I'm in the market for a new 19" monitor. I've had my eye on the Viewsonic 19" A90 for some time. Although in reviewing the stats for the monitor I found out that it has a .27 vertical dot pitch. It's horizontal is .23 which originally got me going on this monitor. I've been told that the .27 on a 19" will look bad if compared to a .23 or a .25. What do you guys think? I'm not stuck on getting the Viewsonic, but I would like to keep the price at $350 and definately 19". I'm not a real big fan of the perfect flat monitors that are out. They get those little lines that run across the screen and not matter what, I can't see paying $100 or $150 more for a flat screen with little grey horizontal lines. Just my tastes though.
I got the Q95 which is actually made by ViewSonic. It has a 0.22 dot pitch and I really like it ! I got it about six months ago for 340 and I think it has come down since then. I highly recommend it. Deanril is the one who first mentioned it here.
I forgot to mention, the brand name of the Q95 is Optiquest. I just looked at a PCConnection catalog and they say it is a .23 dot pitch. They have it for 330.
I'm not against other brands, I just wanted to hear thoughts about the dot pitch. What do I stay away from, what should I get. That sort of thing. I'll check out the Samsung. Isn't that what Best Buy sells?
People seem to be forgetting about Mitsubishi. They have some of the best monitors around at the moment and are reasonably priced. The DiamondPro ones especially are red hot baby, yeah!
I'd suggest the Hitachi 19" CM715U-511, the Samsung 19" SM 955DF .20MM, or 19" Synchmaster 955SL .22MM. These seem to be high performing monitors in the price range that you mention. Viewsonics are good monitors but for that price you would have to get an A or E series which (IMHO) are not as nice as their G or P series. Same thing for Mitsubishi, for $350 I don't think you'll find a 19' Diamond Pro (900u). The cheaper Diamond Scans have .28MM and Diamond plus .25mm. I have no opinion on Optiquest, it's made by Viewsonic but has a different CRT I think.
I would stay clear of KDS. Sony's are nice but ridiculously expensive. Iilyama's have the best looking design but again, expensive and, at least for me, hard to find. I'd just buy a Mits for that kind of money anyway. I think Proviews are cheap, lower end Princeton's are junk. No opinion on Phillips. Nokias may be good but seem expensive, same with NEC. MAG got top honors from PC Magazine about a year ago. They are out of their minds.
Let's see, what did I miss? Anyway, I would definitely recommend that you physically look at the monitors (you can buy online later). You'll find that dot pitch isn't everything.
What is wrong with KDS? They have a good warranty (3 year or lifetime ... check their page) and use Sony Trinitron tubes.
I say get the KDS 195TF. About $400 plus shipping. 1600x1200@85hz. I know 3 people with this exact monitor (and another 3 or 4 people with various KDS monitors). It's VERY nice. Almost completely flat, very sharp, and very high refresh rates. Of course as with any Trinitron it has two faint damper wires. Not bad for what is essentially a ~$600 Sony monitor.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks