Monitor for Xmas

[Calneon]

I really wouldn't go budget on something like a monitor, spend £300+ on something really good. Definately get 16:10 ratio, 16:9 just has too little verticle space. Also avoid anything with rediculous contrast ratios (5k+).

[Colonel Mitch]

Id say the exact opposite really. Ive always gone for budget everything including monitor and ive never had a probelm and have had an extra wad of case after:P

sure they may lack features but if i just want a monitor i dont need HDMI support or ultra wide view angles.

Our old crt was 19" from aldi, still works perfectly now after 5 years and is damn good for a crt. My old 19" flat panel i got when tehy were hideously expensive about 4 years ago from aldi for £199 and i never looked back. DVI support, supplied with cable, nice and bright, no dead pixels and good contrast 2.

My samsung i have now was the cheapest 22" i could find at the time, from tesco, and ive never had a problem at all with that. also here at work we have digimate budget 20.1" screens and tbh there brilliant. they have glossy screens (which collect fingerprints like hell, but are easy to clean) and make images look stunning.

Oh and the stupid contrast rations are "dynamic" which pretty much means made up :P but so long as the true contrast ratios ok itll be fine.
To sum up if i was going to buy 1 id by the budget 1 and save the money on something else.

[Colonel Mitch]

1 thing i should point out is aldi buy wholesale from big companies like LG and rebrand so if u buy a tevion, medion or gericom display your likley getting an LG. I know my plasma tv and my nans LCD's are all LG's really even though there branded Tevion. So you should expect something good from aldi on that front, not sure about other makes but we have severak different generic monitors here and there all fine.

[Calneon]

I know about dynamic contrast ratios, theres a monitor on OCUK that boasts 50,000:1 contrast ratio, but they never show the 'true' contrast ratio in the specs. By all means go with a budget monitor, and you probably won't ever know the difference unless you put them side by side. But seeing as you aren't buying it Trigger, I'd stay away from 24" monitors that cost £150, unless it has good reviews.