Help i need a new monitor ("23")

Marku · 4 Jun 2010 at 19:08

my current monitor has died(Samsung Syncmaster 204bw(think thats right?) 22" widescreen)

the screen wont go on and it has power and the light for power on it wont go off, it tried a power cord from another pc and plugged it into that (just that cable) and the light still wont go off. so its not cable issue i think.

i'd like to get a 23" widescreen (preferibly a samsung) and my budget is no more than £200 and my graphic card is a ATI Radeon HD 5700's series 1gb.

i may try a monitor from another pc on my pc to be 100% that its not a PC issue (it starts up fine judging from the noises etc)

Kelt · 5 Jun 2010 at 13:21

Go for the extra inch and get the Benq 24" LED/LCD. You won't regret it.

Marku · 6 Jun 2010 at 08:24

how many of you guys use HDMI for your monitor? is there much difference between it and DVI? is there any reason to get a dvi/hdmi converter?

and im very worried about these dead pixels people get. hence my hesitation to just buy any screen. i had previously been looking close at the LG's and Samsung.

whats a good distance between myself and a 23/24" monitor? i think im at least 19-20 inches away.

edit: my g-card is this : Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 Vapor-X 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

would you mind tellin me which BenQ is best 23/23" on OC website, cheers

BenQ G2420HDBL 24" Widescreen LED Monitor this one has a lot of good reviews.

btw i didnt mention that i had a 2nd smaller monitor and that one is also dead now(no power comes on). i rly dont know what happaned to cause this, my pc is starting up fine without monitors (see it on the network, keyboard lights up etc)

Marku · 8 Jun 2010 at 08:00

i ordered the BenQ 24" off OC :-)

Unbreakable · 8 Jun 2010 at 11:19

Iv the Benq 24" LED, such a great monitor for its price

TheVoice · 8 Jun 2010 at 13:20

Marku said:
how many of you guys use HDMI for your monitor? is there much difference between it and DVI? is there any reason to get a dvi/hdmi converter?

Unless I'm mistaken, HDMI is essentially just DVI with the ability to carry audio as well.

Orcvader · 8 Jun 2010 at 14:06

Marku said:
i may try a monitor from another pc on my pc to be 100% that its not a PC issue (it starts up fine judging from the noises etc)

Have you tried this yet? Seeing as your second monitor also "died", something doesn't sound right.

cmndr_andi · 8 Jun 2010 at 14:10

TheVoice said:
Unless I'm mistaken, HDMI is essentially just DVI with the ability to carry audio as well.

You are quite right.

If the monitor has a DVI connection and your graphics card does too - then just use a DVI cable - the image quality is identicle to what you would see if you used HDMI.

The main benefit of HDMI, as you say, is the ability to transmit audio. Since monitors don't usually have speakers - then this shouldn't be an issue. The other benefit of HDMI is the ability to connect games consoles, Blu-Ray players etc. directly to the monitor. However, if you use a £5 HDMI-DVI adapter or a cable like this then even if your monitor is DVI-only then you are sorted.

and im very worried about these dead pixels people get. hence my hesitation to just buy any screen. i had previously been looking close at the LG's and Samsung.

Dead/stuck pixels are unfortunately part of life in the LCD monitor game. Even the highest quality screens can suffer from them - however in these cases quality control is higher so less are allowed and often the warranty allows you a replacement if you get only a small number. I have noticed than the BenQ dead/stuck pixel policy is a bit bad, as you need quite a few defect to get a replacement - however in many cases the retailers will sort you out if you contact them.

If you don't want to worry about pixel defect as much - you might want to check out the Dell Ultrasharp monitors. They come with a guarantee that if one bright pixel is found, you immediately get a replacement.

Out of interest, do you have any warranty left with your samsung monitor? If you do, you could get it fixed/replaced for free.

Marku · 8 Jun 2010 at 20:26

i think its over 3 years old (probably 4)

reviews all over the internet have been very positive about the BenQ monitor(except a few minor dislikes by a few) and the lack of HDMI.