Widescreen monitor selection...Help!

[AndyO]

Cheers folks, thanks to your musings I've given the 2005 a lot more consideration. Think the build quality on the Dell does sound a lot better (whether 20" or 24") and the better OSD with scaling options etc is another plus. How indecisive am I!?!?!?

Well I guess I didn't expect this to be easy!

Actually, it sounds like i missed a Scan 'Today Only' offer on the 2405FPW only last week?! So unlucky! If I'd seen that I would have jumped at the chance. Gutted . Any chance any of the Scan blokes are reading this and fancy a 1-off Today Only?

One and a half weeks to go till I get my new box.....hmmmmm.

[GingerNinja.net]

Yet another forum post that is making me think about spending the money that I do not have!

I have a CTX PV720A 17" TFT which I bought...ooooo....about 4 years ago. Now, it still looks OK to me, but I reckon if I attach a decent screen to my set-up I will wet my pants at how much visual loveliness I have been missing.

Been tempted to go widescreen as well for the extra desktop space and I love the idea of widescreen gaming, but I also have the following concerns:
- BF2 on widescreen (see here and here)
- will the 7800GTX run current titles at the 2005FPW's native 1680 x 1050 (WSXGA+)?whether my 256MB 7800GTX will allow me to game at the screens native resolution? My old AGP 6800GT allowed me to run HL2, CS;S & BF2 as well as all my earlier titles at 1280x1024.

[FatalSaviour]

Hehe,

Thx for the tip schmunk. Not a bad idea, though for some reason I can't access that link?

At any rate I think I need to buy a new monitor as I need a VAT receipt for it so afraid I can't go down the ebay or 2nd hand route! Sorry David...sounds a bargain too

Any advice on the plethora of 20" options? I finally found a review of the Viewsonic 2012W and it seems distinctly mediocre! I'm tempted by the Belinea 102035 or the Dell 2005 at present but I keep looking overreviews and changing my mind. :S

I've got the Dell 2005FPW....there's a small amount of backlight bleeding, but it really is only noticeable whenthe screen's completely black. I tried the 24". With where I sit in relation to the screen, it was unfortunately a bit too big. No ghosting visible to me with either. You can sometimes get the 2005FPW for about/just under £300 inc. vat and del. depending on where you shop.
The Belinea monitor also seems to be making waves in this forum too however...I think you'd be happy with either, and if you're not, at least you're only splashing out £300 as opposed to £600...
Having said all this, isn't there meant to be a refresh of the Dell monitor lineup now that the 3007's out?

[FatalSaviour]

Ginger, my 6600GT can run all the games I've got, Doom, HL2, etc etc at 1680x1050 with respectable FPSs, admittedly without AA or AF turned on. I have no wish to try it with them enabled, or FEAR for that matter, until I get my 7800GTX . Hurry up Scan....

[AndyO]

I've got the Dell 2005FPW....there's a small amount of backlight bleeding, but it really is only noticeable whenthe screen's completely black. I tried the 24". With where I sit in relation to the screen, it was unfortunately a bit too big. No ghosting visible to me with either. You can sometimes get the 2005FPW for about/just under £300 inc. vat and del. depending on where you shop.
The Belinea monitor also seems to be making waves in this forum too however...I think you'd be happy with either, and if you're not, at least you're only splashing out £300 as opposed to £600...
Having said all this, isn't there meant to be a refresh of the Dell monitor lineup now that the 3007's out?

I'm sure you're right to be honest and the 300 versus 600 notes is a serious consideration There's my SLI for starters!

I'm not too fussed about waiting for the '07 models - I'd appreciate the lower refresh (I read 11ms?) but the main upgrade is the Hi-Def support which I'll never make use of. So I'm more interested in the fact that it'll drop the prices of the older models - which is something its already doing so no huge incentive to wait there for me.

But what's really got my goat now is that I think the Scan offer I missed was the 24" for £499 - LAST WEEK! Woe, woe and thrice woe.....it's an ace price and I'd have been delighted with that!

But it's steeled my determination to try to get the 24" I think:S Though your 'too big' comment is something I'm more than a bit worried about!

Just need a great price

[GingerNinja.net]

Though your 'too big' comment is something I'm more than a bit worried about!

That takes me back to my first PC that came with a 17" CRT. I wanted the company I bought it from to take it back as I was used to a 14" CRT with my Amiga and it was hurting my eyes. THOSE were the days.

Seriously, you will get used to it, but if you are up close i.e. less than arms length from the screen, then you might not want a 24" beast, but if your fingers do not touch the screen when you stretch out your arm, you should be fine with a 24". Check out www.widescreengamingforums.com for more advise.

(Please correct me if I am wrong, anyone!)

[GingerNinja.net]

Ginger, my 6600GT can run all the games I've got, Doom, HL2, etc etc at 1680x1050 with respectable FPSs, admittedly without AA or AF turned on. I have no wish to try it with them enabled, or FEAR for that matter, until I get my 7800GTX . Hurry up Scan....

That's just MEAN - now I have no reason (except for £££££) to NOT get this monitor. You......git.

[AndyO]

Tomshardware have today posted a roudup review of some widescreen monitors including the 2405FPW, the 23" Sony and a few 20" panels...

Interestingly they're not too fond of the Dell's response times but then price isn't a weighting factor in their verdict!

Undeterred I'm continuing to hunt for a 2405 for a tenner

or £499 if Scan come to the rescue again

[FatalSaviour]

That's just MEAN - now I have no reason (except for £££££) to NOT get this monitor. You......git.

