Help making a decision

[dj_unforgetable]

Alright, so I've got a Dell E228FPW and it's been allright, but I think I need to move up. I've got a Mac Mini and a PC (8800GTS) hooked up to it (mac on vga, 8800 on dvi) .. NEITHER picture is looking that good, DVD's don't play that well and now I'm interested in increasing the size and quality of my display.

I think I'd like to get an HD display with atleast 2 DVI connections (dual-link? does that matter, I'm a complete noob in this area). But I'd like to know what you guys think is the best bang-for-buck purchase I can make that can meet my needs? 22" is fine, but I'm not opposed to getting something bigger, but usually the smaller sizes are cheaper.

I was looking around these forums and saw a setup with a digimate 22" ?? It was looking REALLY nice, but I haven't heard of the brand ... so yes ... any ideas?

 

[dj_unforgetable]

mmm yello ?

 

[vick1000]

You need to look away from the 22" range if you want a quality display. All current 22" panels are TN film, and very poor image quality overall. Look into moving to a 24" VA based panel, if you don't mind the "black crush" effect associated with the technology. I recommend going to a retail outlet like Best Buy and looking at the various displays hooked up to single machines.

But I will tell you from personal experience, if you are pick about the image quality, you won't be happy with anything but an IPS panel. IPS panels are more expensive and harder to find. The cheapest garunteed IPS is a used Dell 2005 fpw on e-bay (only 20"), or a NEC 20WMGX2 also 20" (if you can find one). If you can put together around $1K, you might be able to fine some other large models like the 24" NEC LCD2490wuxi or Planar 26" model. There is also the 23" Apple CD for around $900, but they have some issues associated with them.

All in all, you may just have to be satisfied with what you can afford, if it is indeed the monitor that is the problem.