LCD Monitor Recommendations?

October 12, 2008 9:58 PM

I need recommendations for an LCD monitor 22" or bigger, under $500, great display, and as "future-proof" as possible.

I need a monitor to hook up my laptop & 360 to. HDMI connection is preferred. Integrated speakers aren't necessary.

I do some gaming and lite video editing, so a decent screen is a must.

I'm going to be building a desktop in a couple of years and would love to still be able to use whatever monitor I buy now with that machine without sacrificing visual quality too much. So whatever I buy now needs to be as "future-proof" as possible.

I really know nothing about what makes a "good" monitor, so I'm hoping for some brand/model recommendations. I did look at this one on NewEgg.

Thanks!

posted by nokry56 to computers & internet (17 comments total)

Reading a bit more... do I want to make sure I get an S-PVA screen?
posted by nokry56 at 10:03 PM on October 12, 2008

A friend just bought a 24" benQ for AUD $399, so would be cheaper in the states. Dell knocks them out pretty cheap too.

We bough 22 Chimea (sp?) for our employees $290. They are quite good.


LCD monitors are all pretty much of a muchness IMO.
posted by mattoxic at 10:09 PM on October 12, 2008

I've got the Acer AL2216W, it has DVI and VGA. I got it because it had both. It works great with my Macbook. It's 22" I got it from Amazon for $250 but it's much cheaper now.

Last night my parents and I watched Chuck on Hulu.com and it was amazing, great picture.
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AL2216Wbd-22-LCD-Monitor/dp/B000HAR8UI/ref=tag_tdp_sv_edpp_i
posted by BoldStepDesign at 10:22 PM on October 12, 2008

There aren't that many monitors that do everything you mentioned well.

Personally, I'm saving up for a Samsung T260HD. 25.5" monitor, 1x1 pixel mapping, TV tuner, 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, HDMI, optical out, 5ms response time, etc. Not to mention a very pretty housing, with "black rose" partially translucent borders.

It costs $489 right now over at Amazon. IMO it's the best compromise between monitor and HDTV the market has seen at this price point.

Google the model number (just T260HD, no complicated string like most have) and take a look. I'm going to buy one as soon as I can afford to...early Christmas shopping will have to wait!
posted by Phyltre at 10:47 PM on October 12, 2008

Like others say it may be difficult to get a "great" monitor with your specification at that price.

I recently went through this though I wanted a monitor for photo editing so my requirements are probably more strict than yours.

This site is the mother lode of LCD panel information. They also have recommendations (the second "displays du jour" post) but many may be more than you want to spend.

On this site you can search for a specific panel (or manufacturer, etc.) to see what kind of panel it actually is.

Most (or maybe all) of the recommendations so far are TN panels which are generally considered "worse" than S-PVA or S-IPS panels for example. However, it's way more complicated than that and a TN panel may be just fine for your application.
posted by sevenless at 11:06 PM on October 12, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

This is the one I bought for my mom. She wanted one to do everything and that she could see well. $583 at Amazon. They make smaller and larger ones.
posted by bjgeiger at 12:18 AM on October 13, 2008

I'm writing this on a Dell SP2208WFP, cost me £169.99 (+tax) and I love it!
posted by katrielalex at 1:21 AM on October 13, 2008

Chimei monitors are way, way better than their prices would suggest.
posted by flabdablet at 2:05 AM on October 13, 2008

Please spend the extra $$$ and get the 24+" vs. the 22". I recently upgraded from my Samsung 22". I had no idea what I was missing. The extra pixels on the larger size is worth the extra dough. I'm a huge multitasker. That small size bump has proved invaluable. Plus most monitors 24 and bigger generally have the required inputs for HD (HDMI, Composite etc)

This is my current monitor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001309

I purchased mine for ~$500. They have since dropped quite a bit in price. The only issue I've had with it is scaling on the PS3. Most games allow you to set the scale. So it's generally not an issue. The T260HD which was mentioned earlier is the new big brother of this display. I've heard it fixes these issues.

Good luck!
posted by unvivid at 5:14 AM on October 13, 2008

P.S. I use firefox on fullscreen on the large monitor and have the cheapest monitor I could find (17") for taskbar, sidebar, winamp and so on. Means that all the space on the large monitor is actually in use.
posted by katrielalex at 7:16 AM on October 13, 2008

The T260HD looks tempting... Has anyone used this with a MacBook? Anyone know if the display lag is actually an issue on it? I'm hearing a few isolated reports of it.

I'll look into Chimei monitors as well.
posted by nokry56 at 8:11 AM on October 13, 2008

Okay, I've narrowed it down between the BenQ V2400W or the Samsung T260HD.

Any thoughts?

If I wanted to watch TV though my dorm's cable connection what else would I need with the BenQ?
posted by nokry56 at 8:40 AM on October 13, 2008

Shopping for an LCD monitor was really quite an enervating experience! This post on AnandTech gave very extensive information about all the differing attributes of LCD monitors and is certainly worth a look. I just got this 22" Asus which was quite well reviewed and has not disappointed me. Its now on sale, after $20 rebate, for $189 which gets you one of the nicer TN lcd panels out there (see Anandtech thread for all the different panel types).
posted by refractal at 8:41 AM on October 13, 2008

If you want it to be future proof, I'd consider one that has at least 1900x1200 resolution, HDMI/DVI/Component. I would keep away from TV LCD such as the T260HD, these usually have poor color reproduction and blurry text.

I would either recommend the Gateway FHD2400 or 2401, or the Dell 2408WFP. The Dell is an S-PVA screen which is why it costs more.
posted by wongcorgi at 11:46 AM on October 13, 2008

I've had nothing but good experiences with Dell monitors - I'm currently using a 19" [1905FP] and 22"WS [2208WFP] side-by-side, they're both superb.

That said, if I were buying now, I'd go for at least a 24" Widescreen, and a minimum 1920x1200 resolution.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 6:27 PM on October 13, 2008

Just wanted to report back and let everyone know that while my T260HD is beautiful, it does not work with the new MacBooks. It flickers constantly and doesn't even take the VGA input. Works fine with my desktop, but since I bought it for the MacBook I'm going to have to return it.
posted by nokry56 at 12:38 PM on October 22, 2008

Took a chance and got another T260HD. It works great with my MacBook. The VGA does not work though. Thanks all for your help.

Short unprofessional review of the T260HD
--the viewing angle from above the monitor is horrible. The side viewing angles are pretty good.
--the monitor overall looks sexy, very nice casing
--wish it had Picture in Picture
--haven't used the TV function yet
--remote is very basic
--color is vibrant, and the resolution is fantastic
posted by nokry56 at 10:41 AM on November 13, 2008