Heheh, I aim to please....and more than occasionally annoy

[FatalSaviour]

I'm sure you're right to be honest and the 300 versus 600 notes is a serious consideration There's my SLI for starters!

But it's steeled my determination to try to get the 24" I think:S Though your 'too big' comment is something I'm more than a bit worried about!

Just need a great price

I'm trying to deliver a fair opinion, and if there's any other pro's/cons of the Dells you want discussing, I'll try to go over them with you.
With regards to the size, you could do what I did before I'd seen either the 24" or the 20"...
It makes you look like an absolute pratt, but I measured out a piece of 'The Times' newspaper and cut it to size. Then sat down, stood up, took a chair at the back of the room, looking at it for about an hour, deciding on the size. It certainly helped to get a real appreciation of the size in respect to my sitting position/size of the room, but, like I say, you look like a complete idiot.
P.S. I found staring at the Sun/Sport newspapers were not as effective in helping me to gauge the size of the screen...

[FatalSaviour]

Having blathered on about it for a while now, I did find a solution to the '2405 is too big' problem...I bought a new desk, a new reclining chair, and changed my sitting position...Almost perfect...
Reason I didn't stick with the 2405 was mainly I didn't find it quite so easy to game with, but depending on what you'll be using it for, that may not be a problem.
For films etc, it's awesome.

[Xelotath]

my 2 cents - got a 2005 from ITCsales about a month ago for my new system, small amount of bleeding, only notice it in a pitch black room though, would thoroughtly recommend it.

IMO for gaming i wouldnt want a screen thats any bigger, but then i sit quite close (probably about 50cm perpendicular to the centre of the screen)

[GingerNinja.net]

IMO for gaming i wouldnt want a screen thats any bigger, but then i sit quite close (probably about 50cm perpendicular to the centre of the screen)

That seems to concur with what I was saying about more than arms length away. My nose is approx 60cm away* from my two 19" 4:3 LCD screens at work and they totally fill my vision. 24" widescreen would accomplishe this as well. The top of the screens are level with my eye-line.

At home, I think I am slightly closer and my eyeline is closer to the middle of the screen, hence why I am more likely to go for a 20" at home. That and the fact that I don't think I could game on the native res of a 24" screen!

* yes, I did hold a 45cm ruler against my nose to check this.

[Syd]

Gutted

Cheers for all the help thus far guys, the forum's been a goldmine of info

I just called Dell directly to see if they could get close to the ITCSales price of £598 for the 2405....it was a firm no!

Although given that the sales guy had such a thick accent that I could barely understand him, and kept on saying 'this excellent monitor comes complete with'...then reading the full spec sheet to me (got it for the 2005, 2405 and he tried talking over me a third time about the 30" before I said ), I suspect I got the standard call centre drone rather than a human being.

He also tried to sell me the sound bar three times even when I said 'no, I've got perfectly serviceable surround sound thanks'....the response was "yes I understand sir, but these excellent speakers connect directly to the monitor and we can sell them at the price of only £36 if you order this excellent monitor". Excellent indeed If I wasn't grimacing at the awful sales stereotype I would have been laughing quite hard

One bit of news for people that I did get out of my new best friend at the call centre - Dell are going to do the usual 25% discount on the list price from Feb 1st (it's only on the 2005 at present). He offered me that (£708 inc VAT I think). No thanks

So, no monitor ordered yet!!! And I'd got all psyched up for the 24" too!

Help, anyone?!? I'm starting to really fancy the 24" again (I knew this would happen!)

OMG How many of us are there???????????? I have done EXACTLY what you have, although I got my stereotypical salesman down to £688, but at the end of the day it became a principal thing, I didn't want to wait 10 days and I didn't want to line the pockets of a chap whose sole goal in life was to sell me products I did not need or want!!!

But eventually - today actually - I came to the conclusion that if I continued to Look daily for extended periods at Forums, websites, etc etc, I would firstly go mad, secondly loose the will to live and thirdly it is actually costing me money as I am commission based.
I today visited the apple store and looked at the 20" v 23" monitors, the 20" is very nice but it was enought, I've now placed an order with those nice people at scan, and its arriving tomorrow, free postage and a competitive price, This decision has taken me over a year and has probably cost me 3 times the cost of the screen in time spent browsing and not selling, but at least now I can get on with life.........................
Mmmmmmmmmm now what GFX card shall I Buy..................AAAARrrrrrrrrrGGGGGGhhhh

[AndyO]

Nice one! Congrats on the purchase.

I'm now firmly set on the 2405 - I saw a thread over at OCUK (don't flame me please I know about the customer support) about the Belineas that has COMPLETELY put me off them. Sounds a good monitor but there are people there on their third monitor that's still got dead pixels and bleed!

So it was down to the 2005 or the 2405...and I figured that for games that wouldn't live happily in widescreen I just COULDN'T face dropping to 1280x1024...so it had to be the 24" so I could fall back on 1600x1200! How else would I cope with Dawn of War?!?!

Hence I'm now just hunting for a good price. Gonna wait until Friday when Scan post their Today Only update, see if its on there again (knowing my luck, its a no )...If I hadn't belatedly spotted that £499 deal this would be a done deal by now!

Anyway..if it's not on Today Only on Friday, I'm ordering next week from somewhere else. Getting my G5 mouse at the same time. I'm not even a massive FPS fan but I'm dribbling at the thought of replaying FarCry and HL2. And of course, WoW at native too

Shout if you see any good deals on that 24" and enjoy your new toy!

[Syd]

499, I'd be gutted if they do ive just paid almost £200 more than that !!!!!!!!!