Help with monitor selection. (Westy 37" vs. Dell 24".)

L

LaZyScV

n00b
Joined
Jan 26, 2007
Messages
26
Okay, I am trying to decide between two displays; price does not matter since if, say, the Westy is better than spending the extra $300, $500 is worth it because I plan to use either for a long, long time.
But, I do not want anything bigger; 1920x1200 is the sweet spot for me, anything bigger like the 30" monitors or a TripleHead2Go solution are too much . . . would have to keep upgrading my PC to run new games decently.

Anyway, I am leaning a lot towards the 2407WFP over the Westinghouse LVM-37W3; it is smaller, uses less power, has more functionability of the stand (wall-mount for the Westy is null, since I cannot do that), has a smaller pixel pitch and so on.

But, just looking at images of Westy is impressive . . . though I read that people have problems getting one that works well and that lasts more than a couple of months, yet these people probably do not have the LVM-37W3 version.
I am very iffy about it because of the size . . . how far away do I have to be from it for it to look good/not hurt? The maximum I would be able to do is sit 3 1/2 feet or so from the screen.

Anyway, my uses:

1st: Gaming, by far.
2nd: Internet/word, reading stuff in general.
3rd:: Watching movies/anime and so on, this part is quite important though, because I may want to use the new display for my main use for watching movies instead of my TV.
4th: Image editing.

I am also considering an Eizo, but those are crazy expensive and I do not think I can justify the price.
Oh, and I actually care about how good it looks, I do not just want a fast big monitor.
 
Was debating the same myself for a few weeks here....just pulled the trigger on the Dell 2407. I went to a buddy's house with a 32 lcd tv he uses as a monitor and just didn't like how big it was (OK I love how big it is, didn't like sitting so far back to use it.

Do like I am, buy it from Costco. Cannot go wrong. If you are not happy, return it. No lose situation. It is not exploiting their return policy -- they guarantee your satisfaction.
 
I absolutely love my Westy, after moving up from a Dell 2407. There's no comparison...Westy hands down. Period. TV, gaming, surfing, you name it. Sit 3-4 feet away or more, and it's perfect for everything.
 
Ah.

Well, there is not a Costco in my area; but there is a Sam's Club (which is supposed to hold it, according to Westinghouse website) and the BestBuy in a city nearby (which is also supposed to have it, same source).

I think my Grandpa has a membership to Sam's Club, so I'll see if he still has one . . . and I'll call BestBuy / Sam's Club (depending if my Grandpa still has membership) to see if they have it in stock and if they have it on display.

I do not think I would get the Westinghouse unless I could get it at a local store, and get to look at it beforehand.
May cost more, but worth it.

So, sitting about 3 to 4 feet away is good? I can show you a picture of my desktop when I get back from work (I have to go to work soon as i finish typing this), so you can see how far back I can put it.
 
to those of you with the westy 37" and the dell 24":

how does the colour reproduction compare between the two?

btw: you westy folks must have huge desks to be able to sit >4 feet back since i'm only sitting around 2feet away from my dell 24" and my desk is considered pretty huge
 
I'd go with the BenQ FP241W for a 24" monitor. It has better image quality than the dell and the dell has a bad component input. Problem with the westy is that it's so big and the resolution isn't that great so you have to sit pretty far to see it without seeing jaggies and pixelated images.
 
toin7 said:
I'd go with the BenQ FP241W for a 24" monitor. It has better image quality than the dell and the dell has a bad component input. Problem with the westy is that it's so big and the resolution isn't that great so you have to sit pretty far to see it without seeing jaggies and pixelated images.
Click to expand...

False, you have to be viewing it at under 1 foot distance to see the pixels, at more than 1.5 feet you won't notice te pixel structure. I'll take the westy over any 24" on the market.
 
