UPDATE: Larry Has a New LCD Monitor! (see p.2 for details)

[Larry_OHF]

My video display started going wacky just a few moments ago, expanding the page vertically and every once in a while, all I could see were horizontal lines that replaced the display. That was happening on and off, and I turned the PC off and blew out the dust and crap from everything, hoping that it was just dust causing the card to overheat, though my sensors were not telling me anything about overheating. I was mostly sure it was the card, and I was imagining myself having to replace this thing that I only just bought a few months ago. I was really hoping that it was not the HDD.

However, when I turned it back on and watched, I still had a screwy display and decided to wiggle the monitor cord. The cord was tight, but the monitor messed up big time. I tapped the side of the monitor and got the same result. It appears that the monitor itself is gone bad because any movement of it causes the screen to screw up, and sometimes the screen screws up anyway.

Looks like I finally got my wish for a new monitor!
(No, I did not purposely sabbatoge it, but I did think about it before)

So...any recommendations? Pending that I will be able to read your replies today...

[ 03-30-2007, 09:00 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[ZFR]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824005075

What's your budget?

[Larry_OHF]

I don't have a budget set yet, but I am sure that $200-$300 would not be hard to convince my wife to let me spend. Any more than that would be difficult, but do-able if I made a strong case for it.

[ZFR]

Then try the one in the link above. I've been using it for more than 6 months now and it's great. Amazing contrast! Only con: I'd prefer a 1600x1200 resolution. But otherwise it's great value for money.

[Larry_OHF]

Biggest worry...the last I heard, LCD was still not beating CRTs on fast-paced gaming. Something about the frame rates.

Another worry...I hear that many LCDs have dead zones. Does any IWer here have an LCD with a dead zone of pixels? I guess I could check that out of the box before buying it...but pixels die out quickly?

Any name brands that are specifically great? I've seen a lot of monitors around and do not recognize their manufacturer. Should I be shopping for name?

[Larry_OHF]

Here is a list of monitors that Intrex computers sells. They have all Acers. Since they claim to sell high-quality merchandise only, can I assume that Acer is a great monitor?

Part Code Description Price Info
MON-LCD17B Acer Black 17" (17"vis) Flat Panel LCD Display, 1280x1024 $179.99 Details
MON-LCD19 Acer Black 19" (19"vis) Flat Panel LCD Display, 1280x1024 $219.99 Details
MON-LCD19D Acer 19" Black Flat Panel LCD Display, 1280x1024, DVI & DB15 $249.99 Details
MON-LCD20D Acer 20" Black Flat Panel LCD Display, 1400x1050, DVI & DB15, Speakers $269.99 Details
MON-LCD22WD Acer 22" Black Wide Flat Panel LCD, 1680x1050, DVI & DB15 $339.99 Details
MON-LCDTV32WV Viewsonic NextVision N3252W 32" Wide-screen LCD TV, HDTV, 1366x768, 1000:1 contrast, 20W Speakers $699.99 Details

[Luvian]

All the LCD I've owned ended up with defective pixels. For example, the last one had a spot that got burned in on the top, that was darker than the rest. I tried every tricks and it wouldn't go.

The newest one has all the right side, at least an inch wide, that's paler that the rest of the screen. I'm getting pretty sick of LCD screens.

[Larry_OHF]

Originally posted by Luvian: All the LCD I've owned ended up with defective pixels. For example, the last one had a spot that got burned in on the top, that was darker than the rest. I tried every tricks and it wouldn't go. The newest one has all the right side, at least an inch wide, that's paler that the rest of the screen. I'm getting pretty sick of LCD screens.

Thanks for telling me that. What name brands are you working with? I hear that actually there are very few montitor makers in the world and other companies just buy them and slap their nametag on them. I wonder if both of your monitors come from the same original maker?

[Luvian]

This one is a Samsung that I paid a little over 400$ for. I don't remember what the one before that was. I think the LCD screen that worked perfectly the longest was a DELL one. I bought it years ago, I eventually gave it to my father, and he's still using it.

[Larry_OHF]

Another important question...widescreens are for movie watching...but are the horrible for game play?