Monitor(s) for poker.

[Losing all]

Ok, I don't know crap about computers other than that I need a new one, and a new monitor. I figure this is the best place to come for good advice.

I plan on spending around 1k for each(a little over wouldn't be too bad, but that's around what I want to invest) My only need for it is poker.

How about a dual 15" or 17" flat setup? Or would I be better off with one honker (20-21")? Would dsl be mandatory for multi tables with a bigger system (cable not available in the foothills)?

Like I said, I don't know anything about this stuff. I'd appreciate any spec, or model number suggestions. not to mention experiences running 2 monitors (this is the way I'm leaning at the moment)

[astroglide]

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1918&p=1

these are available from dell small business for $750 quite often. monitor techbargains.com for deals. normal price is 1k. i have 2, and they are amazing.

[OnlinePokerCoach]

I have got a follow-on question: For those that play multiple tables, how big a difference is a 19" or 20" monitor as compared to a 17"?

I play 2 or 3 tables at a time and they still overlap on my 17" monitor even when my screen resolution is set to make the tables as small as possible. Is having no overlap of the tables while playing a considerable advantage mentally? I picture peaceful, smooth playing action, with no clicking of table corners required while you play to jump from table to table...

[astroglide]

the resolution is what counts. 1600x1200 can fit 4 party windows with no overlap. you can run 1600x1200 on some 19" crts, but i don't find it pleasant.

[MattHatter]

1600 x 1200 is tolerable on a 19"

If you happen to have a 17" that can hit that resolution... don't bother.



Matt

[astroglide]

why are you talking to me?

[DrPhysic]

There is a pentium 4 Celeron computer with box, mouse, and keyboard on the front of the late dell catalog for $500 (no monitor) that will do everything you want to do playing poker. Pay a little more for upgrade to at least 256M memory. (I have a lot more than that) WinXP or Win2000 will not run nicely on less than 256. Check to be sure it has a modem, I don't remember. Modem is $25 at local computer store if not, or pay a little more from dell if it's an add.

I use nothing but 19 and 20 inch monitors. They are the greatest. Set resolution for 1024x768, you can put 4 poker tables, one in each corner (the tables do overlap). At 1600x1200 resolution they might not overlap but the cards are getting kind of small. Look into an Aopen F75PS 19" plasma monitor (one of the new thin ones). Great picture. Less than $500.

I'd like to have DSL or cable, too. But I play multi-table tournaments, sometimes 2 at a time on a 56K telephone connection with no problems other than the usual connection bs and the fact that my phone lines are lousy on rainy days.

Hope that helps.

Doc

[astroglide]

the 2001fp's 1600x1200 is very easy on the eyes, and as i already mentioned there is NO overlap with 4 tables. as for a cheap dell, there's one for $350 on the techbargains web site i also mentioned...

[OrangeHeat]

I got a honker of a sony 21"CRT monitor (Deluxepro CPD-G520P) that goes up to 2048x1536 I got it for $700 on sale at Compusa a while ago.

It's big enough to use 1600x1200 and see the cards on four games without overlap. Plus the picture is sharp as can be up to the highest resolution (no little fuzzy text).

As far as screen size goes I have 15.4" laptop that runs 1600x1200 and I can still se the cards well - probably depends on your eye sight.

Flat panels are nice too - but the CRT offered the best pitcure and resolution for the price. BTW - whatever you pick try and find ojne in the stores you can test out at the different resolutions before you buy it.

Orange

[sumdumguy]

Can you get more than 4 tables with no overlap using a 21" monitor? Is there a resolution higher than 1600 x 1200 you can use on a 21" monitor that will work well for more than 4 tables?

[astroglide]

2048x1536 is a possible resolution. i'm not sure if there will be overlap, but there will certainly be eye damage /images/graemlins/smile.gif

if you want more than 4, 2 monitors is the way to go.

[Hung]

I have 2 monitors. It's awsome.
I'm thinking of buying a third one. There are graphic cards that support three monitors now. Image 4 tables on each monitor witout overlap! LOL 12 tables! That must be incredible. I have played 9 tables, and that's insane. It's your turn every second. I was a bit tilt and opened every possible table. If you want action, that's what you need. 3 monitors with 1600*1200 resolution.
If someone already has 3 monitors, can you please let me know how it feels like to play 12 tables.
You could use your middle monitor for movies/clips/music and the left and right monitor for poker. Sounds cool. I know what to buy for X-mass /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[OrangeHeat]

i have never tried to do more than four but If I calculated right you could fit 6 tables with slight overlap (2 rows of 3 - 2400x1200) and 9 with a little more overlap (3 rows of 3 - 2400x1800) assuming 800x600 table.

