typ.) I think the recommendation to run it at 60hz is a bit odd, isn't it? And the contrast ratio is a bit low these days, so maybe it's mutton dressed as lamb! But it'd be nice to know for sure edit: just checked ebuyer, and bingo - it's there - it's a Cibox C1905. And lots of people like it, and they have it on sale for £112 + delivery! And just out of interest, I looked at the 20-22" ebuyer monitors, and they've got the very nice looking Hyundai N220W-D 22" beastie for £149. Argghh.... if only I could afford a new monitor and a cpu upgrade! (But I can't) Last edited by RostokMcSpoons; 17th Oct 2007 at 21:30.

19th Oct 2007, 10:00	#24
Hazardous Mod Master Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Chester (UK) Posts: 2,614	It's your decision at the end of the day, but I'd wager there's gonna be a time [possibly in the not-too-distant future?], when you'll say to yourself: "You know... now that I've got a CPU [/graphics card] which can handle the screen resolutions... I wish I had* bought that 22" xxx /1680 x 1050 screen when I had the chance* " You don't need to use the higher resolutions, just because the monitor is capable of them... and it's unlikely a screen which offers higher resolutions, will require any more 'juice' to run, than a screen whose maximum resolution is 1440 x 900? Besides that... it'll be a lot cheaper (50%+?) to upgrade the CPU, than it'll be to upgrade [again] to a screen which can output higher resolutions if/when you ever wanted/needed them But as I've said... it's your money/decision __________________ Beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder

19th Oct 2007, 21:58	#29
RostokMcSpoons Minimodder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Milton Keynes, England Posts: 37	Right, between the interesting addition of those gift vouchers, and a thread I'm running at Tech Report (yes, I've been cheating on this forum behind it's back, I'm a forum whore!), I'm now coming round to the idea of 'more pixels = better' in spite of my misgivings about playing games below native res. So here's the gist of what I just posted on t'other forum <slap> ... "... I have to get this expenditure past the wife - she currently thinks I'm only spending £100 (That's the cheapest 19" widescreen price, for a Belinea 1925S1W) I actually work all day with a Samsung 213T 21" 16x12, and when I come home to my little Hitachi I don't think to myself 'oh no, they stole my pixels' I just get on with it. I guess the reason is I don't multi-task like I do at work - I tend to have either Opera, or a game, or Media Player open... or a couple of explorer windows to copy files. Rarely any more than that. However the issue I have now is that although the Sammy 931BW is a lovely bit of kit, it's quite a bit of cash to spend to actually lose some pixels. I've been too skint for too long to be able to let that pass easily, I want some concrete return for my cash! A 20" represents a gain in pixels and might be a good compromise, but then again I'm also thinking 'I have to lose native res game playing for this, let's have a really big screen to justify it' so I'm now sorely tempted by the 22" size. Though I don't know which screen I'd take! Ok, here's a rundown of my current 'interesting' monitors: ('' indicates my favourites) 19" £100 Belinea 1925S1W Staples.co.uk £120 Asus VW193S Scan.co.uk £123 Hanns-G HW191D MicroWarehouse.co.uk £135 Samsung SM940BW LaptopsDirect.co.uk £149 Samsung SM931BW ** Komplett.co.uk 20" (only just started looking at these, need to find some reviews) £140 Acer X201W play.com £150 Samsung SM204BW ebuyer.com £160 Asus VW202S play.com £171 Samsung 206BW * shop.bt.com £171 Samsung SM2032BW ebuyer.com 22" £150 Hyundai N220W-D * ebuyer.com £152 HannsG HG216DP Saverstore.co.uk £179 Samsung SM225BW ebuyer.com ... I'm still looking. £150 still represents my preferred max spend, but I'll maybe go higher (to £170) if the extra quality is demonstrably worth it." On a side note, I've noticed that every feedback for monitors on the likes of Ebuyer etc seem to say the same thing: 'this screen is marvellous! bright colours, no ghosting blah blah blah'. If it wasn't for 'professional' reviews I could be fooled into thinking every screen is fantastic, and I can't make a bad choice. But that can't be true, can it? btw thanks for all the helpful posts so far people, I do appreciate it Last edited by RostokMcSpoons; 19th Oct 2007 at 22:04.

