DescentBB

Ok yet another post on a LCD choice folks!

I'm planning on building a Media Box PC for my bedroom. Already have a box (granted it's not anything great - PII 500 with 128mb ram, but hey it was free). The main use for this pc will be playing my music from the network, movies (hopefully DVD's), browsing the Internet and even possibly reviving some old school games (D1, D2 & so on). I'm thinking of leaving the old Win98 OS on it or possibly attempt to load 98 on a 1.2gb in there and XP if I have the patience on the 8gb it has in now and at start-up be able to choose which OS I'm in the mood for :p.

Due to space I'm seriously considering an LCD over a CRT for this rig. Hence my problem. I currently have my gaming rig setup with a sweat 22\" Viewsonic CRT and desktop Res 1600x1200. Got really used to it and going anything smaller just feels wrong but my budget isn't that big for the LCD.

The secondary use for the LCD of course would be as my mobile screen for LAN Parties and so on. Thus getting an al Crapo screen isn't what I'm after here even thou the pc might be al Crapo!

Anyways I've been looking at the Acer AL1717As Value Line 17 inch LCD Monitor & the ACER 19\"Wide LCD, AL1916Ws, Value Line without Speakers.

So any input on the above choices? And is the Widescreen a better choice for the media setup and how will it do for the secondary use as a gaming screen. Or should I stick with the standard size 4:3 (or 5:4 whatever the LCD's are). Both has a native res of 1280x1024 and I’m currently running my games in 1024x768 but I’ve got a GeForce 6600GT and AMD 3200+ that should be able to run games at 1280x1024 without a problem!

Thanks all

I have a Samsung Syncmaster 204b 20\" LCD, it operates at 1600x1200 and I have tested gaming on it, it works perfectly fine though I only tested it in half-life. It is a standard 4:3 display instead of the 17\" and 19\" 5:4 displays. If you are out of the $350 price tag of this display, I would say a Syncmaster 19\" ($250) just like the one my dad has would also work perfectly fine in both games and normal desktop use. Both are 5 MS displays. Widescreen is up to you, personally most things in computers are set up for 4:3 displays and resolutions which is why I spent a little extra on a 20\" just to stick to 4:3. Not to mention that 20\" is huge compared side by side to a 19\" CRT, it will dwarf most other displays you look at.

If you have already decided you are going to get a 19\" or 17\" (note that they are ALL 1280x1024 5:4) then don't even look at the 17\" ones, 19\" is where it is at for price/performance right now, and it will likely remain that way for a long time.

I have a Samsung SyncMaster 930B (19 Inch, 1280x1024)

I love this display. No blur in games (UT, FFXI, WoW, Oblivion)

Viewsonic vx2025wm 20.1 widescreen. PLay everything from;
UT2004
BF1942
Flatout 2
Descent 3
GTR 2
GT Legends
Farcry
MW 4
Doom 3
Titans Quest
NVN 2
HL 2

No ghosting and it looks great.

Yeah this is just my luck and damn that Murphy's Law. Decided to go with a BenQ FP91GX 19\" LCD Monitor, Silver & Black, 4ms, GTG (fitted my budget).

Yanked the pc I was planning on using it on out to check if the onboard display could go that high a res to have the pc just die on me, Mother of ... ! So I'll take that as a sign that this project is a big no go. But thanks anywayz for your input I appreciated it. Maybe next time .

At least it's not a total loss, salvaged 2x 64mb PC100 Ram for my old server and 8gb HDD for what its worth as a backup HDD was anywayz planning on getting a 250gb HDD for storage purposes.

No offense but BenQ = crapola They are an older crappy company who changed names.

Whoops! At least I didn't get it hey.

I'll keep it in mind for next time I'm going shopping for a LCD. Thanks for the headsup.

CDN_Merlin wrote:No offense but BenQ = crapola They are an older crappy company who changed names.

Why is it, that they have the most popular and best rated LCD 20.1" widescreen monitor then?

They are cheap and 99% of non technical users who buy computers at Best Buy, CompUSA are bundled with them. The sales people would rather sell a cheap monitor than scare someone away by saying you need to spend $300-400 on a good one.

i have a Rosewill 913E 19\" and i play BF2 with no ghosting