Looking for a bigger TFT

August 18, 2005 2:32 PM

I'm looking to buy a >19" TFT soon. What's good?

Ideally, the larger the better (obviously), but on anything over 20" I'd prefer a native resolution of 1600x1200. Contrast ratio of at least 600:1, response minimum 25ms. I currently have an Iiyama AS4332UT Bk. I've been very pleased with the Iiyama's performance, but fancy a little more real estate (hence the preferred larger resolution).

I'm in the UK, I don't mind going to eBay for a good second hand deal, I don't want to spend anywhere near £400 - more like £200-£250, if that's not being horribly optimistic, and I'm using a Mac with DVI and ADC.

posted by armoured-ant to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

I'm not convinced you can get a decent 20" LCD for £200 to £250. As far as I know, the standard and cheap 20" LCD that many people get is made by Dell - the 2001FP (or the newer 2005FPW). You can pick one up new on eBay for around £350, which is well over your budget. It may well be possible to get a used one for £250 though.

The fact is, there is a serious jump in price for 19" (which at 1280 x 1024, is in fact the same res as 17" panels) to 20", which have a significantly higher res. I suspect this is because people will accept a higher price for 20", the lack of demand and the lack of serious competition. 17" LCD is quickly becoming the standard instead of 15", but 20" LCDs are still pretty luxurious items.
posted by adrianhon at 2:51 PM on August 18, 2005

Response by poster: So, let's stick with 19" and 1280x1024... or (the true 4:3) 1280x960...
posted by armoured-ant at 3:05 PM on August 18, 2005

Consensus seems to be the Dell 2005fp or 2005fpw (normal aspect ratio 20" or widescreen 21", respectively). Should run you £200-£250, depending on whether you buy on eBay, or from Dell at their normal price, or from dell with one of the frequently-available coupons.
posted by rxrfrx at 5:02 PM on August 18, 2005

I've got the 1905FP, running 1280x1024 on DVI on a PC, and I've been very satisfied with it. I also use it sometimes with a G4 Cube, but it doesn't look that great then, for whatever reason.
posted by shoos at 5:32 PM on August 18, 2005

I've got the Dell 2005fpw on a Mac with DVI, and it is *brilliant*. Fractionally better quality than the 20" Cinema Display, plus it rotates, has four USB 2 ports and multiple inputs, so I can have my Freeview box and Xbox all plugged into it. It does picture-in-picture as well.

On top of that, they also do discounts on them fairly regularly. I waited three months and bought at £350. It's worth stretching the budget for.
posted by bonaldi at 7:16 PM on August 18, 2005

Seconded- got a 2005FPW, it's been fantastic for the price ($469 when I bought it with the ubiquitous Dell coupons). My only regret is I didn't buy two at the same time. I've convinced a friend to get one recently, he's happy as well. His only regret is that he didn't get the 2405FPW, the 24" model, for another $200 or so.
posted by hincandenza at 11:47 PM on August 18, 2005

If you decide to stop being cheap, I love my NEC 2070NX.. so much, in fact, that I got two.

My previous favourite was the LG L1710B, which is "only" 17", but plenty big enough for 1280*1024 in my experience. Sadly this model seems discontinued in favour of crappy temporally-dithered DVI-free junk (hint: avoid any TFT claiming to support "16.2 million colours")
posted by Freaky at 6:00 AM on August 19, 2005