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$300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 2:53 pm
by noonesshowmonkey
I am looking to get a new monitor, as my current Viewsonic 20'' is dying on me. It is a trash monitor that I picked up years ago to get rid of a CRT and join all of the happy people in wide-screen-land.

What I want:
* ~$300. Cheaper is nice, but I want a good value. I'll spend over $300 if it is a smoking deal on something significantly better than what I could get for $280.
* Primary applications are: 1) Gaming 2) Web / Office 3) Videos
* Screen size should be greater than or equal to 23''
* 16:10 display ratio is strongly preferred over 16:9
* Anything but a Viewsonic. My current monitor is a hunk of junk (but it has lasted me!), and I don't want to get another like it. Ever.

What I do not want:
* an argument in this thread about to IPS or not to IPS (or any other manufacture method). I listed what I want. If a monitor can deliver the goods, whether a 2ms TN panel or a 6ms IPS, I honestly don't give a crap.

The list so far:
HP LA2405wg 24'' 5ms TFT - Seems like a good fit at $289.
SAMSUNG 2443BWT-1 Black 24" 5ms TFT - Also a close fit to what I am looking for, squeeking in at $299.
Dell UltraSharp U2311H 23" 8ms TFT - $284 and Dell UltraSharp quality.
Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24" 8ms IPS - a bit hefty in price tag at around $360
Hanns-G HZ281HPB 27.5'' 3ms TFT - a real outlier at $269 and 27.5''
Asus VE276Q Black 27" 2ms TN panel - Lots of screen for just under $300.

I have only one TN panel on there right now, since there are about a zillion of them in my price range and fitting my needs. What I do not know, though, is what among those TN panels are actually worth buying or are total crap.

If you own a particular monitor in the range that I am looking at, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 3:13 pm
by StuffMaster
I also upgraded from an older, smaller LCD. I have the HP LA2405wg and really like it.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 3:16 pm
by Scrotos
noonesshowmonkey wrote:
HP LA2405wg 24'' 5ms TFT - Seems like a good fit at $289.


We use these at work. It's pretty good and can go to portrait mode if you really want to. I don't game on it, you get some color change when you move your head around. I sit about 3" freakin' inches from it so of course that's a bit exasperated for me. But no real complaints in the last year or so. And guess what, we're using them to replace 19" Optiquest/Viewsonic monitors!

For home I was looking into that Hanns just because it was cheap, big, and had good reviews more or less. It would have been for a kitchen computer, I use Dell 24" 2407/2408 monitors for the gaming computers. Scrapped that plan but I still like the Hanns.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 3:26 pm
by grantmeaname
I have the predecessor to that Hanns-G monitor. Big monitors with really big pixels are not for everyone, but I like them a lot. If they're for you, you can't go wrong with the Hanns.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 6:33 pm
by JustAnEngineer
Have you looked at the HP ZR24w?

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 7:10 pm
by Philldoe
Grab the Asus you have listed. Every computer in my home now uses them. Great bang for the buck.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 7:22 pm
by noonesshowmonkey
JustAnEngineer wrote:
Have you looked at the HP ZR24w?


Any idea on how the HP model stacks up alongside the Samsung that I have listed? The only thing I can glean from the vitals is that the Samsung has 300 cd/m2 to the HP's 400. The HP is also ~$60 more expensive.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 9:00 pm
by thecoldanddarkone
zr24w is an 8 bit ips panel

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 9:16 pm
by Sunburn74
I'd go with the Asus and enjoy the real estate. I bought a 27inch monitor about a year back upo from 24inch and it has been an extremely worthwhile purchase.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 9:43 pm
by anotherengineer
NEC also has some nice e-ips monitors in this price range with fully adjustable stands.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 1:40 am
by noonesshowmonkey
I have narrowed it down to the Hans-G, the Asus 27'' and the HP ZR24w.

I like the Hanns-G for the 16:10 ratio, sheer size and price. The Asus has fantastic reviews and is highly recommended all around.

The HP appears to be a nicer model, but to what extent I haven't the foggiest.

Anyone care to take a sales pitch with the HP? Why is it worth the extra $$$ versus the other displays seen above?

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:18 am
by DancinJack
noonesshowmonkey wrote:
I have narrowed it down to the Hans-G, the Asus 27'' and the HP ZR24w.

I like the Hanns-G for the 16:10 ratio, sheer size and price. The Asus has fantastic reviews and is highly recommended all around.

