LCD advice?

OK, I just got $300 (Canadian) from my parents for my birthday! Sweet - new monitor time. I don't know anything about LCDs, any advice for a newbie? Brands to avoid, etc? I don't know if I want widescreen or not - wouldn't it be quite short to be the same "inches" but be widescreen? I probably want more surface area rather than width because I won't be using if for movies much.

BTW I shop here http//www.ncix.com[]http//www.ncix.com and they have some sales for members (me) which won't show up for non-members (you).

http//www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=20795&vpn=VX2235WM&manufacture=ViewSonic&promoid=1043 http//forum.freeipodguide.com/smilies_mod/upload/3c4212c9422fd9183e656ebafb2a7520.gif[" alt=""/imgdb6a447dfd]

A little over 300 for us, maybe closer for you, that would be one awesome LCD... I just got a 20" and it seems huge to me, that would be giant!

^^^ That's still a 1680x1050 widescreen, not a resolution I'm fond of.

Jenny, since you're a web designer/developer type, you may be like me and consider vertical resolution as important as horizontal. I wouldn't own a 1680x1050 monitor for that reason, because I had been developing/designing on a 1600x1200 CRT for so long. So I held out for a 20" Dell 2001FP at 1600x1200, then later (thanks to I-Deal) got a 24" 2407WFP widescreen at 1920x1200. Dual-monitor with those two is sweet. )

IMO I'd go with a 43 20" at 1600x1200, or a 24" widescreen at 1920x1200, if you can swing them. $300 CDN won't get a 24", but it should be able to get the 20" 1600x1200, or darn close to it.

I'm partial to Dell and Samsung. Never much cared for Viewsonic but lots of folks seem to like them. I've found Acer to be a good budget brand.

Edit Typo

http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824002122

Don't settle for less then the best. The 20" opticlear version is awsome too but way out of budget.

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I am also in the market for a LCD widescreen, maybe normal (which ones better for gaming?). I won't be purchasing one for a few months while I save up money. I am hoping to spend between $200-$400. I wanted to know what is the best resolution for gaming, which is mainly what my computer will be used for? I heard it is 1280 x 1024, so would it be better to go with that, rather than 1600x1200.

Better the resolution better the quality of gaming. But you need a good graphics card too. I really like the 19" NEC I linked to up there it seems like a good LCD for your price range for a medium end graphics card. If you have like a 8800GTX you may want to get something else though.

I bought a Dell 20" widescreen LCD monitor a month ago for about $250 and it is amazing. The digital input looks great, but for some reason the analog input I can see lines on the screen when I am not running a game or anything. But dmorris is the man when it comes to this stuff -- listen to him D