If you notice his post, he says his monitor is for gaming by far. the westy is designed more for living room watching with such a relatively low resolution, which should classify it as an LCD tv not an LCD monitor. PCs and pc games take advantage of higher resolutions as it gives more desktop space among other things. Also, if he's sitting at max 3.5 feet away, it's going to be hard to get a monitor that's 37" diagonal all the way into his FOV. That's why the BenQ is probably the better monitor for him.
 
toin7 said:
If you notice his post, he says his monitor is for gaming by far. the westy is designed more for living room watching with such a relatively low resolution, which should classify it as an LCD tv not an LCD monitor.
Click to expand...
Uh, I'm sorry, but are you high? Since when is 1920 x 1080 "low resolution"?
 
toin7 said:
If you notice his post, he says his monitor is for gaming by far. the westy is designed more for living room watching with such a relatively low resolution, which should classify it as an LCD tv not an LCD monitor. PCs and pc games take advantage of higher resolutions as it gives more desktop space among other things. Also, if he's sitting at max 3.5 feet away, it's going to be hard to get a monitor that's 37" diagonal all the way into his FOV. That's why the BenQ is probably the better monitor for him.
Click to expand...

Native 1920X1080p is a"relatively low resolution"??:confused:
 
for a 37" monitor and sitting pretty close, i believe it is small also. On a 24" it is not however.
 
Hence the relatively part. Both 24 and 30 inch Monitors, not tvs, have higher resolutions despite being quite a bit smaller diagonally. Now if there were a 37 inch monitor, chances are it would have a resolution greater than or equal to 2560x1600. The Westy was designed to be for Hi def programming, console gaming, and multimedia PCs, not for regular PCs.
 
on this note, are there any 24" glossy monitors? Or, what are other good choices other than the dell?
 
Personally, I love my BenQ FP241W. It's one of the better 24" ones out there. If you're going to be using the component input, don't get the dell since it's component input is terrible from what I read on this forum. The BenQ is getting many good reviews too. If you're just going to use it for pc use and gaming, I'd look into one of the cheaper 24" monitors without HDCP as they are cheaper and have faster response times.
 
it isnt glossy is it? I dont really know if its that i want a glossy screen, but I THINK that its that i automatically associate matte screens with not true blacks (and possibly bleeding).

HDCP is needed for HD video? (from where...just a dvd player? i know my gfx is HDCP capable)
 
There is very little bleeding with the BenQ, and blacks are pretty good. If you want even better blacks, wait for the Z version that uses BFI technology to make blacks darker. If you wish to view hdcp content on your monitor, you need to have the monitor HDCP capable or else it can't decrypt the signal.
 
According to the viewing distance chart posted all over AVSforum, the full 1080p resolution for a 37" can be discerned at at a distance of ~5 feet or less. The full resolution of a 1080p 24" screen can be discerned at ~3 feet or less. That means the FULL resolution of the westy is not visible at 10 feet away in your living room. I sit within 3.5 feet of my 37" westy and I'm perfectly happy with it.

Charts and other nonsense aside, the Westy is a fantastic gaming monitor, jaggies are a non-issue, and the resolution is just fine. I finally have a monitor that I don't find myself leaning INTO for a change. He should buy from a retailer with a good return policy like sams club and try it out for a spell.
 
toin7 said:
The Westy was designed to be for Hi def programming, console gaming, and multimedia PCs, not for regular PCs.
Click to expand...

I fail to see your point here.... the westy is fine for 1080p console games....but not for 1080p computer games?
 
I just bought the Westinghouse 37 inch 1080p TV, and I'm not going back to anything smaller. I had an Acer 22inch widescreen, and it's now on my secondary PC. The Westinghouse is seriously mind numbing. You have to have one hooked up, and play on it to truly experiance it. I would recommend you pick up the Westy somewhere you can return it (hell, even if you can't, I can say with 99% certianty that you won't return it anyways) It's a glorious monitor. Ever single one of my friends that comes over to see it, are dooling and frothing at the mouth.. and this includes some of my friends that own the Dell 2407's ect, and use them for Video editing, and graphic work. I can almost guarantee, if you would try the Westy, you would fall in love with it. I sit about 2-3 feet away, and games look freaking awesome. I run all games at it's native res of 1920x1080. I also run 2x 7800 GTX sli.

