Monitor Decision Help

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wowolaf

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 26, 2006
Messages
68
Alright, I've been doing a lot of reading around here recently, as I'm looking to buy a new LCD monitor. My price ceiling is about $350, so the NEC 20WMGX2 is out. I have it narrowed down to three monitors, and I was looking for some opinions.

1) Samsung 226BW -- I know the 22'' monitors are all doomed to using TN panels, but the screen is huge, and I was very impressed when I saw it in BB the other day, especially next to a few other 22'' monitors.
2) Dell 2007WFP -- I often hear that this is best 20'' on the market, but I hear so many different things about the monitor lottery that I'm beginning to become scared away from buying this thing. (Can anyone clarify how possible it is to get an S-IPS panel in this thing, and what will I get if I "lose" the lottery?)
3) Acer AL2051W -- This monitor looks like a still-pretty-nice, slightly cheaper version of the 20WMGX2. If I'm not mistaken, its P-MVA panel isn't as nice as a S-IPS, but still better than a TN panel. For the price and guarantee of a nice panel, it seems like it might be a better choice than the Dell. (My laptop has a glossy coating and I don't mind it, but my old monitor doesn't have a glossy coating, and I don't mind that either, so I'm impartial in that regard.)

So, if anyone has any recommendations or advice, I'd really appreciate it.

Also, to those of you who've used 22'' and 20'' monitors -- is the extra screen size worth the TN panel?

Thanks a lot, guys. :D
 
Okay, I've done a little more reading, and decided that the LG L226WT and the HP w2207 are both better choices for a 22'' monitor. I've also decided that, given my usually awful luck when it comes to games of chance, I'm not going to be playing in any monitor lotteries. The Acer is probably my best choice if I'm going to stick with a non-TN, 20'' monitor.

I can deal with slightly-less-than-perfect color reproduction (I casually game and design, but not on a professional or even serious level or anything), but I'd like to have a decent viewing angle (I put my head down and look up at the screen a lot while I'm reading), and any more than a little backlight bleed bugs the hell out of me. Also, given that I do game occasionally, <10ms response time is a must (any ghosting destroys my eyes), but if I'm not mistaken, all of my listed monitors meet that criterion.

So, my new list is this:

1) LG L226WT
2) HP w2207
3) Acer AL2051W

My main issues at this point are deciding between the two 22'' and whether or not the extra screen size is worth having a TN panel.

Any suggestions?
 
You probably won't like the 22" monitors listed because they use TN panels. I had a 22" Acer for about 2 weeks and took it back because I couldn't deal with poor viewing angles. The size was great but TN panels just plain suck at everything but speed and price.

Go for the 20" Acer or get the Dell 2007WFP if you want good viewing angles, better color reproduction and better black levels.
 
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