Which TFT? Can't decide!

Kendo Nagasaki

Kendo Nagasaki

Kendo Nagasaki

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Joined
11 Aug 2005
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376
Location
UK
I have been on the hunt for a new monitor to replace my Dell 19" CRT for at least 4/5 months and its getting harder & harder to decide what to go for.

During this time I always wanted to go for a 24" screen, such as the Dell 2407 WFP & BenQ FP241W.

With the Dell having revision issues (banding) and the BenQ still lacking aspect ratio control, I have decided to go for a screen within the 20-22" size. Also, I think it would be best for me to go with something that has a lower native resolution as I have a Leadtek GeForce 7800GT 256MB - I don't want to have to be continuously upgrading to be able to play the latest games.

This leaves me with more options, or so I thought. My brother has the NEC LCD20WGX2 20.1" which is good but the styling, reflective coating and some noise from movie playback has put me off.

I'm starting to sway in favour of the Eizo S2110W 21" (£520) screen as it seems to do everything that I require from a PC monitor, i.e. - gaming, Photoshop, CAD, web design, etc.

I have the budget, which is around £600/700 to get one of these but can anyone suggest an alternative as I believe that the Eizo has been out for some time now and as I intend to have this monitor for a long time I don't want to get something that isn't current.

Sorry for the long post but any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Let me just say that I am the proud owner of an S2110W and it's superb. You certainly won't regret buying one, it really is stunning across the board with games, Photoshop etc, and general use. I've seen other monitors and it really doesn't compare. I have not put it up against any of the high-end Dell's, but from what I've read and looking at the panel technology they use, in a side by side comparison the Eizo would win out everytime. The Dell's are good monitors, and if you never saw an Eizo and bought a Dell, you would be more than happy I'm sure. But my vote goes to the Eizo without hesitation. The S2110W has been out for a while, but it's still head and shoulders above most other models out there. I'd like to know of a model that well and truly beats it to be honest, as I don't know of one. The Dell technology is no more up to date, and I would say their panel technology is inferior (slightly). But there's always the newer Eizo CE210W you could look at, but I don't think this is a major update on the S2110W in technological terms.

Edit: not to belittle anyone else's opinion on your decision, but my Eizo has near blown away everyone who's seen it, including those who have spent a few hundred on other models themselves. I liken it to a Lian-Li - you have to see one in person to appreciate it's quality.

:D
 
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Why not get one of the viewsonics for 300 to 400 pounds and spend the rest on a new graphics card that will last you for ages? But still, the Dells are nice, monitors are about the only thing they do, do right.
 
Thanks for the reply Bananadude - its good to hear from an owner of the Eizo S2110W. Whats it like for gaming, have you noticed any ghosting or anything like that? Do you have any pics handy?

I had a look at the Eizo CE210W, its just a pity thats its a good £200 more expensive. I guess that its the fact that the S2110W has been out for a while, since Nov 2005 i believe - that is putting me off quite a bit. Any further reassurances would be great. :)
 
Kendo Nagasaki said:
Thanks for the reply Bananadude - its good to hear from an owner of the Eizo S2110W. Whats it like for gaming, have you noticed any ghosting or anything like that? Do you have any pics handy?

I had a look at the Eizo CE210W, its just a pity thats its a good £200 more expensive. I guess that its the fact that the S2110W has been out for a while, since Nov 2005 i believe - that is putting me off quite a bit. Any further reassurances would be great. :)
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I find it great for gaming. No ghosting that I've noticed. I tweaked the colours a bit for a few games, but the software allows you to have presets that click in automatically when the game loads. Maybe other monitors have this feature though.

I actually don't have any games installed at the moment, as I'm in the process of getting ready to upgrade, so I've cleared my HD of everything but absolute essentials. Besides, my paltry 6600GT is suffering a bit with games these days. If you want some normal shots of the screen though, let me know what you want and I'll snap some...

:)
 
I had a look at the Viewsonics, I have a VP930 that I use at work and they are good screens but I’ve never used one in a home environment.

The VX2025wm 20" springs to mind and I believe it’s comparable to the NEC in terms of performance (this is maybe one to bear in mind) but I don't like the VX2235wm 22" in terms of styling.

