Gaming Monitor

[Lycidas]

Hey all, I've been lurking for the past couple weeks in Displays and have read tons of reviews and everything for different monitors. Here's what I'm looking for:

Looking for a gaming monitor that can take both an xbox 360 input and my video card input (not necessarily at the same time; see sig for details on gpu). I'd like to be able to play DA2 and other lower graphics games like SC2 on the desktop, but also be able to play COD:BO on my xbox.

I've seen tons of hype over the Dell U2311H, but also heard it's a roll of the dice as to what quality you get. It also doesn't come with an HDMI port, which really bothers me.

My budget can't exceed $500, but I'd prefer to stick around $300. I also know very little about displays and when it comes to graphics I'm not extremely picky. I'd prefer to not have ghosting or color bleed issues but don't mind tinkering with the settings to fix the color issues.

Any help would be very much appreciated!
**EDIT: I also live in Ohio, near a microcenter but not near a fry's if at all any help

 

[Mabu]

It also doesn't come with an HDMI port, which really bothers me.

I don't have a recommendation for you, but did just want to point out that you shouldn't limit your monitor choices based on HDMI inputs, since you should be able to use an HDMI -> DVI cable just fine, at least for video. For audio, you'd have to run separate audio cables. Also, there's an official VGA cable from MS for the XBOX360 that works very well also.

 

[sasiko]

but why should the hdmi bother you. isnt dvi cable just about the same quality as hdmi?

 

[Lycidas]

but why should the hdmi bother you.

It's not really a huge issue, but I do have an HDMI cable for the xbox which means that I could hypothetically have both the HDMI and DVI inputs used at the same time. Then it's just a monitor setting as to which input to use. If there's a huge cost benefit to going without an HDMI input then I'm all ears (eyes).

 

[LeninGHOLA]

Use Displayport from the PC and HDMI->DVI from the xbox.

 

[Lycidas]

Use Displayport from the PC and HDMI->DVI from the xbox.

I'd rather this thread not become a DVI vs. HMDI vs. Displayport thread. As long as the functionality of two inputs and minimal quality loss is applicable then the monitor is qualified. I still need a suggestion for a display and currently have none

 

[Mabu]

You should see zero loss of video quality going with a HDMI-DVI cable, so long as said cable isn't a piece of crap to begin with.

I think I hit the panel lottery jackpot with my Dell U2311H, and will see how it looks with my XBOX360 later today. I don't normally play FPS at all, but will give it a go with a few different games and report my findings.

 

[Lycidas]

I think I hit the panel lottery jackpot with my Dell U2311H, and will see how it looks with my XBOX360 later today. I don't normally play FPS at all, but will give it a go with a few different games and report my findings.

Sure thing. It's always nice to have people testing things out in person. Anyone else have any display experience they can lend? I'm looking to buy very soon.

 

[Westernesse]

I have a u2311h and its pretty much fine, some very minor black light bleeds in 2 of the four corners, but you can't tell that unless your blacking out the screen in a dark room. I don't notice it dark games. I also have 2 NEC EA231 mons which is the same panel, but sold by NEC instead of Dell, supposedly NEC has better quality, but all 3 panels turned out just fine for me. I think your odds of getting a good panel are pretty high, its just if 10% of buyers get a backlight bleed or stuck on pixels half of them are gonna post about it.

Otherwise its a great monitor for gaming. I never really noticed the slower response times than from my old TN (sold it) which was 2 ms.