boxst

Hello

I'm still looking for a 22" monitor with speakers and the choice is exteremly limited. Does anyone have anything to say about brands like BenQ?

Or feel free to recommend a great monitor ...

Thanks,

Steve

Shark Man

My DVD drive is BenQ. Quietest drive I've ever had - thus why it was transfered into my HTPC

As for their monitors, haven't a clue what they are like.

However: I bought a Hannspree monitor for someone, and apart from it looking somewhat ugly, it actually had a good picture.

We have range of different screens at work (all cheapy low-end old-stock stuff); some Fujitsu-Siemens screens which seem ok, an Acer which is ok, but annoyingly re-calibrates everytime vista requests for permission.

The one I'd say avoid is "Octigen"...the one we have suffers from electrical interference from nearby electrical items. And the picture doesn't seem as sharp as it should be.

At home I have a pair of Samsungs (No speakers though), one is spot on (930BF -19"), the other (226bw - 22") isn't; it has a nasty blueish hue on standard settings which is difficult to fully correct. Its an issue caused by Samsung using other manufacturer's LCD panels (mines made by CMO ) -quite a hot topic on various forums.

boxst

Thank you for the reply. I was looking at the Samsungs as well, they certainly look nice but I have read they are a bit hit and miss with regards to quality.

Steve

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

newsletter - Aria Technology

On special today, I have heard of the BenQ stuff and from what I have heard it is quality stuff

Hanslow

Colleague has a BenQ monitor here at work (24"). Looks very nice. Rest of us have Dell 24" ones and picture quality is no worse, possibly slightly better. Also heard good stuff about the Hannspree mentioned above.

MJW

I use BenQ monitors both at home & at work & never had any problems with them

boxst

Thank you for that. I must say that I haven't even heard of Iiyama. And all this 5ms/2ms response time, 1000:1, 5000:1 and even 10000:1 statistics appear to be a little meaningless.

I don't remember it being this confusing the last time I bought a monitor!

Steve

spectrum48k

Iiyama go back a long time and have a history of excellent monitors.

Is this link any good ?
Sound & Vision » Monitors » 22" LCD - Overclockers UK

As a rule of thumb, go for the higher contrast ratio and lowest response time.

HankScorpio

They were king of large CRTs for many years but I think slow to get into panels.

Have a Benq 17 lcd at home and it's faultless after 4 years.

Did the HP do nothing for you? was in JL at lunchtime and they still look like a good deal. I'm tempted by the 24 (1920x1080) at £319 (inc speakers)

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

yep Iiyama are excellent monitors, they used to be the monitor to have in the days of crt .

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

dont you just hate it when you post something and someone has said the same thing 2 mins before

boxst

The 22" HP one didn't have very good specifications (in that it was 1000:1 and 5ms) but at least £70 more than a comparable one.

Steve

spectrum48k

24" is the new 22"

boxst

They just look HUGE. Even 22" Widescreen looks impressively large.

I just want to be able to have work on one side and Scoobynet on the other

Steve

spectrum48k

I ditched my dual widescreen setup in favour of a single, bigger monitor. I've had the 22" for ages now, so it's time for something bigger.

Didn't Bill Gates have 3x 24" screens on his office PC in that recently interview on The Money Programme ?

Wizzbang

Benq are one of the biggest computer parts manufactors in the world (may even be top, its been a couple of years since I worked in that field) and you might be suprised to find just where their parts find themselves. Benq actually own Acer too.

Big brands like Dell and HP/Compaq will not actually make that equipment that bears their logo, instead turning to OEMs to build units to certain specs. So, just because your monitor has Dell on the front means that it could be made by one of seven different OEMs and each OEM will use a variety of panels and associated scalers and other pcbs within the same looking case.

The best bet with monitors is to try to find the make of the lcd panel and work back from there. Samsung and Au Optronics are just about the best panels fitted into monitors, with CMO (Chi Mei Optronics) and Chunghwa being the ****ty end of the spectrum.


A tip to try to find the panel without opening the case is to inspect the label on the rear or base of the monitor, they often have a code within the serial number which relates to the internals.

Shark Man

Have to agree with is. I have heard of Dell "monitor lottery" where two people buy identical model monitors only to find they both use completely different LCD panels.

Much like the Samsung's monitor lottery with some of their own branded screens using other maker's panels....the 226BW contains panels either made by Samsung, AUO (AU optronics), CMO (Chi Mei), and CPT (Chunghwa Picture Tubes). The 2232BW is another known monitor to suffer from this too.

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

to be honest thought everyone knew the likes of dell, fujitsu etc only buy their components.

Personally having recently built a new system for my father in law, I thik a 20" monitor is huge!!

StickyMicky

get 2 x 15" ones like me

boxst

I could just get a couple of 2" ones and attach them to my head ....

Steve