Am I right with the assumption that within the 22" size sector that it’s predominantly TN Panel based making it unsuitable for my needs!


It’s good to hear that you haven’t experienced any ghosting on the Eizo bananadude as I would play a fair amount of games including Quake 4, DOD, Half-Life2, etc.

You’re not looking to upgrade your screen, are you?!?! ;)

If you have time it would be great if you could take some snaps – just general stuff like front, back and side and maybe a close up or two, would be fantastic.
 
Kendo Nagasaki said:
Am I right with the assumption that within the 22" size sector that it’s predominantly TN Panel based making it unsuitable for my needs!
Click to expand...
This link may be useful to you, as will tell you what panels are used in any model of screen: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/

You’re not looking to upgrade your screen, are you?!?!
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Definitely not! More than happy with it. In fact, having this glorious screen and not being able to play games fully maxed out has spurred me on to upgrade everything else!! :)

If you have time it would be great if you could take some snaps – just general stuff like front, back and side and maybe a close up or two, would be fantastic.
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Will take a selection and post here soon...

:)
 
Bananadude said:
Definitely not! More than happy with it. In fact, having this glorious screen and not being able to play games fully maxed out has spurred me on to upgrade everything else!! :)
Click to expand...

I think that paragraph tells its own story and reaffirms the fact that within a given period of time you can upgrade your computer as many times as you like but the monitor should last and travel through these upgrades. :)

Bananadude said:
Will take a selection and post here soon...
Click to expand...

Thanks, I’d appreciate that.
 
Having thought more about my decision regarding a new tft I have decided that I will go for one of the following monitors:

- Dell 2407WFP 24" Screen
- Eizo S2110W 21" Screen

I know previously that I’ve stated that I’d stay away from the 24" screens but I thought its better to upgrade the computer hardware than the screen as this is one of the most important components of any rig.

Both screens can be bought for about the same money but I’m finding it difficult to decide as there appear to be less problems associated with the Eizo when compared to the Dell. However, this could be down to the fact that fewer people actually have the Eizo when compared against the Dell.

If anyone could shed any more light on this subject, it would help a lot.

Cheers
 
All I can say is that I have had a 2407 for several months and its the best screen I have ever had and worth every penny (and its cheaper now than when I bought it)

depending on the games you play you might need an upgrade from the 7800GT, I have an ATI X1900XT and it copes pretty well at full res with most things ( for the price you now pay for one of these its a bargain) but it depends on whether you desperately need DX10 - which I dont so Im very happy.

Any huge resolution monitor at full res will require a high powered gfx card though - but I understand your point about continually upgrading

You could get the 24" Dell and a HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ 3 TURBO SILENT Heatpipe 256MB GDDR3 just within your budget and this would be a good pairing - obviously Im not sure of the rest of your rig whether this card would be wasted by a (relatively) slow cpu / limited RAM or whatever (the 512Mb cards are available on This Week Only for good prices but will change tomorrow possibly

I cant rate the Dell highly enough - its eaily worth the money currently asked by OCUK
 
Thanks for the reply FrankJH. My current spec is as follows:

- DFI LanParty UT NF4 SLI-D
- AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego
- Corsair 2GB DDR XMS4000PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS3
- Leadtek GeForce 7800GT 256MB
- Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 250GB
- Lian-Li PC-61 Black Aluminium Midi-Tower Case
- Hiper Type R 580W
- NEC ND4551
- X-Fi Xtreme Music
- Acoustic Energy Aego M 2.1 Speakers

I appreciate that these larger screens require more grunt and I have been thinking off maybe a few extra upgrades aswell as the new screen. The CPU and graphics card are the obvious choices but I think that my current system could handle games ok, just not at full max.

I think my system could handle the lower res 21" screen better but I don't want to miss a trick with the extra rail estate the Dell 24" screen can offer - especially with it being the same price.

It’s a tricky choice because if I go down the 24" route you fall into the upgrading direction quicker. But I suppose at the end of the day we all succumb to it :)

So, is the Eizo so much better than the Dell to miss out on the extra inchs it offers???
 
