I should have gotten the one with DVI

after doing some mild research, many say dvi is better than vga and others say there are no difference between them.

i purchased the W3J instead of A8J without considering the DVI because at that time, i do not plan having an external lcd and never will for another notebook if i will buy again as i will always carry them with me for school work. i am always thinking that notebooks are for portability purposes that has an lcd on it and not meant for a desktop to put external lcd on it. and why would i shell out extra money for an external lcd if i already have an lcd.

but things have changed. now i want my notebook to be also used as a desktop in my home. and this is basically a matter of "want" and not a "need". i want to have an external 20'-22' lcd for my notebook. and it will be perfect to a 14' notebook without compromising portability.

to all A8J owners who hooked their notebook to an external lcd that supports both VGA and DVI, are there any very noticeable difference between the two? please post pictures if possible. please, please.. make me drool in jealousy.

 

First, unless you know the difference and have ever seen it... you'll probably never tell the difference anyway. It's my opinion and experience that the current VGA out ports will show little or no degradation on anything 19" regular ratio or 22-23" widescreen or smaller. I use both a 20" Asus WSXGA+ and a 23" Sony WUXGA (home and work) and regularly attach my notebooks to those screens. At work I have a high end worksation for doing huge 3d renderings and really intense photoshop.... that's being pushed by dvi... When I output from the laptops at the same resolution, with the same background... I can barely tell the difference and I've trained myself in what I do to notice it. So for normal use, I don't think anyone would even be able to see the difference even if they tried and in your case, I wouldn't have passed up the W3 for the A8 just because of DVI either. It's still a notebook and as as notebook, the W3 is a better unit.

Don't second guess yourself!

 

this notebook will be mainly used for web and windows based applications development, photoshop, flash, gaming, viewing movies, and some video editing. almost anything a student will do. i purchased the W3J instead of the A8J because I will be needing the extra quality the former notebook has to offer as I will always take this with me wherever i go for work.

if these are the purposes of the notebook, will I see a big difference compared to the DVI output of the A8J? i want to purchase any of the following in the following order.
1. 20" ViewSonic VX2025wm
2. 22" ViewSonic VX2235wm
3. 19" Samsung 940BW
4. suggest a good and not expensive LCD

to those who know, how good are these LCD if i will use W3J's VGA to the purposes i mentioned above?

i also want to have the 20.1" ASUS PW201 as I will be paying an expensive LCD without getting the full potential of it bec. of the VGA.

and what is this ghosting issue? i am really new to external LCDs... are there any other issues that i will encounter?

 

.... Just so you know, when you want to break down your use and said it's "mainly used for" something.... you usually wouldn't include everything... Basically, you do everything, so your "main use" has to be one of those, but it can't be all... know what I'm saying? I don't mean to bust you, but I think if you reread it you'll understand what I'm getting at.

First, let me say that both Viewsonic and Samsung have very good monitors. I have a preference that changes by size, so in a way I'm not particular, but very particular if you look at it another way. For 23" - there is not a better panel than what I have in this Sony I'm on right now..... For 30", the Apple cinema display is awesome...... Now, going down, at 20" the Asus PW201 is unreal.... it has everything, does everything, built very well and looks great and has picture-in-picture and componet input for say xbox or ps2... at 19" I'd go with a Viewsonic VP series - not the VX... Now those are the monitors I prefer, as someone heavy in graphic design...

But again, as I mentioned, even on my 23" WUXGA - an untrained eye would not see the difference between the vga output of today verses dvi... I don't mean to offend you or anything and mean no disrespect - but based on the fact that you're asking this question tells me that you don't have the experience with them - and that's really all I mean. As I type I am switching between my workstation with the 23" and my w7, both sitting on NBR and they both look the same. The only difference is that initially to get everything set up correctly you'll have a little more to do with vga, which it's basically already done with dvi..... but those adjustments are probably something most people are used to anyway... make them once and never make them again.

... but you say you'd be paying for an expensive screen without getting the full benefit - and you have to remember that you already have a notebook and that is the expensive part... the external screen is secondary by all accounts and at 20", I can say for sure that you wouldn't see a difference between dvi and vga when talking about newer models like the W3 verses the A8.

 

its ok. i really have no experience when it comes to external LCD screens especially to these VGA and DVI outputs. what is worst, i've actually never owned a single external LCD bec. my computers are always notebooks.

there are still few questions lurking in my mind now.

1.) will it be ok to use the 22" ViewSonic VX2235wm?
2.) this has a 1680x1050 res. , so can the VGA of W3J can handle it without any issues?
3.) how will it be compared to a DVI? please be visual as possible.
4.) would you recommend the 20" version of Viewsonic instead of the 22". i personally like the 22" more than the 20". the reason i put it on my second option because of the price difference. still, it is one of my options.
5.) and why VP? they are more expensive than the VX so they are better.
6.) what are the adjustments youre saying about VGA?
7.) what about this ghosting issue? will it be more present in VGA?

i have been searching the net but i haven't found any concrete answers to my questions. but hearing the answers from an expert like you will make things clearer. you will be the most helpful person since you know Asus better.

the Asus PW201 is really good. it is AmAzInG! the best looking LCD ive seen. it is actually the LCD that influenced me to want to buy a LCD. the first time I saw it, i've realized that I want to have a bigger external display. but it is dang too expensive and i can't maximize its full potential bec. of the VGA out of the W3J that is why it is out of my list. but it can still be on my list if there are any good reasons.

 

why not a Samsung Syncmaster 20" 205bw? It is available in USA? I have one and i sujest to put it in your list.. But the viewsonic/asus is much better and much more expensiv of corse.
I attached my external monitor to my v6v and the image was great and of corse your w3j support the 1680x1050 32bit resolution! im not a image pro but I notice a little little little diference in color reproduction between the dvi and d-sub ports... (I experience this with my girfriend a6jc with dvi and d-sub port, not in my v6v with only vga out). Like proportable said, in dvi output u dont need to adjust anything (but colors if u want).. the auto config button is useless...
With an external monitor your notebook gains another life thats for sure..

 

It depends on the quality of the VGA output from the video card.

On my PC, between the onboard video (VGA) and my dedicated graphics card (DVI), the difference is absolutely night and day.

Blacks are perfect on DVI, whereas they are a washed-out gray on the VGA, everything is less sharp, and colors lack contrast. This is also because I'm running a very high resolution (1920x1200), but don't let anyone convince you with a blanket statement that "you can't tell the difference unless you have incredibly discerning eyes."

 

so would you still recommend getting a high resolution screen (1600 x 1050) ,the VX series of Viewsonic, using the VGA out of W3J which has an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600? am i going to waste money? i am really new to these and i really have no experience to these external LCDs. i am very hesitant bec. i might not see difference to my other purposes and see big difference to other and that I might end up disposing the external LCD screen and use the lcd screen of the W3J bec. of dissatisfaction. i think will see the difference after a long time and extensive use.i just want to know what to expect from the experienced users.

i will check the Samsung Syncmaster 20" 205bw if I can put it on my list. thanks to the suggestion, this might be very helpful.

right now, i am actually getting mixed response.

 

Take the laptop to shop and check it yourself. Then you will now if it's worth it.