Best 30" to 42" Monitor ever?

[cruise]

Two Monitors I'm considering are the dell 30" and Westinghouse 42" (which is more of a TV but same same), I definitely want to avoid anything dell if at all possible, given they fail at pretty much everything else.

Is there any other choices in this category? Resolution has to at least be 1920x1080.

Any suggestions appreciated.

[Andrew LB]

While I have yet to use any LCD computer screens larger than my current 24" Dell 2407WFP wide screen and the 20.1" Dell wide screen I owned before that, I will admit that both have been very solid products. Neither screen had a single issue with dead pixels, back light bleed, etc. I used the 20.1" for about a year and this current 24" was bought back in November 2006 and it gets tons of use.

I understand your feelings about wanting to avoid a dell product. I spent plenty of time reading reviews on these screens as well as the impressions of forum members who own them before I made my purchase and thus far been completely satisfied with my dell LCD purchases.

Keep in mind that if you are looking into getting the 30" Dell screen, to run any resolution above 1920x1200, you must use a dual link DVI graphics card connections and there is big drawback when running HDCP explained in this quote below from anandtech:


The larger size of the 3007WFP doesn't come without drawbacks, unfortunately. First, bigger isn't always better, and there are definitely people out there that feel a 30" LCD is going to be too big sitting on their desk. Perhaps a bigger drawback is that the 3007WFP is extremely limited when it comes to video inputs: you get a single DVI-D connection and that's it! The DVI port is designed for use with dual-link the DVI devices, as dual-link is necessary in order to support the native 2560x1600 resolution. Single-link DVI support is also available, but while single-link DVI is technically capable of supporting a 1920x1200 resolution the 3007WFP only supports a maximum 1280x800 resolution when using single-link DVI.

That brings us to perhaps the biggest flaw of the 3007WFP: HDCP support. While the LCD does include HDCP support, HDCP was unfortunately not created to work with dual-link DVI. If you want to use the 3007WFP to view HDCP protected content, you may find yourself forced to use a single-link DVI connection, which means you would only be able to run the display at one fourth of its native resolution. That's a pretty serious flaw, at least for those users who are interested in HDCP content. Considering the price, anyone interested in a large HTPC setup would probably be better served by a 37" or 42" 1080p HDTV -- not something you would really want sitting on top of a desk, but great for viewing movies.



Also, keep in mind that you're going to have to use the fastest graphics cards available in SLI to properly drive games at resolutions higher than 1920x1200.


Another good thing about the dell LCDs is that they carry a 3 year warranty. I'm not sure what the competition has in terms of warranties and dead pixel policies.... but Dell is very good about returning/exchanging any screens you think are not 100%.

[cruise]

Don't worry I have been planning my system around such a monitor :D

It's almost built, 8800GTX SLI Watercooled and soon a custom phase unit from LukeXE to go on an Intel x6800 once he finally sends it off to me.

Basically I feel that anything under 30" would be a waste of effort for this system.

SO dell is ok, I've heard good things about a HP 30" also which is similar to the dell but offers a few improvements, contrast and sharpness for example. Samsung also have one but it is complete rubbish, reviewers are saying the input lag is too high for gaming.

and not concerned much about HDCP content, if I want to watch movies I will use a TV, not a gaming monitor.

[dengyong]

I love my 37" westinghouse. I play lots of games and they all look great at 1920x1080 and at $999 it's by far the best deal on a big monitor.

[Nistomax]

The dell monitor will get you a much higher resolution then the westinghouse, which i believe is a 1920x1080(correct me if im wrong). The dell 30" is 2560x1600(again, correct me if im wrong). That means that on the dell you have over 4 million pixels, while on the westinghouse there will be almost 2.1million. The extra pixels translates directly to more information fitting on the screen.

So, it comes down to what you want. Gaming on a 30" monitor at that resolution will really stress your computer, and i recommend checking benchmarks on the 8800gtx on sites that use that kind of resolution. The 37" westinghouse will offer larger information(larger text, etc), but that is not to be confused with more information.

Monitors are the only thing I would buy from dell, the screens are just a rebox of samsung or benQ if i remember correctly, and they are pretty good about support on their screens.

[XS2K]

If you want the best go for DELL 30" 92% color gamut LCD,Westinghouse 42" is good but not as good when it comes to IQ and office use,I tried both and overall I found DELL 30" to be the best...