Guess what I just bought :)

[cdifoto]

....a Viewsonic 19" LCD. Buy.com has 'em for $254.95 and free shipping.

Getting a little tired of this 15" Princeton @ 1024x768.

[George Riehm]

....a Viewsonic 19" LCD. Buy.com has 'em for $254.95 and free shipping.

Getting a little tired of this 15" Princeton @ 1024x768.

Just remember that when you post a pic, the rest of us poor 15-17 inch viewers can still only handle 800 x 600.;). So now you have 1280 x 1024... :cool: . Should really help in PP.

Good price, wish I has some spare denaro. Thanks for the tip.

[cdifoto]

Just remember that when you post a pic, the rest of us poor 15-17 inch viewers can still only handle 800 x 600.;). So now you have 1280 x 1024... :cool: . Should really help in PP.

Good price, wish I has some spare denaro. Thanks for the tip.

LOL. Now that I moved up, y'all are nobodies! :p

j/k. I'll stick to my 800xWhatevers. I sorta can't wait for it to arrive. I also bought a Lightscribe DVD burner yesterday that I'm a bit anxious to try.

[erichlund]

LOL. Now that I moved up, y'all are nobodies! :p

j/k. I'll stick to my 800xWhatevers. I sorta can't wait for it to arrive. I also bought a Lightscribe DVD burner yesterday that I'm a bit anxious to try.
Sorry, you still have a little ways to go. :p (Sony 20" LCD - 1600x1200, Wife has a Samsung 20" LCD, same resolution).

[cdifoto]

Sorry, you still have a little ways to go. :p (Sony 20" LCD - 1600x1200, Wife has a Samsung 20" LCD, same resolution).

Hey, don't rain on my parade, dammit! This is huge to me! :p

[Vich]

Exactly the monitor (if x series) stolen off my desk 3 months ago! It was $600 2 years ago. Have one at home from 4 years ago that was $1000. Paid $350/ea for 4 more last year (I'm the IT guy).

Guess the rumor about LCD material costs increasing was bunk.

Congrads. Great monitor. Hopefully its one of the 3/yr warr ones as Viewsonic recently cut back to 1 yr on many models.

[cdifoto]

Exactly the monitor (if x series) stolen off my desk 3 months ago! It was $600 2 years ago. Have one at home from 4 years ago that was $1000. Paid $350/ea for 4 more last year (I'm the IT guy).

Guess the rumor about LCD material costs increasing was bunk.

Congrads. Great monitor. Hopefully its one of the 3/yr warr ones as Viewsonic recently cut back to 1 yr on many models.

I don't see a reference to being an X series anywhere. Here's what I got:
http://www.buy.com/prod/ViewSonic_VA902B_19_LCD_550_1_1280x1024_8ms/q/loc/101/201669053.html

According to the website it's 3 years:

EXTENDED SPECS
Resolution 1280 x 1024 Optimum Resolution
Input Voltage 100 V AC to 240 V AC Auto-switch
Standard Warranty 3 Year(s) Limited
Color Black

[Vich]

Don't know much about monitors, except of course that color accuracy and larger size is nice to have on monitors. How to accomplish that and what monitors might make that easier (or impossible) is beyond me. I'd guess that Coldrain or George have investigated this - they're the techno-guru types. Or maybe one of the pros.

Interesting - the Viewsonic web site lists this as "your price $299*" with "* = after promotional savings". That implies the possiblity of a manufacturer's $30 rebate.
http://www.viewsonic.com/products/desktopdisplays/lcddisplays/aseries/va902b/

Maybe it'll require a call to Viewsonic since I don't see mention of one on that page. Now THAT would make a great deal. $254 - $30!

[cdifoto]

Don't know much about monitors, except of course that color accuracy and larger size is nice to have on monitors. How to accomplish that and what monitors might make that easier (or impossible) is beyond me. I'd guess that Coldrain or George have investigated this - they're the techno-guru types. Or maybe one of the pros.

