Pitfalls to avoid buying/installing LCD monitor

[foxinsocks]

My BENQ V773 has, for several months, been showing signs of going 'terminal' some day: a periodic 'zap' across the screen. Question to self: buy new monitor now and wonder how long old monitor would have lasted OR wait some indefinite time when it will die in the middle of something crucial :-(
I'm presently looking at getting an LG L225WT (they're cheap at the moment because I think they've been superseded) but I'm a bit nervous about moving from the tried (CRT technology) to the untried (LCD).

The Linux box I run comprises:-
Motherboard: ASUS A7V8X-MX SE with VIA KM400 and VIA VT8235 CE chipset with VIA UniChrome 2D/3Dgraphics core and AGP slot. (Not sure what all that means, of course.)
AMD Athlon XP 2800+
Memory: 2GB
Werewolf (kernel 2.6.26.8-57.fc8)
Gnome 2.20.3

Can I expect to plug in the LG L225WT and have it run "out of the box"?
If not, what are some alternatives? Yes I know F8 is so yesterday, and no, I can't just buy a whole new system right now :-)
Do I *need* a video card? (No I don't play games.)

Any help here would be appreciated.

[leigh123linux]

My BENQ V773 has, for several months, been showing signs of going 'terminal' some day: a periodic 'zap' across the screen. Question to self: buy new monitor now and wonder how long old monitor would have lasted OR wait some indefinite time when it will die in the middle of something crucial :-(
I'm presently looking at getting an LG L225WT (they're cheap at the moment because I think they've been superseded) but I'm a bit nervous about moving from the tried (CRT technology) to the untried (LCD).

The Linux box I run comprises:-
Motherboard: ASUS A7V8X-MX SE with VIA KM400 and VIA VT8235 CE chipset with VIA UniChrome 2D/3Dgraphics core and AGP slot. (Not sure what all that means, of course.)
AMD Athlon XP 2800+
Memory: 2GB
Werewolf (kernel 2.6.26.8-57.fc8)
Gnome 2.20.3

Can I expect to plug in the LG L225WT and have it run "out of the box"?
If not, what are some alternatives? Yes I know F8 is so yesterday, and no, I can't just buy a whole new system right now :-)
Do I *need* a video card? (No I don't play games.)

Any help here would be appreciated.

LCD is tried and tested , is Australia that far behind ?

[Wayne]

BenQ are best avoided like the plague!

I'm awaiting the arrival of an Acer 22" to replace my 19" LCD and in F10 I imagine I would just do as you suggest, plug it in, switch it on and go for it :)

If not, at a Root Terminal run system-config-display to set it up... or at worst delete xorg.conf and let it discover the hardware...

Wayne

[Demz]

LCD is tried and tested , is Australia that far behind ?

no Aussie isnt that far behind. it depends where you shop for decent LCD's

[savage]

I've been running 2xLG L1753PR (http://www.lge.com/products/model/detail/l1753pr.jhtml) LCD monitors for almost bang on a year now. They're beautiful quality displays IMO, 3ms response time, and weren't that pricey either.

I've never had a problem with an LCD, my last setup were a couple of Sharp 15" someone or others, they have been running since roughly 2003, and the only reason I replaced them is due to screen real-estate, they both still work and are now running on my "backup" machines to replace their aging CRTs.

Can I expect to plug in the LG L225WT and have it run "out of the box"? I'd say so, you may need to adjust your resolution in xorg.conf.

[foxinsocks]

LCD is tried and tested , is Australia that far behind ?

No, just me :-)

[foxinsocks]

BenQ are best avoided like the plague!

I'm awaiting the arrival of an Acer 22" to replace my 19" LCD and in F10 I imagine I would just do as you suggest, plug it in, switch it on and go for it :)

If not, at a Root Terminal run system-config-display to set it up... or at worst delete system-config-displayand let it discover the hardware...

Wayne

Ah, the BenQ V773 (CRT) served well for 4+ years, but as I indicated in my intial post, it's use by date is fast approaching. Other LG stuff that I've used/bought over the years has been good so I thought since these L225WT LCD monitors are a good (cheap) price I'd investigate with a view to purchase.

And thanks for the 'Plan B" suggestions re system-config-display and xorg.conf.

[foxinsocks]

no Aussie isn't that far behind. it depends where you shop for decent LCD's

Fortunately, There are plenty of tech retail opportunities where I live.. and while I'm generally of the view that "too much is never enough" there are occasions when you can have too many choices. It then creates information overload and you end up almost being worse off than if you only have a couple of choices.

But thanks to all who've responded. It's been very helpful. My gut feeling had been that I'd be OK just buying and plugging in whatever I brought home, but my head was saying, "Just make sure!" :-)

[Demz]

Fortunately, There are plenty of tech retail opportunities where I live.. and while I'm generally of the view that "too much is never enough" there are occasions when you can have too many choices. It then creates information overload and you end up almost being worse off than if you only have a couple of choices.

