Considering I'm using a 19" CRT and have no idea about monitors past that, any suggestions for new ones would be appreciated.

I'd like to keep the price below $400, and in kind do NOT watch movies on the PC, really only doing what we do here, a bit of skinning, and AutoCAD.

Thanks for any suggestions!

K2

LG 22" 1920x1080 W2261V-PF or LG 24" 1920x1080 W2442PA-BF

There well bellow what your willing to pay and better than a Samsung Syncmaster at a much better price.

It's become really hard for me to recommend monitors because ever since I got my Acer with the S-PVA panel I've become a bit of a monitor snob. I hate it but it's true. I see little point in having a powerful pc with the latest graphics if the only way to get those images out of the pc's 1's and 0's and into the real world is virtually an Etch-a-Sketch. It's literally the window into the pc's world, without it it's a really sophisticated radio. I'll tell anyone who will listen, do not get a monitor with a TN panel. TN panels have a really small viewing angle (the stats say 160/170 deg. but it's not true, it's effectively 60deg.), they are really bad at reproducing colors, the colors and brightness shift with the slightest move of your head.

It's hard to sort out which monitor has which panel but a little research goes a long way. Try to find an S-PVA panel at the least, or even better an IPS panel. Downside is they are more expensive, I got very lucky and found my Acer S-PVA for $400 (they don't make them anymore, all acers are TN). Look around and maybe you can get lucky too. Whatever you do though, do not get less than 24" (1920x1200). If I were buying now, I'd spend the extra $ on this bad boy.

No offence, and I suppose it is in that I know how lousy they are with their PC's and printers (a lot of sticking it to the customers and all the associated software WAY too intrusive), yet I don't think I could ever buy an HP monitor (or much of anything unless I had to).

At one time groups like them, Gateway, Compac, etc. were really pushing the industry. Yet now they seem to me to really just be riding the well known name, and not very customer oriented.

Maybe just me and unfounded bias *shrugs*, and appreciate the suggestion yet past using its specs to judge others will walk past the HP.

WHat is S-PVA and IPS though?.......N/M....did what I should of done and looked it up, THANKS!

I know I keep asking for suggetions, yet this helps educate me as to the latest technology....Thanks for all the input!

K2

For $400 or less you should be able to get a nice 24" LCD monitor.. I got my Acer (Which is great BTW... although I do agree don't go less than 24"" especially if you are on a 19" CRT now) on sale @ 18 months or so ago for $300 .. back then it was a steal.. now it is the norm.. Viewing angle... I don't know about you K but when I am on my PC I am usually sitting in front of it.. not at an angle..

ZZF LCD monitors

Not trying to talk you into anything, as I said I've become a bit of a snob in this area and knowing it I digress from convincing anyone. But I would like to say a few words to educate.

Fisrt, monitor specs are the WORST set of specs in the whole industry, there is not standardization and a lot of companies use tricks to pad their numbers, so there are many times when looking at the numbers monitor A looks better than monitor B, but when set side by side in reality monitor A is gold plated poop. So research is the order of the day when it comes to monitors, specs can pretty much be safely ignored. No TN panel will ever have the image quality or performance of a PVA or IPS pane, no matter what fancy numbers they throw around to bamboozle the customer.

As for HP, normally I would agree with you, but HP's monitors are some of the BEST in the buisness. That's because they don't actually make them, lol. Both the high end HP's and Dell monitors contain the same LG H-IPS panel.

About 3 months ago I got me a nice Samsung T240 24 inch HD (1920x1200) LCD monitor, haven´t looked back since then.

I agree with all the guys in this thread, don´t go for anything less than HD (1920x1080) resolution, that is, 24 inches or more if you don´t wanna kill your eyes reading really fine print.

I got mine for $275 and I think it´s a steal. IL-2 never looked better, and at 1920x1200, you almost need no AA. I use 2xAA with Adaptive Anti Aliasing enabled so I don´t lower my FPS and still get great image quality.

So yeah, get a 24 incher and you won´t break the bank while doing so, hell for less than $400 you could even get a nice 26 incher.

Mitsubisi RDT231WLM-S 23" Full HD or Mitsubisi RDT271WLM-BK 27" full HD monitors, the last one is supost to be about 440 US Dollars wen it comes out just before Xmas.




Now thats what i call a "Bad Boy"

I have a 20" flatscreen Samsung that I got for free with my old computer, I think it went for about $150 at the time. I'd recommend something like that, it's wider than a CRT and gives you good high resolution, and the price is decent. Way better than a CRT for gaming. Pay more if you want a bigger screen with a higher native resolution.

I am very happy with my Samsung SyncMaster 2343BW LCD.

great color, at 23" it is big enough for me, and the wxtra large 2048 x 1152 resolution makes for smaller pixels which I think is a plus also. I did buy a double link DVI cable with it. I have always been very pleased with Samsung monitors.