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Dual Display Dilemma
Wednesday, Feb. 23 2005 | Author: MacGeekI’ve got a bit of a dilemma that I’m hoping the ForeverGeek staff and readers can assist me with.
For the past 8 years or so, I’ve been running a 21″ CRT as my primary display. I’ve loved it from the day I brought it home and it’s served me well. Acquiring it was a milestone for me, almost on par with getting my dual G5 this time last year.
Now it’s time to retire the beast and move to LCD. I’ve considered getting a 20″ or 21″ display, as I like the resolution these sizes offer, but cost aside, I wouldn’t gain any more screen acreage than what I have now and that just doesn’t feel worth the $1K or so. Dell is set to release a 24″ LCD in just a few days, but even at 1920×1200, I’m not sure I want to pony up the $1199 (or whatever it comes to be with their awesome coupon deals) when I can get two 17″ or 19″ displays for half that and HAVE TWO DISPLAYS and 2560×1028 resolution!
Thus, my dilemma. Both 17″ and 19″ offer the same native resolution. Response time is important to me, so I don’t want anything more than 16ms. It must also support DVI and analog connections. Fortunately, this limits my choices in both sizes. The Samsung 172x is a great display, super fast, but lacks swivel and I don’t like the VESA mounting and lack of height adjustment. The Viewsonic VP171b is my favorite: faster yet, thin bezel and black. Dell has great deals almost daily on their line of flat-panels and if the timing is right, I can get the 1905FP for just a few bucks more than the Viewsonic. It’s significantly slower (violating my 16ms requirement), but does offer USB 2.0 ports.
Are those 2 extra inches really worth it? Two 17’s would fit much nicer on my desk and probably suit me just fine, but part of me, whether it’s ego or just that I’m used to 21″, wants two 19’s. Both monitors get great reviews, so I’m torn.
Two 17″ Viewsonics or two 19″ Dells?
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19 Responses for "Dual Display Dilemma"
February 23rd, 2005 at 6:48 pm
1Go with the 19s. Even though the resolution is the same the extra real estate will work out better. And you never know when you want to watch a DVD full screen on one…
February 23rd, 2005 at 7:19 pm
2Yeah, go with the 19″. Two people in our office have the dell 1905fp monitor and they are really nice. When I upgrade from my dual 19″ CRTs, I am going with 2 of the 1905FPs.
February 23rd, 2005 at 7:37 pm
3I’m pretty new and unknown here but from my experience I can say that when it comes to monitors you definately want the biggest you can get. Meaning I suggest you take the 19″s
I have 21″ Dell CRT now and allthough I’m still very much in love with it, I’m looking for a new Iiyama 22″ CRT (Vision Master Pro 514) (http://www.iiyama.nl/default.asp?SID=&NAV=236&PCAT=1) (Dutch) for my DualScreen setup. Why do you want to switch to LCD if you don’t mind me asking?
February 23rd, 2005 at 7:53 pm
41. 100W+ Power consumption = Heat. LCDs are typically around 40W max.
2. LCD DVI is digital, CRT is analog
3. LCDs are brighter, crisper
4. I can fit an LCD in much less depth than one CRT, which means my desk can actually fit up against the wall.
That’s 4 of a number of reasons, but the most important to me.
February 23rd, 2005 at 7:58 pm
5I just today setup a 2001fp at work. Personally I wouldn’t go any smaller if you are used to a 21″ monitor. I am using it with a 21″ dell trinitron CRT. They have their strengths and weaknesses. One problem with this setup is that it isn’t obvious if I should use font smoothing like cleartype or not. It works better on the LCD.
Also the LCD gets less sharp near the middle. I’m not sure if this is because of the size or not, but I have seen this on other LCDs as well.
I might consider 2005fp which is 1600×1000 like my laptop. I like the wide perspective it is sort of like using two monitors. Code on the left, output on the right.
February 23rd, 2005 at 8:55 pm
6Go for the 19s (&DVI is a necessity). I got a Samsung 710t 17″ monitor a few days ago, and I love it, yet even with true 17 inch viewable (replaced a 17″ CRT) it seems small. Go for the real estate - you’ll like it better.
February 24th, 2005 at 1:11 am
7After reading some user reviews in the forums of Anandtech, I’m dead set now against the 1905FP. It’s amazing the difference between a single review and user input from owners of the LCD. Ghosting appears to be a major issue and Dell support is sub-par. Just about every post was “waiting for my replacement”.
The only attraction to the 1905FP (besides real estate) was the coupon deals put it into my budget, so now I’m left without a viable 19″ alternative. I don’t really want to spend more than about $350 each. Now if only I can find a 21″ for $700…
February 24th, 2005 at 6:09 am
8I bought a 17″ NEC 1760VM this week. It has both DVI and analog, a reasonable price und is easy to adjust. The specs say its 16ms fast but i have the feeling that it is a little bit faster. Wathing movies and gaming is fun, at least.
With Dell i always had the feeling that the TFT’s are a little bit blurry, but that might have been the cause of bad configuration.
I would never take a 19″ if i could get the same resolution with 17″. For the higher price you just get bigger pixels!!
February 24th, 2005 at 6:36 am
9I got a 2005fpw from Dell last week : a 20 inch widescreen beauty for less than 700 Euros (but you can probably get it cheaper with Dell’s promotions these days). Specs on paper are good and even better when you see it.
