VGA/adjustability versus DVI/no adjustability: What's the tradeoff?

Question

Leaning toward a 2001fp over a 20095fpw mostly due to all the problems I've read about here. [Also, my wife uses my machine and wouldn't want her to be stuck with having to make resolution adjustments, etc., which I've read is sometimes the case with the 2005fpw.]   If I get a 2001fp I can [at least in the interim] use my OEM video card with the VGA connection. I've read that in DVI mode, one cannot make certain adjustments to the contrast, etc. [I believe this is the case with the 2005fpw as well--but with that I definitely need a new card].   I'm wondering about a few things:   1) Curious about what the advantage of DVI over VGA is. Are images really that much better? Some comments have indicated that the difference is subtle.   2) Considering I do no gaming and watch no movies on the computer, I wonder whether I should get a 2001fp and make sure the LCD itself is OK before installing a new card [couldn't do this 'dry run' with a 2005fpw].   3) With a 2001fp and say, a Radeon 7000 card that has both DVI and VGA connections, can one connect to both and select the mode they want to use? That is, use the VGA connection if/when adjustability is desired and the DVI if it's not needed?   Any opinions regarding these issues would be appreciated.   David

TimothyBH · Answer

With a card that that has two ports, a DVI and VGA one, you can use either. I don't know what would happen if you connected the monitor with both the vga and dvi cable at once and switch using the source control on the front. That would confuse the computer, you'd have to restart for it to take effect correctly.

Or you can connect the LCD to whichever port you want and then use the other to run a 2nd screen to extend your desktop. it can be any screen at any resolution.

Message Edited by TimothyBH on 01-28-2005 11:36 PM

TimothyBH · Answer

Both the 2001fp and 2005fpw have VGA and DVI connections.   You want DVI as it's digital, while VGA is analog. From my testing with the 2005fpw, using VGA on my high-end 6800nu looks just as good as the other 2005fpw using it's DVI port. Though, every resolution change the 2005fpw on the VGA port has to do an auto adjust, which sometimes yields poor quality like fuzzy text resembling what a normal tube monitor would look like, while the DVI one looks razor sharp. But after a couple auto adjust it looks just as good.   Though, it might look just as good because of the quality of my video card. I have a 9600 mobility ATI chip in my laptop. It has a VGA port that I can use for dual screens. Connecting the 2005fpw to that resulted in poor quality compared to my main computer's VGA. It looked soft around the edges of the type. Though, in a way, I can imagine it could be a desired effect. Sometimes the DVI can be so sharp it will hurt you eyes reading black text on white. And the poor quality on the vga I mentioned isn't like running an LCD at a lower res, it just looks like the text has been carfully Anti Aliased, again, like what a normal highend crt would look like.   The only setting you lose with DVI connection is contrast. You still get brightness and color settings. And you can always change the gamma and contrast in the video driver settings.

Monitors

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