Kitz Forum
Computers & Hardware => PC Hardware => Topic started by: tickmike on January 31, 2008, 11:57:17 PM
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With one on my Monitors dieing on me tonight (Old CRT.Fujitsu 15"), :( do you have any suggestions to makes, type, price, shops/web etc. please.
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A good few months ago I bought an LG1718S LCD monitor. It was quite cheap of eBuyer I think (around £100 to max £125 at the time) and is analogue/D-sub input only but has proven very reliable with no dead pixels.
Its 17" screen size, high resolution (cant remember exactly what it is!), pretty slim, quite attractive, sharp picture and uses 230V input, so no messy power adaptor is required like with some monitors. Suffice to say I was very pleased with it. This was the second LG monitor we have bought and no let downs so far.
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Medion for me, although the original choice was because they were on special offer at Aldi's.
However, fortunately they came with a 3 year warranty, because all 3 of them had what I think was an inherent fault and had to be repaired after 18 months.
But collection and service is excellent from Medion.
http://www.medion.co.uk/
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I would second LG for quality and value. If your PC graphics card supports it, get one with HDMI input (in fact get one of these anyway for future proofing) and buy an HDMI cable at the same time if you're getting it online (they cost a fortune in PC World).
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I'd recommend a long wander around PC World. See what you like then go home and buy it online somewhere else. IMHO there's no point in buying anything smaller than 19" as you'll actually be paying a premium for less :)
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Thanks for your advice, I will have a look around this weekend before the sales end. ;)
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Have a look in www.pricerunner.com. You can narrow your spec down to exactly what you are looking for,screen size,response time etc.I have a 22" dell branded widescreen and find it excellent.Like rizla pointed out its not worth considering anything under 19".
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I've just bought one of these - had it a week, and am most impressed with it. :)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131359
btw, if you choose super saver delivery then P&P is free ;)
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Like rizla pointed out its not worth considering anything under 19".
I disagree. My old monitor was a 17" CRT, which actually measured 16" from corner to corner. The new one actually measures 17" from corner to corner. I find that with anything bigger it is difficult to see the whole screen without moving my head around. I dunno if I explained that very well, but I know what I mean.
You will find, as I did when changing from 15" to 17", the new monitor will seem 'too big' for a while until you get used to it. I just feel that if you went to a 19" it would be too much. Just my opinion.
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I guess it depends on your eyesight. The normal native resolution of a (non-widescreen) 19" LCD is the same as 17", i.e. 1280 x 1024, so everything is that much bigger. This suits my eyes, but I can see that it wouldn't suit everyone.
On the subject of widescreen, in places like PC World that's all you can buy now. They don't appear to stock conventional format monitors at all. For my type of computing, I nearly always find myself wanting more vertical space, not more horizontal space, so widescreen monitors are just an irritation. And in fact, a xx-inch widescreen monitor has less screen area than a xx-inch conventional format monitor. Am I just an unimportant minority, or are people being seduced by fashion?
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I agree eric,I have a Dell branded 22" widescreen monitor and tbh you don,t need widescreen for every day computing.A lot of websites don,t fill the screen,so when I,m on the internet I have the window reduced about 2" either side.The reason I got the monitor is it was a free upgrade from 19"
Like you say the norm seems to be widescreen these days.My next monitor will definetly be non widescreen (If you will still be able to get them)
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The normal native resolution of a (non-widescreen) 19" LCD is the same as 17", i.e. 1280 x 1024, so everything is that much bigger.
What works best for me with the 17" LCD is a res of 1152x864 with windows large fonts. On my old 1716" CRT 1024x768 with windows large fonts suited me best. As you say it's a personal preference thing.
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I've just bought a new monitor as my CRT 17" had died too. (Piled too much post etc, on top of it and it overheated - silly me!). I got my replacement from Novatech, an own brand (I think) marked CY199D. It is not widescreen but they do a widescreen for the same money, £116. They do operate a free next day delivery which worked fine for me. Max resolution is 1280 x 1024 and it has DVI and VGA inputs. Mains input - no ext PSU.
The only slight problem I have had with it is when trying to boot into Debian, it initially says "signal out of limits" or somesuch positioned right across the username password box. Changing the Vert frequency to 75 Hz fixes the subsequent displays and the box goes away. Don't know whether other Linux distros do the same but it might upset Eric and, of course, your good self Tickmike.
Their URL is http://www.novatech.co.uk but I have no connection just so far a satisfied customer. Be aware though that they have only just started to accept Paypal and my purchase got a bit chaotic. It might be as well to use a card direct.
Tony
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In my experience, most LCD monitors will work best, and probably display the clearest picture, if the refresh rate is set to 60Hz. Although they will work at a higher rate, ones I've seen often look blurred when you try to bump the refresh rate up.
There isn't the need to set the refresh rate as high as possible, like you had to with CRTs, because LCDs don't flicker like CRTs do.
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Thanks for the tip Chris, I hadn't considered that. :)
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My original 17" CRT was huge and not only took up most of the desktop it only gave me an actual screen size of 15.5"
Since changing to 19" LCDs it enables me to have 3 monitors (panoramic style) on the same desktop ( one setup is for a dual monitor setup of one PC and the third is for a second PC which in the past always had to be situated elsewhere because of lack of space, even though I have a large corner unit desk.
But the main benefit I find is being able to have them much further away from my face, thus saving eye strain due to the flicker that we can't actually see.
As for widescreen monitors, well unless you are watching widescreen movies or doing spread sheets, I don't really see any benefit in them, lets face it, most of the work we do especially for typing letters etc is on A4 size paper in portrait view.
