New Monitor - 20-22" In Size - £100-£150 to Spend

[Rookie1986]

After running my PC through my TV for years the time has finally come for it to take its rightful place in my new office, they only problem this causes me is that I don't own a monitor.

I've been looking around and from the size of my desk I would be best going with something in the 20-22" range of sizes, The monitors that have caught my eye so far are the Samsung T220 22" in Rose/Black and the Dell 20" IN2010N in Black, What do you guys think of these monitors and are there any others that I should possibly take a look at - My Price range is around £100-£150

Thanks,

[nightkhaos]

I personally could not live with a TN moniter, but this is of course personal choice.

Unfortunately the panel I would recommend in that size range, is both out of your budget and out of stock. Still, if you want to have the best looking moniter you can, I would both wait and flog out the extra.

The moniter is a Dell 22" E-IPS Panel from 2009 @ £216.05.

Look into it, and into the differences between E-IPS, TN and VA panels. If you can afford the space and bollowing your budget completely out of the water, I would also recommend this:

A Dell 24" VA Panel from 2008 @ £442.16.

[Rookie1986]

Well the monitor is only to be used for browsing and gaming as I have an Apple Mac for all of my Photography work etc so I don't think I would really be gaining anything by expanding my budget to buy either of the monitors you listed. Also since the Mac and PC are going to be situated on the same desk I will be bound by my size limitation of 20-22" as the desk will be fairly cramped just with these sizes.

Thank you for your fast reply though and yes the 24" Dell Ultrasharp is an awesome piece of kit, these are what we have in the studio where I work and they produce the best and most accurate colours I have found with a monitor although I also don't mind the Apple LED Cinema Display.

[nightkhaos]

Taking that into consideration, the 20" Dell you mentioned within your first post will be more than adequate for your purposes. However, if the Mac in question is a Mac Pro or Mac Mini, I would recommend selling it's moniter on eBay and using the surplus to buy 2x 22" E-IPS panels.

Of course, if your Mac is an iMac you unfortunately do not have this option.

[Rookie1986]

Taking that into consideration, the 20" Dell you mentioned within your first post will be more than adequate for your purposes. However, if the Mac in question is a Mac Pro or Mac Mini, I would recommend selling it's moniter on eBay and using the surplus to buy 2x 22" E-IPS panels.

Of course, if your Mac is an iMac you unfortunately do not have this option.

Unfortunatly its an iMac

Are there any other Low-end/Budget monitors in my price range I should also consider or would just about anything do for my needs?

[nightkhaos]

A TN panel is a TN panel. There is very little difference in quality between them. I recommend Dell because of their high build quality and unmatched customer service.

My friend once had a problem with is 24" Ultrasharp VA panel. He called up Dell support, and it was replaced the next day.

[muppet_hat]

Did you look into BenQ Monitors?

Dell does have great customer service; however, they have always been known for having products that were quite faulty as well. There is a catch for everything no? I mean I have to say, Dell makes great products, but no one can say that they never heard someone's Dell product go ridiculously wrong one day. Dell tends to minimize costs by cutting corners in product manufacturing. That's their competitive edge, of course backed by great customer service.

BenQ has always been a company on the side, they are huge globally, just not as big as Dell or Samsung or LG. Perhaps after their aquisition of Siemens mobile, was when they lost their build in Rep. None the less, ask any BenQ monitor owner, and they will say great things about the company. Even myself, was once in doubt, but have full reassurance on BenQ products now!

For you I would definately recommend the E2200HD, which is well within your budget range. I think the E series is great, 22" or 24", as they seem to have packed everything that is needed or could be needed into one package. They throw it all in: 16:9 (1920x1080) Full HD display, HDMI, DVI, D-Sub, 2ms response time, and more. But what I find most useful is the 16:9 display, HDMI + DVI, and the 2 ms response time. It makes the monitor one of the best in its range for gaming, browsing, and work in its price range!

Definately don't take my word for it, but just do your own research, I'm sure you'll find tons of reviews on the monitor by just googling it.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The newer generation iMacs use TN type glossy panels whereas the old ones use PVA or IPS type panels IIRC. I have used both the Dell 2408WFP and 30" Apple Cinema Display at work and they are fab! However the best 24" display for under £500 is the HP LP2475W which has an H-IPS display and can be had for well under £400 from HP if you use a discount code and a cashback website like Quidco.

