Help choosing a new TFT

[Digital-Prozac]

I've been using an LG 1710B for the last 4 years. 17" @ 1280x1024 @ 16ms and it's pretty much coped with everything thrown at it from BF2 to DVD's, but I now feel it's time to retire the old girl and replace her with something shiny and new.

Will be keeping the LG as a second monitor, but this does mean I'm looking for a spanking new replacement.

Budget is about £400 (about what I paid for the LG in 2002 ) give or take £50.

The three I have my eye on are:

Dell 2001FP
Dell 2005FPW
Viewsonic VP201b

It's going to be used for everything from gaming to web development & print/graphic design and tbh, I want a better resolutoin than 1280x1024. I've been using a Dell Latitude D810 Lappy for the last 5 months and despite it's 15.4" TFT, it runs a native res of 1920x1200, so I've really got into the whole "Windows looks nice small!" and "wow" so much on screen at once.

I'm not toally sold on 20.1" Wide aspect TFT atm as I don't see much point for what little extra screen space you get over 1280x1024 @17" (Why can't they make a 17" version of my D810's TFT?) and tbh the wife would remove my nackers if I cam home with a 24" Dell.

So any advice?
Will the 2001 be ok for my needs?
Is there anything interesting due out soon?

Would concider a good 2x19" setup

 

[pcfan]

Widescreen is awesome!!

 

[pcfan]

I never thought i would ever buy a widescreen but i just did, this week and i am totally blown away by it!! Superb!!

 

[Baddass]

So any advice?
Will the 2001 be ok for my needs?
Is there anything interesting due out soon?

Would concider a good 2x19" setup

I think you could find some much newer and better models than those shortlisted if i'm quite honest. The Dell 2001FP and Viewsonic VP201 both use the now quite old, LG.Philips 16ms S-IPS panel. This is a couple of years old now, and while still being very good, there has been some marked improvements, espeically when it comes to panel responsiveness. The 2005FPW is effeticely just the WS format version of this same panel.

With the massive influx of new 20" WS monitors into the market over the last few months, i think it would be worth looking at some of the newer models available. With the addition of overdrive technology, responsiveness is much better, and there has also been improvements in colour accuracy and black depths, particularly on IPS panels. A WS format screen is really nice to have and i think with the availability of new and excellent monitors at this size, it would be well worth a look. Have a read of this article which might help you decide on a 20" model, covers all the popular ones right now. I think if you're looking for a gaming screen, while the 2001FP / VP201 / 2005FPW are perfectly fine for a lot of users, there are better performing panels available nowadays.

The Dell models are in fact being updated any time soon really to the 2007WFP and 2007FP which might be worth waiting for. The 2005FPW has always been plagued by some severe backlight bleeding issues and we can only hope Dell have rectified this with the updated model. There is also a list of forthcoming screens in that same link which helps show what is coming out soon. There is a big push in the 20" sector, i think personally that it would be a shame to get an old screen with these new ones emerging

hth