New 24" Monitor

kornnutcase · 25 Aug 2009 at 13:53

Hello,
I was looking for some advice on purchasing a new monitor.
I am currently using a Sony XBlack 19" monitor but its quite old now and uses the 4:3 aspect ratio.
I have decided that I would really like to replace it with a 24" screen and after reading reviews had decided on the HP HP LP2475w but it is just to expensive at the moment.
I am currently looking at monitors that fit under the price range of £250 as I believe this will be more sensible but I am finding it hard to make a decision.
I have been looking at the following monitors:-

Dell S2409W
Samsung SM2494HM
Samsung T240

I would use the monitor for general pc use but mainly watching tv programs and films from the pc. It would also be good to connect it to my Xbox360.

Which of these monitors would be best to go with and are there any better ones within the price range?

Thank you for any help given.

StevieP · 25 Aug 2009 at 14:06

I bought the Dell S2409W about 2 weeks ago and so far I cant fault it!!!

Fantastic picture compared to my old (but beloved) Mitsubishi Diamond Pro CRT!!!

StevieP

dovey · 25 Aug 2009 at 14:34

If you could spend a little extra I would go 26" with a better panel. Although it doesn't have a hdmi input which might be a bit of a killer for the 360

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-076-LG&groupid=17&catid=1120&subcat=

kornnutcase · 25 Aug 2009 at 20:06

Thank you for the feedback.

I see that the LG W2600HP has a resolution of 1920x1200 from the reviews I have read its sounds like it is best to get a monitor with a resolution of 1920x1080 is the main function is going to be connecting to a console and watching videos. Is there any truth in this? Although when reading these reviews I would have thought that it would be possiable to set the monitor to a resolution of 1920x1080 or will this cause problems?

Thank you

EsaT · 26 Aug 2009 at 13:18

kornnutcase said:
fter reading reviews had decided on the HP HP LP2475w but it is just to expensive at the moment.

Dell's U2410 might bring competition to HP's pricing policy so could be worth of waiting few weeks.

kornnutcase said:
from the reviews I have read its sounds like it is best to get a monitor with a resolution of 1920x1080

1080 is downgrade for PC use and WUXGA can show everything what low screen shows.
If monitor itself has aspect ratio scaling/pixel mapping setting then it shows 1080 source signal directly without slight vertical stretching. In case of signal source being PC monitor doesn't need to understand anything about any aspect ratios because PC handles everything needed for getting material to screen.

StevieP said:
I bought the Dell S2409W...
Fantastic picture compared to my old (but beloved) Mitsubishi Diamond Pro CRT!!!

Say that after watching these at full screen from both of them!
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/viewing_angle.php

orderoftheflame · 26 Aug 2009 at 14:10

I've got a pair of the T240s here, and can't make any complaints with them.

Been completely satisfied from day 1.

T1Cybernetic · 26 Aug 2009 at 14:12

Just got myself a dell S2409W, so far so good, a great monitor

if it helps...

.Griff. · 8 Sep 2009 at 18:37

Samsung T240 here. Awesome monitor. Absolutely love it.

firestrike · 9 Sep 2009 at 13:40

so is it worth going for a monitor with a resolution of 1920x1200 over one with 1920x1080, I am asuming there mearly different aspect ratios. which one is the most common?

dustofnations · 9 Sep 2009 at 14:47

firestrike said:
so is it worth going for a monitor with a resolution of 1920x1200 over one with 1920x1080, I am asuming there mearly different aspect ratios. which one is the most common?

1920x1200 has more height, so you get more pixels for the same "sized" monitor (e.g. 22" 1080 monitor is actually smaller than a 1200 one). The 1080 thing comes primarily from TV's where high def content is distributed at 1920x1080. I think for general PC usage the extra height is a definite benefit, and there isn't much to worry about in terms of films.. Software media players either use good algorithms to fill the whole screen with the 1080p video, or at worst there are small black bars if you prefer it.

It is cheaper to make a 1920x1080 monitor versus a 1920x1200, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it being more common now!

.Griff. · 9 Sep 2009 at 15:01

firestrike said:
so is it worth going for a monitor with a resolution of 1920x1200 over one with 1920x1080, I am asuming there mearly different aspect ratios. which one is the most common?

If you plan to sit at your desk and watch a lot of 1080P movies then I'd go for a 1920*1080 screen. However if you use the PC for a mix of things (Office work, Web browsing, Gaming etc) then the 1920*1200 resolution offers more "real estate" so to speak.

dustofnations · 9 Sep 2009 at 15:20

dovey said:
If you could spend a little extra I would go 26" with a better panel. Although it doesn't have a hdmi input which might be a bit of a killer for the 360

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-076-LG&groupid=17&catid=1120&subcat=

I use HDMI->DVI plus a separate audio dongle with my 360, I think the situation is even simpler with the PS3 as the audio outputs are on the console itself. HDMI and DVI, in terms of video output, are pretty much identical for most intents and purposes