Monitor Advice

[suarve]

Righty, currently have a Hans G HW191D (19" WS) monitor.

Really can't decide on a new 22" WS (have new bigger desk now and fancy a change). Have been looking at the Samsung T220's, the Asus VH226H and Viewsonic VX2260wm.

The thing I also can't decide on, is what resolution to choose - the usual 1680x1050 or the full HD - 1920x1080 (can't help but think everything would look VERY small at this res).

Monitor won't be used for gaming, just general computer use and mild movie watching

So, can anyone advise a nwb?

Thanks

[NokkonWud]

Well I've used a 1680x1050 monitor and it was nice to use, it was a Samsung monitor and my experience from Samsung is that you really can't go wrong being that they make a lot of the other monitors out there (such as Iiyama).
However, I am a user of a 1920x1200 monitor (which is what PC monitors use, not 1920x1080 which is a TV resolution), it's no longer the newest monitor, it's a Dell 2405, but it's still in great working order which Psymonkee will atest to (he uses a 2407 for reference), and I can't really fault it, I actually find it hard going back over to lower resolitions. I went big because it would be beneficial to my 3D work, and it truly is.

What I will say is that the higher your resolution the better your graphics card needs to be if you're going to play PC games and if you're watching video files from the net you're best starting to go for HD content, but that's the future anyway, so it doesn't bother me.

My personal recommendation would be to go 1920x1200 and go the whole way now in terms of FullHD compatible resolutions, it's not too small and you get used to it after an hour or two and on top of that, it looks amazing. But it's all a case of cost.

[suarve]

Well I have a PCI-X GeoForce 8600GT card. You think that will do that resolution ok?

Please induldge me, as I'm so out of the hardware loop now

[divine]

Originally Posted by NokkonWud

However, I am a user of a 1920x1200 monitor (which is what PC monitors use, not 1920x1080 which is a TV resolution)

There is a load of new 21.5" (and probably other sizes too) 1920x1080 monitors appearing at the moment, so i'm assuming he meant those.

Originally Posted by suarve

Well I have a PCI-X GeoForce 8600GT card. You think that will do that resolution ok?

Please induldge me, as I'm so out of the hardware loop now

Gaming wise it probably won't handle 1680x1050, 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 well. General use should be absolutely fine, my old X800XL coped with dual screens at 1680x1050 and 1280x1024 just fine and the 8600GT is more powerful than that was.

I suspect your card is PCI-E too, PCI-X is a different usually server based interface.