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Years ago I used to have a monitor which could be rotated through 90 degrees, and a graphics driver which could be switched over to portrait mode. I used that mode quite a lot for DTP work and similar stuff.
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Hi all,
My current LCD does that roseway, I believe it is fairly common in the Dell ultrasharp range but doesn't require drivers. Unfortunately the 24" of goodness did put quite a sizeable dent in my wallet at £500 :(
Mark
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Just bought one of these (http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4SP1) - can't fault it at all (yet!) and for the price it's absolutely great.
Wanted to upgrade to something widescreen, but felt the text on a smaller monitor at the same resolution would be a bit small. So I opted to spend a little bit more on a 22" instead of say a 20" or so. This way I can sit back and have the monitor a good 3ft away from me, yet still read it perfectly without squinting! Much better ;D
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I've resurrected this topic instead of starting a new one as I am contemplating buying a bigger monitor. I'm looking at 19" and I prefer a conventional rather than a wide screen. I've picked up on this from you Eric :-
If your PC graphics card supports it, get one with HDMI input (in fact get one of these anyway for future proofing) and buy an HDMI cable at the same time if you're getting it online (they cost a fortune in PC World).
..... can you explain that for me please ?? ::) AND also how I check if my graphics card will support HDMI. I'm obviously going to buy one here, so links to some of the retail outlets won't be applicable, I'm looking at Amazon France who appear to have a good stock range, although I may end up going to my local lady ! Should I look for anything in particular and/or avoid anything in particular? maximum resolution etc ....? Many thanks in advance of any response. :)
PS. I've discovered that HDMI means High-Definition Multimedia Interface !!!! but what does that mean ??? ;D
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I must have been having a senior moment when I wrote that, because what I should have said is "get one with a DVI interface". :-[
DVI is Digital Video Interface, and I think most modern monitors will include it as well as the regular VGA interface. It gives a sharper picture, and additionally the picture is always correctly centred and sized.
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I wondered Eric what you meant,my Dell 22" has both DVI and VGA connections.It came with both cables.I use The DVI because as Eric says,it gives a sharper picture.What graphics card do you have installed Kate?Not sure if onboard graphics(built into motherboard instead of a seperate card) supports DVI.
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You're all talking 'man talk' now aren't you ? :-X :-X :-\ :'( .... I'm trying to find the answer !!! ::)
Don't worry any further folks .. now, by coincidence, I'm going to see my computer lady for lunch tomorrow .... Many thanks quand même !
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Looks like our manly advice isn't good enough, Phil. :'(
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:lol: :lol: You're not sulking are you Eric ??? I thought I was saving you from a 'ground hog day' ;D THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR RESPONSES ! :hug: :hug: :hug:
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You've upset them now, scottiesmum. :no:
If you are not careful, you could be the first female inmate of the NC :lol:
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No, it's all right tufty, Kate has redeemed herself. It was a near thing though. :crazy:
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(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.villagephotos.com%2Fp%2F2005-5%2F1013475%2Fflutter.gif&hash=e98d0954f6d6c2b4b9995c3a9fc7cf7582739f55) (https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.villagephotos.com%2Fp%2F2005-5%2F1013475%2Fflutter.gif&hash=e98d0954f6d6c2b4b9995c3a9fc7cf7582739f55) (https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.villagephotos.com%2Fp%2F2005-5%2F1013475%2Fflutter.gif&hash=e98d0954f6d6c2b4b9995c3a9fc7cf7582739f55)
A little fluttery does work !! :angel: :angel:
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Kate there is another similar thread called 'monitor advice' in the other hardware section across the way at that place we don't mention.... which you might find interesting reading.
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Thanks for that Floydy .... had a giggle as well !!! ::)
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You've upset them now, scottiesmum. :no:
If you are not careful, you could be the first female inmate of the NC :lol:
No, it's all right tufty, Kate has redeemed herself. It was a near thing though. :crazy:
M;mmm,so much for the EEC.Le Flutter seems to have worked. :D
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I'm a sucker for females fluttering their eyelashes :love2:
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You've upset them now, scottiesmum. :no:
If you are not careful, you could be the first female inmate of the NC :lol:
No, it's all right tufty, Kate has redeemed herself. It was a near thing though. :crazy:
M;mmm,so much for the EEC.Le Flutter seems to have worked. :D
It's just not fair, UnkyUb............if it had been you or me we would have been banged up straight away. :'(
I guess our eyelash fluttering is not so appealing as scottiesmum's :no:
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You know what happens to people who complain, don't you tufty? >:(
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TD I think you'd better borrow these
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.villagephotos.com%2Fp%2F2005-5%2F1013475%2Fimages.jpg&hash=b642467f36cf7585b9df46afb12fdd92d31039f8) :lol:
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TD I think you'd better borrow these
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.villagephotos.com%2Fp%2F2005-5%2F1013475%2Fimages.jpg&hash=b642467f36cf7585b9df46afb12fdd92d31039f8) :lol:
I'm sure they've been eating my lettuces :D
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:lol:
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Getting back to your monitor question Kate,have you had a look at Dell monitors,I.m sure they are available in France.I have been using Dell branded monitors for the last 13 years without any problem at all,and looking at the English website they are quite reasonably priced. :)
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Bonjour Unc ! Thank you for that ... yes, Dell is available here, along with all the other well known and not so well known brands..... I've left it with my 'computer lady' ...... she usually comes up trumps ...... BUT in the meantime I'll have a look at the Dell ones on-line. :)