ya, they are not digital... but I didn't really want to upgrade all my video cards to digital. Strangly enough the monitors have 2 analog inputs. I was just seeking the best price/performance ratio and although the 18"s were a bit more expensive... I didn't want a monitor smaller than the 19" crts i was replacing. There is an exponential price difference when you go from 15" to 17" to 18" to 19" to 20" etc.
I just bought 4 -17" Samsung 170s LCD's (analogue only) @ SAMS'S CLUB for $599.00 apiece. These are very nice, crisp text all way down to 8 point font, bright, good contrast. To give you an idea, I use these at 1/2 brightness and contrast levels, too bright at higher levels. These are built specifically for SAMS so you have to go to www.samsclub.com to see the specs. I would never buy a monitor without seeing it first. For instance, SAMS stocks another 17" that is about $150 bucks lower, the text is fuzzy and the screen not as bright. Text was my main concern and these are perfect IMO. Oh, one other thing, their native resolution is 1280X1024.
I agree with you 100% when you recommend that people see a monitor first before buying it. In particular, it is important not to comapre a bunvh of monitors connected to one computer through one of those gizmoz. As to the other monitor that was $150 lower, did you hook it to the _SAME_ machine (graphics card) that the Samsungs were connected to? Believe me, the graphics card is the other side of the coin. nitro
nitro, you're right on every point. i never understood why they use those stupid splitters to drive about 8 monitors with one video card (and usually a low end video card too). degrades the image, and doesn't show the monitor's true performance. no, i didn't compare with same set-up but that's a valid point. i did compare both w/o the splitter though.
For my own edification, is there a standard dead pixel policy these days? Do the policies of NEC, Philips, Samsung, et al, differ substantially? I haven't actually seen the display but read a review of the Cornerstone f1200. From what I recall, the screen is 17.4 and has a 400:1 contrast ratio. Unfortunately, only analog inputs. However, the thing that struck me was the "zero-dead-pixel" policy; they'll replace any screen with just one dead pixel provided it's under warranty (which is 3 years for the backlight but 5 years for everything else).
It seems like most manufacturers have somewhere around 10 dead or shorted pixels. I have not found any bad pixels on my NECs.
Good, Fletch. Thanks. I only had one problem and that was on a laptop quite a few years ago.....bunch of them right off the bat. Otherwise, my new(er) laptop and my wife's have been fine. I would imagine they're just getting better at either manufacturing the units, quality control, or both.