Check it out : I think you’ll find the widescreen aspect very usefull.
February 24th, 2005 at 9:26 am
10Dell is blowing the doors off their older monitors, you can get 19″ 1905FP for $368. (You’ll need these coupon codes: http://cheap.typepad.com/cheapster/2005/02/dell_ultrasharp_1.html, that one may be expired but there’s been new ones every other day for the last 2 weeks now.) For that price you can get 2 19″ for 800 bucks. They also had the 20.1″ for $500.
I’ve got a Dell 1901 or 03 or something here in the office (I didn’t buy it so I don’t know the model number) and I like it a lot. Obviously can’t vouch for it’s gaming ability, but it sure can display some code!
I’ve also got a 19″ Viewsonic VX902 and can definitely recommend them too, the one you’re looking at has a much thinner bezel so would be better than mine for a dual display set up.
February 24th, 2005 at 10:08 am
11Dell’s contributed buku $ to Bush in both elections. So if you like George Bush as much as they do, go ahead and buy a Dell.
February 24th, 2005 at 10:31 am
12It’s hard to say which way to go. Santa brought me a very pretty ViewSonic for Christmas and I am really really happy with it (my CRT was dying, so it’s nice to have a screen that doesn’t jiggle). I have always felt that the Dell monitors aren’t as good (for the price) as competitors. However, I don’t know anyone personally who has owned one.
Since they both support the same 1280×1024 resolution, it will be easier on the eyes to look at the Dell. I don’t know if that’s an issue for you, but 1280×1024 on a 17″ might be too small for my eyes.
Lastly, the viewing angle and response times are significantly better with the ViewSonic, so I’m inclined to lean in that direction. I get cranky over poor viewing angles, and the faster response time will make for a better overall experience.
February 24th, 2005 at 12:48 pm
13Thanks for all the guidance and suggestions. This is really a tough choice.
I’ve considered the Dell 2005FPW — the widescreen seems kinda cool — but somehow gaining only 80 pixels in width and LOSING 150 pixels in height doesn’t seem like much of an advantage. Occasionally, I consider the 2001FP, but again, I’m looking to increase my real estate, not just replace it. I suppose two of these would be nice, but that’s way over my budget.
The Dell coupon deals are an incredible enticement, but I’m not just comfortable with all the negative comments I’ve seen from users. There are positive comments, but the negative ones far outweigh. Today’s the last day anyway (for how long….) and I don’t like that kind of pressure!
If I do go dual 19″, I’m questioning whether I’ll be happy dropping to a lower resolution…I’m thinking not. That might mean dual 20″, but that means one now and one some time down the road.
This is definitely a dilemma!
April 5th, 2005 at 8:40 pm
14I’d go for the 2 1905fp….I personally find the 17″ too small. Although, the slower response time of the 1905fp is a problem for some…..
just my opinion
June 20th, 2005 at 9:08 pm
15Hey folks,
I need some advice. I have a compaq laptop with a single vga output, but I would to set up a dual display (two lcd’s side by side).
Do you always need two video cards for this configuration or do they sell lcd monitors where you can chaing them.
have a look at the monitor setups these guys sell:
http://www.digitaltigers.com/tigervista-duo.shtml
I’m not sure if you need a display card for each monitor. Any clues?
June 21st, 2005 at 11:56 am
16If your laptop is anything current and running Windows XP, then you should be able to hook up a monitor to the VGA output and have both the LCD display of the laptop and the monitor available for your dual screen setup.
I’ve done that myself and as far as I know, is the only solution in this case. Those TigerVista panels would definitely require two video cards or two separate outputs.
July 5th, 2005 at 5:36 pm
17To help make up your mind let me remind you that a 21″ crt will have anywhere from a 19″-20″ viewable image with 19.5″ being the average so by going with a 19″ Lcd you will most likely not lose any significant real-estate and by going duel display you will basically be doubling what you have now
July 20th, 2005 at 3:16 pm
181905fp = bad news.
ignore all positive reviews and stay away from this monitor…
dont consider getting this. (got it few days ago and im ready to trash it)
-colour is off, and looks washed out (no matter how much u play around with settings)
-20ms feels and looks like 30ms (ghosting…so much ghosting…)
-more ghosting?
using it is a terrible experience.
the ONLY good thing is the usb on the side, and the nifty stand…and those are just cosmetics.
an ugly monitor is still an ugly monitor.
cheap, but not even worth the cheap price.
July 20th, 2005 at 3:46 pm
19Actually, I ended up going with the Dell 2005FPW. After pouring through forums and user reviews, I was worried about backlight issues, ghosting and the famed “screen-door effect”, but after having it now for several months, I haven’t had one problem. I must be one of the lucky ones, as it doesn’t have a hint of backlight bleed. It is a great monitor and for the Actually, I ended up going with the Dell 2005FPW. After pouring through forums and user reviews, I was worried about backlight issues, ghosting and the famed “screen-door effect”, but after having it now for several months, I haven’t had one problem. I must be one of the lucky ones, as it doesn’t have a hint of backlight bleed. It is a great monitor and for the < $500 I got it for, a super sweet deal.
I’m actually now considering moving up to the 2405FPW and giving my wife the 2005FPW.
Thanks all for your input.
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