Widescreen monitor selection...Help!

[Clunk]

MMTrading
2005FPW @ £325 inc VAT & del (ebay)

delivery is another £15 on top

[GingerNinja.net]

delivery is another £15 on top

Doh! You are right. My original post has been updated to reflect this.

So - who has the better service guarantee? ITC or MMTrading?

[AndyO]

Pretty sure you're in the same boat with both.

MM certainly have a decent website which has allayed any ebay-only-dubious-ness fears I may have had!

They're probably both cancelled or refurbished Dell products that are perfectly good. Nice find! I've got an alternative to ITC now if Scan don't come up with the goods (literally) soon.

Cheers

(ps I know how this part works - I get my new PC on Friday, plug in my humble 15" TFT and the first thing I'll do is order the 24" and be d*mned with waiting for stock . Or maybe I do have willpower?! We'll see. )

[EarlGrey]

I just got the Acer 19" Widescreen TFT and gaming in widescreen is a beautiful thing
Wish I had the moola for the Dell 24"... Maybe next year...
Good luck with the hunting

[GingerNinja.net]

Read this review: http://www.anandtech.com/displays/sh...spx?i=2400&p=1

I have to say that I am going to get a 2005FPW. *sigh*

[AndyO]

Read this review: http://www.anandtech.com/displays/sh...spx?i=2400&p=1

I have to say that I am going to get a 2005FPW. *sigh*

Yup there's no shortage of glowing reviews for it. Here's another if you wish:
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review_dell_2005fpw.html

Particularly keen on the S-IPS panel and good colour fidelity...but its just not 1920x1200! Where's my 2405?!?!

[GingerNinja.net]

Ah, that's the thing now. If I had a 1600x1200 screen at present, I wouldn't settle for anything less than the 2405FPW as it would be the only comparible widescreen option.

I am used to a desktop of 1280x1024 and being able to game at the same res plus I don't have any real budget.

Getting the 2005FPW will give me 1680 x 1050 which is a slight step-up in terms of resolution but gives me much more desktop to play with at the right price i.e. close to £300, which was what I was thinking of spending on a decent 19" 4:3 LCD.

So....I got the last one on eBay. w00t!

[AndyO]

Congrats on having some level of decisiveness! Let us know how it pans out!

Hehe, I'm used to 1024x768 so I'm expecting my eyes to bleed with a 24"

Still, I only upgrade every 3-4 years so I may as well go a little OTT this time! But I'm just loathed to part with the extra £200 over that original Scan offer...

must not buy...must not buy.....must not buy...

[Clunk]

gingerninja,

did you not keep the gtx in the end?

[GingerNinja.net]

gingerninja,

did you not keep the gtx in the end?

Yes, I have a 7800GTX. I could happily play HL2 & BF2 at 1280x1024 on my old AGP 6800GT, but not games like F.E.A.R. So I figured that I would be able to game at 1680x1050 with a 7800GTX for atleast the next 2 years.

Am I about to be told something like:

"You fool! You should have splurged the extra £200 on the 2405FPW as your card can easily handle 1920x1200 in F.E.A.R and Quake 4!"

[Syd]

Yes, I have a 7800GTX. I could happily play HL2 & BF2 at 1280x1024 on my old AGP 6800GT, but not games like F.E.A.R. So I figured that I would be able to game at 1680x1050 with a 7800GTX for atleast the next 2 years.

Am I about to be told something like:

"You fool! You should have splurged the extra £200 on the 2405FPW as your card can easily handle 1920x1200 in F.E.A.R and Quake 4!"

I bought the 2405 and my 6800gt just about does HL2 at ntive res and powers Wow nicely however you have to be prepared to turn a couple of things down, would like to see it being run by that 7800gtx of yours

[AndyO]

ARGH!

ITC have stock of the 2405....

£598 inc VAT again...

must...resist...

[AndyO]

Erm...well, I lasted AT LEAST 18 minutes there...

I reckon that was pretty decent by all accounts. I even called Scan again to see if they knew when they'd be getting more 2405s in...but it was a 'not sure, probably in the next two weeks' - they were very good about it, as ever, but seems Dell are choking the supply

So then I got one from ITCSales. £613 delivered. Skint but happy. And not before time!

Syd, not far behind you mate!

Cheers to all for chipping in to this drama

[GingerNinja.net]

I bought the 2405 and my 6800gt just about does HL2 at ntive res and powers Wow nicely however you have to be prepared to turn a couple of things down, would like to see it being run by that 7800gtx of yours

Aha, that's the thing isn't it? I don't want to turn anything down - I want all the effects turned on i.e. max draw distance in BF2, max physics, nice particle effects in F.E.A.R (if I can get through it without a cardiac) etc. In my view, it is pointless spending around £600 on a decent monitor and graphics card, if you cannot play games as they are suppossed to look.

So then I got one from ITCSales. £613 delivered. Skint but happy. And not before time!

Glad you took the plunge and are happy with your choice. What graphics card do you have?





I personally would love a 24", but went with the 20" on price and my reasons above. I paid £340 for my 2005FPW yesterday including delivery. The 2405FPW from ITC is £613 delivered. That is £273 that I cannot justify. I know that I jump a whole screen res and the pic above does make it tempting, but my credit card is near terminal as it is.

[AndyO]

Glad you took the plunge and are happy with your choice. What graphics card do you have?

Agree with your comments on running everything maxed out - I'm happy to scale from 1680x1050 if I have to in order to keep things smooth! And eventually I'll go SLI or eBay the GTX and go back to an ATI (currently running an old 9600GT but I've been really happy with it) once the next generation appear

I don't have my new PC yet but its an X2 4400+ with a 7800GTX. It'll be running on stock air but I'll see if I can clock it a bit and see how far I get. It's a Mesh pre-built with a slightly tweaked spec but I'm assuming the 2Gb of Ram (2x1024) I got will be pretty mediocre - we'll see. Should arrive tomorrow all being well.

Just couldn't be bothered with the hassle of building it myself this time! And the savings in it are no longer what they used to be. Though I guess if I'd gone down the Opty route I'd have got better value if I'd overclocked!

However I'm CURSED with mail-order kit so guarantee if I'd gone self-build again then something would have had to be sent back (shouldn't speak too soon about this one though eh?!)

Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes! When is your 2005 turning up?

btw the really sad thing about all of this is that I got the wife a new laptop at the same time and it's not far shy of my desktop - PM 2Ghz, 7800GTX, only a 5400rpm HDD but a decent 1680x1050 screen (17") and it cost the same as my base unit without a monitor! (£1300 inv VAT). Have a horrible feeling her frame rates are going to be about 5 shy of mine if I'm not careful!

My next PC may well be a DTR laptop I think

[MSIC]

been reading all your shenanigans with interest, well done on making the leap to widescreen.
For your interest, i have been posting here, at anandtech and emailed HardOCP who are all in agreement to increase the profile of widescreen gaming.

Well done and welcome to the fold...