Need advice on 17" monitors

[Karthik]

I'm planning to get Samsung Syncmaster 795MB (http://www.samsung.com/my/products/monitor/syncmastercdt/795mb.asp) monitor. However I decided to re-think because I heard horror stories about this monitor. Example brown lines appear out of nowhere.
Do you guys have any suggestion of any good 17" monitors?

[Kevin Wolff]

Dell UltraSharp 1704FPV (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=320-4042&c=us&cat=snp&category_id=210&cs=19&l=en&Page=productlisting.aspx)

If you can afford it, of course.

EDIT: There's another on the site for $250, but it doesn't have DVI and the contrast ratio is much lower.

[The Dukenator]

Been using this one for months:
http://www.officemax.com/max/solutions/p...ckOID=537150048 (http://www.officemax.com/max/solutions/product/prodBlock.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&expansionOID=-536906916&prodBlockOID=537150048)
They also have a 19" as well.

There's some LCDs on there too.
http://www.officemax.com/max/solutions/p...nOID=-536906915 (http://www.officemax.com/max/solutions/product/thumbnail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&expansionOID=-536906915)

Not sure if you can get these anywhere else.

[8IronBob]

AFAIK, I believe that Westinghouse seems to have a good monitor, looking at these specs, it has a rich contrast ratio and response time to it. 600:1, and 12 ms response time, give or take (going in the middle with the response time), this one just seems right for a sharp picture:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?...d=1112808997046 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7196394&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01010&id=1112808997046)

[Gatinater]

I prefer NEC monitors myself.

[8IronBob]

Well, I believe that I have found my own top 5 brands outside of the one I mentioned. NEC came close, but from research from the specs, and actually seeing them up close and personal, these were the ones that looked best to me:

5) LG Flatron
4) Westinghouse
3) Samsung
2) Dell Ultrasharp
1) BenQ

Those are in order from worst to best monitors that I found. I know about Westinghouse, since that appears to be the company behind Apple's monitors (from what I understand). LG's up and coming from what I understand (they bought out Zenith, if I'm not mistaken). BenQ needs no introduction, and that is no understatement. Dell Ultrasharp, especially the widescreen monitors, they are completely bright and rich, and allows for a generous response time. Those are the reviews from my regarding my choices, and even tho they may not be the most affordable monitors, they do a great job for gaming monitors, or for viewing movies/TV shows.

[Karthik]

Gatinater said:
I prefer NEC monitors myself.


Well I've been using 15" NEC MultiSync v520, which gave away a few weeks ago. I'm stuck with my dad's laptop now.
IronBob, have you heard of this problem which is plaques some of Samsung's monitor:
Brown lines (http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=97279)
You'll have to scroll to the bottom of the page to see it.

[JimboC]

We've used Samsung 17" monitors at work. Every model we've used has been awesome. Clear, reliable, great performance. Only thing is that all of them lost some vibrance after a month or so, kind of like you turn the color levels down by 10% or something. For work it's not a problem, but I'm not sure I'd want one on my desk at home.

We've also used Viewsonic monitors that look really great through their lifetime, but they don't seem to have the reliability of the Samsung monitors. Probably 20% failed within 2 years. We've only had 3 or 4 Samsungs go bad out of 450 that we've installed over the past 4 years or so.

I'm not sure if the models you'd get in Malaysia would be the same we get in America. A lot of companies will change the models slightly to mee import/export requirements.

[8IronBob]

I sort of wonder how the LG Flatron monitors would hold up. From my understanding, those appear to be some fairly decent monitors, from a standpoint of sharpness and response time. They may be rather pricey, but at least the quality appears to be there.

[Buzzer]

If i were you i'd hold out for a couple months and get the Samsung Syncmaster 770P. Here's the goods:

• 6MS overdrive PVA panel (fastest PVA panel available, excellent for gaming)
• 1500:1 contrast ratio (comparable to CRT)
• Available in black, white and blue

Here's a PDF brochure from the Samsung site:

http://www.samsung.com/ar/products/monitor/lcd/files/brochure_770p.pdf

And here's a review in martian, or something close to it http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif :

http://www.prohardver.hu/rios3_popup.php?mod=21&id=801

The review is for the 970P, wich is the 19" version of the 770p, the only difference is that the 970P has a 1000:1 contrast ration, so the 770P should look even better. The review is pretty much useless unless you speak Hungarian, but judging from the Pixperan test screenshots it looks to be a real performer.

[Karthik]

I need one urgently! Even if I bought that monitor, I still need an out of this world graphic card to take advantage of it.

[Buzzer]

Karthik said:
I need one urgently! Even if I bought that monitor, I still need an out of this world graphic card to take advantage of it.



Then i'd go for the Samsung 730BF, it's the fastest TN-panel available right now (4ms !!!) , i've read 3 reviews all saying that it shows absolutely no ghosting whatsoever, and the colors seem to be ok too, as good as TN panels can get. It also comes with a DVI cable.

It'll cost you around 300-350$, if you're a hardcore gamer it's the best solution.

Look up some 730BF reviews on the web.