[UltimateBMW]

So, I've been in the market to buy a new monitor. I've learned more than any one person should learn about a monitor just for casual home use.

While browsing the Dell website, I came across that they had their 2408WFP monitor for sale, down $172 from $689 to $517.

Here is the link:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=320-6272


This is the best deal on the market right now for a monitor of this quality. There is a HP monitor, the LP2475w that has alittle better color rendering and quicker performance (we are talking MS quicker), but it is $650.

If anyone wants to learn about monitors, don't hesitate to ask. I'd love to share what I learned over the past week.

[madman]

I've got that monitor. Its pretty good.

Only thing i wasn't too happy with was the fact that dvi and vga gave the same image quality, i thought dvi would have been better.

[teej361]

I have the dell monitor. Love it.

[I335]

For the extra few bucks, I'd go for the HP monitor. Dell stuff seems very cheap and low quality to me - like an 80's Chrysler interior... I have Dell laptop for work and it's such a POS...

[MrSteak]

DELL's monitors are great. If it's just for a computer/desk then 24" is perfect.

BUT... if this is your bedroom, another good set up would be a 37"+ LCD monitor which would double as a tv. You could keep it clean and have that monitor do everything.

http://www.buy.com/prod/new-westingh...205467075.html

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by MrSteak

DELL's monitors are great. If it's just for a computer/desk then 24" is perfect.

BUT... if this is your bedroom, another good set up would be a 37"+ LCD monitor which would double as a tv. You could keep it clean and have that monitor do everything.

http://www.buy.com/prod/new-westingh...205467075.html

I'm sorry, but this would be a total mistake for anyone. You can't use a 37" television as a computer monitor. You'll kill your eyes, and its just too damn big. If you want to read a website, itll be like reading a billboard from 3 ft away. You'll have to move your entire head to see the different parts of it.

I just got my 24" HP LP2475w, and its massive. Sitting at my computer desk I would say it is the absolute top of the size spectrum for effective monitor sizes. Anything bigger would be too big. Especially for a bedroom.

[BSM 335I]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

I'm sorry, but this would be a total mistake for anyone. You can't use a 37" television as a computer monitor. You'll kill your eyes, and its just too damn big. If you want to read a website, itll be like reading a billboard from 3 ft away. You'll have to move your entire head to see the different parts of it.

I just got my 24" HP LP2475w, and its massive. Sitting at my computer desk I would say it is the absolute top of the size spectrum for effective monitor sizes. Anything bigger would be too big. Especially for a bedroom.

Thats's why you have a wireless keyboard and mouse so that you can sit on your couch in comfort and surf the web and whatever else on the computer. It's a luxury feature. 37" is not that big if you think about it we have projectors that produce a 72" display. It's just a matter of the displays settings and graphics card.

P.S. Why do you think Sony has a all-in-one TV/DVD/Computer system?

[UltimateBMW]

Would you really be able to read text from that far away? aka websurfing.

From my experience, it is impossible to read text in the form of a webpage from a TV.

[MrSteak]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

I'm sorry, but this would be a total mistake for anyone. You can't use a 37" television as a computer monitor. You'll kill your eyes, and its just too damn big. If you want to read a website, itll be like reading a billboard from 3 ft away. You'll have to move your entire head to see the different parts of it.

I just got my 24" HP LP2475w, and its massive. Sitting at my computer desk I would say it is the absolute top of the size spectrum for effective monitor sizes. Anything bigger would be too big. Especially for a bedroom.

How old are you?

I don't mean that as an insult by any means, but most of my friends (mid 20's) and I that are into computers, games, movies and the whole entertainment system thing all prefer set ups like this. If you had your own apartment then you'd have a nice big TV in your living room with a separate computer/monitor, and then a smaller TV in your bedroom. BUT if you have a roommate, dorming or anything like that, then it's totally feasible to have a small 20-22" monitor with a 36"+ LCD mounted to your wall. They'd all be connected so you'd have 2 monitors, and one doubling as a TV.