Sorry for delay, camera is on the blink, but have a few pics below. Found a few that I took when I first got the screen, sitting next to my 19" Iiyama CRT. Let me know if you want any more...

 
Thanks for uploading a few pics Bananadude - that is one sweet looking screen, the desktop wallpaper really shows off the colours.

It’s really helpful to see the size difference between the Eizo and a 19" CRT as that’s exactly what I’ll be upgrading from.

I think I'm really starting to swing in favour of getting this screen but just not quite sure enough to buy one yet :p - I just want to make sure that it is reasonably future-proof and don't have to worry about issues like DX10 and protected content, if that even becomes a problem or not!

Can the height be easily adjusted? If you have time it might be worthwhile taking a pic of the screen at full height and one at its lowest.

Whats it like for watching movies on? Is there any noise or anything like that?

I appreciate the heads-up on the Samsung Lagz but I think I’ll be sticking within the £500-£550 price range and maybe use the extra cash to upgrade other components of my computer.
 
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I read that review before I bought mine. I don't notice the shimmering effect in movies. I don't know what that's about. No real noise to speak off, although I watch movies more on my 32" widescreen TV than on my PC. I'll try to take a pic of a movie playing, although I don't know if that will come out clearly.

They give it a low score for games, but I think that's based on the price/quality ratio. For simply gaming, it is perhaps a bit of an excessive purchase, but obviously the price has dropped since that review anyway.

The height adjustment is a little odd, as you may see from that review picture it works on a sliding mechanism which tilts the angle of the screen. Bit strange to get used to. It's true where it says "Small adjustments for the perfect position are then quite difficult to make" - it is fiddly, but it's a minor criticism really. I've found the perfect height for me and it stays that way. Looking at those pics in the review on pg 2, who would ever have their monitor at the angle in that last pic??! Unless you're a giant perhaps!

I will take some pics when my camera is working and post them up.

:)
 
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Thanks for the feedback, it was a little disconcerting to read that review but I believe you are right - the score/ratio is marking it lower than it actually performs due to the price tag. As I’ll be using this screen for multiple tasks the score maybe isn't a true reflection on how I would utilise it best.

Having seen the pics from the linked review the height adjustment seems slightly over complicated but as soon as I find the perfect height for viewing I would tend not to touch it - it is more the vertical height rather than the swivel that would concern me more.

I think the underlining issue for me regarding which monitor to go for is this - is the Eizo so much better than the Dell to miss out on the extra inches it offers???

Again, I appreciate your help Bananadude and the photos are really helpful - I find it easier to judge a screen when you see it in its natural habitat :) .
 
Kendo Nagasaki said:
I think the underlining issue for me regarding which monitor to go for is this - is the Eizo so much better than the Dell to miss out on the extra inches it offers???
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One thing I can't help you on as I've not seen that Dell up close and personal. You need someone who's owned both really to give you a definitive answer on that. Unless you can find a way to see both of these monitors in a shop, but that wouldn't be easy!

:)
 
Yeah, that’s my problem - I don't know anyone local who has either and I’ve never owned a tft for personal use, I’m coming from a CRT which makes the choice that bit more difficult.

I know there are countless threads about the Dell 2407 but it would be good to hear from anyone who owns one and maybe give their input to my dilemma - cos I’m starting to go through phases were I prefer one over the other.

It would be good if this thread could become more balanced (no offence Bananadude ;) :) )
 
I doubt you'd be disappointed with either though really. Just as long as you don't get one and then keep wondering what you're missing out with the other! I doubt that would happen though, as you'd be so impressed with whatever you got! I know the feeling you are going through though. At the end of the day, you just have to go with your gut! There isn't a wrong decision to be made here.

You may have seen this already, but here's a review of the Dell (comparing it to the Samsung mentioned above funnily enough) from the same source as the S2110W review:
http://www.behardware.com/articles/629-1/24-inches-the-dell-2407wfp-vs-the-samsung-244t.html

Oh, and another review of the S2110W if you haven't seen this one;
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review-eizo-s2110w-k.html

;)
 
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