LCD Monitor

[Lonely Fisherman]

All INTEL stuff. Told a lot more stable.


LOL! I love that statement..... My question for most computer geeks would be, 'What processor are you running in your own computer?'.

I would be the last one to say which processor is more stable. It's been my experience that the O/S and the programs a user employs have much more to do with stability. There are a ton of benchmarking programs on the internet so it's fairly easy to check your computers' speed and stability.

While I would never list myself as an expert, I've built lots of computers myself with both AMD and INTEL processors. (NewEgg is like a Candy Store to me) Both work well and provide great stability in my opinion. Choosing one over the other is more a matter of personal preference unless the user is prepared to do lots of benchmarking. Computer geeks are susceptible to mass marketing just like the rest of us.

What I can't figure out is this.... Why would a computer geek put a 80gb harddrive in a new computer these days? The difference between a good 320gb and a 80gb harddrive is less than $40 these days.

Fish......

 

[DRPSignsNGrafix]

I traded off a larger hard drive for free 1gb of ram. I didn't need the big harddrive to store just programs. I use a second 160gb hard drive to store all files on. And that gets backed up on another 160gb external hd and that gets burned to DVD once a month. That's why. Your right as far as what's truely more stable. however I asked quite a few friends who build them. THey agreed for my purposes go intel. So that's what i did.

 

[Cadmn]

Fish very good observation of geeks being effected by marketing. I give my.05 worth here I've built with AMD for the last 15? years & been very pleased the operating system +combination of programs decide stability I have felt that for the last few years Intel has been focused on the chip for Macs so I don't totally trust their Pc stuff your system speed will always boil down to the slowest ingredient. doesn't Intel VS AMD & Oracal VS GMI ? all come down to personal preference.many sites post details & all details may be read differently according to perspective

 

[Colin]

Sounds like the classic Chevy vs Ford.

 

[Lonely Fisherman]

Colin, you're right on.... Classic Chevy vs. Ford..

DRP, If you don't need the storage space, the trade for an extra gig of memory is a good move in my humble opinion. If you keep the extra crap off the HD and stick with a good virus software, you'll do just fine with that.

I tend to keep large amounts of data and since I play with home video, my little 200gig drives get pretty full. I have to admit that memory is just as important as the HD's when I'm editing videos. I have mine maxed out at 4gig and what a difference it makes.

Cadmn, I like to build computers with both AMD & INTEL but it seems like the pocketbook is a bigger factor in my decisions most of the time. AMD tends to win out in that category so I've built more with AMD's. I'm building a new unit right now for myself, my old unit will go to a 10-year old friend of mine when I'm done. (I was thinking about finding someone to print a stars and stripes type wrap to cover the housing on it) This will be the first 64-bit unit I've built.

I've been working off of a single 19" LCD monitor but once this rig is ready, I'm planning to buy a pair from NewEgg and operate my video editing with dual monitors. It's a good way to kill off a few hours making a few minutes worth of video. LOL

Best wishes,

Fish....

 

[Fred Weiss]

What will swtching to DVI actually do for me?

I just hooked up my first LCD monitor to an existing P4 using the built in VGA. The monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 204B 20.1".

While the increased size over the 19" CRT I was using is a noticeable improvement, I'm a bit disappointed with the color quality and the less than sharp display of text and finer detail.

Will switching to a DVI video card provide any improvement in display quality?

 

[Lonely Fisherman]

Hi Fred,

Since you're concerned with the 'less than sharp' images you are getting, you might want to check the monitor and see if you're running it in it's native resolution. That usually helps resolve most of the fuzzy effects.

I've never compared analog monitors next to a digital but my guess is that you would notice it right away. I run dual 19" monitors at work and here at home along with a laptop. When I bought the two monitors, I bought a dual DVI card, installed it and hooked up the monitors. It would have been a good chance to compare, but I never thought about it. Guess I was too excited to get everything up and running.

Good luck with your new monitor!

fish....

 

[Pro Signs & Graphix]

Fred,

It is funny that we agree. An article in the trade magazines, a few months ago, states that the color is better with an LCD and DVI. "They" (the experts) also claim that LCD should be used with DVI - and this does make sense (VGA is actually a conversion process).

In our case, I do not mind spending money on the computer - as long as it will work. Our current card is the PowerColor (ATI chip), 256mb, PCI Express. It was fairly cheap enough, as I remember spending lots more for the old Diamond Stealths (my favorite).

A 128mb, single port AGP card, should be fairly cheap. The boy's sports an nVidia 256mb AGP, and it was $49 from Newegg, six months ago.

PLEASE, if you get a new card, post your experience. Our needs are different from gamers and video buffs. This makes it difficult to get real-world results. (At least for us)

 

[The Vector Doctor]

Fred, I have that exact monitor hooked up as a 2nd monitor for my Mac laptop. It hooks up via a dvi connection and I must say that the image is very good. I also have it hooked up to an old Blue and White G3 Mac via the 2nd port in the back which is vga. The DVI image is better, IMO

I did have to turn down the brightness to about 40% as the factory default is way too bright.

You can also try the 2nd button from the left which brings up the magic bright menu display which allows you to pick from "text, internet, game, sport, movie" and has different default settings for color and brightness.

Keep in mind that it is a relatively inexpensive 20" lcd. There are other 20" monitors that are considerably more expensive at that size so I imagine there are differences in color fidelity and crispness in the panel that justify the price. I looked at many for several months before purchasing the Samsung and came to the conclusion it was a good value. I think you would see a difference though if you used DVI.

 

[Fred Weiss]

Thank you all. I will be ordering a DVI card and will revisit this thread after I get it installed.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

Fred, I cannot say for sure on Windows machines, but on the mac there is a function for font smoothing one of which is called "medium - best for flat panel". I wonder if there isn't something similar on PC's and their display properties that would adjust fonts for your display now that you have moved from a CRT to a LCD.

 

[Fred Weiss]

Fred, I cannot say for sure on Windows machines, but on the mac there is a function for font smoothing one of which is called "medium - best for flat panel". I wonder if there isn't something similar on PC's and their display properties that would adjust fonts for your display now that you have moved from a CRT to a LCD.

I think there may be but your suggestion of adjusting the MagicBright settings to "Text" provided a big improvement.