It's just a way of making the most of your space, and setting up an incredibly versatile system.

Originally Posted by BSM 335I

Thats's why you have a wireless keyboard and mouse so that you can sit on your couch in comfort and surf the web and whatever else on the computer. It's a luxury feature. 37" is not that big if you think about it we have projectors that produce a 72" display. It's just a matter of the displays settings and graphics card.

P.S. Why do you think Sony has a all-in-one TV/DVD/Computer system?

Yeah, it's totally a luxury... and a nice one at that. Plus now with the prices dropping on these LCD's, you can have a set up like that for under $900! (a 37" LCD tv/monitor + an additional 22" monitor) Also..Apple, and Dell both have pretty awesome 30" monitors as well... and those are primarily meant to sit on a computer desk, so yeah, 37" isn't that crazy.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by MrSteak

How old are you?

I don't mean that as an insult by any means, but most of my friends (mid 20's) and I that are into computers, games, movies and the whole entertainment system thing all prefer set ups like this. If you had your own apartment then you'd have a nice big TV in your living room with a separate computer/monitor, and then a smaller TV in your bedroom. BUT if you have a roommate, dorming or anything like that, then it's totally feasible to have a small 20-22" monitor with a 36"+ LCD mounted to your wall. They'd all be connected so you'd have 2 monitors, and one doubling as a TV.

It's just a way of making the most of your space, and setting up an incredibly versatile system.

I'm 24.

I've just never been able to read text cleanly on televisions. I just finished college not too long ago, but when I lived in my dorm room I never had 2 monitors. Our dorms at the school I went to were much to small for that. I could barely fit my desktop computer in there. Plus, I try not to be too frugal. I just couldn't justify buying a television of any kind while I was in school. Any show I wanted to watch could typically be found via torrents. As a result, I didn't watch TV at all for the whole 4 years I was in college. Even on breaks I rarely watched it. Now that I'm out, I still don't watch much of it. I turn on something while I'm cooking but thats about it.

I don't really see the need of having a 36" TV doubling as a second monitor. Everybody is different though, and if you can websurf and do everything else you need to do on that setup then more power to you.

[darkphantom]

My brother picked up an Acer 24" about 5 months ago for ~$400

Does not come w/ speakers, but has HDMI port. We use it for the comp and the Xbox360

Only bad thing he now has a few dead pixels, sending it back this week.

[MrSteak]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

I'm 24.

I've just never been able to read text cleanly on televisions. I just finished college not too long ago, but when I lived in my dorm room I never had 2 monitors. Our dorms at the school I went to were much to small for that. I could barely fit my desktop computer in there. Plus, I try not to be too frugal. I just couldn't justify buying a television of any kind while I was in school. Any show I wanted to watch could typically be found via torrents. As a result, I didn't watch TV at all for the whole 4 years I was in college. Even on breaks I rarely watched it. Now that I'm out, I still don't watch much of it. I turn on something while I'm cooking but thats about it.

I don't really see the need of having a 36" TV doubling as a second monitor. Everybody is different though, and if you can websurf and do everything else you need to do on that setup then more power to you.

Fair enough... I'm a big TV junkie, and watch a lot of stuff downloaded off torrents, so it's just nice to just have everything connected. The tv monitor as a computer monitor isn't very praticle, but if you're on the more extreme end of setting up some crazy system, then it's a nice option.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by MrSteak

Fair enough... I'm a big TV junkie, and watch a lot of stuff downloaded off torrents, so it's just nice to just have everything connected. The tv monitor as a computer monitor isn't very praticle, but if you're on the more extreme end of setting up some crazy system, then it's a nice option.

[e90dream]

i've been computing in my living room with a 50" panny plasma for 3 years now. resolution set at 1366 x 768. surf the web all the time from my couch, about 6 ft away

[TTexan]

I have the Dell, I like it. It came w/ t he PC I bought.

[kronzprinz]

i have two of those and they're good, dell's other products might be crap but the dell monitors are some of the nicest out there