Best LCD monitor opinions needed

[0010101]

I bought a few 18" LCD monitors a few years ago, and was generally unimpressed with the image quality, but needed to go that route for that specific application due to size requirements and space concerns.

Fast forward 4 years, and what i've seen on the market looks pretty good, and with the death of my beloved 21" Mitsubishi Diamondscan CRT, and the quirks my old 17" Apple Studio Display CRT has picked up in it's old age, i'm very interested in picking up a new LCD in the 'widescreen' or 'cinema display' format.

I was just about to pull the trigger on a 23" Apple Cinema Display, but i've come across a lot of negative user experiences, which make me a little hesitant to spend a grand on a display that seems to have a high failure rate right out of the box.. especially considering there are several 20" thru 24" options out there for less money.

So I thought i'd ask around.. what's the best 'widescreen' display out there for the money?

 

[dpaanlka]

I really enjoy ViewSonic Displays, especially their pro displays.

 

[Markleshark]

Personally, I love my BenQ. Not a bad price for 19" of 'Screen Real Estate' either.

 

[matoda]

I just got a 22" Viewsonic at Costco. The image quality is great - I don't think its a professional quality display, but it sure does look pretty and for $350, its a great deal.

 

[0010101]

My Apple 17" CRT 'Studio Display' had developed a thermal problem.. if the temperature in the room it was in got much warmer than 72 degrees, it would start shutting off. Unplugging it, waiting about 10 minutes, then plugging it back in would buy me another 30 minutes or so of screen time.. so that problem has accelerated my need to replace it.

For the time being, I bought a old Dell P991 19" Trinitron monitor from a local used computer shop for $25 and that should get me by until I make a decision on what LCD make/model to get.

Footprint isn't much of an issue.. and I want a 'widescreen' which is why i'm looking at LCDs.

Unfortunately, the only two places within 100 miles that sell such a thing are Staples and Walmart.

For whatever reason, the Walmart here doesn't power and demo their computer displays.. they just take them out of the box and sit them on a shelf with a price tag.. so it's really anybodies guess what the display looks like.

Staples has a wide selection of LCD's, but the image on every one of them looks like crap. I suspect that is due to them running all the displays off of one laptop, thru a low end looking VGA distribution amplifier.

Last time I was there, I asked the salesman if we could connect a few of the monitors directly to the laptop to see if the fuzzy, crappy image was due to a junk DA or if that was the monitors actual display, and he told me that they "weren't allowed" to mess with the displays.

I appreciate the feedback so far. If possible, include the model number of the specific display you're using/recommending since my eventual purchase is likely going to be based on that.. since i'm probably not going to get a chance to see it work 'in person' until after I get it home!

Thanks again for the suggestions so far!

 

[MisterMe]

...

I was just about to pull the trigger on a 23" Apple Cinema Display, but i've come across a lot of negative user experiences, which make me a little hesitant to spend a grand on a display that seems to have a high failure rate right out of the box.. especially considering there are several 20" thru 24" options out there for less money.

...

As the owner of two 23" Apple Cinema Displays, a 2003 plastic-framed ADC model and a 2005 aluminum-framed DVI model, I absolutely love them both. Going back to the 22" ACD, there were reports of uneven quality across the LCD panel. Never witnessed it. My 23" displays are beautiful. Exactly what are these negative user experiences that you've come across?

 

[0010101]

As the owner of two 23" Apple Cinema Displays, a 2003 plastic-framed ADC model and a 2005 aluminum-framed DVI model, I absolutely love them both. Going back to the 22" ACD, there were reports of uneven quality across the LCD panel. Never witnessed it. My 23" displays are beautiful. Exactly what are these negative user experiences that you've come across?

Uneven/lopsided backlight and dead pixels right out of the box, mostly. There are the occasional reports of full or partial display failure within the first 6 months of usage.

Then when you complain about it, Apple either offers you a $100 discount to shut up about it, or gives you the run-around on repair for weeks, only to return it in as bad or worse condition.

Several of these cases i've read about right here on MacRumors.

 

[MisterMe]

....

Several of these cases i've read about right here on MacRumors.

So you read about these problems on the Internet? FWIW, there are lots of scare stories on forums like this one. I have never seen any of them come true. I hav even spent money to prepare for problems that never materialzed. Eventually, you grow up. I did.

 

[dpaanlka]

So you read about these problems on the Internet? FWIW, there are lots of scare stories on forums like this one. I have never seen any of them come true. I hav even spent money to prepare for problems that never materialzed. Eventually, you grow up. I did.

