Decent (small) monitor?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Wilfred Xavier Pickles
  • Start date Start date
W

Wilfred Xavier Pickles

I haven't made any sense of the market for new monitors since I bought one
back in 2006. Need a new, smallish one with speakers for limited desk-space.
Will use it for garden-variety stuff (browsing, editing, Email, etc), very
little graphics, no games.

Max width on my desktop is about 18.5". New mobo has connectors for HDMI, DVI-
D, VGA. If I get, say, a $130 monitor, I'll likely get speakers worth about
$4.

I can imagine paying maybe $200 for a pretty decent monitor with about
$20-worth of speakers. Is anyone familiar with such a beast (or anything
in that ballpark) in the current monitor market?

Thx,
Will
 
Just a quick comparison of monitor dimensions, and why I think
widescreens are a bummer in your situation.

Assuming a maximum available width of 18.5", here's the size of monitors
you can expect.

5:4 aspect ratio, 19" monitor
Width: 14.8"
Height: 11.9"

16:10 aspect ratio (widescreen), 20.1" monitor
Width: 17.0"
Height: 10.7"

16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen), 20" monitor
Width: 17.4"
Height: 9.8"

Dimensions are actual screen size, not including bezel. You can see
that widescreens, in the same given space, are at least an inch shorter.
For web browsing, where pages are generally much taller than they are
wide, that's a bummer.

If you feel like you're stuck with widescreen, try to go for a 16:10
monitor, if you can find one small enough to fit your limits.
Click to expand...

Or, get one that will swivel to present a "portrait" aspect. I have
three that will do that; they happen to be all Samsung models, but I'm
sure there are many brands that do that.
 
I haven't made any sense of the market for new monitors since I bought one
back in 2006. Need a new, smallish one with speakers for limited desk-space.
Will use it for garden-variety stuff (browsing, editing, Email, etc), very
little graphics, no games.

Max width on my desktop is about 18.5". New mobo has connectors for HDMI, DVI-
D, VGA. If I get, say, a $130 monitor, I'll likely get speakers worth about
$4.

I can imagine paying maybe $200 for a pretty decent monitor with about
$20-worth of speakers. Is anyone familiar with such a beast (or anything
in that ballpark) in the current monitor market?

Thx,
Will
Click to expand...

I got someone a 24.5 that has a HD teevee tuner. Toshiba, not so
shabby for $250 on sale. He's happy, tho I didn't mess with. Little
more and what I like is a 32". Speakers, I'd forget that -- none
are more than marginally adequate. I use 2 of a 4-ch soundcard on a
regular 100W amp, music, or the other 2 channels for the flatpannel
speakers and just movies. Got an old 19" Samsung that swivels
portrait -- $50 be a fair price, though I'd mark it $75-100 on a
build. Hardly any use and primo. Too bad it's my "trouble-shooting"
monitor -- can't have it :<
 
Just a quick comparison of monitor dimensions, and why I think
widescreens are a bummer in your situation.

Assuming a maximum available width of 18.5", here's the size of monitors
you can expect.

5:4 aspect ratio, 19" monitor
Width: 14.8"
Height: 11.9"
Click to expand...

Total area =~ 176.
16:10 aspect ratio (widescreen), 20.1" monitor
Width: 17.0"
Height: 10.7"
Click to expand...

Total area =~ 182.
16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen), 20" monitor
Width: 17.4"
Height: 9.8"
Click to expand...

Total area =~ 171.
Dimensions are actual screen size, not including bezel. You can see
that widescreens, in the same given space, are at least an inch shorter.
For web browsing, where pages are generally much taller than they are
wide, that's a bummer.
Click to expand...

I agree.
If you feel like you're stuck with widescreen, try to go for a 16:10
monitor, if you can find one small enough to fit your limits.
Click to expand...

It looks like there are many 20" at Recommended Resolution of 1600 x 900
at Newegg, but I'll see if I can't find a good, solid 5:4 old-style unit.

Much Thanks,
Will
 
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