Monitor - any suggestions?

[teemro]

Hi folks,

I am planning to buy a 21" C monitor to go with my newly built pc.

Are there any general recommendations, or even specific Model that are recommended? I do a lot of general surfing, and play some games. I have a GeForce 2X video card on an A7N8X mobo.

Money is an issue, and my limit will be around £175 Sterling or $250.

Many thanks.

[LawyerRon]

teemro,
Sorry for the bad news but it's going to be very difficult to find a 21" monitor for $250. Here in the States, you can do it if you drop down to 19" as Samsung and others have nice monitors in that range.

The 21" monitors are generally geared towards the professional graphic artist that requires superb color accuracy and sharpness and as such are not cheap.

[Tuf]

You can find them used for that pretty often. I don't know where they come from, they are generally name brands but I never see the model numbers advertised and the specs aren't too good, specs ususally around .28 dot pitch. Most site that have refurbs will have them, CompUSA usually has some on their auction and closeout site. The kicker is they weigh about 90 pounds and would be costly to ship.

Generally a new 21" or 22" quality monitor like we use will run $1200-$1600.

[teemro]

Well thanks for the warning - Happy New Year.

[JCB]

I just got a Viewsonic A90f+ (19') for $250 after $40 mail-in-rebate and I love it!!!!

[Tuf]

Those last three inches can cost you an easy thousand dollars.

[JCB]

Yeah, any ideas as to why that is?

[teemro]

Nope - why?

[LawyerRon]

My "guess" is because the 21" is not mass produced in the quantities of the 17 and 19 inch monitors, the crt tubes are probably much more expensive (Trinitron's aren't cheap), and since the 21" monitors are marketed to Graphics Professionals, they likely have more sophisticated logic boards, better power supplies, etc.

[ozzfreak]

I vote for the Samsung SyncMaster 955DF. I paid something like 250 free shipping from gateway almost a year ago. I can't find my receipt, or I would give you an exact price. It's a 19", haven't had any problems with it. If/When I build a new computer, I'll buy another one like this, or similar.

Oz

[Wildnites]

Too bad you don't live here in the states, bloke. I have been seeing some incredible deals on CRT monitors since this past summer. I hope the trend continues on your side of the Atlantic. I think alot of vendors are making way for the wave of flat-panel models that are now very popular. As a result the prices for CRT monitors are dropping percipitously for new and used. Don't buy a flat-panel monitor if you plan on gaming seriously, because changing many of the settings for many of the flat panels can result in poorer looking images. (It is common for gamers to change the monitor's resolution to allow better performance.) I have been told by more than a few gamers that the best performance for price can be found in a good used 19" CRT monitor instead of flat-panel. Personally, I have two Sony Trinitrons and a Dell P900 (19") using the aperture grill technology and they are superb performers. I bought them all used. The Sonys were $80 each at a show and the P900 cost $115 since it was a bit newer. The P900 also uses a Trinitron tube. Trinitrons last a looooooong time so if you can find one that was treated nicely, chances are you won't need to replace it anytime soon. If you game or plan to do graphics or video editing, spend a little more and get a monitor with a better dpi, like .24 or .25 rather than just the standard .28. You'll really see the difference.