Monitor + Broadband : Your opinions please!

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Ok, so I've got my lovely new PC system, but I'm still using my dad's monitor and broadband connection. Thus, he still has a small shred of control over my computer gamerage at the moment. I got paid today, so this weekend I'm hoping to sort out the slightly more monitory of those problems.

I'd like it if the knowledgable could offer me a little assistance in the way of choice. I have a few questions and points to put forward.

LCD TFT or CRT? LCDs are dearer and more compact, but I'm led to believe that CRTs are sharper, and have a faster response time. Any clearcut preference?

My video card is a Gigabyte Radeon X800XL with VGA and DVI output. Are there any monitors with DVI input? Should I make sure the monitor has DVI input? Will the monitor come with a DVI cable?

The monitor I have my eyes set on at the moment is the Viewsonic 19" LCD VX922 TFT, which looks pretty good. It also has had decent reviews from the critical public. So, is there anything horribly wrong with this monitor? Can I get a better one in that price range?



For the broadband, I also have a question or two. Are there any providers who can set me up with broadband without TV or phone, AND preferably without the use of a BT line? (ours was deactivated long ago)

 

[MadGinga]

Questions, questions, questions.

As a personal preference, I prefer LCD TFT screens as they dont have that flciker that quite a lot of CRTs have. I have a Samsung Syncmaster, thats getting on for 5 years old, and its still fantastic, no dead pixels or any degradation, basically it rocks.

I'd go for one of the new Samsung syncmaster, or whatever their equivalent is now, and you can get versions that have either vga or dvi.

Only down side is they can be a tad on the dear side.

If i had the money, and i was looking for a new monitor, this is probably what i'd go for.


As for broadband, I know Tiscali do broadband with phone inclusive, and its not reliant on cable.
To start up you ALWAYS (as far as i know) need a BT line, but you can transfer your line rental to Tiscali once you're connected, so you can cut down on bills, but if you dont have a phone line or cable (and you cant have cable without tv) you wont be able to get broadband.

Then again, you might be able to get one of the those satellite connections, but i hear they're sillyly expensive.

 

[pHatBambi]

The Viewsonic monitor that you mention is very good.

My boss has one at work and the build quality of Viewsonic screens is impressive.

Viewsonic also offer one of the best warranty packages on the market.

I have a Viewsonic VA2012w and have found it to be of excellent build quality. My screen does however contain two dead "Sub-Pixels".

It is worth noting that warranty is a tricky game and although Viewsonic have the best warranty package (in that they will replace any monitor with a single faulty "pixel") they do have an acceptable tolerance level to their screens.

I'm not sure on the exact figures but the monitors are built to a standard and that standard allows for a certain amout of dead "sub-pixels" and "pixels" per screen area.

This then brings me onto my next point of; purchasing. It may be worth your while going to a large chain store and buying an LCD screen as the chances of you being able to return a product is higher. I found that by buying online I had very little way of returning my monitor. Despite the fact that I felt that 2 dead "sub-pixels" was unacceptable the truth of the matter is that the industry standards allow for defects. I feel that if I had gone to a well known store I may have been able to return the product or requested that I brought a display model that I knew had no defects.

Just my 2 cents.

I do love my monitor though despite the minor flaws.

 

[DeZmond]

The only real way to prevent buying a screen with dead pixels is to try before you buy - ie the exact monitor you'd be using. That takes a pretty accomodating local retailer.

And don't get me started on broadband... basically read between the lines when chosing a provider and check satisfaction surveys also - and make sure you're happy with the contact period - 99% of providers will have a fixed-service contract so be prepared to stick with the provider you end up using.

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Well here I am at last with my new viewing device - exactly the one that MadGinga pointed out to me. Its proper name is the Samsung Syncmaster (SM)940B and its pretty damn cool Firstly, the picture is really sharp and bright compared to the ol' CRT. It's a lot easier on the eyes both in terms of looks and optical vision. Its also bloody huge, Ive got my face right up at it and all I can see is screen all round, wonderful. The best bit is, it's flat so I can push it right back on my desk and sit my joystick in front of me now, great for flying in the jets and such Of course it didn't come cheap - 225 quid (ouch!) but it was worth it in the end.

So theres the monitor aspect covered, now all I need is the broadband and a comfy chair and I'm sorted As far as broadband goes, Im thinking about getting another line from ntl, theyve done us pretty good so far. 17.99/month for 2mbit connection, and the pings are usually around the low 20s - mid teens. Anyway, see you on the high-resolution battlefield chaps.

 

[PsiSoldier]

I didn't do any research when I switched to BT, now I'm stuck with a laggy connection that disconects often for some unknown reason, and the phone package that came with it doesn't even work... Also bought the Tech-Support package which is basicly someone in India following a textbook of problems... They won't even send a bloomin' engineer to try and fix the problems that I never ever encountered with Freeserve/Wannado/Orange...

 

[thatbloke]

Myself and teh bird had issues with BT to begin with but after phoning them a few times and seeing the results of a few lie tests they realised it was a problem with our line underground, did some work to fix it and ever since (about 3-4 weeks now) it's only disconnected once... and even then it put me straight back on.

When you say the phone package do you mean the phone you get with the BT Home Hub?

 

[PsiSoldier]

Yes, HubPhone, or something just as lame.

So far we've phoned them atleast once every week, for over a month... Still, they have done nothing except tell me to swap the USB cable for an ethernet one.

 

[thatbloke]

and have you done that yet? the Ethernet cable is the recommended (and best) way of connecting to your router...

 

[KillCrazy]

Are you guys talking about that white router that BT send out along with an internet phone? We got that and I think it's utter garbage (my dad doesn't think so). Whenever I use bit torrent over the wireless network, the damn router restarts itself.
And what I hate most of all is that a lot of our connection speed is reserved for the internet phone, which is hardly used!!!

 

[thatbloke]

indeed. I haven't had any problems with it. apart from the fact that my computer doesn't want to connect to the damn thing wirelessly... but i think that may be because my card is a very cheap one and doesn't support encryption properly for whatever reason...

 

[Pestcontrol]

I'm happily phoning over cable for a week or five now. The system doesn't use the normal internet bandwidth so service doesn't suffer, it's just as good as the original landline if not better. Services like caller ID and voicemail are free and you can even get your voicemails mailed to your inbox. The dutch equivalent of BT, KPN, charges for that.
The phone jack is integrated into the cablemodem.

With a proper linux box and QoS it is possible to reserve bandwidth only when it's used. I do that for the AlienSwarm server i'm running at home.

I'm hearing nothing but bad things about ADSL voip solutions and internet phoning. Skype is great but the stuff Telco's and ISP's offers as a total replacement for landlines is still not mature.

Wireless routers delivered as part of internet deals are often of poor quality. IMHO such deals are better skipped, just get a proper brand. The only consumer one i really trust to perform well and be stable is Linksys.

 

[Pestcontrol]

Actually i have to take that back, i'm without a landline now and it will take a few days before it gets reconnected and the billing is wrong. Incompetent twats.

 

[PsiSoldier]

'Course I've done it.