Acer AL1916 - System compatability + cost?

Idris · 20 Jan 2006 at 13:44

I'm thinking of getting a new monitor soon and look set to get a TFT monitor to replace my existing 17" CRT.

In terms of price and resonable reviews the Acer 1916 looks a decent investment, but I have a few questions about it before going any further.

Firstly it describes itself as 19" widescreen model. I've yet to see any widescreen computer monitor and wonder how it compares to a normal 19" screen. What are the benifits of such a design and are there any problems such as being forced to run things in a none widescreen mode (so you'd have a centred display with black space around it).

Another question is regarding my current system specs. As things stand my computer is getting a bit outdated internally and only has a GeForce MX 460 graphics card and 512 MB of ram. Are these okay in terms of using the acer monitor? Are there any other system specs that need to be looked at when considering a purchase and what would the effect be if I can use the monitor but not to it's full potential?

Finally in regards to cost. The price of the monitor seems pretty low in comparison to other monitors (with it being below £200). I could possible hold off a purchase for a few more weeks. Would the price be expected to drop much further in these few weeks or should a purchase just be made?

Idris · 21 Jan 2006 at 11:48

I could really do with a reply on this as a new monitor is a pretty big purchase...

marc2003 · 21 Jan 2006 at 12:05

it'll be fine for general windows usage. just don't expect to be playing any games on it.

Idris · 21 Jan 2006 at 12:35

Any reasons for it not being good for games (ghosting etc?).

As a rule it'll be mostly for general windows (word documents, surfing etc) and movie playback plus possible televion playback through a TV card.

I wouldn't rule out games altogether since I play a few (e.g. GTA San Andreas, FPS's like Halo and general strategy games) so it'd be useful if the monitor could handle them o.k.

marc2003 · 21 Jan 2006 at 12:43

the monitor can handle the games. i just don't think your gfx card can. what res are you playing your games at the moment?

Idris · 21 Jan 2006 at 12:51

Full screen on my current CRT monitor (1024 x 768 at a decent graphics level I think though the monitor resolution is set to 1152 x 864).

Most of the games I would be playing for the moment are slightly older though so they're not overly taxing on the computer (with newer games like Battlefield 2 being too intensive for my current internal setup).

For the moment I don't expect to be upgrading the graphics card as most of the interals of the P.C are at a similar outdated stage so it would need to be a total upgrade (mother board, graphics card, processor etc).

So what would happen if I attempted to play games on the monitor with my existing graphics card? Would they work o.k?

marc2003 · 21 Jan 2006 at 13:23

1024x768 = 786432 pixels
1440x900 = 1296000 pixels

that's over 50% more your system has to render for every frame drawn. that card ain't going to do it..... infact i'm surprised those games are playable at 1024x768 to be honest.....

Idris · 21 Jan 2006 at 13:50

So would the games be playable at all, say by dropping the settings down to a lower level?

Also would the suspect graphics card effect other things like movie playback and normal computer usage (windows navigation, web surfing etc).