help me choose a new PC monitor

[pascal32]

yes, there are adaptors, and they are pretty inexpensive.

for the stretch, you need to change the resolution of the screen (say a prayer before hand that your current machine can handle the new resolution).

to change your resolution depends greatly on the OS you are running.

since your machine is slightly "aged" try:
right click the desktop and select display
(going on memory): select monitor (all the way to the right)
under resolution pick one that has the same proportions as your monitor

if you have a 16:9 monitor - 16/9 => 1.77

example resolution 1368 by 768 -> 1368/768 => 1.78 (close enough )

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

1280 x 1024

1280 x 1024

is the max res being offered to me in my control panel.

I wonder if an adapter and new DVI cable will make any difference.... ?

 

[IronMan72]

Your best bet is to set the resolution to the native resolution of the monitor (it should say in the manual). If you can't set it to that then you'll want to choose a resolution that uses the same (or nearest to the same) aspect ratio to minimize the stretching.

 

[pascal32]

is the max res being offered to me in my control panel.

I wonder if an adapter and new DVI cable will make any difference.... ?

Can you provide a date on that prehistoric box you call a PC ? :jester:

I though the cards would show all the available resolutions, even if the monitor can't do it. I don't believe the DVI adapter will change that, you might need to add an inexpensive video card.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

running a 7-8 year old Dell Dimension 4550 and wishing I knew more about this IT stuff!

 

[pascal32]

I've been out of the game for 10 years, so lets see if we can work through this.

You have a Dell which is great - they are one of the few companies that does an outstanding job tracking configurations of the machine. There is a black barcode on the back of the machine somewhere. it will have 7 letters/digits. PM me the number and I will look it up on Dells site (http://support.dell.com/support/top...tails?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~tab=2&~ck=anavml)

That will tell us what video card you have which we can look up to see if supports widescreen. if not you can get a 4X AGP video card for < $50 that will work in your machine and probably speed things up.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

thanks!

thanks!

hopefully I sent you the right numbers...

 

[pascal32]

the viewsonic monitor (model # VA2223wm) has a native resolution of 1920 x 1080

The video card in your dell is # 9K099 Card,Graphics,32MB,ATI,Full Heigh,2nd

this translated to a Dell 32mb ATI Rage Pro-128 AGP Low Profile Video Card P/N 9K099

The video card I **believe** you have does not have a 16:9 mode, it does however have a max resolution which is pretty close. here are all the supported resolutions and their ratio

per the previous comments you will not be at native resolution, worth a shot though

4:3 - old style TVs
16:9 - widescreen TVs

4:3 - 640x480
4:3 - 800x600
4:3 - 1024x768
4:3 - 1152x864
4:3 (close) - 1280x1024
4:3 - 1600x1200
16:10 widescreen - 1920x1200 ***You should try this resolution.***

To get this, try updating the video drivers at this link:

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&source=-1&fileid=48160

manual: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/video/rage128/en/index.htm
specs: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/video/rage128/en/specs.htm

 

[pascal32]

anyone know of a cheap 4X AGP card that does 1920 x 1080 and a nice mix of widescreen resolutions for cheap?

 

[The J Man]

anyone know of a cheap 4X AGP card that does 1920 x 1080 and a nice mix of widescreen resolutions for cheap?

This one is inexpensive and should do the trick. It's too bad, just got rid of a bunch of old PC components when I moved. Had two or three that he coulda used :hmm4:

 

[IronMan72]

Too bad you're so far away. I've got a few AGP video cards in the spare parts closet that I don't have any use for.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

bah!

bah!

my wife will be taking the monitor I spent so much time researching here.

Now I'm searching for a replacement!

PM me if you have something. I don't have room on my desk for any of those older wide monitors. I was quite fond of our Viewsonic.

 

[jfl14609]

Sent you a pm gary

 

[frofan]

If you don't have a DVI or HDMI out on the PC, and don't plan on updating your PC any time soon, then buy a cheap LCD monitor. The difference between the cheapest and most expensive monitor will be negligible if your running an old graphics card.

 

[Dave VG]

What is worse than a crappy video card???? A crappy monitor to go with it. Buy a good one!!! Besides you never know when you will upgrade and when you do its one less thing to buy. LG and Samsung are pretty much the best ones. I PM'ed you a while back with a link to a very informative forum. Let me know if you need it again.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

almost one year later!

almost one year later!

and I'm in the same boat- actually.. I now have a crappy TV AND a crappy PC monitor (from the '90's!) Who could have guessed?
The deals on TV's right now have me wondering if I should sink my money into another quality monitor or go for a TV. I'm really quite ignorant about these things.

Gary,
I know you just posted you purchased your monitor already but.....

I just went through this for my work monitor since I work from home. Bottomline is your better off getting an LED TV than a computer monitor for resolution, price and maximize the use of the TV. There are no benefits to get a monitor over LED or LCD TV except price if your getting something like 19 inch. At 26 inch level, you have samsung and LG at a fair price. Best of luck with your purchase. I am glad I went with the LED Samsung 26 inch....sweet looking style and good quality image for the size.

does a PC plug right into the TV? Do you work right off the TV monitor? You run a cable from the PC to the TV? I don't understand how I would work this arrangement. Rather than a new monitor, what would be a good TV choice for my application? HELP! :strange:

 

[Stusdesktop]

Dollar for Dollar I like the Asus monitors, currently running a 20 inch and 24 inch on my desktop and a 22 inch on the other halfs.

Depending on where you spend the most time you could add a tv card to the computer. Mines setup so I can have sport to my hearts content on the 20 inch monitor and then I have the 24 inch one for everything else.

The other option is buy a TV that has pc inputs (VGA, DVI or HDMI depending on what your computer outputs). The only warning I'll toss here is make sure the resolution of the tv is enough for computer use (1080p is perfect). My parents ran a computer on an older 42 inch tv that had horrible resolution and it showed.

Today is a good day for TV shopping but for monitors, hit up Newegg.com.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

setting screen resolution

setting screen resolution

man... I'm bad at this!

Where on my PC do I go to change screen resolution..... ? :hmm5:

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Right click anywhere on your desktop and select 'Properties'. You should be able to find the settings from there. If not, PM or post back in this thread.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

ugh!

ugh!

too freekin ez :debi:

Thanks, Scott!