StarDestroyer.Net BBS

My monitor appears to be slowly dieing, increasingly large black spaces along each side and the color is off. Plus the monitor controls aren't resizing the viewing area properly. I'm not sure how much monitors are going for, I don't need anything very large, but I'd like a reliable brand to look into.

Give us a budget and we shall pick you a good monitor. However, you might just want to go to the nearest BestBuy, CompUSA, Fry's or whatever. Getting a monitor through the Internet can be a hassle at times, and the shipping fees are enormous.

Have you decided if you want a flat panel or is a CRT okay?

If you dont mind the weight and heat associated with a CRT Ive been pretty happy with my 19" Optiquest Q95. Im not sure if that is the current model number but it was a good price for the size when I bought it 2 years ago. Basically an Optiquest is a Viewsonic by another name.

phongn wrote:Give us a budget and we shall pick you a good monitor.

Say 200 bucks or so.

However, you might just want to go to the nearest BestBuy, CompUSA, Fry's or whatever. Getting a monitor through the Internet can be a hassle at times, and the shipping fees are enormous.

That was pretty much what I intended, which is why I'm interested as much in simply what brands are decent as opposed to a specific monitor.

Buying LCD or CRT?

At $200 it seems almost certain he's going to get a CRT.

Naaw he shold be able to find a 15" tft for around $200

17" ViewSonic (BestBuy online price of 179.99)

A friend of mine has owned his 17" ViewSonic since 17" monitors were the big thing. It still looks great all these years later.

You can get a nice NEC/Mitsubishi 17" CRT for less than $200. Their SB (SuperBright) line is considered rather good.

For example, their FE791SB can hit 1600x1200@76 Hz; the FE771SB can hit 1280x1024@66 Hz.

Samsung also has some very decent monitors, though the tubes aren't quite as nice as NEC/Mitsubishi's SB line.

Samsung 900NF. Can be found for around $200 online and is extremely reliable and beautiful 19" AG CRT. I've had one running as my secondary monitor for three years and it is still the best value out there.

Sea Skimmer wrote:

phongn wrote:Give us a budget and we shall pick you a good monitor.

Say 200 bucks or so.

I would recommend the cheapest, biggest monitor you can find. I personally like the Compaq mv-something 19". It's an ugly bitch, but it's around the 200 mark, and it's 19". Don't know if you can find it other than surplus.

Ick, I'd rather get a monitor with a lot of bandwidth on it rather than a cheap one that can barely to 1280x1024@60Hz.

Actually, it can barely do 1600 x 1200. It does 1280 x 1024 just fine.

phongn wrote:Ick, I'd rather get a monitor with a lot of bandwidth on it rather than a cheap one that can barely to 1280x1024@60Hz.

Hehe, I run mine on that... if you look through the edge of your eye, you can see it flickering...

60Hz at high resolutions gives me a headache. I need 70Hz at an absolute minimum.

phongn wrote:60Hz at high resolutions gives me a headache. I need 70Hz at an absolute minimum.

Exactly. The lower the refresh rate, the worse it is on your eyes. Thats why I have to turn my head everytime I see the Win2k loading screen.

If you're getting an LCD from Best Buy, insist that they hook it up to a computer there to inspect for dead pixels. Might as well start off with a perfect monitor, because I don't think they let you return them for less than like 10 dead ones, which would drive me nucking futs.

Vertigo1 wrote:

phongn wrote:60Hz at high resolutions gives me a headache. I need 70Hz at an absolute minimum.

Exactly. The lower the refresh rate, the worse it is on your eyes. Thats why I have to turn my head everytime I see the Win2k loading screen.

The RAMDAC on my R8500LE is reasonable, so I don't mind it there (and the RAMDAC on the Matrox G400's primary is wonderful), but my monitor isn't that good, so I can't crank up the refresh too high before the image starts blurring.

That was fun.. the day before yesterday I flipped on my monitor, only to have a nice huge cloud of smoke rise out of it. Suffice to say, I rather quickly altered the power setting an unplugged it. Now I'm running a borrowed monitor until I obtain a replacement.

I'm hesitant to get a flat screen, aren't those suppose to be poor for gaming?

Sea Skimmer wrote:That was fun.. the day before yesterday I flipped on my monitor, only to have a nice huge cloud of smoke rise out of it. Suffice to say, I rather quickly altered the power setting an unplugged it. Now I'm running a borrowed monitor until I obtain a replacement.

I'm hesitant to get a flat screen, aren't those suppose to be poor for gaming?

LCDs aren't too good for gaming, but there's nothing wrong with a flat-screen CRT.

I'm trying to find a monitor too and I've come to the conclusion that LCD's aren't that great. You'd be much better off getting a CRT monitor unless space and weight is a concern. CRT's are better for games and text and you don't have to worry about pixels dying on you.

I find that for text and web browsing, LCDs are better, but if you game or need to do serious color work, CRTs are better.