Westy1.jpg
 
Dimensions (W×H×D)
with Base: 25.9" x 37.3" x 8.2"
w/o Base: 23.8" x 37.3" x 4.7"

Weight with Base: 50 lbs.
w/o Base: 43 lbs.
 
dclam said:
I fail to see your point here.... the westy is fine for 1080p console games....but not for 1080p computer games?
Click to expand...

Because many if not most computer games can run higher than 1080p. 1920x1200, 2560x1600, etc.
 
toin7 said:
If you notice his post, he says his monitor is for gaming by far. the westy is designed more for living room watching with such a relatively low resolution, which should classify it as an LCD tv not an LCD monitor. PCs and pc games take advantage of higher resolutions as it gives more desktop space among other things. Also, if he's sitting at max 3.5 feet away, it's going to be hard to get a monitor that's 37" diagonal all the way into his FOV. That's why the BenQ is probably the better monitor for him.
Click to expand...

toin7 said:
Because many if not most computer games can run higher than 1080p. 1920x1200, 2560x1600, etc.
Click to expand...

I would just like to point out, and say again, that both displays (the 2407WFP and the Westy 37") have a native/max resolution of 1920x1200(Dell)/1920 x 1080(Westy) . . . thus making your supposed points useless. I think those resolutions are the sweet spot for me, since they are on the slightly big side, yet not so big that I have to upgrade my computer every time a new game comes out to run it at max settings and native resolution.

Again, they have about the same resolution and I am not interested at all in monitors with a bigger resolution because I use it for gaming.
Now, if I was just doing graphic work and the like I would definitely get at least a 30" monitor because it is not going to make my computer die trying to use it for what I do.

Edit:
Here is my current desktop . . . old computer and old monitor:

PC290001.jpg


PC290002.jpg


I can put the Westy all the way back if need be . . . I think that would be more than enough distance considering this picture:

Hordsak said:
Westy1.jpg
Click to expand...

By the way . . . Hordsak, that is what, like a foot 1./2 to 2 feet away from the display? How does it look that close and does it hurt after a long time?
 
toin7 said:
Because many if not most computer games can run higher than 1080p. 1920x1200, 2560x1600, etc.
Click to expand...

What utility would I get from running a game at a higher resolution? I get the priviledge of spending more money on gfx cards trying to power those resolutions, on a smaller screen no less :)

I do print work for a living, I'll take a 30" 4+ megapixel monitor for that stuff. But for gaming and average computer use (web browsing, word processing), the westy is King, Emperor, and Lord of the Universe. And there are a whole lot of people that agree with me.
 
toin7 said:
Because many if not most computer games can run higher than 1080p. 1920x1200, 2560x1600, etc.
Click to expand...


Maybe I am just too lazy to do the math, but the westy is 16:9 where a 24" dell is 16:10. Wouldnt that make the 1920x1200 vs. 1920x1080 the factor of the ratio, not the pixel pitch?
 
bmartin said:
Maybe I am just too lazy to do the math, but the westy is 16:9 where a 24" dell is 16:10. Wouldnt that make the 1920x1200 vs. 1920x1080 the factor of the ratio, not the pixel pitch?
Click to expand...

psst...he's talking about higher resolution...not actual height ;)
 
I wouldn't be able to stand a pixel pitch of 0.4266, which is almost twice that of my BenQ. If I wanted a 37" monitor, it'd have to have a really high resolution personally. And I have 2 8800GTX in SLi, so high resolution gaming is no problem for me.
 
So have you tried the Westy out and decided these things, or are you just jumping to conclusions? I don't mind if you've tried it and didn't like it and want to warn him, but you aren't contributing anything if you are making assumptions.

