Fun with Aliens

[Czechmate]

Ya, I have to write about these things and I have to do a lot of benchmarking, but the payoff.. oh, the payoff...

This is the current toy room setup.

~Czech

http://www.w4rishell.com/images/alienfun.jpg

[BuddhaMan]

Ever since last summer's CPL I've loved those BenQ LCD monitors...man they're sweet.

[Sasha]

no doubt Buddah I was certainly drueling. I wanted one, but don't those monitors cause some lag for games like ours?

[Czechmate]

What you're thinking of, Sash, is the refresh rate on LCD monitors. Those with slow refresh rates will show blurring in high speed games (like most FPS games). However, with time comes expertise, and the technology has finally caught up. I have four 20" LCDs. Two of them are 16ms refresh rate, one is 14ms, and the Benq that Alienware sent last week is 12ms. I can't really tell a difference between 16ms and 12ms, but some people say they can.

I will say that if you're ever in the market for an LCD, make sure you check the refresh rate. If it's over 16ms, you'll most definitely notice blurring. You also want a contrast ratio of 400:1 for a good clear picture. You may see those commercials for Dell or Gateway offering a "free LCD upgrade". That particular LCD is a giant hunk of shit. The good LCD monitors are still pricey as hell (that Benq from Alienware is $900), but it also weighs under 20 lbs., is wall-mountable, and takes up a lot less desktop realty. That, and they just look really cool. :)

~Czech

[B_G3ntl3]

so uh....when is the raffle where you give one of them away to us czech?

[Bluehen]

Definitely agree about the LCDs. I got the 19" ultrasharp one from Dell in a really good deal. The refresh is 20ms and looks ok with the pos graphics card I have now - but there is a 6800 gt on the way and hopefully the slight blurring I see now is more attributed to the junky card. If not, the lcd is going back and Ill stick with my crt.

[BuddhaMan]

The price on that model (20.1") has come down to ~$670

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=2827557/search=benq

The 23" model is still a wallet buster @ ~$1,565

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=2936449/search=benq

[BuddhaMan]

Woot! I just checked the gotapex.com site to check to see if a Dell LCD monitor I've been waiting to go on sale has, and what do ya know...IT IS! Woot!

This monitor r0x from the reviews I've read...but don't take my advice...check out some reviews via Google yourself.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=320-4111&c=us&l=en&cs=04&category_id=2999&page=external

HardForum Display section: http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=78

People showing off some SICK LCD monitor setups (have Kleenex ready to mop up drool):

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=862341&page=1&pp=20

[=DBA=Ronin]

I have a Samsung 710n 17" flat panel with a 16ms seek time and it games great, I don't have any ghosting or problems with my images at all.

[BuddhaMan]

I just bought that Dell UltraSharp 2005FPW 20.1" wide angle monitor. Fkn Dell charged me tax since it was from the Small Bussiness site. Ain't that a bitch! :finger:

[Regulator]

#1 so this is where you guys are now!

#2 isnt it "response time" instead of refresh rate? refresh rates are measured in Hertz and response is in milliseconds

#3 Buddha: I have been eying those 2005FPW monitors for some while now. The first batch of them were horrid and had loads of people complaining about backlighting and dead pixel issues. The second batch fixed a lot of the dead pixels but some still suffer from backlighting issues. I havent checked up on them since last month; has there been a new batch? Let me know how it performs. Hopefully you wont have to send it back.

[BuddhaMan]

So, far looks like no dead pixels at all. The fkn thing is BRIGHT! I already moved the color level from 100 to 80 for each color to compensate and I still need to go lower as my eyes hurt right now. When a broswer window goes all white it's like I'm fkn blinded.

I did see the pics on the backlighting issue before purchase and I do see it. I think me turning the brightness down is helping with that. I'm played HL2 on it last night and the dark scenes like going thru sewer pipes was fine so the backlighting thing doesn't affect me I 'spose (I'm not as picked I guess).

Oh yeah...my monitor is revision "A01"...sa maybe they fixed some stuff. I didn't get those dorky looking speakers the go under the monitor (which is good because I wasn't going to use them anyhow).

It's awesopme so far, pics to follow as soon as I 'retire' my 17" CRT on the KVM switch and replace it with my 19" LCD.

[Czechmate]

It is in fact response time. The refresh rate is how fast the monitor redraws the screen -- I.e., a 60Hz refresh rate means the screen is drawn 60 times a second. My bad on the terms -- I was probably under the weather.

Buddha, with your 17" CRT, you can put it to good use as a TV or a console monitor with an RTV unit. I reviewed one (a product I actually bought no less) in the May issue of Computer Games. You can see what it is here (and get the VEG model, not the "-n" or "Lite"):

www.rtv-veg.com

I use a flat panel as my television and console monitor here, and the non-LITE model allows you to force 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios, as well as force resolutions as high as 1024x768, which makes console games sharp as hell. Connect a console switch box to it (around $10-$20, depending on the model) and you can connect a lot of different things at once. I have all three consoles and a satellite receiver going through the same converter.

The list on the thing is $99, but I found it for $79 here (and I paid $89 at Fry's):

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getoffers.php?keyword=RTV%20T1111

~Czech

[BuddhaMan]

Thanx for the info dude, but I haven't owned a console since the Playstation1. I think I'm going to have to snap up a PS3 when they come out though...

I have a 70 lbs 20" CRT for my Silicon Graphics Indigo 2...but I haven't used it since I moved to Joklahoma from Alaska so it's just taking up space.

Anyone have a boat that's in need of an anchor?

[Artis]

ive never seen an lcd that doesnt ghost so i stick with my old 17 inch dell trinitron flat screen from way back.

[B_G3ntl3]

pfft...only 17 inches

[BuddhaMan]

Artis, this new one of mine doesn't ghost. Of course, my old one @ 35ms refresh time didn't ghost for me...this new one is 12ms.