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monitor

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
my Dell 2405FPW is crapping out, and is now displaying weird halos around contrasty edges, and vertical lines and interference patterns on solid surfaces, along with markedly diminished dynamic range. something is electronically wrong with it, and it's present even on the internal picture in picture graphics generated within the monitor itself.

so. what monitor should i get to replace it? any deals out there? DVI please. my mac mini has a max resolution of 1920 x 1200 so going over 24" doesn't make sense...
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
I guess you don't need one of those medical displays then? They come in 22-24" - WQUXGA - 3840x2400?

Obsessive monitor whores here

Blog:
http://www.displayblog.com

Xbit Labs usually has decent monitor roundups:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/

Oh and Be too:
http://www.behardware.com/html/cat/22/

This one always sounded interesting to me - 22" 1920x1200 S-PVA $440:
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2008/review-lenovo-l220x.html
Buy here - http://www.provantage.com/lenovo-4433hb2~7IBML02E.htm
 
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Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
i think i might just go with a dell 2408WFP. i like having the card reader on the side of the monitor, and having HDMI might come in handy since i don't have a TV and digital broadcasting is around the corner (no?). that Lenovo one is nice, but spartan.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
i have a ViewSonic 22" that i've been more than happy with (though having USB inputs on the side like Dell does would be nice).
it's not just usb inputs -- it has a bunch of card readers, too. since it's USB 2.0 i use the CF reader exclusively for grabbing shots off my camera...
 

stinkyboy

Plastic Santa
Jan 6, 2005
15,187
1
¡Phoenix!
i have a ViewSonic 22" that i've been more than happy with (though having USB inputs on the side like Dell does would be nice).
:stupid:

My last monitor died a few months ago on a saturday, so being unable to do any research I went to Circuit City blind and found a Viewsonic VX2235wm for cheap and it's been awesome.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
it's not just usb inputs -- it has a bunch of card readers, too. since it's USB 2.0 i use the CF reader exclusively for grabbing shots off my camera...
Some card readers can be slow, is it any good? Card readers are pretty cheap even for the high performance ones...
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Some card readers can be slow, is it any good? Card readers are pretty cheap even for the high performance ones...
i haven't speed tested it or anything, but it feels as snappy as the Firewire one i used to use. the Firewire one made an annoying high pitched sound when plugged in so i left it unplugged all the time. the monitor makes no such noises, so in terms of annoying me less it's already the winner.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
the dell 2408WFP isn't TN, no? it has a nice, wide viewing angle per dell.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
the dell 2408WFP isn't TN, no? it has a nice, wide viewing angle per dell.
I have no idea, check the dell forums for more info. The older high end 24" weren't. The only thing that bugged people about Dells is switching panel OEM frequently.
 
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- seb

Turbo Monkey
Apr 10, 2002
2,924
1
UK
I have a pair of Acer AL2051Ws (20" 1680x1050). I'd rather have two small screens than one large one anyday. Am thinking of adding a third (larger) screen though, soemthing in the 24-30" range.

[The Acers are fantastic by the way, best LCDs I've ever used by a long shot]
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
I have a pair of Acer AL2051Ws (20" 1680x1050). I'd rather have two small screens than one large one anyday. Am thinking of adding a third (larger) screen though, soemthing in the 24-30" range.

[The Acers are fantastic by the way, best LCDs I've ever used by a long shot]
i used to run two displays, albeit two apple 17" LCDs back when they used their proprietary DVI + power + USB "apple display connector" business. i find having a single 24" at 1920x1200 much more useful, especially with the slick virtual desktop ("spaces") feature in OS X 10.5.
 

- seb

Turbo Monkey
Apr 10, 2002
2,924
1
UK
Yeah, I'm kinda hooked, been on a dual setup for getting on 6 years now (2 21" CRTS back in the day). Might be longer actually.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
For the past several models, Dell has produced a cheap 24" and a high end 24"... no reason to think the S2409W will be any different.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Uh? I guess the question is, then, what was your point? :brow:

Clearly Toshi isn't interested in the TN panel. They will almost assuredly keep up the higher end 24". So... yuck, Dell released an affordable monitor that's totally unrelated to the topic at hand?

In any event, what you said wasn't what I said, and many won't be familiar with Dell's habits.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
That is a refurbished entry level 24" TN LCD, so its not so hot (I think best buy was sell those for about the same price new on Black Friday last year)...

A good buy would be a closeout VA (mid-end/prosumer) or IPS (high-end) monitor. I've seen closeout 24" S-PVA for $340 before.
 
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- seb

Turbo Monkey
Apr 10, 2002
2,924
1
UK
I think I'm about to buy a dell 2709W to put between my 2 20" screens :-S :-D
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
argh. i'm really tempted to get a macbook instead of a new display, relegating the mac mini to some sort of server duty... hmmmmmmmm.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
You're going to use the mini as... what... a file server? :rofl:
i could give it to the parents to hook up as a media center mac, as it were... but in all honesty they wouldn't use it that much. they know how to stick in netflix dvds and are happy with that. hmm.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
another thought: there's all this talk about rev. A and B 2408WFPs, and how a large (?) percentage of the first revision, being made until this past week, had defects. now i'm paranoid.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
okay, so i'm finally convinced that it's actually the monitor: same junky image even with a different power cable, on VGA (via DVI-VGA adapter and an unused cable), on DVI-D, and on component inputs when driven by my PS2.

i think for the time being i actually might just snag my girl's ancient VGA only 17" LCD and run if off of one of the the DVI->VGA adapters i dug up while rummaging through and organizing my "box of cables" tonight. cheap is good.

maybe when i get a camera body again and am working with big images i'll spring for the latest, but it just doesn't feel right now, what with the next big thing always around the corner and current products fraught with their own little headaches.
 

AngryMetalsmith

Business is good, thanks for asking
Jun 4, 2006
21,079
9,781
I have no idea where I am
I've been wanting a 22" monitor for a while now.

Tonight I was at Best Buy and they have screaming deal on an LG ( W2241T ), normally $319, now $219.

So I went for it, just too good to pass up.

It's currently hooked up to a Mac Mini and seems to be pretty good.

I think the sale ends on the 9th.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Toshi, I went through the same trials when I was looking for a monitor several months ago, and finally concluded that I didn't actually need a great monitor right now and that it'd be better to spend the big bucks when LED backlighting came down in price.