Looking for a new monitor

[sumdumbum]

I am looking to get a new LCD monitor - I have very limited space on my desk at school and my 19" CRT is just too big taking up about 1/3-1/2 my desk space.

I mostly do web stuff on mine (internet, e-mail, IM, etc) with some photoshoping. I do little gaming (maybe 5-10 hours/week at most), but I do watch movies on my computer (mostly widescreen unless I can't find a widescreen version).

I've been looking at reviews of monitors on here and have seen several monitors that seemed what I wanted until I saw their lack of colors (most seem to be only 6 bit panels). As I plan to do photo editing, colors are important to me as is the ability to correctly display them (I'm going to color correct whatever I get, I just need something that can actually display what I need it to). I also want something that can show movies clearly and without issues in dark or fast moving scenes. If there's a monitor out there that can do all this and not sacrifice in gaming, I'd be all for it.

Basically, I'm willing to give up gaming first (reluctantly), then movies (I guess I could still use my TV for that) all before photo editing. I'm looking to spend less than $500 (preferably around $350 or so) and I don't want to go to a smaller screen than my current CTR 19". I've used some NEC CRT monitors at work and LOVE them, but have no experience with their LCD's. If anyone would comment on those, I'd appreciate it.

I really don't have a preference of widescreen vs. 4:5 or whatever, though I guess widescreen could be cool for watching movies, assuming games like HL2 and Battlefield2 don't have issues with widescreen. I just want a good monitor for this price limit.

Thanks,
Rob

 

[keeleysam]

Dell 2005FPW

 

[pulsedrive]

Originally posted by: keeleysam
Dell 2005FPW

I second that!

 

[Bartokomus]

me 3 it

 

[Gumbico]

amen on the 2005fpw

 

[duragezic]

Everything you mentioned points to a perfect candidate for the 2005FPW. I'm not as much of a gamer anymore either, but HL2 is awesome on widescreen. BF2 doesn't have native WS support. There may be a fix for it, otherwise you can play 1280x1024 with black bars on the side. For movies, the 2005FPW excellent as well. I noticed no ghosting or blurring. Finally, I don't have enough hands-on time with my 2005FPW, but the color reproduction seemed to look as good as my 900NF (aperture grille CRT).

 

[mode101wpb]

2005FPW owners, no problems with backlight bleed on your monitors?

 

[Gumbico]

Mine is the A02 July made in Mexico and is friggin perfect. No dead pixels and no backlight bleeding (atleast none that I notice). I actually freaked myself out from reading about how so many ppl had backlight issues, but honestly, I have no complaints with mine. the biggest shocker for me was how crappy stuff looked via the s-video and composite connectors. Got my PS2 running thru s-vid and my god it sucks. I set the display to sharpest and it just doesn't look as good as I had hoped (I understand the reasoning and resolutions behind it all, I just didn't expect it to look that bad). Still, if I sit far enough away (6 ft) the screen looks great again. =] wireless controllers rock. And yes, HL2 at 1680x1050 is something to behold.

 

[neutralizer]

2005fpw ftw. no bleeding on mine or dead pixels.

However, if you'd allow a bit of streaking/ghosting, the 1950FP has better color reproduction I think.

 

[mOeeOm]

Originally posted by: keeleysam
Dell 2005FPW

 

[sumdumbum]

well, it looks as though everyone's very impressed with that 2005FPW. I looked in the hot deals section and saw several listings for this that are $100+ off of what dell.com says currently. About how often do deals come up on these? If by waiting like 3 or 4 weeks I can save $100 or more, it's worth it to me.

 

[duragezic]

You just missed out on the killer 2005FPW deal. It was in mid to end of July and it went for as low as $359 + tax. I think they got rid of a ton, and I doubt they will release more coupons for such a deal for at least another month or two. So you have the option of buying it now for $100 more than it just was, waiting up to a couple of months (I'm just guessing, no one can say for sure when Dell will release the right coupons) to save that $100, or just picking up another quality LCD that hits the Hot Deals forum.

 

[miri]

Originally posted by: mode101wpb
2005FPW owners, no problems with backlight bleed on your monitors?

Just got my 2005fpw on monday. No blacklight bleed and no dead pixels. Games look fantastic at 1680x1050.

 

[imported_itr]

did someone say 2005fpw? read my sig.