Replacement for my 24" MVA Panel

R

rsgunter

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Messages
1,325
Title say it all. My Westinghouse 2410NM bit the dust a minute ago. It has been blinking off an on constantly and just a few minutes ago it finally sang its swan song. Okay enough with that story.

I need a new monitor. TN isn't an option here, they look like garbage when in comparison to my MVA panel. I can't handle a TN panel's "colors."

I've been looking at the NEC 23" IPS EA231WMi. Looks like a sweet deal, but there's not a ton of information from actual users that I found particularly useful, so I thought I would ask here.

Yes, I realize there is an enormous thread about it on here, but it's sort of hard to sift through it on this little 19" pos I'm using now.

Things I do:

1) Gaming (FPS, RTS)
2) Photo/video editing
3) Documents

Questions:

1) 14ms response time listed on the site. I'm wondering if I'm going to have noticeable ghosting in games. I know that a lot of companies really stretch their specs, but it looks like NEC is just being more real here.

2) Input lag? How is it?

3) Calibration: If I do purchase, does anyone have some recommended settings for a nice setup?

Any other thoughts and considerations would be appreciated.
 
I've been wondering the same thing too. I have the same Westinghouse, and while mine still works (bought in early 2008), I want to get something similar for my new i5 build that I just made as I really like the MVA colors as well and I do a lot of graphics work.

There is that Dell 2209WA that is a e-IPS Panel which has been popular here which can be had for around $212. Some people though have reported some display issues although it seems like the majority have been happy.

And there are new IPS models from HP coming out soon. The HP ZR22w and ZR24w models
http://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1265375850

I'm curious about the NEC model you mentioned as well. I hope someone can chime in here to answer your questions.
 
Last edited:
rsgunter said:
Questions:

1) 14ms response time listed on the site. I'm wondering if I'm going to have noticeable ghosting in games. I know that a lot of companies really stretch their specs, but it looks like NEC is just being more real here.

2) Input lag? How is it?

3) Calibration: If I do purchase, does anyone have some recommended settings for a nice setup?

Any other thoughts and considerations would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

rsgunter,

TFTCentral and PRAD have their own accounts of the EA231WMi. TFTCental measured their unit as having a favorable 8ms of input lag, and the response time test gave the impression that the 14ms figure was accurate. Both reviews examined their unit's uniformity performance, which we should consider.

Also, if you can suffer your 19" screen for the time being, HP has a 24" e-IPS model due out soon.
 
It's more than likely a PSU issue -- open it up, look for busted caps and the like. The Soyo DYLM24D6 has similar issues, and it's almost always the PSU that has failed. Find the dead components, replace them, and you're back in business.
 
You would have to pry my EA231WMi from my cold, dead hands before I would give it up.
 
Not to derail your thread... I just know how you feel. I picked up 2 L2410NMs about 1.5 years ago... they both developed issues displaying over HDMI. I never followed up with Westinghouse (both out of laziness and people paying to ship for RMA and getting back equally defective units), and am driving them both with VGA now... hopefully they survive a bit longer.

I have a third I picked up about 3 months ago (knowing the risks, but at a price of $100 from Sam's Club on super clearance haha), for when one of them finally has its final day. Thankful I bought the extended warranties for these, though, so at least I'll get most of my money back once they kick (minus the cost of the warranties themselves).

Nice monitors, for a while, but I'm hoping that the next time I actually spend some coin on a display it lasts longer than a year without issues.
 
Whoisthisreally said:
rsgunter,

Also, if you can suffer your 19" screen for the time being, HP has a 24" e-IPS model due out soon.
Click to expand...

Indeed.

The problem however is that the 300ish price range of the NEC is about my top dollar right now. 425 is going to really hurt my poor, college kid budget.

If anyone finds out if its less though, please let me know.
 
