Suggest an LCD

U

unhappy_mage

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - October 2005
Joined
Jun 29, 2004
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11,455
I'm looking to replace my aging CRT after Christmas, and have started doing my homework on LCDs. In that vein, I thought I'd ask for suggestions for what display fits my needs. Here are the criteria I've come up with:
  • Mostly looking at 24" models, but bigger or smaller are okay as long as they meet the next requirement
  • At least 1920x1200. I like a big desktop area.
  • Nominal budget is ~$400, but if I have to spend $600 to get the features I'll suck it up.
  • Major use will be text-type stuff - web browsing, programming - but movies are the second use. No games, or at least not enough to be a consideration.
  • HDCP. I don't like the idea but I like the idea of rebuying a monitor even less. HDMI would be convenient, but DVI would be okay instead. I only need one input.

A few LCDs I've interacted with include:
  • Benq FP241W: didn't like it, but perhaps because of the fact it was connected via VGA. I noticed fairly strong diagonal banding on flat-colored surfaces which bugged me a lot.
  • LG 246WP: do like it, but it's more than I'd prefer to spend and does more than I need.
  • Old Dell 17 & 19" panels: they're okay, but the very slow refresh times can be distracting.
  • An old 6-bit panel: I wanted to stab my eyes out. A barely visible flicker in fluorescent lights is enough to make me cringe, this was a thousand times worse. Avoid at all costs.

A few that I've looked at to buy. and my thoughts on each:
  • Soyo DYLM24D6: No HDCP or HDMI, and apparently overheating leading to banding. Cheap is nice. $300
  • Benq FP241W: Maybe switching to DVI would fix the banding I noticed? This is way more than I'd like to spend. $650
  • Gateway FHD2400: TN panel, which I gather is not preferred. Glossy, which I don't think I'd like. $510
  • Dell 2407WFP-HC: Way expensive, nice monitor as far as I can tell. $700
  • LG 246WP: This is more expensive than I'd like, but there are specials down to $450 or $500 and I'd wait for one. $600 otherwise.

So, any suggestions?
 
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