I was going to pick up a Samsung SyncMaster 931BW for about $220, but I’ve decided a wide screen wouldn’t be advantages to my needs. (:bawling: Such a pretty screen though!)

So now I’m looking for a LCD monitor that isn’t wide screen, but is similar/equivalent to the Samsung SyncMaster 931BW. (I haven’t decided exactly how much I’m willing to spend, but I’d preferably like it to be within the price range of $100-$250.)

One of the major draws of the 931BW for me was the 2ms response time, plus the picture looked amazing! (The store's demo machine was running the game Just Cause on that monitor. The picture seemed to jump right out of the screen; it was projected so vividly!)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I too am in the market for new monitors. My problem is as soon as I find one I seem to like, it either does not have height adjustment, or it has speakers. I just don't see the need for speakers in a monitor as there is no way they can produce "full range" quality sound - and besides, don't most folks already have external speakers? Not to mention a system with a subwoofer or even 5.1 speakers? And in my case, I run a dual-monitor set up, so speakers make even less sense. And the need for height adjustment just seems like common sense to me, but so many LCD monitors don't have it.

The thing about widescreen right now is they are very attractively priced. The reason for this is makers can produce many displays from a single sheet of whatever they call those sheets of LCD materials. Of course, to take true advantage, your graphics card must support the widescreen resolutions - but then many do, and I suspect all current 1/2 way decent and better cards do. Perhaps this is the excuse you need for a new card too!

I guess the first question here is what size screen are you looking for? It is important to note that a 19" standard screen is taller than even many 22" widescreens.

Also, to take full advantage of digital technology, necessary for best LCD performance, both your graphics card and your monitor must support digital by having either DVI or HDMI connections.

I have a Samsung Syncmaster 204b which is an excellent 20" monitor and not a wide screen. It would be on the upper end of your stated price if you can find it on sale. Might be worth a look, this is my second Syncmaster and they are simply outstanding with very good specs.

I agree with the quality statement - I have a lot of experience with Samsung Syncmaster and have no complaints at all with the image quality. That said, I have several ViewSonics and would recommend them too.

I just bought a 19" Samsung SyncMaster 931C. It has a 2ms response time and a 2000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. (It looks very much like the Samsung SyncMaster 931BW, except that it’s a standard sized screen instead of a wide screen.)

I’m running it using the DVI-D connector type (I think...) and everything looks great off this monitor so far, plus no dead pixels have appeared!

No height adjustment is available for the screen as far as I can tell. I’m using three encyclopedias stacked below it to bring the screen up to eye level.

I looked around for a Samsung Syncmaster 204b, but the places I searched didn’t have any in stock, and I wasn’t willing to wait for it to arrive if I bought it online.

The reason I couldn’t get a wide screen, even though they are much cheaper, is because I need to work in a non-wide resolution with some of the applications I use and I cannot have the image distorted even slightly by the stretch effect generated by running a wide screen at say 800x600.

Thanks for the suggestions.
And, Merry Christmas!