Help Me Choose My Monitor

Hey guys,

I'm currently building a new computer, and I'm ready to round up my accessories. I basically have no idea what kind of monitor I should get, so I'd appreciate a basic run-down of the different "types" of monitors, and your personal recommendations of which ones you've had good experiences with.

Here are my system specs.

ABIT IC7-G Max II Advance
Intel Pentium 4 3.00GHz 512KB L2 Cache PGA478 800MHz
Antec TruePower 430W 12V ATX
MUSHKIN 512MB PC3200 Level 2 DDR/SDRAM x2
ATI Radeon 9800PRO 128MB DDR
Western Digital 250GB 7200RPM SATA
NEC 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive

As you can see, I bought a high-end graphics card for a pretty good system. I'd like to buy the best monitor I can get for maybe around $200 - $300. I'll be gaming, watching DVD's, etc., so investing in a good monitor is important. I will, of course, buy from NewEgg as soon as I pick out the monitor I want.

Your n00b walkthrough and recommendations are appreciated.

I have the one lower model of this monitor: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-002-220&depa=1

I love mine and that one can only be better. If you're going 19" it's perfect. I use mine for gaming, like yours will be used for.

This is mine btw: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-002-037&depa=1

I'd get the more $$$ one if I could trade

are you shooting for CRTs or LCDs?

CRT= the big bulky kinds
LCD= the flat ones, aka flat panel

with CRTs, theres also the normal ones and flatscreen, meaning the screen isnt curved or rounded, its flat

I'm using the Dell 2001FP 20.1" LCD screen. It's very nice and got it for a good price too when Dell has the occassional 25% off discount. I've played CS and a few other games on it and have found no signs of ghosting. My video car is a Leadtek GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB. Works well together, especially when you run it on DVI.

BuddhaTB said:

I'm using the Dell 2001FP 20.1" LCD screen. It's very nice and got it for a good price too when Dell has the occassional 25% off discount. I've played CS and a few other games on it and have found no signs of ghosting. My video car is a Leadtek GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB. Works well together, especially when you run it on DVI.

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I'd like to buy the best monitor I can get for maybe around $200 - $300

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umm i still think thats 350% over his price range...... you just like to show off that you have a 2001fp dont you?

BuddhaTB said:

I'm using the Dell 2001FP 20.1" LCD screen. It's very nice and got it for a good price too when Dell has the occassional 25% off discount. I've played CS and a few other games on it and have found no signs of ghosting. My video car is a Leadtek GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB. Works well together, especially when you run it on DVI.

Click to expand...

I had a 2001fp and it sucked. Picture was so grainy and dark.

infin|ty said:

I had a 2001fp and it sucked. Picture was so grainy and dark.

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did you even take the time to calibrate it? because i too have had a 2001fp and its picture was superb....... now can we get back to the original question?

shoot for a NEC 990 or 991. the viewsonic p90f+ has good refresh rates and max resolution, but i have heard complaints about the picture quality.

Get the Mitsubishi DP930SB. It has the highest refresh rates for any of the 19" NEC/Mitsubishi monitors. Its the exact same monitor as the discontinued NEC FP912SB.

It costs around $257 at Newegg. I have one and i run it at 1600x1200 @ 85Hz. They are excellent for gaming.

Those Mitusbishi/NEC monitors are great!!!! I have the NEC FP2141sb It is basically the same monitor but a 21". My friend saw it and bought the NEC/Mitsibishi recommended above. It is an aperture grill monitor. Probably one of the best 19" monitors out there. Keep in mind there will be two faint horizontal lines but they are real hard to see. Go for it!

Mitsubishi DP930SB because they don't make the NEC FP912 anymore.

It seems that whatever part I buy is quickly taken off the market soon afterwards...hmm

Keep in consideration the power usage between LCDs and CRTs. An LCD monitor generally requires less than a CRT, so if you're critical of your electricity bill, ya might wanna keep this in mind.

That's true, but I have my monitor go into power save mode after 10 minutes. In usage, it uses I think 120 watts or something; when it's in power save, it's only about 1 watt.

Link for Reference:
NEC/MITSUBISHI DP930SB-BK 19" SuperBright Diamondtron CRT Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-002-220&depa=0

Keep recommending!