What monitor Should I buy?

[Panarchy]

Hello!

I want to buy the best (biggest) monitor I can get that will work with my graphics card.

I am thinking of getting either an 8800GT or and 8800GTS G92.

Please tell me what you think (I don't want one that will be too big to play games on)

Thanks in advance,

Panarchy

[andsome]

This is yet another case of personal choice. Look at the different ones on offer and see what specification nearest meets your needs. Any views on this matter will be purely personal. LOOK AROUND.

If you can't do a Google. Look here I have done it for you.

[-pops-]

As andsome says, monitors are a very personal thing - you are going to be sitting, looking at it for long periods. Best thing is to go to your local large computer store and have a look at them under "live" conditions - preferably be able to sit at the machine for a time and see how it suits you.

Don't buy one with a very large screen as you will most likely get eye strain from scanning the screen side to side.

[AlanHo]

I have recently had two 22" LCD wide screen monitors.

The first was a Samsung - which was splendid for 3 days and then failed. No problem - the supplier replaced it immediately. The replacement had some dead pixels near the centre of the screen so this time I sent it back for a full refund. I am sure it was just bad luck because Samsung have a good reputation.

I then bought an LG Flatron L226 WTQ which has proved to be very satisfactory. Good crisp picture with great colour depth, high contrast and fast response when moving quickly around the screen. If I am honest - I don't think the image is quite as contrasty as the Samsung - but I am not able to make a direct comparison. It may be that the Samsung - being the first big screen I have used - was able to make a bigger impression.

A friend has a 24" screen - but sits well away from it because of the factor pops mentioned. If you sit at a normal distance you find yourself scanning your head back and forth to see the full width of the screen.

I am thus convinced that 22" is the optimum size for a widescreen monitor. I do not play games - but the wide screen enables me to leave the Vista gadget bar permanently on the side of the screen with enough real estate left to have two documents open side-by-side.

[Scarthy © ® ™]

I got a Cibox 22" TFT from CCL a few months ago and I think it's brill, and it works with my graphics card (Sapphire Radeon 9600 Atlantis)! They are £10-15 cheaper now and they do one with the DVI port also!

> HAVE A LOOK < - £139+ ;)

[AlanHo]

I would not be happy about buying a monitor brand that lacks a UK presence. Do Cibox have a repair and support facility in the UK..?

Cibox appears to be a French company but I have not been able to find on their website the level of support information the leading brands provide. The fact that they are possibly French would be enough to put me off - ever since the French started burning our sheep alive I have never been guilty of knowingly buying anything made or originating from France.

I personally would stick to Samsung, Sony, Viewsonic, LG, Acer, Phillips and Dell for monitors. I know there are other brands - but these are those I have personal experience with.

[Scarthy © ® ™]

Cibox Website.

They appear to be 'au Francais', but like so much hardware nowadays, they are China built! The warranty with all TFT's is pants if you ask me, but this one was £60+ cheaper than anything else that size at the time when I bought it - and that's money in my pocket!

CCL and other wholesalers have a dead pixel policy on their guarantees (depends on the size of monitor/resolution etc).

Mine runs at 1680 x 1050 @ 60hz with the card I have. ;)

[Mike567]

eclipsecomputers.com

they had a 19" for £100 last time i checked.

[Panarchy]

I ended up getting a 22'' (ASUS VW222)

:)