22nd Oct 2007, 14:27	#34
RostokMcSpoons Minimodder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Milton Keynes, England Posts: 37	lol you're quite right... bullet biting will occur ... shortly actually I've got another problem - I went ahead and sold my Hitachi to my friend, and it's playing up on his system (text is showing in a sort of double-vision). So if it turns out it got broken in-transit, and I can't get it to work properly, then I'm going to have to refund his money and be stuck with the budget 19" option edit: fixed the problem - he had a crap unshielded monitor cable. Last edited by RostokMcSpoons; 23rd Oct 2007 at 00:55.

19th Nov 2007, 13:27	#37
djbone What's a Dremel? Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2	hanns-g HG216DP - big problem reading thru this thread looks like someone here may be able to help me. I bought one of the HannsG HG216DP screens last week from ebuyer.com, largely cos as per the other poster's thoughts it offered larger screen size and HDMI connection for the price of other brands' 19-20' models. At the moment, we're very disappointed. We're getting jagged text and ghosting on images, this is a much worse picture than either our 7-year-old CRT or the TFT on my Thinkpad laptop, both of which are crisp as you like. Have connected via VGA, and can't help thinking I've done something wrong setup-wise. Have switched on ClearText in XP, so it's not that. I've sent off for a DVI-HDMI lead which arrives tomorrow, so hoping that will sort it. Could it be our graphics card? It's a 2-3 years old ATI Radeon 9200SE. It was powering the old CRT just fine. Have downloaded and installed the latest drivers for it, still no difference. Another poster on the ebuyer comments section said a new graphics card (nVidiaGeForce6200) sorted the problem, but if that is the issue then i'm not sure what to look for. Any help or ideas much appreciated!

17th Oct 2007, 20:12	#21
dragon2309 electronic Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Kent, UK Posts: 867	I can recommend the 19" widescreen Hyundai (1440x900), I have it and it's a great monitor. At the moment retails for just over £130 at most major e-tailers.

19th Oct 2007, 01:28	#23
RostokMcSpoons Minimodder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Milton Keynes, England Posts: 37	Well, well, well! Things are definitely looking up - I just got promoted (yay!) but without a payrise (boo!) but did get £200 in gift vouchers as 'compensation' (well, it's better than what I expected: nothing) so... I can now feel a bit more relaxed going to that £150 top of my budget. Which means the Samsung 931BW, available off-the-shelf in my local Comet (I missed the particular shelf the first time I looked) for £149 is now the front-runner, unless anyone tells me different! I looked at 20 and 21" screens too, again, and I'm sticking with the 1440x900. 16x10 is just too many more pixels to push. (And the vouchers can't buy me a cpu upgrade, sadly - some of them will be going towards buying my wife a nice birthday present!)

19th Oct 2007, 11:06	#25
RostokMcSpoons Minimodder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Milton Keynes, England Posts: 37	I sat in bed think about this last night. (I tend to get a bit obsessive when it comes to tech purchases Half the fun (or is it even more) is in deciding what to get, scouring reviews, seeking opinions on forums...) Because, as you point out, I'm unlikely to change screen for several years, so I'v got to make the right decision now. To go for 19" screen as I originally intended: Pros: Playing everything at native res for max image quality Actually less pixels to push - small performance gain over current 1280x1024 res Low cost - Sammy 931BW seems to be the best 19" widescreen and it's in-budget Cons: Very little actual gain in screen size - extra 160 pixels across, 124 pixels less vertically To go for a 20/21/22" Pros: More screen estate: extra 400 pixels across, 26 pixels vertically (yay!) Cons: Extra 468,000 pixels to push... cut in framerates at native res. Running below native res may create 'soapy' image quality Larger screen sizes may make pixels noticeable (pitch size) Expensive... can have either a 'budget' 22" for £150 or a 'quality' 20" for £180 I nearly put 'future proof' as a pro for the larger screens, but as I tend to run to a budget, then I'm always way behind the bleeding edge - so I'll probably never be able to run whatever's current at 16x10 comfortably. Argghh!

19th Oct 2007, 12:18	#28
mushky gimme snails Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: cambs uk Posts: 5,755	Samsung 931BW 19". £150 at John Lewis and Currys, go and get one today. I got one at the weekend, very very happy with handing over £150 for it. Awesome at 1440x900 but it actually handles lower resolutions well. Good viewing angles, although the colours look best head on. VGA port works well, good enough for me to save the DVI port on my PC for something else. HDCP DVI as well. Looks sexy too

19th Oct 2007, 23:40	#30
mushky gimme snails Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: cambs uk Posts: 5,755	Personally I'd lose a few inches of desktop real estate in trade for a better picture. It's easy to slip into the habit of thinking "just a bit more money gets me this" etc, so try and stick to your budget.