The HP appears to be a nicer model, but to what extent I haven't the foggiest.

Anyone care to take a sales pitch with the HP? Why is it worth the extra $$$ versus the other displays seen above?


The HP is an IPS panel. That means better color reproduction and viewing angles. It also has the 16:10 aspect ratio you're looking for.

The other two models are TN panels I believe. TN panels won't reproduce colors quite as well and also won't have great viewing angles. They generally do have faster response times though.

I have found, after using both TN and IPS based monitors, IPS is the way to go for me. My particular monitor has tons of inputs, great ergonomics, and I've never had any sort of problem gaming with it. Having said that, it's really up to you if you want to spend the money for those things.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 4:27 am
by vargis14
If you are the kind of gamer that really gets into it getting very close to the monitor say 12 inches from it,go with the 24",if you sit back from it a little bit i would go for 27".But remember bigger is not always better gaming,If your eyes have to scan from right to left to notice movement where your not focusing on,sometimes smaller is better.
Believe it or not 3 inches adds alot of screen space compared to 24",kinda like going from a 42inch tv to a 50-55"tv,so pick your size wisely,its personal preference.But i do know for sure you will love whatever you do end up spending your money on since anything is a upgrade:)
Technically its more like going from a 47" to a 55"tv wise ,doesnt sound like much but i did the same switch basically 46" to 55" and i have to say holy cow the tv looked much smaller in the store with all the other ones around:)
But hurry up and pull the trigger on something:)I used to have a 24inch back in 2004-2005 when they first came out from dell and i loved it,was $1000 and it was worth it back in the day since i was a nascar racing 2003 sim racer,the extra width going from 1600-1200 to 1920-1200,helped me see people racing right next to me door to door without having to look to the right or left.
Sigh,I miss my race seat act labs shifter wheel and pedals:(
Second edit,looking at your choices and it looks like you like big like me,i would get the LED asus 27" I personally feel leds give you a richer more uniform picture,but that adds a few bucks,but i feel its worth it,LEDs are much brighter and last longer then cathode ray tubes.
ASUS VE278Q Black 27" 1920x1080 2ms Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 300 cd/m2 ASCR 10,000,000:1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824236103

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 4:36 am
by JustAnEngineer
The Dell UltraSharp U2410 that DancinJack has is a terrific monitor, but I've never seen it offered for less than $407+tax, even with Dell coupons and EPP discount. I believe that I paid $470+tax when I bought one a couple of years ago.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 10:06 am
by wibeasley
noonesshowmonkey wrote:
Anyone care to take a sales pitch with the HP? Why is it worth the extra $$$ versus the other displays seen above?
Here's Cyril's opinion. And I like mine a lot(for ~18 months) and my friend has had a good experience too.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 10:52 am
by noonesshowmonkey
I just hit 'Check Out' on an HP ZR24w.

It has the magic aspect ratio that I crave and, as noted, the Hanns-G was a TN panel. I've done the TN thing for years now and never tried anything else. Given the positive opinions of the monitor everywhere I read about the model, I cashed in for a bit of extra coin.

I'll be posting my own review of the purchase if I remember to get around to it (and am not so busy loving every of the 24 inches of beautiful display).

Thanks for fighting in the Thunderdome.

Many monitors enter, ONE MONITOR LEAVES!

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 3:43 pm
by Flying Fox
I know you have made your choice, but I would suggest the Ultrasharp 2412M myself. Granted it is not true 8-bit panel, but it is e-IPS meaning no viewing angle issue compared to the TN panels. According to TFT Central's review, it can do sRGB very well, probably similar to the HP without most people noticing the difference. I also often prefer the Dell controls, especially the ability to do aspect scaling, which the HP cannot. If you are never going to feed less than 1920x1200 signals to the screen, the HP would be fine.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:26 pm
by Jimweber
Just to let you know I bought a 25" HP2509b, and I love it. It's big enough, but yet not too big. Luckily I purchased it on sale in Future Shop (Canada) for $199 on a daily special that they had. Check out the web site of large chain computer stores in your area, as they may have similar daily deals as well. I saved about $150, maybe you can too.
Good luck, Cheers
Jim.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:22 am
by noonesshowmonkey
After a few weeks of staring at my new monitor, I've a few things to say about it.

1) It shipped cleanly with no dead pixels.
a) J&R, the company I ordered it from, gave me a runaround so vast and annoying that to detail it here would take up so much space and require expletives in at least seven languages. Suffice it to say, I will never order from them ever again.

