20" vs 22" monitors - advice please

[Gimberz]

Hi all from a new forum member.

I am another of those looking a a new monitor for 2007, after my 4 year old 19" Syncmaster has given up the ghost. I want to go widescreen, it must have a DVI port and I want the screen size to be at least 20". My budget maximum is £300 and I have been doing some homework on this.

Firstly, the contenders that I am considering (with the places I have found the cheapest internet prices so far):

22" Monitors:
Video 7 V7L22wd - £217.37 (EBUYER)
Fujisu Siemens L22-W-2DV - £250 (PCWORLD)
Iiyama PLE2200WS-B - £261 (SCAN)
Packard Bell Maestro 220 - £269 (PACKARD BELL)
Asus MW221U - £277 (SCAN)
ViewSonic VX2235wm - £297.00 (SAVASTORE)

20" Monitors:
Samsung 205BW - £194.55 (PIXMANIA)
LG L204WT - £199.00 (KOMPLETT)

Some of these I have read reviews for and some of these I have not. Of the 20" ones, the LG seems to have the best reviews. On the 22" ones, I can't find any reviews of the Video 7, Packard Bell or the Fujitsu ones, but the price of the video 7 one seems amazing compared to the competition. The Asus, Iiyama and the Viewsonic ones all seem to have pretty good reviews. All the monitors though seem to have very similar response times, actual contrast ratios etc. So my first question is, do any of you have any experiences or thoughts on these options? Is the Video 7 one really a bargain or does the picture quality suffer in some way? Or am I better off putting a bit more money behind the purchase an go for a more recognised brand?

Secondly, I was all for going for one of those 22" screen options until I read a couple of reviews on PC Pro, which was saying that many of the 22" screens do not display as crisp images as the 20" ones. The reason for this being that both screen sizes are the same resolution (1680x1050), so the larger 22" ones produce bigger pixels for the same images.

Since I want to use this monitor to play games only, and it will be sat straight infront of me at a distance of around 3 feat from my seated position, I now wonder whether the 22" larger pixel size and therefore the slightly less image crispness would bother me - it is not like I will be viewing this from across the room.

So my second question is .. Can anyone therefore provide me some advice for my intended use? Are all of the 22" monitors really producing less crisp images than the 20" ones? If not is one of those 22" ones mentioned better than the others? Or should I stick to one of the 20" ones?.

Thanks in advance for your help

[sTrAnGeFrUiT!]

as i dont own any of these monitors i cant really give you any advice

but i would say its worth adding this

http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=25737

to your list it was recently posted in the bargain forum and ive gota say im seriosly tempted myself!

[Gimberz]

thanks for the suggestion - the price sure seems nice, but the problem is your suggestion doesn't have a DVI input. The screen I buy must have one of those since the KVM switch I use for my 2 pc's is DVI, not VGA and I therefore have all the DVI cables ready to use. That is why other cheap options like the Belinea are not on my list. Thanks anyway though.

Can anyone else help?

[ibiris]

Dell have the 2007WFP on offer at the moment, with basic postage I think it comes to £261ish. It states £350 odd on the site but once you add it to the basket it will do the deductions.

I've seen various posts on various boards say that this is an impressive monitor, so you may want to include it in your collection.

[MadduckUK]

vote here for the Fujitsu Siemens. its veeeery nice and no crappy speakers visible like some

[Gimberz]

the only thing with that dell monitor is that its response times are higher than I wanted, since I will only be using the monitor to play games, and there is plenty of choice with 5ms screens about.

The fujitsu screen looks nice and simple - as you say no silly speakers on the side.

However noone so far has been able to comment on whether 22" screens have less crisp images than 20" screens, bearing in mind they are the same resolution. Ultimately it is this info that will guide my choice. Can anyone in the know provide any comments on this?

[MadduckUK]

right look at it like this:



SIZE RESOLUTION DENSITY PIXEL SIZE
17" 1440 x 900 99.9 ppi 0.2543 mm
19" 1440 x 900 89.4 ppi 0.2842 mm
-----
20" 1680 x 1050 99.1 ppi 0.2564 mm
22" 1680 x 1050 90.1 ppi 0.2821 mm


so, roughly, a 20" is as "crisp" as a 17". but obviously with more screen space to play with.. and a 22" is about the same as a 19".

http://www.prismo.ch/comparisons/desktop.php

[Leepox]

detail is the same... but if u want to have a bigger looking monitor then go for teh 22" ones

[ibiris]

I'm assuming there are some errors with the data for the 22.2" monitor?
....


22.2" 3840 x 2400 204 ppi 0.1245 mm 16:10 8.79 MP 1'172%

Seems a bit extreme compared to everything else, or am i wrong?

[MadduckUK]

http://www.idtech.co.jp/en/920LCD/index.html

no error. no.

[s_kinton]

I recently bought the Samsung 22" syncmaster 225BW. Its widescreen, 5ms response time, no speakers, has dvi and vga inputs. The main advantage over it competitors is that the monitor stand is vertically adjustable - most are not.

I managed to get it from CCL for £269, on special offer a few months ago. Its been brilliant, with no backlight bleed issues or dead pixels.

Definately recommended

[fisnik]

I'm contemplating getting the Dell 20007WFP. I would also use it mainly for games. I was under the impression that anything below 20ms is good enough even for gaming. Is this correct?

[kalniel]

What's correct is that you just can't trust manufacturers claims for response times.

12ms on *that* dell model is absolutely fine - and will look crisper than some other manufactures 5ms claim.

[Gimberz]

thanks for everyones input on this.

decided to go with the fujitsu siemens L22-W-2DV at £250 +delivery from PC world. Made this decision because the screen had the larger number of displayable colours, whilst still having the quick refresh rate. And in my opinion it is the nicest looking of the monitors I was considering - many of the others had larger amounts of casing around the screen.

For anyone else that is interested, most of the local PC world stores around the country have apparently now sold out of these monitors and only have on-display models left, not new ones. These display models will not be sold at discounted prices until the entire stock from the warehouse has sold out, and will then only be available for collection from your local branch. Since I have now purchased one of the remaining ones from the storage depot in Milton Keynes, that leaves only new ones 7 left in the country. You can still therefore purchase new ones from the website, but maybe not for much longer!

[Choo Choo]

I'm seriously tempted by that fujitsu too. I've seen it in my local PC World, but it's the display model. It's so nice though.

I may have to order one online too.

[MadduckUK]

pixmania sell a visually identical FujitsuSiemens, the difference being it has 2x VGA ports. im currently using the VGA on mine and it looks great (no dvi cable at the mo) so probably a good idea if DVI isnt totally nessasairy

Edit: its cheaper too