19" LCD Monitors?

[MikeVic]

I searched the forum and saw that quite a few people have LCD monitors; some with 19" ones.

Can anyone give me a positive review of a 19" LCD monitor that is used for gaming, movies, text, etc...?

Thanks in advance as always.

[MikeVic]

dola..

From what I've been reading, it seems as if Samsung in general are the best quality...?

[Honolulu_Blue]

I have one from Dell. Works great as far as I can tell.

[cthomer5000]

20.1 Dell is the freaking bomb, i can tell you that. I have two on my home PC.

I use a 15" dell at work and a couple of my co-wokers have 17" Dells. All solid monitors. I assume the same holds true for the 19"

[Crapshoot]

Dell 1905's are generall considered amongst the top by the Tom's Hardware and Anandtech's of the world - that's what I would go with.

[Subby]

I use a Dell FP 2001 (20") flat panel monitor. They have come down a ton in price as Dell is moving to a different model in that area. I am fairly certain you can find one somewhere for under $400.

I am pretty sure Radii has two of them in a dual set up - he always raves about great they are.

[Daimyo]

Most 19" LCDS are 1280x1024 resolution which you may find makes everything too large on a 19" screen. You might want to look at the 20"s that offer higher resolution before buying at least as point of comparison.

[sabotai]

I have a 19" Samsung (my previous one was a 15" Samsung) and have not had a problem with them at all. Before them, I had a 15" MAG LCD moniter that died after about a 1 year or 2.

[ISiddiqui]

I got a Sony. Absolutely stunning.

[Marc Vaughan]

I've got a 19'' Gigabyte and its been fine for both heavy office work and gaming ..

[Eaglesfan27]

20.1 Dell is the freaking bomb, i can tell you that.

I assume the same holds true for the 19"


Completely agree.

[MikeVic]

Thanks a lot guys!

[MJ4H]

I liked my dual 20inch DELL 2001fps also, but I didn't think they were as sharp as my laptop screen. There was only a very slight ghosting on games and movies, nothing that was too annoying. I'd definitely go with 2001fp again, and the price is good.

[AnalBumCover]

Make sure you lead yourself to http://www.gotapex.com to find most deals offered by Dell, as well as finding the $35 off $300 coupon found on eBay for a buck. Other bargain sites: www.slickdeals.net (http://www.slickdeals.net), www.betsbargains.net (http://www.betsbargains.net), www.techbargains.com (http://www.techbargains.com).

[TargetPractice6]

I got a 19" Samsung for Christmas. It's pretty much magnificent.

[Godzilla Blitz]

I just got the 20-inch Dell for $360 or so. Under $400 shipped w tax.

One reason I bought from Dell was their "Total Satisfaction Guarantee", and it came in handy. The first monitor they sent me had a stressed substrate that caused some slight waviness on the right side of the monitor on a dark screen in a dark room. Noticeable only under those conditions, and not a real problem. Still, I contacted Dell about the issue. They shipped a replacement monitor to me overnight.

I was incredibly impressed with how they handled the situation, and the second monitor is perfect. It's amazing how much better things look compared to my old CRT, and I love the extra real estate.

[MikeVic]

I just got the 20-inch Dell for $360 or so. Under $400 shipped w tax.

One reason I bought from Dell was their "Total Satisfaction Guarantee", and it came in handy. The first monitor they sent me had a stressed substrate that caused some slight waviness on the right side of the monitor on a dark screen in a dark room. Noticeable only under those conditions, and not a real problem. Still, I contacted Dell about the issue. They shipped a replacement monitor to me overnight.

I was incredibly impressed with how they handled the situation, and the second monitor is perfect. It's amazing how much better things look compared to my old CRT, and I love the extra real estate.

How'd you get the Dell for such a good price? In a store or something?

[Godzilla Blitz]

How'd you get the Dell for such a good price? In a store or something?

Took a bit of waiting. I was checking Gotapex (http://www.gotapex.com/) once a week for a couple of months or so, as I wasn't in a hurry to buy the monitor and wanted to get it for under $400 total.

Dell had a special offer, and was tacking on free shipping to the deal. Then there was a stackable coupon code to kick in a final discount. I was off a bit on the amount in my first post, as it was $371 (not $360 or so as I had posted earlier) before tax/shipping. Still, it was $395 total after tax/shipping. I ordered through the Small Business section of their website, but as far as I know, just about anybody can order there as well.