2) 24 inches is in fact two feet. The monitor is massive, blowing my 20 inch unit out of the water in terms of total size. At 1900 x 1200, the amount of desktop real estate is intense. I am VERY pleased to have gone with the 16:10 aspect ratio.

3) The color saturation and black depth are both very impressive. Though the monitor originally shipped with the brightness high enough to blow your eyelashes clean off, a quick calibration solved those problems. I am sure I could squeeze even better color range out of her if I tried, but I am too busy doing stuff on 24 inches of 16:10 deliciousness to care.
a) There is zero ghosting

4) The ergonomics of the design are good. The stand is sturdy and provides better range of motion than any other monitor I have used. This is my first non-plebian-budget-bargain monitor and I am very pleased with the upgrade.

5) Viewing angles are much improved over the TN panel. While still not all that great - you still need to be within a pretty tight azimuth, all things told - they are far more conducive to viewing and comfort. Also, even a slight increase in viewing azimuth can net impressive gains the further back from the unit you get; I have yet to watch a movie on it, sitting back 10 feet or so.

I hooked this up beside my 20 inch TN panel and was utterly blown away by the side by side comparison. Simply put, the TN unit looked like trash. While it is very hard to discern the difference just looking at the TN unit, having got used to it, the e-IPS unit is far and away better. In all honesty, the comparison is so immediate and apparent that the argument really makes itself. I'd never really been swayed by the 'never again a TN!' crowd, and like an enlightened one, I get it.

If you are buying a monitor, you can get a fantastic model for the $300-350 price range. Having looked at the Dell u2412m, the two are hard to discern between. When I was shopping, I found the HP model for a competitive price and with free shipping. I'd say that it is a matter of brand preference, shipping costs and overall price.

If you were wondering if the TN vs The World debate was a real one: it is. You really should look into one, and the price point is pretty attractive. We spend countless hours staring at our monitors. Stare at a nice one.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 8:19 pm
by JustAnEngineer
noonesshowmonkey wrote:
a) J&R, the company I ordered it from, gave me a runaround so vast and annoying that to detail it here would take up so much space and require expletives in at least seven languages. Suffice it to say, I will never order from them ever again.
Did they do the bit where they held up your order until they could call you at an inconvenient time and "upsell" you a bunch of crappy accessories that you didn't need? :evil:


I'm glad to learn that you are happy with your new monitor. A good display does make using the PC more enjoyable.

Re: $300 monitor: ENTER THE THUNDERDOME!

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:17 pm
by noonesshowmonkey
The long-form of their **** is this:

My initial order was placed via Amazon.com's storefront with J&R as the resaler. My account is debited for the amount listed on Amazon and I think things are all hunky-dory: I'll get my monitor in a few days per Amazon's awesome shipping system. Wrong. Eight days later, I get an e-mail from Amazon stating that the order has been canceled and my account credited. Mind you, at this point, someone has had my money for over a week and I haven't received goods in kind.

I call J&R and they tell me that they have to receive the item from HP's warehouse before they can send it along to me. They say that Amazon has a stipulation that an item be shipped within a certain timeframe or Amazon cancels the sale and refunds cash they essentially held in escrow. 'Ok', I say, 'but I still want my monitor.' The number that I have for J&R is a sales team, not support, so they can tell me whatever I want to hear. I tell them that I want to get a new monitor, but I wanted to have received it by now and I am going to see if anyone else can take my money and get me my goods.

Turns out, the price on the monitor that I'd ordered went up over $100 in the 24-48 hours after I'd placed my order. Pretty much the internet wide.

So, I call J&R and end up strong-arming them into giving me the original deal I'd set up with them and to 2nd day ship it. Unfortunately, it took them nearly a week to receive it from HP, so they claimed, before the unit could be sent to me.

Luckily, everything was fine when the monitor arrived. I was not looking forward to chasing down any RMA issues with them.

What I wonder at is if J&R just dragged their feet until the order canceled, hoping I would re-place the order online at the higher price. Further, the 2nd order that I placed had a J&R order number, not an Amazon one. So, by having the order trip out of Amazon's system, they got to bypass the middleman and keep his cut.

However the transaction went down, it took me nearly three weeks from hitting 'CHECK OUT' to unpacking and setting up my monitor. In this day and age, such a time between order and arrival is absurd.