I'm buildin a PC on Dell.com and noticed that for some reason a 20" digital LCD monitor is actually $53 more than the widescreen 20"digital LCD monitor. Any reason for that?

20 inch UltraSharp™ 2005FPW Widescreen Digital Flat Panel

vs

20 inch Ultrasharp™ 2001FP Digital Flat Panel

Also, is this computer a good deal for $1794.56 after tax/shipping?

Module                              Description
Dell Dimension E510 Series    Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 650 w/HT Technology (3.4GHz,800FSB)

Operating System              Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition         

Memory                        2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (4x512M)      

Monitor                       20 inch UltraSharp™ 2005FPW Widescreen Digital Flat Panel

Video Card                    256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X600 SE HyperMemory

Hard Drive                    160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ 

Mouse                         Dell® 2-button USB mouse 

Network Card                  Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet 

CD ROM/DVD ROM                Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/dbl layer write capability 

Sound                         Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeMusic (D), w/Dolby® Digital 5.1 

Speakers                      Dell A525 30 Watt 2.1 Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer 

2/20/2006 12:49:45 PM

2001fp > 2005fpw IMO

The 2001fp runs at 1600x1200 which is a greater total resolution that the 2005fpw. Also, there aren't many reasons to have widescreen for a computer. The only common one is watching DVDs and most DVDs aren't made in the same aspect ratio as the 2005fpw. I'd go for the 2001fp because of the larger screen area. I have one and I love it.

As for the computer, you're getting jipped on the vido card. The x600SE is kind of aenemic. You could probably build this yourself for a lot cheaper.

2/20/2006 1:50:09 PM

Drop those speakers and just buy your own. You have a great soundcard, but those speakers are garbage. Save yourself the 20 bucks and just go ahead and get something thx rated.

2/20/2006 1:56:21 PM

how much do you think i could save if i buillt it myself? i'd be losing any warranty oppurtunity by doing that, but if the savings were good enough i guess i could live with that.

2/20/2006 1:58:53 PM

if you get someone who knows what they are doing you could get a better one part by part of new egg for less.

i recently built a comp in november with a better processor, much better graphics card, 2x the harddrive space, better mouse, better keyboard, for like 1200 total.

2/20/2006 2:34:47 PM

yeah i'm lookin on newegg and i just dont know enough about the hw to know that everything would be compatible. the graphics card was definitely the weak point of the one i customized on dell.com

do you remember the parts you got off newegg? if so, PM them to me and i can work off of that and make adjustments where needed.

thanks for the info

2/20/2006 2:41:13 PM

darkone: not to assume anything but it seems evident that you have not used a 2005fpw for any length of time. i personally own one and its the BEST lcd monitor on the market...until the 2007fpw comes out (it will have HDCP and component input so it will double as an HDTV).

but seriously, most new games have native widescreen resolutions and many older games can have their settings files edited so they display in widescreen. add to that dvd playback and the ability to show native HD content...you cant beat it. besides, i can see more to my left and right than everyone else, so HA!

look here for information on widescreen gaming:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/

[Edited on February 20, 2006 at 4:50 PM. Reason : forgot a sentence]

2/20/2006 4:49:41 PM

i own the 2405fpw and waiting for either the HDCP version or go all the way to the 30 inch

2/20/2006 4:59:28 PM

oh i forgot to mention that the computer i listed above included a tv tuner and remote as well

and a full 3 year warranty w/accidental damage included

[Edited on February 20, 2006 at 6:16 PM. Reason : ]

2/20/2006 5:55:29 PM

^ mind if i make a suggestion? if you are going to go for the widescreen LCD, you would be better off getting rid of the TV tuner unless its a High Definition one. they make some Media Center capable ones now i think and if i'm not mistaken, some CableCard 2.0 ones are in the works.

but, you can always keep the tuner and add an HD one down the road sometime

[Edited on February 20, 2006 at 6:19 PM. Reason : .]

2/20/2006 6:18:47 PM

wouldnt that just work for OTA signal though?

i mean, i have an HDTV and get digital cable service already. would one of timewarners hd boxes work with the monitor? then i could record hd games and shit to my hard drive.

2/20/2006 6:45:11 PM

^ not all their boxes support firewire output.. and even then.. only those with the copy free flag are allowed to be transmitted via firewire..

if you wnat to record HD cable onto your computer.. you'll have to go for one of the newer HD tuners that have cablecard slots on them... although the boxes will output via DVI directly to the monitor without a problem.. as long as the DVI port is activated on the box.

There are currently HD tuners that pick up OTA signals and unencrypted/'copy free' QAM channels from TWC.

2/20/2006 7:50:33 PM

what do you guys think of this build from newegg. it includes everything but the case and shipping

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=1909337

think i can do better/cheaper?

[Edited on February 21, 2006 at 9:10 AM. Reason : ]

2/21/2006 9:05:59 AM

bttt any thoughts?

2/22/2006 12:24:02 PM

i think you could do better buying some components from best buy on rebate or tigerdirect...not all, just some

2/22/2006 12:49:34 PM

any specific suggestions, or are you just saying i should keep an eye out for deals

2/22/2006 1:46:56 PM

eh i dunno about the Best Buy suggestion. they tend to be close to the MSRP price on things. i would go for either TigerDirect or Newegg. my vote though, newegg all the way. they are friendly, fast, and cheap. cant beat it.

by the way, i would also reccomend an AMD Athlon 64 over ANY Intel right now. of course you would have to switch up the motherboard but thats just my 2 cents

[Edited on February 22, 2006 at 5:48 PM. Reason : added dos pennies]

2/22/2006 5:46:41 PM

i've never used anything other than an Intel. How do the athlons compare to pentiums as far as processor speed goes? what speed athlon should i target?

2/22/2006 6:06:44 PM

amd > pentium imo. run cooler and more efficient.

if i get a second i can try and help you like you asked but ive been swamped with other crap to do

2/22/2006 7:12:29 PM

this list any better?

still no case

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.asp?ID=1914771

also i'm not 100% sure that everything is compatible. i think it is though.

[Edited on February 23, 2006 at 3:46 AM. Reason : ]

2/23/2006 3:45:37 AM

it says you have to login for that newegg page but if this topic is still valid, here's my AMD suggestions:

Athlon64 3200+ --> if you are going for speed + reasonable price
Athlon64 X2 3800+ --> if you want dual core for even better performance

2/26/2006 8:17:44 PM

I just got a 2005fpw and I absolutely love it.

2/26/2006 10:47:54 PM