I am not a fan of more than four and I would burn my eyes out in a week I think. I will try it later just to see how hard on the eyes it is.

Orange

[astroglide]

i have 3, but my desk sucks. i will use the third for email/web/etc and the other ones for my play.

[Hung]

It must be nice to have 3 monitors.

I found the link:
http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/mill_pseries/p750.cfm

I need to have one of these. this is a kick *ss card.

[subq]

I have had three monitors for years. It is a must have if you trade stocks online (i.e. daytrade).

[sumdumguy]

If you get the time to try it, please let me know !

[MattHatter]

I dunno.. your reply button was right there.. im soooooooooooooooooooooooo lazy /images/graemlins/wink.gif


Matt

[sumdumguy]

You guys are INCREDIBLE !
I'm trying to wrap my head around using 2 monitors still !

[goodguy_1]

I have the Parhelia.The Parhelia and the 750 do not support 3 monitors of 1600x1200.I've tried it on my Parhelia w/ 3 21'trintrons..i got tons of monitors hanging around.Got rid of one off my desk ..now have one workstation with 2 ,the other Dell worsation has an older Appian card...all 21' LCD's no flat panels yet...Both Parhelia and 750 support 3 monitors of 1280x1024 or 2 of 1600x1200.

For 3 of 1600x1200 at least in the Matrox Family u need the G450MMS (not sure if 200MMS does the trick)or Matrox QID.I talked to a rep about this like a month ago.QID isnt yet available but supposed to be soon.

Matrox Graphics - Products - Matrox G450 Multi-Monitor (http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/g450_mms/home.cfm)

Matrox Graphics - Products - Matrox QID (http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/qid/home.cfm)

I would like to hear from others about cheaper video card alternatives that support either 3 21' LCD's or 3 FPS at 1600x1200 resolution.
I have 2 dell XPS Workstaions one a 420 the other a 410 both running windows2000 Pro.
I am waiting for quailty Flat Panels to get even cheaper ie 21 inchers for less than $700ish...they are coming down but still not there yet..

Anybody seen these new monsters 23/24"?? /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[astroglide]

i'm using a 9800pro 128mb agp (dvi + dsub) + radeon 7000 pci (dvi) to power triple heads. it can do 3x1600x1200 and will drop nuclear bombs on the parhelia in gaming performance. furthermore, it's cheaper!

[Hung]

I believe a have a 9800pro 128 or 256 MB.
Not sure anymore. Payed 500$ for it. Was the best 6 months ago.
I'll check which one I have. But I can only support 2 monitors.

[goodguy_1]

thats 2 diiferent cards right??not sure i understand

how much is that setup astro ?

[astroglide]

yes, that's 2 cards. it's under $300 now.

[Wolf]

Just purchased 21.3 samsung model 213T black or silver

Run it off my laptop w/XP pro

4 tables no overlap @ 1024x768
5th game off laptop if 4 is alittle boring for ya

Dell matched best online price no shipping/tax think it was 1100 bucks

Love it. Works as stated above on Empire/party , paradise and my fav. site UB (i hate UB mini view)

[goodguy_1]

both cards combined are under $300 or each one is $300...got any links..thanx

pissed off at myself that I bought this card in last year and it doesnt support 3 monitors of 1600x1200..frighfully expensive too ..very bad move by moi... /images/graemlins/mad.gif

I'm a trader also and havent kept up with this stuff as much as I used to...seems to me you know your chit on this stuff.
What's the preferred value/quality setup for a video card/s that need to support 3 21'' displays at 1600x1200 with possible higher resolutions. Are there better resolutions for one to use .I never used anything higher than 1600x1200??
I would like to purchase only one card if possible??

help appreciated from anyone on this

[astroglide]

the 9800 pro (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-268&depa=0) is $212 and the 7000 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-318&depa=0) is $43. free shipping, both from newegg (http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2121.html), one of the most reputable vendors on the net. note that you have to get a pci card for the second video adapter, because motherboards only have 1 agp port. the higher-performance card should be the agp one.

if you're not gaming a 9800pro isn't really necessary, though. there are resolutions higher than 1600x1200, but most people (myself included) feel that it stretches into the 'too small to be useful' zone.

[goodguy_1]

[SoBeDude]

I'm using 2 17" monitors and love it! I'll never go back to a single monitor.

It is more usable desktop space than any single monitor, and you don't have to squint.

And its to easy for me to have games up on one screen, email, 2+2, and more up on the other.

Just make sure you get a solid video card that supports 2 monitors.

-Scott

[Losing all]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I'm going shopping tomorrow /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[smudgex68]

Check out these 2 monster monitors
web page (http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0001-0305-1411-5325.html)

[Hung]

I never used anything higher than 1600x1200??

