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macforray · Jan 29, 2006, 03:16 PM

I jusy tried searching for this and came up empty. I bought a Mac Mini 1.42 in August but only had $200 left in my budget for a display. I found a 17" LCD by Proview on sale at Circuit City and bought it. I wanted to get up and running as soon as possible so the display options were not considered at the time. The Proview has good specs and works ok.

Cutting to the chase, what would I see as different if I had a DVI display sitting next to my Proview? Just how much, clearer, brighter, smarter, better are they?

Prices are coming down, and I can pass my LCD down to mt kids to replace an older 15" CRT. A 19", 20", 21" or 24" would be nice, but I think my budget will be around $250, so I may still be stuck with a 17". Possibly, since prices are dropping, waiting a little longer may be the best tact.

So, DVI now, later, or really not worth it? Any ideas or opinions are appreciated.

Thanks.

mduell · Jan 29, 2006, 05:59 PM

DVI is absolutely worth it; the difference in clarity and sharpness is amazing, IMO.

On your budget I'd get the Dell 1704FPT, currently $260 although you may be able to find some additional coupons. It lacks the USB hub, media card reader, and additional video inputs (s-video, component, composite) of its older brothers, but it comes with a great stand (and VESA mountable out of the box), has VGA and DVI inputs, and a 3 year warranty.

If you can manage another $175, the Dell 2005FPW gives you a USB hub, more video input options, and 33% more pixels (widescreen).

hickey · Jan 29, 2006, 06:24 PM

so if you were to go from VGA to DVI through an adapter, how much quality loss is there? If you connected a DVI display through an adapter to an imac with the VGA input, would there be noticeable quality degredation?

SSharon · Jan 29, 2006, 06:27 PM

I would shoot between mduell's recommendations. I got the dell 1905fp (dvi/vga/ usb hub) for $275 shipped. I had to wait for the deal, but it was worth it and I am very happy with the monitor. It's the same resolution as the 17" one, but since I am often a few feet from my desk I wanted a larger screen.

check slickdeals.net or use google to find a good deal.

mduell · Jan 29, 2006, 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by hickey

so if you were to go from VGA to DVI through an adapter, how much quality loss is there? If you connected a DVI display through an adapter to an imac with the VGA input, would there be noticeable quality degredation?

If there is a VGA connector used anywhere in the chain you're getting VGA quality, and it will look just as bad as it does now. You want to go from DVI on one end to DVI on the other, with no adapters.

Originally Posted by SSharon

I would shoot between mduell's recommendations. I got the dell 1905fp (dvi/vga/ usb hub) for $275 shipped. I had to wait for the deal, but it was worth it and I am very happy with the monitor. It's the same resolution as the 17" one, but since I am often a few feet from my desk I wanted a larger screen.

check slickdeals.net or use google to find a good deal.

With the current pricing scheme, you're paying nearly as much for the 19 as you would for the 20, and only getting as many pixels as the 17, so I don't think it makes sense. However when the deals change in a few days, it may make a lot of sense.

SSharon · Jan 29, 2006, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

With the current pricing scheme, you're paying nearly as much for the 19 as you would for the 20, and only getting as many pixels as the 17, so I don't think it makes sense. However when the deals change in a few days, it may make a lot of sense.

Agreed. At the time though I couldn't really afford the 20" version. My 19" NEC CRT crapped out and I sent it back to them since it was under warranty (6 weeks left), but they would only send the new one to my house. I sold it to my dad and bought myself the dell. If I was in the market today I would go for the 20" widescreen since I like to watch movies.

macforray · Jan 29, 2006, 10:33 PM

Thanks for the input and ideas. Dell appears to be the brand of choice, but are there others (DVI) with similar cost to benefit ratios?

mduell · Jan 29, 2006, 10:52 PM

17": LG Samsung NEC

19": ViewSonic Sceptre Samsung

20" wide: Acer

Bwa · Jan 29, 2006, 11:36 PM

FWIW, I have two 19" Professional ViewSonic monitors. They are seriously awesome and put all of my other monitors to shame. They're currently sold as the VP930bs (I have the older VP191bs). I paid about $700 per panel (they're down to $400 or so now).

Awesome monitors, and they come with DVI cables (which none of my Samsungs did). DVI cables run $40-$80 locally in stores around here, so watch out for that.