Going to get a new monitor, need suggestions

[dixiegrrrrl]

Looking for a flatscreen monitor for Mr. Dixie,
at least as good as the 20 inch HP LED monitor I am using ( mine is 3 years old, and I love it).

but confused about all the changing brand names out there, and now that HP looks to be going down the tubes........
so for price and reliability, what do you think?
( we of course know to avoid Dell)

edited to add:

We watch movies a LOT on our puters.
Mr. d watches MSTK type movies ( really BAD ones, in all the senses of the word)
so clarity is crucial.

[rocktivity]

1. I was very happy with my LG monitor

and I used it on a Mac!


rocktivity

[pokerfan]

2. I have a 23" Samsung

that I picked up three years ago for $120 at Best Buy. It's HD (1920x1080) so it's a popular size as it's the same size aspect as televisions of that size. I like it because when I blow up an HD video, it neatly fills the screen.

Keep an eye on the cnet cheapskate blog for deals:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13845_3-20070503-58/get-a-22-inch-lcd-monitor-for-$89.98/

[Old and In the Way]

3. Go big....1080P...fast refresh rate....hi contrast

I bought an 24" Acer LED and I love it! Get the biggest screen you can, too. You can fit a lot of information on the screen with the larger physical screens.....saves a lot of windows moving. Obviously, if you watch movies on your computer, you'll appreciate the large screen, too.

Here's a page with some 24" models starting at $140.00. The cheap ones don't have HDMI input, but if your graphics card supports DVI, this works just as well.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=12&sel=Detail%3B47_266_17076_28402

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. ahhh yes..Tiger Direct....

We do get their catalogs..will have to grab the latest one.

so, Acer is an ok brand, then?
Never heard of it, but hey, I don't get out much.

[Old and In the Way]

6. Acer is pretty well known Taiwanese company.

They produce their own line of laptops and other consumer products. I've been happy with the monitor. Really, not much to it, it's a pretty passive device, simply plug and play. I bought a few computers and peripherals from Tiger...I've always been happy with their service. No problems with them at all.

[sylveste]

5. the dell

ultrasharps are nice,a bit pricey though.

[ohheckyeah]

7. From the research I've done

the Dell Ultrasharps are some of the highest rated monitors on the market right now.

[BlueJazz]

8. Be sure to get a LED monitor not a LCD.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Can you tell me more about the difference, pls????

[BlueJazz]

10. Sure...LED is newer, brighter and lasts longer.

..plus better contrast
Look here: http://ledmonitors.info/LCD-vs-LED_monitor.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Thank you..that was VERY helpful.

I am quite happy with the HP 2009 20" LCD I have, and found a 2011 HP LED for a good price on Amazon, so set that aside for consideration.
Viewing CRT monitors is impossible now, my older eyes really appreciate these sharp flatscreens.

[HopeHoops]

11. I've got a 27" HP flatscreen and it is great!

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. I think I have screen envy.....

[HopeHoops]

14. I also have a 19" secondary on the same machine. It takes getting used to.

Two issues:

1) The mouse just floats off of the screen into the second monitor so if you don't have it turned on, the mouse "disappears".

2) On boot, the second monitor has the only display until it gets to the screen with the login icons. That's because the second one is VGA (the default startup monitor) and the HDMI screen isn't activated until Windows starts and realizes that you set it to be the primary. Again, only confusing if the 2nd monitor is off, but I tend to leave it off when I don't need it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. I have a friend who uses 2 screens for her at home job.

Watched it in action once.....

amazing.

I spend too much time in front of ONE screen!

[HopeHoops]

16. I have three in front of me at the moment. Two on the server and one on the laptop.

I use the laptop (puny 17" screen) for DU.

[sylveste]

17. i have 3

24's spanned on my gaming rig. great for immersion.

[HopeHoops]

18. The phrase that comes immediately to mind is, "GET A LIFE, DUDE!"

I used to spend hours in arcades dropping quarters. I rarely fire up a game anymore and if I do it is on MAME. I remember my girlfriend feeding me while I played a Missile Command clone on an Apple II with a joystick that had one of those little red buttons that left imprints on your fingers. Yeah, I would have loved 72" of diagonal for playing video games, but a 13" monitor did just fine back then.

[sylveste]

19. ? my life is fine dude,

i don't spend much time gaming, a little here and there to blow off some steam.

[HopeHoops]

20. Well at least you have the right setup for some SERIOUS steam blowing!!!

!!!!!

Sure beats the hell out of passing time playing solitaire on a 10.4" screen.

[TreasonousBastard]

21. There are what, three factories that make all the actual screens, so...

I don't take brand names seriously-- they don't tell you where they bought the parts.

I've had an Acer 21" LCD monitor for years and it has worked great, but I bought it at OfficeMax when they had it on sale for about a hundred bucks and I could see in the store what the colors, contrast., and all that stuff really looked like. It was the cheapest and best looking of the bunch. How often does that happen?

Out here we have Staples, OfficeMax, WalMart, BestBuy and two local guys, so I check the flyers in the Sunday paper and make a stop at WalMart to see their prices if I need something like a monitor or printer. I can't imagine buying a monitor or TV without seeing it in operation.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

22. For the $125 - $250 range...

...I recommend ASUS monitors. I generally deal with Newegg and ASUS consistently gets the best reviews. I've also had Samsungs, LGs and some others that were fine. Almost all flat panel monitors today are LCD-LED. The somewhat older version is LCD-CCFL. Both screens use LCDs the LEDs are behind the screen as the backlight.

If I had to pick an all-around basic monitor today it would be the Asus VE228H.