Interesting - the Viewsonic web site lists this as "your price $299*" with "* = after promotional savings". That implies the possiblity of a manufacturer's $30 rebate.
http://www.viewsonic.com/products/desktopdisplays/lcddisplays/aseries/va902b/

Maybe it'll require a call to Viewsonic since I don't see mention of one on that page. Now THAT would make a great deal. $254 - $30!

I bookmarked that so I can contact them once I receive it. 30 bucks off would kick some booty! Of course that might be how Buy.com offered it for the $255 price in the first place.

I don't know squat about 'em either but the specs looked pretty decent...I guess. lol.

As long as it has good color rendition and I can get it calibrated with my printer I'll be happy with it.

[aparmley]

(if x series)

I think he means one of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116355)

Thats cool Don. At least you had an LCD anyway. . . I have old 19 inch CRT, not that old, but old style anyway. . . It weighs about 65lbs.

I am really wanting to make a monitor upgrade as well, Don. . . For a while I've been eyeing that 24" Dell, it used to be like 1600, then it was down to about 1000 now you can get it for like $799, quite the bargin. ? ? Can't make up my mind on that or two of these (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=19073YR&c=us&cat=snp&category_id=211&cs=19&l=en&Page=productlisting.aspx) - for about 120 less than that 24". which I may decide to do after all. . . I've wanted duals for so long. . . . Anyway. . . thanks for getting me to think about stuff other than photography gear. . . .

Check out the Huey from Pantone [For monitor calibration] - BH has it for 80 bucks and I've read its pretty good for us "Consumers." I'll be getting one here shortly. . .

[cdifoto]

I found the X series on the Viewsonic site after awhile. They all look good to me but I'm a display dumbass. Most serious photoshoppers would probably laugh me out of a room if I told them what my current monitor is...and I think it's pretty darn nice! :eek:

I dunno about anyone else but I figure I need to start to upgrade more than just my lenses. That glass is only as good as the editing you can do...even if it's minimal PP work. If the monitor is too small or colors are off, it's all moot.

I also have to get more memory because the 1GB I have installed now is the weak link during the RAW>JPEG conversions. While it's not freezing up, I think having either 2GB or 4GB in there would boost the speed nicely. I'm not looking to buy a new computer anytime soon because I don't feel this one is outdated. It's just lacking in some areas. It has a 2.17GHz processor which I usually find to be plenty, and the hard drive is a relatively large 180GB.

[erichlund]

Hey, don't rain on my parade, dammit! This is huge to me! :p
Enjoy it. Some say that CRTs still have better color, but you essentially eliminate flicker, which is the main thing that tires your eyes. I had a 21" CRT for about 9-10 years, and I'll never go back.

[cdifoto]

Enjoy it. Some say that CRTs still have better color, but you essentially eliminate flicker, which is the main thing that tires your eyes. I had a 21" CRT for about 9-10 years, and I'll never go back.

Since I work on a computer pretty much all day (my entire business is web based), I need as much ease on my eyes as possible. It's amazing how many more hours I can spend on this thing with this LCD than I could back when I was using CRTs. I don't even like to watch my television much anymore because it's a CRT.

This 19" will just be a step up in size and resolution because I've been hooked on LCDs for awhile now. :)

[britkev]

maybe I'm missing something, but I have yet to see any LCD display that outperforms my 21" Dell CRT monitor

[cdifoto]

There's more to choosing a monitor than ultimate performance. For me it's that damned flicker (can't stand it for long) and desk space. I have a rather small desk and a huge CRT is out of the question. This 15" LCD, however, is becoming too small as well, so 19" seemed like an appropriate upgrade.


That said, I've never seen how your Dell performs. Don't even know what model you have. Doesn't matter to me anyway.


On a sweeter note. I just checked the order status and they shipped it via FedEx yesterday...and it's set to arrive today! Must've been in a local warehouse. 10 bucks says it's actually coming from the Amazon.com warehouse where I used to work - 12 miles away.

[rawpaw18]

Don
Anxious are we? Looks like you have been up all night, like a kid at Chrsitmas.
Or maybe you are just nocturnal. Enjoy the new purchase.

