High End Buyer's Guide - September 2004
by Wesley Fink on August 30, 2004 12:22 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Monitor
Recommendation: Dell 2001FPPrice: $809 shipped
While there is no doubt that CRT monitors still represent the best value and best performance for gaming, things continue to improve rapidly in flat panel technology. In the past few months, prices of some of the very best flat panel monitors have dropped to new lows. In fact, the very fast and large Dell 2001FP is now just $809 direct from Dell - a high-end value that we just couldn't ignore. Dell often runs coupons and specials, so with careful shopping and timing you may be able to purchase the 2001FP for an even better price.
When AnandTech first reviewed the 2001FP with the Dell XPS bundle, our Display Editor was mightily impressed. Nothing has really changed his opinion since then. The Dell 2001FP goes all the way to 1600x1200 resolution on both the analog VGA and Digital connectors. This is a very satisfying resolution for gamers, since many LCDs cannot be coaxed to more than 1280x1024. The Philips LCD also exhibits response times and color resolution that will even keep gamers happy.
LCD measurements are also real - if an LCD is rated 20.1", then that means it is really a 20.1" diagonal. CRTs are rated on the tube size, so a 21" or 22" CRT will actually be a true 19" or 20" diagonal that you can use. That means that the 20.1" Dell is just as large, or a little larger, than our 22" CRT alternative. Given that, the question is whether the fast and large 2001FP is worth the $100 to $145 premium over the excellent Diamondtron 22" CRT that we selected as an alternative. Given the huge space savings and much lower heat, we are inclined to think the difference is now small enough to opt for the flat panel as our high-end recommendation.
If you have a richer budget and want the biggest, useful flat-panel monitor that you can buy, our Display Editor still recommends the Samsung 213T with a 21.3" screen and a new lower $1050 delivered price tag. The Dell has a faster response time, and the Samsung is only 1" larger for the $240 premium, but some of our readers will prefer a brand other than Dell. For them, the Samsung 193P 19" or the 21.3" 213T are both excellent alternatives.
Alternative: Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2070 22"CRT or NEC FP2141SB 22" CRT
Price: $664 or $709 shipped
Since NEC and Mitsubishi are now the same company for monitors, these two are really the same superb 22" Diamondtron CRT monitors with different cosmetics. For those not familiar with Diamondtron, it is the name for Mitsubishi's single gun system that is like Sony's Trinitron. Both of these monitors have built enviable reputations for image quality and reliability, and their reputations are well-deserved. To be honest, my main system monitor is also a 22" Diamondtron CRT and it is the best performing monitor that I have ever owned.
The new generations of video cards finally justify a big monitor for high resolutions, and 22" is a great size for high resolution gaming. The NEC/Mitsubishi can deliver resolutions as high as 2048x1536 at the all important 86Hz Refresh and refresh rates as high as 160Hz at 1024x768 and 127Hz at 1280X1024. The important thing with a 22" or 21" monitor is that you can actually see 2048x1536. The only drawback with any large CRT is the space required to house the monitor. If space is a premium, then take a closer look at our flat panel alternative.
If the $624 plus $45 shipping seems a bit steep, then there are a number of 21" monitors based on the Trinitron or Diamondtron CRT that are available in the $400 to $500 range, delivered. If it has been a while since you looked at big CRT prices, we think that you will be surprised by the lower prices you will find today.
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
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Wesley Fink - Monday, August 30, 2004 - link
#17 -Thanks for the info on Apple's updated interface. While I agree the picture on the Dell is a bit gainy with smearing on analog, I have found the 2001FP to be outstanding on DVI. With this size flat panel I assumed no one would run anything but digital input.
Hikari - Monday, August 30, 2004 - link
On the Apple displays and ADC. That is no longer true, they use DVI now.There is some new 23" HP that is based on the same panel as the Apple, and I think it is a better deal. Although the Apple is prettier. ;)
danidentity - Monday, August 30, 2004 - link
Few mistakes I'd like to point out:Page 3, CPU and Motherboard Alternatives:
"When Socket 775 was launched a few weeks ago, it did not appear that any of the new 925X/915 motherboards would ever become a recommended Overclockers board."