The more popular widescreen monitor was a bit cheaper, now that I recall, but I wanted the regular monitor for greater area.

Here's the specifics:

UltraSharp 2001FP 20.1-inch Flat Panel LCD Monitor with 3-Year Warranty
Qty: 1
Unit Price: $539.00
Save 20% on select Flat Panel Monitors through the Small Business division.
Expires on 2006-04-13 11:30:00
- $107.80
ADDITIONAL DISCOUNTS AND COUPONS
Small Business customers receive FREE 3-5 day Shipping on select all Software and Peripheral order priced $49 or higher!
Expires on 2008-01-01 12:30:00
- $20.00
Dell Small Business Customers: Save $60 off EnA orders over $500!
Expires on 2006-04-21 04:59:59
- $60.00

Sub-Total
$371.20
Shipping Discount
-$20.00
Shipping
$0.00
Estimated Tax
$24.13
Total
$395.33

I've found Gotapex to be the easiest way for me to find the best prices on Dell stuff, and then the Anandtech forums if I get confused on the specifics of the order.

EDIT: Just taking a quick look at Gotapex now, and it seems like Dell has the same deal running on the 2001FP: $371.20 shipped. The 19-inch is also on sale for $219. Those are the best prices I've seen on the monitors yet this year.

[MikeVic]

Thanks a lot. I'm wondering if this is only valid for U.S. addresses... if not, I'd gladly pay that in American funds for a 10" Dell. :)

[MikeVic]

There's a Dell special on the UltraSharp 2007WFP Wide Flat Panel (20"), but the response time is only 16ms... damnit.

[Brillig]

16ms ought to be fine - 16ms is the same as 60 Hz or 60 fps.

[MikeVic]

16ms ought to be fine - 16ms is the same as 60 Hz or 60 fps.

Thanks.

I'm reading on the Dell forums something about colour banding as well... hard decision here. I wasn't expecting to find a monitor like this for around $400... but now there's a problem I'm reading about. :mad:

[MikeVic]

dola...

Dell is good about returns due to defects, correct? Say, I buy this monitor, and I notice the colour banding... I can return it to them with no shipping cost, and they'd replace it or refund my money...? Anyone have experience with Dell in this regard?

[Godzilla Blitz]

dola...

Dell is good about returns due to defects, correct? Say, I buy this monitor, and I notice the colour banding... I can return it to them with no shipping cost, and they'd replace it or refund my money...? Anyone have experience with Dell in this regard?

Eight posts up...

;)

[MikeVic]

Eight posts up...

;)

Haha. Oops. My mind is just filled so many reviews and forum posting about this monitor that I didn't even think of looking above. :P

Thanks!

[Godzilla Blitz]

No problem. No one reads everything. :)

I hadn't heard of the color banding issue. Mostly I had heard of people having difficulty with bleeding at the corners, which seems to be the most common complaint with Dell LCD monitors, especially the 24-inch ones, a size up.

To be honest, I'm not sure you can return the monitor for free. You might want to check that with Dell.

Replacements for defective monitors are totally free, though. They overnighted the replacement to me for free, and they picked up the defective one at my house for free as well.

[MikeVic]

No problem. No one reads everything. :)

I hadn't heard of the color banding issue. Mostly I had heard of people having difficulty with bleeding at the corners, which seems to be the most common complaint with Dell LCD monitors, especially the 24-inch ones, a size up.

To be honest, I'm not sure you can return the monitor for free. You might want to check that with Dell.

Replacements for defective monitors are totally free, though. They overnighted the replacement to me for free, and they picked up the old one at my house for free as well.

Ok, thanks.

I'm still looking at the 2007WFP...

[Godzilla Blitz]

Yeah, I was confused about whether to get the widescreen version or the regular version.

In the end I went with the regular version. As it was explained to me, the regular version has a larger area, which is good for general gaming: you can see more. The widescreen version is better for DVD viewing. I went with the regular version for gaming reasons. I just don't watch many DVDs on the computer.

From reading on other forums though, the widescreen version seems to be the more popular choice.

I am amazed at how awesome the picture is though at 1600 x 1200 resolution. Oblivion is a completely different game. Incredibly beautiful. Now I just have to get a video card that can keep up the frame rates at that resolution.

[AnalBumCover]

Ooh! I'm giddy with excitement! My new Dell Dimension E510 and 20" LCD monitor has just arrived at home!

