Advice please? LCD Monitor

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LancelotSA

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Hi,

Looking at getting my son a LCD monitor to replace the one which currently take up way too much space on his desk! :)

Do the prices of the ones on here look reasonable? http://www.zones.co.za/

I am not looking to spend a fortune so not looking at going 22", but willing to pay a little more if people feel the LG is far superior to the Acer ones.

Pointing me in the direction of something that is better value would also be welcomed. Not looking at anything over about R1500 though.

Thanks in advance.
 
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sn3rd

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Personally, I'm a fan of the Samsung and HP LCDs, but that's just a preference. The LG monitors, from what I've seen, aren't bad. I would put them on par with the Acers
 
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Alan

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Since I'm such a fan of yours I'll sell you my great Asus 22" for R1500 :)
 
Glordit

Glordit

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17" LG is 1280x1024
19" LG is 1440x900 - for R100 more :)

What is the primary use of the LCD gaming, Movies or just work?
I would go for the 19" :D
 
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LancelotSA

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Glordit said:
17" LG is 1280x1024
19" LG is 1440x900 - for R100 more :)

What is the primary use of the LCD gaming, Movies or just work?
I would go for the 19" :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, I did notice that. I also see under the 17" it offers an option of widescreen (1440x900) or standard (1280x1024) for the same price. How come that is the same resolution as quoted under the 19"? And would it be an automatic choice to go widescreen or not? It worries me that the contrast on the 19" says 700:1 while on the 17" it is 5000:1. Why? A mistake?

Another question related to that which I am almost too embarrassed to ask (ha ha) but when you watch a movie in fullscreen mode on a widescreen, does it stretch the video to fit the screen or would it appear only on the section of screen that the video fits on?

The monitor is used mainly for watching DVDs in his room, playing a few games and in due course homework etc.


EDIT : I see the bold text may be wrong according to the LG website, looks like it should read 1280 x 720. So pretty much means you get a "shorter" picture. So again I would ask whether you would go widescreen or rather opt for the standard?
 
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d0b33

d0b33

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LancelotSA said:
EDIT : I see the bold text may be wrong according to the LG website, looks like it should read 1280 x 720. So pretty much means you get a "shorter" picture. So again I would ask whether you would go widescreen or rather opt for the standard?
Click to expand...

I would go wide, it feels much better on the eyes IMO.

I have the LG 20" wide which sells for R2500 but someone was selling theirs for R1500 here a few weeks ago... maybe it's still for sale.
 
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sn3rd

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LancelotSA said:
Yeah, I did notice that. I also see under the 17" it offers an option of widescreen (1440x900) or standard (1280x1024) for the same price. How come that is the same resolution as quoted under the 19"? And would it be an automatic choice to go widescreen or not? It worries me that the contrast on the 19" says 700:1 while on the 17" it is 5000:1. Why? A mistake?

Another question related to that which I am almost too embarrassed to ask (ha ha) but when you watch a movie in fullscreen mode on a widescreen, does it stretch the video to fit the screen or would it appear only on the section of screen that the video fits on?

The monitor is used mainly for watching DVDs in his room, playing a few games and in due course homework etc.


EDIT : I see the bold text may be wrong according to the LG website, looks like it should read 1280 x 720. So pretty much means you get a "shorter" picture. So again I would ask whether you would go widescreen or rather opt for the standard?
Click to expand...

The widescreen or not choice is mostly a matter of preference. Movie buffs tend to favour widescreen (since then you get much less "letterbox" effect when watching movies in 16:9). For movies, widescreen is definitely the way to go.

The contrast ratios mentioned refer to different things. the 700:1 is mostly probably the "true" contrast ration, whereas the 5000:1 is probably "dynamic" (which is useless information).

With regards to videos stretching, etc, different players do different things. For most decent players, you shouldn't have a problem with distorting the video
 
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The_Techie

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sn3rd said:
The widescreen or not choice is mostly a matter of preference. Movie buffs tend to favour widescreen (since then you get much less "letterbox" effect when watching movies in 16:9). For movies, widescreen is definitely the way to go.

The contrast ratios mentioned refer to different things. the 700:1 is mostly probably the "true" contrast ration, whereas the 5000:1 is probably "dynamic" (which is useless information).

With regards to videos stretching, etc, different players do different things. For most decent players, you shouldn't have a problem with distorting the video
Click to expand...

Agreed, I don't know why they even include it in the specs :rolleyes:
 
hj2k_x

hj2k_x

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Go widescreen man. 19" at least. You won't be disappointed. And they are not much more expensive than the 17"s...I'd say try to push for a 20" if you can find one second hand perhaps...

I just sold my awesome 20" LG widescreen for R1500 so you never know...
 
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LancelotSA

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sn3rd said:
Let's be honest, 5000:1 sounds much better than 700:1 when selling it
Click to expand...

It hooked me!! :)

Thanks for all the help so far. Feel free to add anything else you feel I should consider. So far the 19" wide seems to be the way to go.
 
Glordit

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LancelotSA said:
It hooked me!! :)

Thanks for all the help so far. Feel free to add anything else you feel I should consider. So far the 19" wide seems to be the way to go.
Click to expand...

Yea, why not it's
1] R100 more than a 17"
2] Widescreen
3] see 1 & 2 :D

I would go for it at that price it's a steal compaired to what IC charges for em'
 
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quovadis

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Be careful of LG monitors... Bought 6x 19" LCDs from them 3 of them died within the first three months however LG replaced all six after numerous complaints.
 
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