What flat screen ...

[brockenspectre]

I have an HP Vectra with a Pentium II processor, I have added memory, a Soundblaster sound card and it has a Matrox graphics card I am, therefore, happy with the "brain". My screen, however, leaves a lot to be desired, being so bulky, and I was wondering if anyone could recommend a flat screen that is not too horribly expensive but will be compatible with my puter's "brain". I am assuming I would be able to "just" plug it in?

:D

[ORAC]

Reviews can be seen at Tom's hardware.


Tom's Hardware Guide (http://www.tomshardware.com/display/02q1/020322/index.html)

Monitors are half the price and give a better picture, but take up a bigger footprint. Monitors are also flexible in giving a good picture at various settings whilst LCDs are lousy at anything apart from their normal resolution, normally 1024x768 for 15" and 1280x1024 for 17". Your video should support both so, if you set the resolution before changing over, it will simply be a matter of unplugging one and plugging in the other.

Personally I have a Philips 15" and a new Samsung (191T) 19", but I'm a flash g*t with money to spare. :)

The best selling model at Jungle is not one I've heard of, but it has over 40 good reviews and is, relatively, cheap.

Jungle (http://www.jungle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/JungleCustomerReviews?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=11162128000&categoryId=10210)

[tony draper]

Got a lovely 19"Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 900u, cracking monitor Brocken, worth the extra few quid. :)

[Waldo]

I spent many hours looking through all the various options and discovered that a lot of companies use screens made in the same factory and are just rebranded.
Many of the cheaper screens are not good quality and have a poor viewing angle.
My final choice was for a 17" LG flatron 782 which was a good compromise between cost and quality. I am very pleased with it but would not advise using a flat screen for heavy gaming as there tends to be some ghosting when fast movement occurs.
If you want good prices try www.action.com or www.pricerunner.com

[Evo]

I had a Mitsubishi 900u too - very good monitor, until it exploded while reading one of Slasher's threads on JetBlast (true!) :)

I've just replaced it with the basic 'value' 17" TFT from Dabs.com, which is excellent.

[gofer]

BS remember that the 15" LCD has approximately a viewing area of a 17" normal monitor, and the 17.4" LCD is approx a 19" monitor - the 18" is not a 21" but a 20" monitor

Hope that helps - I've got a 15" here at home and a 17.4 in the office. They are both NP Sexy's which is an HK brand that equates about 101% to Compaq's old LCD's (late 2001).

It seems that most come from 1 of 4 or max. 5 factories - and the 4 things to look out for are:

Resolution (space between pixels) - the smaller the better (0.26 is better than 0.28) - 0.28 is the upper limit you should be thinking of.

Resolution 1024 x 768 they can all do - 12xx x 1024 is good more is better (but the picture and fonts get smaller so its a bit of a payoff - for games and pictures the more the better (sharper)

Contrast as in the light ration 1:250 is poor 1:400 is average 1:500 is good and they are moving up scale every new model that comes out

Angle of viewing is also important - for a laptop the narrower the better (so the chap in row 34 can't see hat you are writing) but at home or in the office the wider the better.

That's about it I think - throwing money at the problem is well worth while - eyesight deteriorates slower. Also a Monitor generates radiation (very little now but still some) LCD's don't. So if you sit there for more than 1 - 2 hours a day ... invest.:cool:

[BlueRobin]

If you can stretch the cash a bit further than a Mitsubishi 'Tron screen, get a Sony-based Trinitron screen. Harder to come by - try Dell P992, HP own branded etc.

These all have the high qaulity, high-scan, black and flat SONY screens. IMO, they also last a lot longer than the Mitsubishi based (and licenced) versions.

[411A]

OTOH, if you would like an absolutely flat screen (crt) monitor, the ViewSonic V72f can't be beat. Mrs 411A bought one of these last week and the colors are very vivid and clear, and has no glare whatsoever from external room/sun light. Price 'round about $130, available in the UK i'm told, don't know the price however. Multi-voltage as well. Our computer guy says these are the best buy on the market.