It's just another case of "nobody posts about how their products work exactly as expected"

You only hear about the bad ones, however if you started a poll thread that said "are you satisfied with your ACD" i'm sure it will be overwhelmingly "yes"

 

[0010101]

I know a happy customer tells 100 and a pissed off customer tells 1000 people.

I know that I can find glowing reviews of equipment i've owned, and know is crap.

I know that I can find horrible reviews of equipment i've owned, and know is good stuff.

I also know that from my personal experience, i've had horrible reliability problems with Apples displays. My first Apple 17" LCD with the 'legs' on the front lasted about 2 months past the warranty.

So before I drop $1,000 on a display sight unseen, I thought i'd ask around to see what others are using, and what kinds of prices.

I mean, really.. if your argument is to take negative reviews on the 'net with a grain of salt, then one must take the positive reviews the same way.

 

[VAG]

Hi, I was ready to spend money and buy Apple 23" Cinema Display when...
a friend show me a new 20" LG 1 month ago.
It's model is LG L204WT the cost is in Europe 339 Euros.
Details about the monitor:
1680x1050 resolution (DVI & D-Sub connections)
2000:1 contrast
300cd/m2

I do design, I thought that this monitor was only for "gamers" well I was wrong. Not at all, it has great image quality, it's very cheap compared to
what is gives and you bet, I can work great on it.
It's colors looks the same as it was on my old Sony CRT monitor (CPD G400 19")

I would advise you, give a shot on that monitor, if you find it on a store, take a look and compare it with the rest will be around. Here in Greece it's very difficult to find it, cause when it appears on the shielves, it disappears within minutes, all e-store have lists with pre-orders.... and to find it in black color (as I found it) it's even more rare...

Good luck and greets from Greece.
VAG

 

[jaysmith]

Hi, I was ready to spend money and buy Apple 23" Cinema Display when...
a friend show me a new 20" LG 1 month ago.
It's model is LG L204WT the cost is in Europe 339 Euros.
Details about the monitor:
1680x1050 resolution (DVI & D-Sub connections)
2000:1 contrast
300cd/m2

I do design, I thought that this monitor was only for "gamers" well I was wrong. Not at all, it has great image quality, it's very cheap compared to
what is gives and you bet, I can work great on it.
It's colors looks the same as it was on my old Sony CRT monitor (CPD G400 19")

I would advise you, give a shot on that monitor, if you find it on a store, take a look and compare it with the rest will be around. Here in Greece it's very difficult to find it, cause when it appears on the shielves, it disappears within minutes, all e-store have lists with pre-orders.... and to find it in black color (as I found it) it's even more rare...

Good luck and greets from Greece.
VAG

i'm using one right now, its pretty awesome. and for a 20" lcd with the specs it has, even better. i got mine for 500ish (canadian) with a full 4 year warranty, i thhink it is 359 without the warranty, or $325usd

but the 2000:1 contrast ratio is a bit off, its really about 800:1 but they put something in it thats supposed to "enhance". but leaving it at a more normal setting is perfect.

 

[VAG]

@jaysmith, yes, I agree
Here in Greece, LG gives 3 year On-Site with 0 pixel also warranty. Apple gives 1 year (well normaly in E.U all electronic devices have 2 years warranty) and with no burned pixels mention at all.

So better one user that is ready to spend about 1000$ to buy 3 LGs and get 60" total than 1 Apple 23" Maybe that's me... but I think Apple should raise the standards again regarding it's monitors and step forward. Decrease the prices and increase the contrast and secure any ghosting/backlight bleeding and burned pixels. I expect within the next 4-6months to release brand new monitors if doesn't want to loose this "train". Or at least change the current models to follow the today's technologies and specifications. With cheaper prices.

Greets,
VAG

 

[TheBobcat]

Monitors all depend on how much you can spend.

I was on a limited budget, so I went for a 1680x1050 Samsung 22 incher (225BW). It's not quite a 23 inch Cinema, but at less than half the cost, I jumped on it.

It's as good as I expected, and for my needs, its great.

 

[Dr_Maybe]

@So better one user that is ready to spend about 1000$ to buy 3 LGs and get 60" total than 1 Apple 23

3 20" display are not as big as one 60" display, but only a third of a 60".

Here's some ASCII art to demonstrate The underscores represent the blank space you would get if you arranged the 20" screens diagonally to make a 60" diagonal.

____20
__20__
20____

606060
606060
606060

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Most professionals seem to think the ACD 23" is just about the best LCD display money can buy, aside from the really expensive stuff. Naturally, if you got a defective unit, Apple would replace it.

I couldn't quite afford that, so I'm using a Dell 24" from their pro-lineup. It's an S-PVA screen, so not quite on par with the ACD, but close.

When I did my research, I couldn't find a single quality display for less than $600 or so.