Need advice choosing LCD monitor

[wolfram]

Hi all

I'm slightly getting tired of my 4 year old (but still strong) 17" Samsung LCD screen, so I've been doing a lot of research on the new widescreen LCDs. I think I decided to settle with a 22" panel, preferably with 1680x1050 resolution ( which will probably be scaled down to 1440x900 while gaming). My absolute max budget is $200 US (shipping included ), so I was looking at these 2 monitors:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001345

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236078

Which one would you recommend? I'm leaning towards the Sammy, but the Asus one looks great too.

And regarding scaling, I'm aware that using a non-native res will result on a blurrier image, but hey, I'm typing this using 1024x768 on a 1280x1024 screen and it looks quite sharp (gotta love ClearType ). So since 1440x900 is 16:10 like 1680x1050, I'd assume the scaling would be similar to what I'm using now.

Thanks for reading this!

 

[JamesP]

I have a Samsung 23" syncmaster 2333 which cost me $215 Aus and everyone coments on how clear (and big) it is my partner have a ASUS same size and cost but has built in speakers, but i reckon mines better !!!!!

 

[wolfram]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yeah I LOVE Samsungs, that's why I'm really considering that one. My current 731b has amazing sharpness and picture quality, and does a great job scaling down to 800x600 if needed!

But of course I could consider different brands. What do you guys think of Acer screens, like this one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009212

Thanks =)

 

[Route44]

For this past Christmas the wife bought me a Samsung SyncMaster 2494 (24") and it is beautiful. My brother-in-law has an Acer 23" and his screen can't come close to clarity and sharpness as my Samsung.

Of course there are good Acers as well but it is hard to beat a Samsung. It looks like that Asus has good reviews.

One thing I had to get used to was the widescreen after going from a Viewsonic 17' 4:5 ratio (that monitor is still going strong after 6+ years). I remember saying to myself how a 22" would have been fine.

 

[JamesP]

My brother had a similar ACER model, but it ended up this a 1inch vertical line down the center, but good and bad in all models i guess.

 

[wolfram]

Thanks guys, I think I'll choose the Samsung, and if newegg discontinues it, I'd pickup the Asus.

Yes I'm thinking it will take me some time to get used to 16:10. I've always used 5:4 (or 4:3). I believe 1280x800 would be good for general desktop usage (I want readable fonts ), and 1440x900 for intensive games like Crysis or Bad Company 2. Native res would only be used on older games like COD4 or FEAR.

Do you guys think 1280x800 would be the 16:10 "equivalent" to 1024x768? That's my preferred res for Internet browsing. It would be great to increase the overall font and window size. I'm paranoic with the native resolutions, because they're always too small for general usage...