£200 or less for a High quality monitor

Octavarium

Octavarium

Octavarium

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Hi I have about £200 to spend on a monitor of either 19" or 17" size.

I'm more concerned with quality than size so 17" is probably going to be best.

Any suggestions? I need it for gaming, watching TV/DVD's etc
 
For £200 you can't go wrong with the Samsung 913N. It's proven to be an excellent monitor, and the 8ms response time makes it great for gaming. It only comes with an analogue VGA input, however. If you can stretch to £250 you could get the Samsung 930BF which has an even better advertised response time, and comes with a DVI input too :)
 
Thanks,

Assuming then, that Samsung are a good make to go with is this one worth a look:

Samsung SM730BF 17" LCD Monitor (MO-028-SA)

- 1280 x 1024 Optimum Resolution
- 600:1 Contrast Ratio
- Viewing Angle 160° horizontal, 160° vertical
- 4ms Response Time
- 300 cd/m2 Brightness
- One Analogue Input
- One DVI-D Input
- 3 Years On-Site Warranty

Price: £159.95 (£187.94 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Its a smaller screen but it has a faster responce time and a DVI input, plus the same native resolution....?

Also does anyone have (rough) measurements for 17" and 19" monitors as I ought to double check that a 19" will actually fit where I want it!!!
 
Octavarium said:
Also does anyone have (rough) measurements for 17" and 19" monitors as I ought to double check that a 19" will actually fit where I want it!!!
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Samsung are definantly a good make. I'm not sure about numbers, but they make the actual LCD panels for a number of different manufacturers. The specifications (including measurements) for the 730BF are available on the Samsung website. There's a review of the monitor (along with lots of pretty pictures!) over at HardwareZone, and it looks like it should suit your needs nicely.

Personally, I would drop the extra £70 for the 19" 930BF, but as you said there's no difference in screen resolution and if you want to keep it to £200, the 730BF should do nicely :)
 
I give another shout to the 913N samsung - not having a DVI is not an issue for gaming. Never once have i seen any ghosting and at £185 it is an absolute steal. Crisp colours, no dead pixels, easy to set up. Go for it!!!

Definetly worth it - i am completely statified with mine.

An it's 19" which is much better than a 17"
 
Take a look at the Viewsonic VX724 17'' TFT. Cracking picture at a very good price too. I am well pleased with mine. Comes with a DVI and VGA connection too.
 
the models suggested so far are certainly good choices. I would put a vote in for the Samsung 913N or perhaps the Hyundai L90D+ as well. Both use the same panel, but the Hyundai has DVI input as well. The lack of DVI on the 913N is NOT an issue though, and the image clarity is excellent. You would be very hard pressed to tell much, if any difference between the sharpness of the image on the 913N and other similar models with DVI (including the previously available 913B which was the same but with DVI).

The extra size that a 19" screen offers is really nice for movies and for gaming, and really adds to the immersion in both. It would be a shame not to go for a 19" imo, and the extra boost in responsiveness that the VX724 and 730BF offer is nothing staggering which would make me want to favour the 17" models.
 
Well, as far as i am concerned, the sheer quality of the VX724 and responsiveness in games has made me happy that i chose it. 17" is just perfect for me. My mate has a 19" 930bf and to me it is nice but not as nice as my 17" TFT. Again, it all comes down to personal tastes. I bought the 17" as it was the right size for my environment and the quality was a factor too.
 
superpc said:
Well, as far as i am concerned, the sheer quality of the VX724 and responsiveness in games has made me happy that i chose it. 17" is just perfect for me. My mate has a 19" 930bf and to me it is nice but not as nice as my 17" TFT. Again, it all comes down to personal tastes. I bought the 17" as it was the right size for my environment and the quality was a factor too.
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oh certainly. 17" models are more to some people's tastes and if you did want to stick with a 17" model then those like the VX724 are excellent choices
 
trojan698 said:
Apologies for the minor highjack, but would the 930BF be good for watching movies also?
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not really. That's one of it's weaknesses really. The TN Film technology suffers fundamentally from restrictive viewing angles, especially vertically. The aggressive applicaiton of overdrive only highlights the noise which is apparent in movie playback, and this RTC is also quite poorly controlled which doesn't help. movie playback is not really the 930BF's strong point i'm afraid.
 
I was able to watch the LOTR extended trillogy on my 930bf perfectly fine, but it was from 2m away as up close like normal the picture was grainy, but for a normal use in windows and gaming the colours are vibrant and I do not even know what ghosting is.

My 172x's are much better monitors for films though.
 
Just out of curiosity, lots of people seem keen on the Samsung 913, but what do you make of this in the description:

"This product is aimed at large corporation for general office use where quality of image is of out most importance."

???
 
Octavarium said:
Just out of curiosity, lots of people seem keen on the Samsung 913, but what do you make of this in the description:

"This product is aimed at large corporation for general office use where quality of image is of out most importance."

???
Click to expand...

I make of that that it produces colours really acurately and has a crisp picture to avoid eyestrain. :)
 
Octavarium said:
Just out of curiosity, lots of people seem keen on the Samsung 913, but what do you make of this in the description:

"This product is aimed at large corporation for general office use where quality of image is of out most importance."

???
Click to expand...

It's a cracking monitor - great price, gaming is a joy on it. It's a description used to sell more monitors to the office enviorment - sales pitch if you will.

You won't be disapointed with it at all!
 
Well, I went for the Samsung 913 and I must admit I am very impressed (although coming from a 15" CRT it was always going to look good! :D )

+ Fantastic visuals for games/films and general use
+ Very easy set up
+ Lighter, cooler and actually smaller than my old CRT
+ Did I mention it looks awesome? :cool:

- Colours aren't quite as rich as I'd hoped
- Lack of height/angle adjustment (not a biggie at this price point)
- Looks pretty awful at anything other than 1280*1024
 
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