That's because there is no LCD that supports a resolution higher then 1600*1200. Only the very very very expensive ones. Last year when I bought my 23" I searched all over to find one with 1600*1200 resolution. Now it's common. LG has a 23" that looks really nice. Resolution: 1920 x 1200
http://www.lge.com/down/model/eng/IL/IL23/L2323AL/prod/L2320A-p350.jpg

[gushansen]

im planning to buy a new moniter so i can do 4 tables, are the tables big enough to see where u dont have to squint and u can play LONG hours on?? if i plan to play long house should i play on 2 monitors or 1 big one like urs??

[Hung]

I have never used a 17" monitor that supports 1600*1200. I don't even know if they make those. My monitor is a planar. www.planar.com (http://www.planar.com) You can buy a 20". That's more then big enough to see everything. 23" is really huge, when I first saw it I was really impressed. If you take the 20" and a small 15" TFT you can surf or chat on the small one while you play 4 tables on the big monitor.

[OrangeHeat]

Hi,

With a 21" monitor set at 1600x1200 the cards are quite large and I find no trouble seeing them even after 8-10 hours.

My parents have a 19" that goes 1600x1200 and I am comfortable on that too.

19" or bigger should do - 21" for good comfort.

Orange

[OrangeHeat]

At 2058 x1536 I did fit 9 tables onto the 21" screen with small overlap on each table - I was able to keep the buttons from overlapping which is most important.

The cards were getting on the small side. I had to be a little more attention to make sure a club was not a spade and vice versa. I dunno if I would do it for 8 hours - but I could see starting off with 9 for an hour or two and then dropping back to 4 when the brain/eyes start misfiring.

Of course keeping track of 9 tables seems to be alot in itself unless ur at LL.

Orange

[gushansen]

tks for the reply i have one more question, i play poker all day and night and know absolutely nothing about monitors, i know eventually my eyesight will go so the question is, which monitors are best for saving ur vision or the ones that are less damaging to the eyes?? are the monitors with the clearest pictures the best or are there other things involved,

[gushansen]

i lookedon one site 2300?? and 2700?? crazy i need a deal on this puppy

[goodguy_1]

is this the Planar you bought
Planar 23" LCD (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?category_id=5792&k=&mnf=&brandi d=&prst=&prEnd=&sku=A0035416&mnfsku=&SearchType=&P age=productlisting.aspx&spagenum=1&Pageb4Search=&I nStock=&items_per_page=25&orderby=&mnfname=&brand= &SubmitSearch=&image_flag=True&refurbished=&c=us&l =en&cs=04&iCompatid=) ??

only 2g's thats all??hehe

[paland]

[ QUOTE ]
tks for the reply ... question is, which monitors are best for saving ur vision or the ones that are less damaging to the eyes??

[/ QUOTE ]

Most of your standard monitors are CRT (cathoide ray tube) and have what is sometimes called "rastor burn" and are NOT the best for your eyes. Rastor is something that is hard to explain but can be found on the net. The best monitors are the LCD (liquid crystal display) that you find on laptops, and plasma screens (expensive).

There might be newer and better ones that I don't know about out there as I have been out of the technology manufacturing loop for a few years now.

[Losing all]

I ended up going with the 213. Sweet! but I have a headache. Hopefully it's unrelated.

[jaybird]

Another vote for Dell's LCDs. I have 2 Dell 1800FPs and LOVE them!

I REALLY want to get the 2001FPs, but I've only had these two for 6 months.

I'm debating on if I should go for this SWEET MOUNT (https://store.ergotron.com/LearnMore.aspx?ProductID=119)

[_2000Flushes]

I have a three-monitor arrangement with a 15", 17" and 19", which I tried using for a about a week. I found myself far more comfortable, however, playing on my laptop. I use a Vaio with a nice clear 10" screen. Because I'm focused on one place, I find that it's actually much easier to play four tables at 1024x600 on the 10" screen than with the three-monitor setup. My face is planted about a foot away from the screen, though, and I have no idea what that's going to do to my vision.

-2kF

[Hung]

[ QUOTE ]
is this the Planar you bought
Planar 23" LCD (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?category_id=5792&k=&mnf=&brandi d=&prst=&prEnd=&sku=A0035416&mnfsku=&SearchType=&P age=productlisting.aspx&spagenum=1&Pageb4Search=&I nStock=&items_per_page=25&orderby=&mnfname=&brand= &SubmitSearch=&image_flag=True&refurbished=&c=us&l =en&cs=04&iCompatid=) ??

only 2g's thats all??hehe

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes that's the one. It's huge. In Europe it cost 3000 €, but I got it from the US /images/graemlins/laugh.gif
I'm surprised the price is still the same...