For reference:
The Westy is 60ppi, "standard monitors" are 92ppi, a 2560x1600 30" is 100ppi, and laptop screens are around 110ppi.
 
I have actually. My friend uses one, and I personally can't stand the monitor. I'm a big fan of lots of desktop space. Use 2 24" monitors myself.
 
toin, I think you're pretty much the only person that I've ever seen that has tried both and wanted the 24''. You must be a very unique person; do some searching here on HF, every single person that I've seen prefers the Westy, including me. I can't stand my 2407 anymore once I've had the Westy.
 
Veritas616 said:
toin, I think you're pretty much the only person that I've ever seen that has tried both and wanted the 24''. You must be a very unique person; do some searching here on HF, every single person that I've seen prefers the Westy, including me. I can't stand my 2407 anymore once I've had the Westy.
Click to expand...
Well, I doubt he's the only one, considering that there seem to be a ton of people who think the pixel pitch on a 27 inch monitor at 1920 by 1200 is way too large.

In any case, I don't see why people get so fired up about this -- if what you have makes you happy, then who really cares if someone else likes something different? My advice to the OP, as others have already said, is that I don't think there's really any substitute for looking at both and deciding which you personally like better. Asking others for their opinion can be somewhat helpful for learning about quality and durability, but I think a good return policy is probably your best bet when trying to decide. In the end you just have to take a chance on one of them and then decide whether it's really what you want.
 
LaZyScV said:
I would just like to point out, and say again, that both displays (the 2407WFP and the Westy 37") have a native/max resolution of 1920x1200(Dell)/1920 x 1080(Westy) . . . thus making your supposed points useless. I think those resolutions are the sweet spot for me, since they are on the slightly big side, yet not so big that I have to upgrade my computer every time a new game comes out to run it at max settings and native resolution.

Again, they have about the same resolution and I am not interested at all in monitors with a bigger resolution because I use it for gaming.
Now, if I was just doing graphic work and the like I would definitely get at least a 30" monitor because it is not going to make my computer die trying to use it for what I do.

Edit:
Here is my current desktop . . . old computer and old monitor:

PC290001.jpg


PC290002.jpg


I can put the Westy all the way back if need be . . . I think that would be more than enough distance considering this picture:



By the way . . . Hordsak, that is what, like a foot 1./2 to 2 feet away from the display? How does it look that close and does it hurt after a long time?
Click to expand...


From the way I sit, it's probably closer to 2-3 feet away. It looks great, and it does not hurt my eyes. I mean, everyone is different but it's fine with me.
 
Hordsak said:
I just bought the Westinghouse 37 inch 1080p TV, and I'm not going back to anything smaller. I had an Acer 22inch widescreen, and it's now on my secondary PC. The Westinghouse is seriously mind numbing. You have to have one hooked up, and play on it to truly experiance it. I would recommend you pick up the Westy somewhere you can return it (hell, even if you can't, I can say with 99% certianty that you won't return it anyways) It's a glorious monitor. Ever single one of my friends that comes over to see it, are dooling and frothing at the mouth.. and this includes some of my friends that own the Dell 2407's ect, and use them for Video editing, and graphic work. I can almost guarantee, if you would try the Westy, you would fall in love with it. I sit about 2-3 feet away, and games look freaking awesome. I run all games at it's native res of 1920x1080. I also run 2x 7800 GTX sli.

Westy1.jpg
Click to expand...

how is that mounted on the wall? (or just leaned up or something)

also, that bezel looks different...which model is that? How far is the bezel from the table to the screen? (dimensions)
 
I went to Best Buy, where they have a ton of Westinghouse displays . . . it is too big. They did not have the right version of the 37, but it was good enough . . . plus they had a bunch of other monitors.

The Sony and LG screens definitely looked better than all the Westinghouse displays (there were at least 10 screens, 7 monitors) . . . but I do not know how they look for desktops, and their sizes, plus they could have been better adjusted than the Westinghouses.

I am glad I saw them in action; it is just too big.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top