[yoesh]

i'm looking to ditch the bulky CRTs in favor of some space saving LCDs -- but most of the hardward is older (eg, circa late 90s -- beige powermacs). anyone have any brands or models they like in particular?

obviously i'm not looking too high end, given the hardware. (else, i could just save up and buy one or two eMacs or a lower end LCD iMac). thanks...

[tooki]

Samsung! Samsung!

Cost effective and top-quality.

tooki

[veryniceguy2002]

Originally posted by tooki:
Samsung! Samsung!

Cost effective and top-quality.

tooki

Yeap. Samsung's price is good (Samsung themselves produce the LCD!)

What is the Samsung's policy on dead pixels? How many before they would exchange the monitor??

BTW, how would I find out each manufacturer's dead pixel policy (any single web site that has all the information?)

[Mr. Blur]

i use a pair of samsung 172T's....very nice indeed, couldn't be happier with them.

[funkboy]

I'm also looking to get an LCD that would work with my PC and a PowerBook G4 or G5 tower I may get sometime in the future.

I found this at newegg:

BenQ 19" LCD

The resolution is 1280x1024, which may seem not too dense for a 19", but I like that density better than the 1280x1024 on a 17", especially since my parents will probably use this LCD once I get a different one.

Has anyone had any experience with these? $549 for a 19" LCD seems like a great deal, and the reviews at the website are all super-positive.

[Rickster]

Last I heard, Formac's monitors were rated as high or higher than Apple's in most reviews, and tended to be cheaper. But I haven't paid attention in a while...

[Link]

BenQ is generally like symphonic, sampo, and those other cheap brands you find... On LCDs higher resolutions are definately easier on the eyes than on CRTs, though.

I would highly reccomend the samsung 172x

[veryniceguy2002]

Originally posted by funkboy:
I'm also looking to get an LCD that would work with my PC and a PowerBook G4 or G5 tower I may get sometime in the future.

I found this at newegg:

BenQ 19" LCD

The resolution is 1280x1024, which may seem not too dense for a 19", but I like that density better than the 1280x1024 on a 17", especially since my parents will probably use this LCD once I get a different one.

Has anyone had any experience with these? $549 for a 19" LCD seems like a great deal, and the reviews at the website are all super-positive.

As far as I know, BenQ's policy on dead pixels are rather high.

[C.J. Moof]

I'll jump on the Samsung bandwagon. We've got a few at the office- they're all good quality products.

[d4nth3m4n]

am i making this up, or does samsung make the lcds in apple displays?

[Macola]

A little-known (except to geeks like myself) but high-quality, reasonably priced brand is Sceptre. I've been very happy with them. You can get them at newegg.com.

[milhaus]

Samsung 172x or 173p. Great monitors, with DVI.

[NYCFarmboy]

Just purchased a 17' Viewsonic LCD VE175 from New Egg...with shipping charges (came 2 days after I ordered) was 430.00 total.

Its a good standard moniter nice and bright
in fact so bright I turned it down somewhat. (and I normally like a VERY bright moniter).

It is for use on my old G4 400 mhz tower replacing a old 21" Viewsonic CRT which was too fuzzy to use anymore.

This new Viewsonic is sharp, nice color, but does have a darkish bluish cast off to the upper left hand side.


But for the price it is just fine. I only use this in my office, mostly just for email with sometimes a bit of illustrator or photoshop work. (I will do my "high end" work on my 20" Formac display at home which is a stunning moniter but too pricey for occasional use such as this one will be used for.)

Only thing I don't like : It is beige plastic. Wish it had been black, but its ok. It tilts nice, and makes a MUCH smaller footprint than the old Viewsonic 21" CRt beast I"m replacing it with.

It is 1280x1024. and is a nice display size as far as type goes etc.

As to what will hook up with what, I don't know...my old G4 400 I had installed a new graphics card so that it would work with my 20" formac when I used it as my main computer. So I just plugged this one into my old G4 and it worked just by turning it on.

I'm very pleased for what the price was.

If aesthetics were more of a concern I'd have got a black moniter though, but thats just a personal preference.

I had to replace the old 21" CRT as it was killing my eyes to look at it anymore.

[m01ety]

I second the Samsung suggestion. I got a 17" 172s a little over a year ago for barely $400! It was a steal. The display is gorgeous: no dead pixels, very nice color and brightness, and the design of the monitor fits right in with an Aluminum PB or PM. Looks good with beige, too!

[mowogg]

I bought a KOGi 17" from CompUSA and on average it's a very nice monitor. It's bright and clear and takes up very little space. On the downside, it won't play nice with some full-screen games in Panther. Worked fine in Jaguar but in Panther some games push it "Out of Range" in resolution. Not too big a deal, I can still play MoHAA and CoD which are all I mostly do these days, but it might scare someone else.

[erise]

I need an LCD with VGA and DVI inputs. 17" or 19" is fine. I will be using for games a lot, so I need a display without any ghosting. I'd also like to be able to hook my VCR and GameCube up to it. I've seen LCD TV's, but I don't need the TV input (or want to spend that much) as long as I got some kind of RCA/S-Video to VGA converter. Any suggestions?

[cmoney]

Viewsonic has a series of products that turn any LCD/CRT into a TV, I think it's their NextVision line. Haven't used them myself though.

