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[Kazz]

My old monitor sucks!  I need a new LCD monitor.  Price under $200.  Suggest!  Fast!  I'm buying it this afternoon!

[Thad]

ViewSonic is probably your best value -- decent price and decent quality.  I have a Hyundai that's served me pretty well the past few years too.

If you're going to be gaming or watching movies, then widescreen is appropriate.  If not, it's not.  I finally figured out that the reason OSX's maximize button doesn't fill the screen is probably because a fullscreen browser window on a widescreen monitor looks fucking stupid.

[Mongrel]

I too have a ViewSonic. Recommended.

[MadMAxJr]

Avoid the MAG brand.  Burned out in a year.

[Arc]

For under $200, go with ViewSonic. For over $200, go with LG & Samsung.

Find one with a 2ms Response Time if you can. Avoid glossy displays if you have lots of lights and windows in your room. 1000:1 or higher contrast ratio is recommended. Some monitors don't come with a DVI cable, so prepare to buy that separately.

[Kayma]

I got a 19" Samsung HDTV with VGA inputs off ebay for ~ $250 last year. It's my favorite thing of the forever; perfect for condensed bachelor living, and super easy to move back into your gramma's basement when you can't make rent.

Then again, getting something like that from ebay can be a roulette of pain and horror.

[MadMAxJr]

If you need a DVI cable, get one OEM off newegg.  $10 vs. $30 usually.  The difference? OEM cables come in a plastic bag.  Retail ones come in a plastic shell.

[Rosencrantz]

If you need a DVI cable, get one OEM off newegg.  $10 vs. $30 usually.  The difference? OEM cables come in a plastic bag.  Retail ones come in a plastic shell.

I use monoprice for all my cables. HDMI cables for $10 instead of fucking Monster brand cables for $80+? Yes please.

[Kazz]

I don't know what those cables are, but say hello to my new 19" LG Flatron W1952TQ, running at a modest 1440x900 because I don't want eyebleeds.



What the fuck are refresh rates?  Will 75hz cause eyebleeds?

[Cthulhu-chan]

For flat panels refresh rate is almost entirely irrelevant, unlike CRTs.

[Kayma]

If you need a DVI cable, get one OEM off newegg.  $10 vs. $30 usually.  The difference? OEM cables come in a plastic bag.  Retail ones come in a plastic shell.

I use monoprice for all my cables. HDMI cables for $10 instead of fucking Monster brand cables for $80+? Yes please.

Hell yes. I've bought tons of cables from this place. Wii component cables for the price of a fucking happy meal.

[MadMAxJr]

If you need a DVI cable, get one OEM off newegg.  $10 vs. $30 usually.  The difference? OEM cables come in a plastic bag.  Retail ones come in a plastic shell.

I use monoprice for all my cables. HDMI cables for $10 instead of fucking Monster brand cables for $80+? Yes please.

Pouring karma and banana stickers on you for introducing me to this site.

[MadMAxJr]

I don't know what those cables are, but say hello to my new 19" LG Flatron W1952TQ, running at a modest 1440x900 because I don't want eyebleeds.



What the fuck are refresh rates?  Will 75hz cause eyebleeds?

Okay, just a little tip about DVI.  The connectors on your monitor come in two flavors.

When you use the blue one (VGA), you probably have to annoyingly center your screen every time you change resolution.  Typically this happens when you load a game that runs in a resolution that doesn't match your desktop.  DVI does not have to do this.

The white one is a DVI-D connector.  (There are several types of DVI connector.) Edit: Be careful, some of these connectors do not play well with other DVI plugs.

If on the back of your computer, your videocard only has a VGA connector, don't worry.  Carry on as normal.  If you have a DVI connector, and you're using a DVI to VGA adapter, smack yourself in the face for me, because you are robbing yourself of what many consider a cleaner, sharper picture.


More edit:  Leave your refresh rate at whatever the factory default is for an LCD.  Unless you work with a lot of video editing, I don't think it will be of concern for you.

[Arc]

19" LG Flatron

My 19" CRT of ten years exploded two weeks ago, so I picked up a 22" LG Flatron. 1680x1050, yo. Worked off analog VGA for less than an hour, and then picked up a used (floor-model) $12 male-to-male DVI cable. Text became perfectly readable, no more ghosting, and blowjobs all-around.

[Kazz]

I'll consider it next time I'm anywhere, but really this is perfectly okay.

[Arc]

So in the top right corner it reads as [ANALOG] when you turn on the monitor, correct?

[MadMAxJr]

So in the top right corner it reads as [INFERIOR QUALITY] when you turn on the monitor, correct?

Corrected for what it /should/ actually do.

I'm going to go back to my corner now...

[Thad]

If you need a DVI cable, get one OEM off newegg.  $10 vs. $30 usually.  The difference? OEM cables come in a plastic bag.  Retail ones come in a plastic shell.

I use monoprice for all my cables. HDMI cables for $10 instead of fucking Monster brand cables for $80+? Yes please.

Pouring karma and banana stickers on you for introducing me to this site.

Second.  Wonder if I can find a way to get my Dreamcast to do 480p with that stuff; don't have a VGA jack on my TV.  I think I need to try a VGA-to-RGBHV converter.

[LaserBeing]

Are LG's ludicrous claims of 10,000:1 contrast ratios legit, or are they some kind of DHC skullduggery?

I want to get a new LCD screen before these cathode rays boil my brains, but I need to make sure it's gonna display my artwork properly.

[Arc]

The contrast is dynamic, not constant. They handle the darker spectrum very well, and are sharp as hell.