19" monitor? which one?

[biohazard2k]

I've decided upon one of these two monitors.
Are these two monitors good choices?
Does anyone know of any better choices?
Here are my requirements...

Is there a real difference between these two? (textwise)
What is the advantage of the IBM (if any)?
Would it display sharper text?
Would it be worth more to dish out the extra $100 for the IBM version?

1280x1024
Extremely sharp text (as close to LCD as possible)
Black Casing.


Sony E440B

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=8lUz1EbqvYEz6XggMq453wn6XVErMF-i97Q=?CatalogCategoryID=jOsKC0%2eNI7MAAAD1kUMmWETk&ProductID=tggKC0%2eNWp8AAAD1HDsmWETm&Dept=cpu

IBM P97 Black

http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=2217289&storeId=1&langId=-1&catalogId=-840


Thanks,
BioHaz

[paigeoliver]

Are those supposed to be for Mame? If so, then they are overkill. (And LCD monitors suck for gaming, so don't waste your money there).

[AlanS17]

My experience with PC monitors is that you get your best performance/price with View Sonic and Samsung but especially ViewSonic.

I've had the same monitor for 3 years now and it displays better then most new monitors.

I've actually had people comment on it when they came over.

Of course... they say with MAME that clarity may actually not be a great thing and I tend to agree. I would recommend you buy a front-mount style monitor (ie arcade monitor) with SVGA specs. That's I did for my machine.

[Apollo]

$409?! You could get a refurbed 20" arcade monitor from somewhere and an ArcadeVGA card from Ultimarc for that! Much better choice if you ask me ( that's the way I'm going ).

[u_rebelscum]

If all you're going to do is mame, you want too sharp an image, like what others said.

If you're going to word process or (especially) program a lot, you're right in looking for the best text contrast.  Don't have either monitor, but I doubt the IBM has much more than the sony.  That said, you better look up some monitor reviews that compare text outputs for the best info.

If you want to do both, remember text sharpness is only slightly related to image quality; they are almost always separate qualities reveiwed.

FWIW, I like my iiyama, but have heard the quality/price ratio isn't as great as it used to be.  Sony & IBM are rarely low cost.