21st Oct 2007, 13:08	#32
RostokMcSpoons Minimodder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Milton Keynes, England Posts: 37	I've spent a bit of time oscillating between Staples, John Lewis and Comet this morning, primarily trying to decide which screen size to go for. I'm still not sure! The 19" screens still look good to my eyes, I looked at the Samsung next to a cheap 17" 4:3 screen and the difference is night and day - both in terms of the vibrancy of the screen display, and the apparent screen size. I'm sure it's to do with the way our eyes and brains work, but widescreen seems so much bigger than normal ratio screens. Then I went to John Lewis and looked at the Sammy 19" 931BW sat right next to a 20" 206BW. Hmmm... the difference in pixel counts and the extra 1" are there, but not significant. Which is rather a shame because I could have stretched to the 206 (it's at £179 in Comet). I also had the attention of a reasonably helpful and clued-up sales guy, who let me fiddle with the settings. This meant I could test the picture quality at non-native resolutions. Not as bad as my Hitachi was, but still not ideal In Staples I compared two Belinea screens, the bargain bucket 19" (which is now £99 in-store!) and the 22" version. Now 22" is definitely noticeably bigger. But both screens were noticeably less impressive in terms of image quality, just sitting at Vista desktop. So yes, it comes down to this: do 22" justify buying a 'bargain' level screen, or should I make do with 19" but get the best picture quality? I've now reconciled myself to spending the full £150 of my budget, but still don't want to go beyond that. Samsung SM931BW * Vs * HannsG HG216DP Which wins?

23rd Oct 2007, 01:03	#36
RostokMcSpoons Minimodder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Milton Keynes, England Posts: 37	I've been quite happy with the image quality of my old Hitachi with it's early gen screen and 16ms response, and the Sammy 152N I'm using right now - and that's only supposed to be an office screen... so although I think I'd choose the Samsung 931 in a head-to-head, side-by-side comparison, I think I'll be happy enough with anything I get. It's which choice I can live with, which won't leave me a nagging whisper "should've bought the other one" Still a toss-up really. The vouchers I can get maybe the deciding factor: I can have 'em for Comet or John Lewis. Comet has the 931 and the 206, but not really any 22" screens I like the look of (they're too pricey). If I buy a 22" from an online store then I can't use the vouchers and have to use my own money or credit card. The 931 is just the easiest purchase I can make. In budget, and with the vouchers. It'll probably be that. But I've not convinced myself entirely

21st Nov 2007, 14:21	#38
djbone What's a Dremel? Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2	just to update from my previous post for anyone else having the same problem ... the DVI-HDMI cable I ordered arrived yesterday and now using that the monitor picture is fantastic! crispy clear text, glorious colours and detail on graphics. DVD playback very good. HD video playback is jerky but I'm sure thats due to my graphics card (GeForce 9200SE 128MB) and RAM (756MB). Looks like either HannsG ship a rubbishy cheap VGA cable or else my 9200SE can only do 1680x1050 over DVI

22nd Nov 2007, 02:12	#39
morris8809 Supermodder Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Bloomfield, KY Posts: 402	i would wait and earn some extra cash and go get a samsung 206BW, it extremely great picture. i have a 6600GT 128mb card and im not able to run games at their full resolutions but they still look awesome

22nd Nov 2007, 15:36	#40
RostokMcSpoons Minimodder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Milton Keynes, England Posts: 37	Hi, blimey, interesting to see the thread still generating replies! To put this to bed, I've got a monitor. It's a 2nd hand Acer 1916W that I got off ebay for £75. Sure, it's not the best screen in the world, I'm still fiddling with the settings to find a bit more 'punch' to the image, but at that price it was too much of a bargain, I couldn't resist it! The low price certainly kept the wife happy (well, happier), and that's got to count for something Except that I went and spent the money I saved on a new mobo, cpu and memory! So I'm now running an oc'ed E2180 / Giga P35C / 2gb Geil Ddr800. Which means my gaming performance is now noticeably better. I'm now also fairly certain that 19" / 1440x900 is fine for me .. the lack of vertical screen estate isn't really an issue, and the low pixel count = high framerate thing is the best choice for me. Last edited by RostokMcSpoons; 22nd Nov 2007 at 15:55.