I agree Benq make decent monitors too.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

This monitor should do the job:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/22-Ne...kers-DVI-Cable

These two monitors have higher than standard resolution(1920x1080) for 22" monitors:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/22-Ii...-1920x1080-5ms

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/215-A...-Speakers-HDMI

[muppet_hat]

Yeah, hahaha thanks for agreeing with me CAT-THE-FIFTH.

I never heard of the brand Neovo or Liyama... Are they reliable brands? I'm sorry if I'm sounding ignorant. I'm not trying to, but I've really never heard of these brands. Perhaps they're smaller companies? I'm sure they're just as good, but the one thing I fear about smaller companies is their capabilities to handle customer service (ie: RMA's, FAQ, and just any other help needed). Because when it comes to electronics, it doesn't matter how great your company and product is, there will always be those units that were defected from production.

The Liyama looks a bit thick, but that may just be the picture.

But the Asus looks pretty nice and slick! Reminds me of the G series of BenQ (G2412HD), which is so damn sexy in my opinion! That's my next target hahah!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Yeah, hahaha thanks for agreeing with me CAT-THE-FIFTH.

I never heard of the brand Neovo or Liyama... Are they reliable brands? I'm sorry if I'm sounding ignorant. I'm not trying to, but I've really never heard of these brands. Perhaps they're smaller companies? I'm sure they're just as good, but the one thing I fear about smaller companies is their capabilities to handle customer service (ie: RMA's, FAQ, and just any other help needed). Because when it comes to electronics, it doesn't matter how great your company and product is, there will always be those units that were defected from production.

The Liyama looks a bit thick, but that may just be the picture.

But the Asus looks pretty nice and slick! Reminds me of the G series of BenQ (G2412HD), which is so damn sexy in my opinion! That's my next target hahah!

Iiyama have been around for ages and are one of the oldest monitor brands. AG Neovo were known in the past for higher end displays which had very nice designs.

[muppet_hat]

Okay. My apologies, I have really never heard of them, haha. = /

[deano131]

I really like the Samsung T200, wasn't keen on the colour scheme until I saw it in the flesh but is very nice actually. I saw a good review of the Benq E2200 screen in PC Gamer and PC PRo but I'd rather have the 1680 res rather than 1920 for more AA/eye candy.

[Pulseammo]

I recently bought a Samsung T220 and I'm reasonably pleased with it. The others are right when they say that it isn't perfect but from what I've seen I can live with it quite happily. I just came from a 17" CRT monitor so the downsides for me on the TN panel are slightly poorer colour reproduction (but they are good enough) and viewing angles. I'm delighted with input lag and response time though, absolutely no problems gaming on it and the size increase is fantastic.

I found it for £150 on clearance (new) at a high street retailer. (Not sure if I'm allowed to mention specifics on these forums). So if you are fast you might find one if you hunt about the popular places. Unfortunately I think you did just miss the £10 online rebate promotion though.

In short, if you are going for a TN then I'd say this is prolly one of the better ones in the class.

HTH.

[deano131]

Cheers for the info Pulseammo, I'm not worried by viewing angles as I'm sitting right in front anyway but good to know colour is good enough. I'm personally sticking with a TN for the speed, do like the sound of the IPS panels but think I'll wait another year or two until the prices drop further and the input lag becomes less of an issue.

[Pulseammo]

Cheers for the info Pulseammo, I'm not worried by viewing angles as I'm sitting right in front anyway but good to know colour is good enough. I'm personally sticking with a TN for the speed, do like the sound of the IPS panels but think I'll wait another year or two until the prices drop further and the input lag becomes less of an issue.

The Viewing Angles thing is actually a bit more in depth than just sitting infront of the monitor as I have found out. The reason I mentioned it as a downside is even though I sit infront of my monitor is at 22" the tops and bottoms of the screen still show very slight colour shift. If you are able to test out a large monitor try some of the tests here: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/viewing_angle.php

Really it is only an issue when you are trying to do accurate colour work though.