Page 1 of dell 18" tft monitor

This is the cheapest i`ve ever seen one of these www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?DCS-1800FP#lblS

These are listed for £396 on the dell website.

I`m very tempted!

They have 624 in stock, but thats 10 less than when i first looked at the site 15 mins ago.!

I noticed this is as well, been looking for a good TFT for a while and this seems like a bargain at this price. Is the Dell 1800FP. Has got some solid reviews and seems to perform better than its specs suggest. Has a response time of 30ms (compared to 16ms or 20ms for the latest TFT`s) and a contrast ratio of 350:1 (compared to 500:1 or higher on the latest TFT`s)...but people report that it is very good for DVD`s and most games....no real ghosting to be seen. Don`t think the specs should always be trusted. Also Dell are suppose to be excellent at returning TFT`s for only a couple of dead pixels as well, unlike most manufacturers (or re-branders in Dell`s case...think I read this is an LG TFT)

There is one quite bad problem with this monitor though, it uses the very rare BGR method instead of the standard RGB .... which means that clear type fonts in XP (even with sp1) and the sub pixel anti-aliasing of fonts in Linux don`t work properly (there are ways to make fonts look good, but they tend to look better with all the enhancements turned offf...which is a pity). There are lots of people complaining about this in the Dell forums and I have read that this monitor is possibly being discontinued...compared to some of the other TFT`s are Dell`s sites, its specs suggest it is one of the oldest.

If you want more info on the problems with this monitor check out http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=pw_monitor&message.id=417&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

Other than what I have just said, this monitor is suppose to be very clear and sharp...I am still considering buying it as it is £150 less than the RRP and about £150 less than anything similar on ebuyer.com. I think it comes with a DVI cable to which most don`t and this will save another £15.

This offer ends on Monday at 5 I think.

This item was edited on Sunday, 16th November 2003, 13:26

I`m interested in getting a TFT to replace my 19 inch Dell CRT monitor. Will I notice much difference between 17-19 inches TFT screen? I notice the price jumps up a lot for the 19in and wonder if it was worth it. Also whats a Multi media monitor?
The 1800FP is listed at £316.07 + delivery I think on the novatech web page link that stevecdvd gave and theres 397 in stock at moment. The 18 TFT 18ooFP in silver on dell web page is listed as £465.30 are you saying these are the same monitor?http://dellware.euro.dell.com/dellstore/dellware/config/default.asp?s=uktra&l=en&m=gbp&c=UK110203&n=&cu=uktra&v=d&cc=&ogn=&kcd=&ad=&mc=&rs=&cuid=&cg=&pch=1&pn=0&demo=&gc=&sbc=none&co=&b=DUKLOSKU-730-10701
I know my questions must sound stupid :/ but don`t know much about tft monitors and would appreciate any advise.
Cheers
Niteowl

This item was edited on Monday, 17th November 2003, 09:48

niteowl
everyone has to start somewhere...
big difference between 17 and 19" - remember that with tft monitors, you get the quoted screen size, whereas your 19" crt probably has a 17+1/2" visible screen. whether it`s worth the price differential would depend on your use of it, amount and type. I stretched to a 17" tft when i bought and am very glad i did.
a multimedia monitor has integrated speakers. they`ll only provide very basic sound, though - even my cloth ears get fed up with them when listening to any kind of music. not worth paying more than £5 extra above a monitor without speakers built in, but one (or two!) less things to clog up your desk.
looks like the exact same dell 1800fp monitor on the novatech website for £150 less, yet not listed on kelkoo. why not phone them and confirm?

I have just entered the world of the TFT monitor,but i had to do my homework before buying one as i also like to play on-line games such as Battlefield 1942 etc....

You must remember that TFT`s need to run at there native resolution for best possible picture and it`s also worth considering having the DVI as well as analogue connections especially for gaming.

So i needed a monitor that could do everything as well as getting the response time down under 25ms.

My new monitor is the Samsung SyncMaster 172W (widescreen) which i would recommend to anyone that wants it to do everything,as it`s widescreen it is also great for watching DVD`s on.
a response time of 23ms and Digital interface it really is stunning,it even looks great when it`s not switched on!!!

check reviews on this model by tapping in above model on Google and see what reviewers had to say about it.

thanks for advise - I`ll check them out when I get a min.
Cheers niteowl
p.s. how much was the samsung Syncmaster 172W?

i forgot to add that part,believe it or not but PC WORLD is the cheapest by far as they have just knocked off 80 odd quid,it is now selling for 319.99 (cheap as chips).

If your going to buy one insist that they connect one up so you can check it for dead pixels before buying as it saves time getting it home only to take it back to swap it,make sure mind that they will swap it first before buying even though Samsungs are normally free of dead pixels.

you can only get them in store and not on the web.

i paid 350 for mine so this is a complete bargain

oh one last thing,even though this has dvi and rgb interface it does not come with the dvi cable only the analogue cable,it is not the multi-media product so does not have speakers in the stand.

cheapest that i have seen dvi cables is on ebay,there is someone selling them for under a fiver not bad as they normally cost around £20.00