[cdifoto]

Thanks. I'm kind of a sleep-whenever kinda person. I finally crashed around 5 AM and woke up to see it was already on my porch by 9AM. Just hooked it up and I must say....


Damn. :D

[erichlund]

maybe I'm missing something, but I have yet to see any LCD display that outperforms my 21" Dell CRT monitor
I had a Viewsonic P815 21" CRT. It was great, but it took 100Hz to drive it without flicker, and back when I got it, only a handful of video cards would do 100Hz. Even at 100Hz, the tube was getting old and the contrast had dropped off a bit and the text was not nearly as tight as it once was. That's a problem with CRTs. I don't know yet about the longevity of LCD monitors.

I will say this. After getting the 20" LCD, I put the 21" on my wife's computer. But it didn't take long looking at the two of them before we decided she should have an LCD as well. I ended up giving the CRT to a friend, who put it on his son's computer.

The other thing, of course, is that the CRT was about 60lbs. My 20" LCD is just a few lbs, and has very little depth, so it doesn't need nearly as much space.

[aparmley]

ehhhmmm [clears throat]

Why no pics of it in action yet?

[cdifoto]

ehhhmmm [clears throat]

Why no pics of it in action yet?

I have my old monitor set up next to this one and my oh my how much of a difference 4" diagonal makes!

[aparmley]

I have my old monitor set up next to this one and my oh my how much of a difference 4" diagonal makes!

Sweet Don! Thanks for the pic! You know what that 15 incher will be good for? Palletes in photoshop. . . That way you have your 19 incher dedicated to your image!

[acpryor]

Sweet Don! Thanks for the pic! You know what that 15 incher will be good for? Palletes in photoshop. . . That way you have your 19 incher dedicated to your image!

I'm happy for you! You sound as excited as I was (and still am) when I bought my 24" Dell WideScreen LCD... It's gorgeous....

[cdifoto]

Sweet Don! Thanks for the pic! You know what that 15 incher will be good for? Palletes in photoshop. . . That way you have your 19 incher dedicated to your image!

I'm thinking about trying to hook it back up. Not sure if I can upgrade my video card to handle 2 monitors though because I believe it's one of those hardwired jobbies.

Someday that I definitely get a new computer, it'll definitely handle that!

[cdifoto]

I'm happy for you! You sound as excited as I was (and still am) when I bought my 24" Dell WideScreen LCD... It's gorgeous....

Yeah dude its awesome. The new toy excitement hasn't worn off yet. I have even more trouble walking away from this one than I did the smaller one.. :rolleyes: :D

[Coltess]

What do DVDs look like on it? Any smearing or trailing or bleedthrough (in the corners)?
I was thinking about getting the Dell 2005FPW, but they seem to have extreme QC problems with backlight bleedthrough.

[cdifoto]

What do DVDs look like on it? Any smearing or trailing or bleedthrough (in the corners)?
I was thinking about getting the Dell 2005FPW, but they seem to have extreme QC problems with backlight bleedthrough.

It has a fast 8ms refresh rate so there's no smearing or trailing (assuming that's what you're referring to) that I could see, however I only watched part of 1 DVD on it before my computer crashed (see my thread in Canon..don't wanna relive it). Never looked for or knew what bleedthrough is. If it's one of those "you'd know it if you saw it" kinds of things, then this one doesnt have it.

[Coltess]

See the attached image. It pretty well demonstrates what bleed through is (lower left corner of the screen). Disclaimer: I totally stole the picture over at the Dell forums with out permission from ray.ragan :p
It can ruin any "screen" that is dark eg. a dark movie, picture, game etc.

[cdifoto]

I've only had this monitor since this past Friday and there's absolutely nothing like that on it. Even my "old" 15" doesnt show any signs of that.

[Bluedog]

I've got a ViewSonic VP171b Pro Series that has been nothing short of outstanding _ never again will I have a CRT after using this thing, colors are brilliant.