[MikeVic]

Ooh! I'm giddy with excitement! My new Dell Dimension E510 and 20" LCD monitor has just arrived at home!

Which 20" did you get?

[AnalBumCover]

2007FP. Was debating on getting the widescreen, but since my 30" widescreen tv is in the same room, I can watch my movies on that instead.

[Daimyo]

Dell has an email 30% coupon that brings the 2405 down to $680 shipped for me... so tempting...

[Godzilla Blitz]

Dell has an email 30% coupon that brings the 2405 down to $680 shipped for me... so tempting...

The deciding factor for me was reading an article that talks about 10% to 50% gains in productivity when workers go from a one-monitor set up to a dual-monitor set up.

When I got the LCD, I took the old monitor I had on my PC and added it to my Mac (work) set up, so I've now got two monitors running on my Mac for work. I'm not sure I could put a percentage on the productivity gains yet, but I love having the extra monitor off to the side, especially for "big" programs like Dreamweaver. With certain tasks, it is definitely much faster.

Even if I get only a 5% gain in productivity, the LCD monitor will pay for itself in a month or two. A good move, I think.

Providing I don't spend that extra time hanging out here instead of working... :)

[MikeVic]

I'm in no rush to buy, but does anyone have opinions/experience with the BenQ FP202W? It's available for $400Cdn right now, and is a low response time (8ms), DVI input, widescreen, 20"" monitor..... I can't find anything bad about it yet...

[Daimyo]

The deciding factor for me was reading an article that talks about 10% to 50% gains in productivity when workers go from a one-monitor set up to a dual-monitor set up.

When I got the LCD, I took the old monitor I had on my PC and added it to my Mac (work) set up, so I've now got two monitors running on my Mac for work. I'm not sure I could put a percentage on the productivity gains yet, but I love having the extra monitor off to the side, especially for "big" programs like Dreamweaver. With certain tasks, it is definitely much faster.

Even if I get only a 5% gain in productivity, the LCD monitor will pay for itself in a month or two. A good move, I think.

Providing I don't spend that extra time hanging out here instead of working... :)
I believe it. I have dual LCDs at work (only 17" though) and it makes a huge difference... we're considering going up to three. I'm sure there is diminishing returns with multiple monitors, but I can still see advantages of having a third.

I want the 24" widescreen for home because of the benefits for entertainment (games and movies).

[AnalBumCover]

Dell has an email 30% coupon that brings the 2405 down to $680 shipped for me... so tempting...
From SlickDeals.net

http://www.slickdeals.net/#p7443

Use the $60 off $500 coupon and reduce it down even more. Also, I'm not sure if the $35 off $300 coupon (sold at eBay for about $1) works with Dell's monitors. If so, that's a Dell 2405FPW 24" Widescreen for about $604... :eek:

[MikeVic]

I ended up getting a Viewsonic VX2025wm, and am using it now. :)

Anyone know of freeware programs that do things like test out for dead pixels?

[sabotai]

If you had dead pixels, chances are you would notice them.

[MikeVic]

If you had dead pixels, chances are you would notice them.

I don't notice anything myself, but running some program I found shows one that I can see.... but I don't see it normally. Even knowing where it is. Maybe I was reading the program wrong.... either way, I'll play some Half-Life 2 to test it out. ;)

[Godzilla Blitz]

I ended up getting a Viewsonic VX2025wm, and am using it now. :)

Anyone know of freeware programs that do things like test out for dead pixels?

Congrats!

You might want to run a check for backlight bleeding as well. Do it at night. Turn off the lights. Put on the Windows XP screen saver that makes the screen black except for the floating XP logo. You shouldn't see significant amounts of light coming out of any corners of your screen. As much as possible, the screen should be an even color all across.

[MikeVic]

Congrats!

You might want to run a check for backlight bleeding as well. Do it at night. Turn off the lights. Put on the Windows XP screen saver that makes the screen black except for the floating XP logo. You shouldn't see significant amounts of light coming out of any corners of your screen. As much as possible, the screen should be an even color all across.

Thanks. :) I'll try it out tonight.

I noticed one dead pixel on the top left quadrant... but haven't noticed anything else. I'm not sure if it's worth the hassle of returns to get one pixel fixed...

[NickSaban]

I just bought a Samsung 930bf to replace my dying six-year old flat screen CRT. Screen looks awesome, and games (Oblivion) have been running just fine. Went from analog to DVI at the same time, so that might help explain the quantum leap up.