19"+ TFT to treat myself

[Funkstar]

I'm half way through a 3 week trip for work and i've decided i'm going to treat myself to a new monitor when i get home.

So i'd like some recomendations

I really like the look of the 20" Viewsonic VP2030B as it can be swiveled 90 degrees to give you a portrate screen, great for Photoshop work i think. But £400 is a little steap, cnsiddering i could probably get two regular 19" screens for that.

Are there any other monitos that do this?

I have a 15.1" widescreen on my laptop which is fine, but i don't really want the second display to be widescreen too, i like the verticle resolution for photo, video and database work too much.

So come on, what esle should i be looking at?

thanks all

[Kezzer]

I wouldn't go for a 19" because 99% of them are in 1280x1024. For an inch more you can have lovely 1600x1200 (or 1680x1050 if it's WS). Buy a single 20" WS LCD for now, then save up and get another one if you want dual screen in my opinion.

[Smudger]

PC Pro this month has reviews of large monitors, starting at £185. The review is probably available online...

[Mad-Max]

If your spending that much on a TFT then go for a 20 inch and plus one

[Funkstar]

yeah i did some searching last night and the only 1600x1200 monitors are 20"

So is there anything else, other than the Viewsonic VP series that can auto reotate the screen? What about any widescreen monitors, any of them you can swivel? Viewsonic don't do a wide VP screen.

[T3hGr8£st]

Dell 20.1" 2007FPW can rotate, I have one.

It doesnt auto rotate your desktop you need to use your graphics card drivers to do that, but the 1680x1050 is lovely.

[mcdaddy99]

I've ordered this 22" Dell widescreen and the price seems too good to be true, the limited number of reviews ive read all seem to be positive, for multi-media purposes you need a decent widescreen - not sure it can be swivelled likke its big brothers though?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MO-015-DE

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The 2007FPW has had very bad reviews.While HDCP is useul I think you should see if the monitor is a 6 -bit dithered one(16.2 million colours) or 8-bit one(16.7 million colours).

[T3hGr8£st]

The 2007FPW has had very bad reviews.While HDCP is useul I think you should see if the monitor is a 6 -bit dithered one(16.2 million colours) or 8-bit one(16.7 million colours).

I got an S-IPS panel in my 2007FPW and I must say it is bloody awesome.

If you get an S-PVA Dell offer a free returns policy and will replace it with an S-IPS for you.

[cptwhite_uk]

But £400 is a little steap, cnsiddering i could probably get two regular 19" screens for that.

Or you could get 2 x Viewsonic 20" Screens. I have this monitor on a second Pc and can thoroughly recommend it. It's 1400x1050 res but doesn't feel much smaller than 1600x1200 to use...

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124275


2800 x 1050 anyone for £360?

[Funkstar]

Dell 20.1" 2007FPW can rotate, I have one.

It doesnt auto rotate your desktop you need to use your graphics card drivers to do that, but the 1680x1050 is lovely.

Good point. Any idea how to find out if my Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME based laptop can do 1050x1680? Would i need something like Powerstrip? this is new teritory for me

Or you could get 2 x Viewsonic 20" Screens.

Shame i don't have either the space or a laptop that can drive two external screens.

[aeronic]

personally, i find that 1600*1050 is too great a resolution on anything smaller than 22".
Consider your eyestrain, however i do find 1280*1024 too great for a 17" - perfect for a standard 19" tho.

[Funkstar]

well i've just ordered a 20" widescreen viewsonic for £230 ish.

Should get it on Monday which is pretty handy as thats when i get home

[Wildcard[UK]]

I recently upgraded to a Samsung 20" WS LCD myself and I must say I've been highly impressed. 20" is definitely a sweet spot. Increased resolution and great real estate. I think WS is going to become much more prevalent in the future and it's not like a 20" WS is short.

Hope your purchase works out for you

[Funkstar]

Been living with this since Tuesday now. I like it.

Although i now realise that my laptop is horribly slow and i really need a new one

Because of the configuratioin of my desk/work area, i had to remove the Viewsonic stand to get it to fit. With the speakers on the bottom though, it actually work out pretty good. The screen is just sitting on the desk leaning against the wall. My laptop is on a shelf above the screen. The spanned desktop is configured the same, screen two under screen one.

Some apps get confused by this configuration, you sometimes get menus appearing at the bottom of the primary screen as opposed to being where they should be. Also Avasts update notifyer actually scrolls up from the top right hand corner of screen 2 before appearing above the system tray

The huge benefit of the screen though is how many more photos i can view in Adobe Lightroom. The colours are also significantly better than my laptop LCD.

All in all a good purchase. but like i said, i need a new laptop, RAW image editing it pretty slow on a 1.6ghz Centrino (2 years old, non-Core processor)