***Socket 775 was launched two months ago, not several weeks ago. Looks like a copy/paste mistake.
Page 6, AGP Video:
"We ended up relaxing our rules by including the Gigabyte 6800 Ultra because several vendors are showing availability in the first 2 weeks of July."
***July??? This is August, almost September.
JonathanYoung - Monday, August 30, 2004 - link
kherman,Who's complaining about advertisements? That realtime pricing engine is hardly an advertisement... it's a long list of prices and vendors in plain text and zero differentiation between vendors. Again, that's hardly an advertisement.
I'd read AT's disclaimer on the subject if I were you, particularly the following lines:
"We select vendors to appear in our Price Guides based on two requirements: solid consumer feedback and having the lowest possible pricing."
"AnandTech does not sell positions on the Price Guide."
Note the "We select" and "AnandTech does not sell positions."
Sincerely,
"#5"
Aelius - Monday, August 30, 2004 - link
Actually I own a brand new Apple 20" Aluminum Cinema Display. Dispite the site telling you that it can take a month to ship one to you I got mine in 4 days.The stand is increadibly solid. No way to simply knock it over. It's gota be solid metal and most of the weight of the monitor comes from the stand.
It's very light at around 7 1/2 lbs.
It's not dinky at all. You can adjust the way the monitor points up and down and it stays the way you leave it. That part is also very solid.
There are no vents anywhere because the power brick is not built-in and the entire casing is made out of aluminum which absorbs the heat so the top gets fairly warm to the touch after long use.
The whole thing is increadibly high quality.
A cool feature of the monitor is that you can adjust the backlight through a + and - touch pad on the right side and the power button is also a touch pad found on the right.
Far as I know the Apple's come with very few dead or stuck pixles but mine came with 3 dead and 2 stuck blue pixles. Honestly I can't even notice even when I look for it unless it's a black background.
It's so sharp and bright that it makes my old Viewsonic PF CRT look like an ancient wreck.
Is it expansive? Oh God yeah and it's worth every penny as far as I'm concerned.
P.S. There seems to be a quality control issue with 23" displays but mine seems fine and couldn't find any issues with it that others reported on the 23" ones.
Any questions just PM me as I won't monitor this page.
ksherman - Monday, August 30, 2004 - link
#17- agreed, and according to apple, have a response time of 16ms, so maybe it is worth doing a review of, even though it is several hundred dollars more... and is it just me, or does the stand on the apple display seem like it not be able to support the screen?shuttleboi - Monday, August 30, 2004 - link
#9: your information is outdated. Apple introduced new monitors a few months ago that have DVI. Check their website. Their new 20" LCD is selling for $1299, which is in line with the equivalent Samsung and Planar models. From what I've read, the Dell 2001fp is extremely grainy with a crosshatch pattern on the screen, so I'm avoiding that.behemoth68 - Monday, August 30, 2004 - link
I Just put a BFG 6800 ultra into my system and am currently using an antec true power 480 and you seriously need the antec true power 550 especially since its only 20 more online its the smart move my system voltage was fluctuating a little at 480 but i put the 550 in and it worked great!phray - Monday, August 30, 2004 - link
about the price engine thingy:i agree with kherman on this. if you want this site to stay free, get used to it.
if you don't like scrolling down all that much, try pressing the 'End' key on your keyboard.
SMOG - Monday, August 30, 2004 - link
Great article, I continually am impressed by the quality of the articles here, and find the buyer's guides particularly helpful.I did find one strange comment in the artical,
"We ended up relaxing our rules by including the Gigabyte 6800 Ultra because several vendors are showing availability in the first 2 weeks of July." Are these cards still hard to find? (quick search told me that both Newegg and ZipZoomFly had some in stock, but were sold out on many brands)
Thanks,
SMOG