But thanks to all who've responded. It's been very helpful. My gut feeling had been that I'd be OK just buying and plugging in whatever I brought home, but my head was saying, "Just make sure!" :-)

i agree with Wayne. avoid BENQ like the plague. there no good. i currently use an Asus 22inch an seems fine. even a VeiwSonic isnt bad. i'd stay away from Sony. i think there over rated . but LG should be fine. even a Samsung should be fine

[foxinsocks]

... even a VeiwSonic isnt bad. i'd stay away from Sony. i think there over rated . but LG should be fine. even a Samsung should be fine

Yes, it seems to be the case with Sony. I made a general comment in an earlier reply regarding satisfaction with LG stuff in the past. One of those things is a 17" CRT - 8 yrs old an still going - on a box running win98 with a mobo installed 10 years ago. They don't make stuff like they used to - but is some cases that's a good thing :-)

Well, thanks to all the info I'll be better equipped whern I go out and S-P-E-N-D tomorrow!

[Wayne]

My LCD came about 15 minutes ago, unplugged the old one, plugged in the new one and started the machine. Was auto-detected and the monitor set to the new correct resolution automagically.

Wayne

[Demz]

Yes, it seems to be the case with Sony. I made a general comment in an earlier reply regarding satisfaction with LG stuff in the past. One of those things is a 17" CRT - 8 yrs old an still going - on a box running win98 with a mobo installed 10 years ago. They don't make stuff like they used to - but is some cases that's a good thing :-)

Well, thanks to all the info I'll be better equipped whern I go out and S-P-E-N-D tomorrow!

even look at Sharp LCD's if they make them for computers. or just buy a Sharp 24inch LCD an use it as a monitor

[stevea]

I've have my samsung LCD up and running continuously for over 2 years FC7,8,9,10.
The older samsung LCD has probably seen more hours over ! 4.5 years but intermittent.

[foxinsocks]

OK, back again -- with LG L225WT plugged-and-playing :-)
However, I'm a bit mystified with the results. ?-)
Box says resolution 1680x1050
OSD says resolution 1680x1050
xorg.conf says resolution 1680x1050
But run sys-config-display and it says resolution 1400x1050 and that's the max resolution in the dropdown 'menu' on the Settings tab. But in the Hardware tab it says 1680x1050 (I'm guessing it gets that direct from xorg.conf)
Created a graphics file 1680x1050. As a Desktop Background image it sits width-wise OK but with solid colour above and below it. A Desktop Background image 1400x1050 fills the screen in the right proportions.

I renamed xorg.conf so that on a reboot the hardware would be auto-detected but I get the same result.

So, I wonder what gives? Am I missing something?

Your help would be appreciated. :-)

[Demz]

what video card are you using? have you tried setting the resolution in the Nvidia settings or ATI settins ?

also you may wanna go to

system > Preferences > Hardware > screen Resolution an or change it there if you need to

[foxinsocks]

what video card are you using? have you tried setting the resolution in the Nvidia settings or ATI settins ?

also you may wanna go to

system > Preferences > Hardware > screen Resolution an or change it there if you need to

VIA Integrated graphics in the chipset on the mobo.
See my last post. system > Preferences > Hardware > screen Resolution is where I see a resolution of 1400x1050 and it's the maximum resolution in the drop-down list. Maybe the limitation is in the chipset. The motherboard is about 4 yrs old. :confused:

[Demz]

interesting ..the only way i could think of fixing it is deleting your Xorg-config an let it rebuild itself

[foxinsocks]

interesting ..the only way i could think of fixing it is deleting your Xorg-config an let it rebuild itself

See earlier post :-( Did that and got the same result, unfortunately :-( :-(

May be a 'real' video card (nVidia or ATI) will solve the problem but I's sure like to exhaust all the possiblities of the current kit first :-)

[Demz]

don't touch ATI the drivers are crap. go for Nvidia if you do get one

[foxinsocks]

Thanks :-) I was trying to remember which one to avoid. My gut feeling (vague memory) was telling me that nVidia was the preferred card.

I just has another thought about this resolution conundrum. 1400x1050 is a 4:3 ratio whereas wide screens (e.g. 1680x1050) are 16:9. Dunno where I go from here :confused:

[Demz]

i dont know either, have you tried editing your Xorg-config file an manually adding the correct info?

[foxinsocks]

i dont know either, have you tried editing your Xorg-config file an manually adding the correct info?

xorg.conf contains the correct info :-(

[Demz]

well it has me stuffed what else to suggest.. only other thing is to buy a Nvidia Card

[foxinsocks]

well it has me stuffed what else to suggest.. only other thing is to buy a Nvidia Card
Yep. Another day tomorrow and in the meantime, even if the screen's not quite right it's viewable :-)

Thanks.

[foxinsocks]

The subject matter has changed so I'll move to a new thread: "LCD resolution Problem"

[Wayne]

OK. I'll close this thread down with a pointer to the new one, as this thread seems to have run its course:

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=211458

Wayne