Another person in my shoes, all I can say is good luck to you, as I have still not decided on a replacement, though mine hasnt gotten as bad as yours. Im afraid the price and performance of this mode (at least when it has lasted as long as mine has) has proven to be a curse when it comes to finding many options now that can replace it.

Anyway here is a thread where there is a lot of advice about what to go with next, Ive pretty much given up on the 1920 x 1080 requirement though, 16:10 would be fine

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1475832
 
Last edited:
rsgunter said:
Indeed.

The problem however is that the 300ish price range of the NEC is about my top dollar right now. 425 is going to really hurt my poor, college kid budget.

If anyone finds out if its less though, please let me know.
Click to expand...


I tried the nec model recently before returning it to amazon. It's far better than any tn panel, but still didn't quite measure up to the westy in my opinion in most facets even though it may be a better choice for professional artists (though higher end ips would be even better), I just didn't get the wow factor from the image, and of course its quite a bit smaller.
 
VistaVick said:
Another person in my shoes, all I can say is good luck to you, as I have still not decided on a replacement, though mine hasnt gotten as bad as yours. Im afraid the price and performance of this model has proven to be a curse when it comes to finding many options now that can replace it.

Anyway here is a thread where there is a lot of advice about what to go with next, Ive pretty much given up on the 1920 x 1080 requirement though, 16:10 would be fine

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1475832
Click to expand...

Thanks for the thread.

Honestly, 16:10 is my preferred choice, but it seems to be a dying breed for some reason that I'll never understand.
 
According to that article the 24 inch will only be $425?? That's $200 cheaper than the Dell U2410. I think I will wait for that one :) Hopefully its out soon...
 
zod96 said:
According to that article the 24 inch will only be $450?? That's $100 cheaper than the Dell U2410. I think I will wait for that one :) Hopefully its out soon...
Click to expand...

It just frustrating, I think I paid around 350 for my westy, and 3 years later you should be able to get something even better for the same price.
 
Yeah that's true. I really really hope that the HP does sell in that range and that they don't jack up the price to that of the Dell....
 
VistaVick said:
It just frustrating, I think I paid around 350 for my westy, and 3 years later you should be able to get something even better for the same price.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

I actually purchased a Samsung monitor from Tigerdirect because I thought that maybe TN panels had taken leaps and bounds from what they were a few years ago, and man was I wrong. I played with it for an hour or so, and boxed it back up, I simply couldn't handle it. Luckily they have a great return policy.

It is frustrating that monitor technology has taken a step back in a lot of regards.

****

I read the PRAD review, and paid particular attention to the responsiveness and input lag section. Thanks to whoever talked about PRAD, I'd never heard about them before.

http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2009/review-nec-ea231wmi-bk-part10.html#Responsiveness

Seems to me like the responsiveness would be fine with the "overdrive" feature turned on. I'm not a hardcore FPS gamer, I play mostly strategy games.

I'll take a hit in responsiveness to be able to see colors represented correctly.
 
VistaVick said:
I tried the nec model recently before returning it to amazon. It's far better than any tn panel, but still didn't quite measure up to the westy in my opinion in most facets even though it may be a better choice for professional artists (though higher end ips would be even better), I just didn't get the wow factor from the image, and of course its quite a bit smaller.
Click to expand...

So, you returned a monitor to its retailer because it didn't have 'wow factor'?

Using a store to sample and return monitors at whim is an abuse of their return policy. Doing this can only ruin the return rules for decent customers.
 
Whoisthisreally said:
So, you returned a monitor to its retailer because it didn't have 'wow factor'?

Using a store to sample and return monitors at whim is an abuse of their return policy. Doing this can only ruin the return rules for decent customers.
Click to expand...

Cry me a river. I didn't expect not to be impressed when I paid the same amount for a larger sized non TN monitor 3 years ago. I order everything from amazon and have given them thousands of dollars of business even when their prices aren't the best, and rarely return anything. Mine also had 2 dead pixels if that makes you feel better. Or perhaps you could tell me an amazon storefront where I could have seen the monitor in person, or any store for that matter that carries non tn necs these days.
 