Re: the rest of the thread, I've got a Sony SDM-HX73/B with 3 inputs: 1 DVI, 2 analog and corresponding audio inputs. What's nice is you can setup 3 computers, and switch between the 3 with a press of a button on the monitor. The audio switches as well.

It's a little pricey for a 17" (as you'd expect for Sony) but it's got a great picture and I'll probably pick up another one in a few months. It's the same price as the Samsung 172x that people have listed here.

[Eug Wanker]

Here's my Samsung 172T: Not embedded because it's too big.

[indigoimac]

Originally posted by d4nth3m4n:
am i making this up, or does samsung make the lcds in apple displays?

I think LG makes them.

[reneb]

Originally posted by Rickster:
Last I heard, Formac's monitors were rated as high or higher than Apple's in most reviews, and tended to be cheaper. But I haven't paid attention in a while...

I looked at these some when we were looking for an LCD, but I found that there are quality issues with them. Many users at Macintouch have reported problems too, if I recall.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by indigoimac:
I think LG makes them.

Depending on the model (size, desktop vs. laptop), Apple uses different manufacturers. IIRC, it has included Samsung, LG/Philips, Chi Mei, etc.

[hart]

here's a good place to see a lot of choices lined up next to each other

www.monitorsdirect.com

which is where I got my Samsung 191T (1280X1024 SILVER) which I've had for a year and a half or so and have found to be great. I never liked the look or ergonomics of apple displays and I wanted something to look good with my MDD G4 and other silver stuff. I also had to turn the brightness down as it was positively blinding in my darkish room. I haven't noticed any ghosting. Reviews I've read in the past place it in the middle of the pack but I don't have any complaints. I wanted a bigger overall size for watching movies with very good angle of view and have been found this answered my needs. I believe Samsungs policy was 3 pixels the last time I checked.

[Peter]

my NEC 1760NX is awesome... 17" 16ms pixel response, dual inputs -- its all good it also offers a 3 year on site warranty with a 3 dead pixel guarantee.

[sheer]

I use an Iiyama Prolite E431S 17" as a second display for my Powerbook

- DVI and VGA ports (yes, there is a notivable difference between the two, DVI being better)
- 16ms response - excellent for gaming/DVDs
- Excellent colour reproduction
- Reasonable cost (~�350 delivered with DVI cable which must be bought separately)

I'm trying at the moment to get another one for use on the PC (my gaming/surfing box) I'm that impressed, but these things are like rockinghorsesh1t at the moment - no stock (UK) until mid-June apparently.

[Walkie]

Be careful with Samsung, I bought a 173s and they have that buttonless design, where everything including the brightness is controlled via the software which of course only runs on Windows and they don't plan to port it to Mac.

[TiUser]

Walkie, I am actually thinking about getting the Samsung 173P for my new 12" PB. I know that the software is Windoze only. Did you find the automatic setting not good enough?

[Walkie]

My biggest problem was the brightness, you have to wear sunglasses if you want to use your monitor after dark

[slider]

www.bcd2000.com

They have a 0 dead pixel policy for the first 30 days. No opening a box with a brand new monitor just to find a bad pixel you can't do anything about.

[nJm]

I recently bought a 15" LCD for one of the PCs in the house. I initally bought an LG 1510 (think that is it), but it had two dark circles about 1cm across, so I took it back. The shop was out of more LG's so I swapped it for a Viewsonic VE510 as it retailed for the same (AU$449). The brightness is better and there aren't any flaws with the LCD, however it almost looks like the picture has very faint interlace lines. This is only obvious if you look at it really closely.


Apple's Cinema screens look fantastic and they are LG/Philips brand. However I've heard that Samsung are the best.

[jksu]

got my samsung 171mp on ebay for $290 (did not include tuner) but a great 17" lcd (1280x1024), vga, svideo, rca so if/when i upgrade, i can use it later as a monitor to watch dvds in the bedroom.

samsung are definitely reasonably price and high quality. i almost got a no-name brand 17" for around $300, but opted for this samsung on ebay and am happy for dogni so.

btw, plenty bright (i use it at 50%) so expect a long life. my tibook 400's lcd's backlighting is so weak in comparison.

john

[deedar]

Originally posted by Walkie:
Be careful with Samsung, I bought a 173s and they have that buttonless design, where everything including the brightness is controlled via the software which of course only runs on Windows and they don't plan to port it to Mac.

So, on a 173P there is no way to control the brightness if you are using a Mac?????

[deedar]

Originally posted by tooki:
Samsung! Samsung!

Cost effective and top-quality.

tooki

I like the 173P - what about the potential brightness/lack of manual controls issues/ ... Comments?

[Frumpy]

Well, just looked up the 173P at my favorite general electronics store (Circuit City), and they have it listed for $699 with a $50 mail-in-rebate. Ummm, for that kind of money it makes me start looking at Apple displays again. Is the Samsung really THAT much better than what Apple has to offer in their 17"? Because with an edu discount I can walk away with an Apple 17" for $599. Not to mention that Apple should be refreshing their display line at WWDC, so it's really not fair to compare right now, i guess.

[spambot]

do not get the samsung 173p
side note re:frumpy. there is a fundamental difference between samsung and apple in that apple products carry the same price tag from every vendor, while samsungs do not.