Whoisthisreally said:
So, you returned a monitor to its retailer because it didn't have 'wow factor'?

Using a store to sample and return monitors at whim is an abuse of their return policy. Doing this can only ruin the return rules for decent customers.
Click to expand...

The LCD companies are abusing customers by releasing garbage products is more like it. 90% of LCD panels aren't even usable out of the box without buying a $200 calibration unit. You buy a Samsung TN panel and you'll probably be looking at people with green skin straight out of the box.
 
VistaVick said:
Cry me a river. I didn't expect not to be impressed when I paid the same amount for a larger sized non TN monitor 3 years ago. I order everything from amazon and have given them thousands of dollars of business even when their prices aren't the best, and rarely return anything. Mine also had 2 dead pixels if that makes you feel better. Or perhaps you could tell me an amazon storefront where I could have seen the monitor in person, or any store for that matter that carries non tn necs these days.
Click to expand...

But there is plenty of information and reviews about the EA231WMi available. There is enough information out there to enable a good understanding of whether it will meet your needs, and what to expect from the unit beforehand. I say this strictly in regard to your original given reason and not the dead pixel problem.

ebolamonkey001 said:
The LCD companies are abusing customers by releasing garbage products is more like it. 90% of LCD panels aren't even usable out of the box without buying a $200 calibration unit. You buy a Samsung TN panel and you'll probably be looking at people with green skin straight out of the box.
Click to expand...

Which is precisely why we need a permissive return policy with displays: because of unforeseeable faults which were not accounted for during our research.
 
As a college kid staring at his EA231WMi right now, I would say its a great choice. We have a vizio 26" LCD in the room as our TV, but most of the time we use the NEC because the viewing angles blow it out of the water and its a dream to watch movies on. I don't game on it to much, but I've played some 360 on it and while its not top of the line as far as refresh rate, is enough to get the job done. You could also benefit from boosting the refresh rate from 60hz to 75hz.
 
"But there is plenty of information and reviews about the EA231WMi available. There is enough information out there to enable a good understanding of whether it will meet your needs, and what to expect from the unit beforehand. I say this strictly in regard to your original given reason and not the dead pixel problem."

I bought it as soon as it came out, there weren't many impressions of the model at the time.

But besides that, you can read all you want about an lcd display, and it helps you narrow down your choices, but until you have it in front of you, you don't know if it's the right one for you or not. I did a lot of thinking and as much research as I could do though before buying it, I don't just go around buying monitors and returning them for kicks. In the case of non tn monitors, few stores carry any of them anymore, so you can't see it on display before purchasing.
 
Can you guys give me more info about the questions I asked rather than bickering?

Love,
rsgunter
 
Well, the problem is, there isn't a whole lot to recommend with that budget. I am even willing to spend up to 600 or so and I still can't find a good replacement.

Your best bet is probably to try the nec and hope that it satisfies you more than me coming from the westy.

As far as input lag, ghosting, etc. I would say its a bit better than the Westinghouse, but it's not a tn panel, so if it didn't bother you with the westy, it shouldn't with the nec either.

There are plenty of recommended tweaks in the big nec thread here.
 
VistaVick said:
Well, the problem is, there isn't a whole lot to recommend with that budget. I am even willing to spend up to 600 or so and I still can't find a good replacement.

Your best bet is probably to try the nec and hope that it satisfies you more than me coming from the westy.

As far as input lag, ghosting, etc. I would say its a bit better than the Westinghouse, but it's not a tn panel, so if it didn't bother you with the westy, it shouldn't with the nec either.

There are plenty of recommended tweaks in the big nec thread here.
Click to expand...

You've been a big help. I read the PRAD review last night and some other people's comments, and I've decided on the monitor now.

Provantage has it for 295, so I'm going to jump on it.

Thanks to all. The thread was definitely fun to read as well. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top