Guys

My 17" LCD on my secondary computer just got kaput and I need to replace with a 22" one, possibly with in-built speakers to save desk space. Would love a recommendation for a silent and green one and have a few questions:

1) What parameters should I be looking at in the specs?

2) Why are most monitors today just doing DVI/VGA and not HDMI? I guess with HDMI, I could pass sound as well

3) If this is too confusing, just skip it. My primary computer has an Acer X213HBid - 1920 x 1080 native resolution. I have a persistent full-screen RDP session into a 15" laptop at all times. If I buy a monitor with the same native resolution for my secondary computer and RDP into the primary computer, would the laptop's RDP session show up correctly in full screen

Thanks

The 22" monitors usually only carry DVI and VGA. Bump it up to 24" and you'll start seeing HDMI right away even in the cheaper models.

I entrust you in the hands of the good folks at http://www.prad.de for monitor basics and advanced knowledge. They've got comprehensive articles and reviews that should point out the different aspects relevant to choosing a monitor. If you want a really short summary, mine would be: input lag and ms are relevant for gaming, viewing angle and stand for multimedia use and colour accuracy for graphical work. Go and see the monitor's picture before you buy, if you can, as it's all about what pleases YOUR eye. You WILL adapt to any monitor you choose.

Regarding remote desktop/RDP: I've only used VNC variants and Teamviewer, and those have worked exactly the same over a second remote connection. So yes, I think it could work, but I can't verify it.

I would start my search from this model here: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/benq_gw2450hm.htm

Great advice!

I only care about regular computer browsing, work stuff and at times, multimedia so I will focus on viewing angle and of course, power usage

I did find one monitor with HDMI input. Would the audio flow over this and play in the integrated monitor speakers or would I still need separate audio cable? In audio settings in windows 7, would it simply show like my Sony TV shows up?
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-VE228H-21-5- ... 2+lcd+hdmi

This is interesting. The only reason I was choosing a 21.5 inch monitor is because I wanted to maintain the same resolution 1920x1080 since I RDP (fullscreen) into a laptop from PC1, then RDP from PC2 into PC1 and don't want to re-initiate this connection into the laptop

But now I see even the 24 and 27 inch monitors have the same 1920x1080 resolution. I guess this should work with the above problem that I had when using Dell E173FPB (1280x1024). Right?

It would be peculiar for a monitor with speakers not to work with HDMI audio, if it has an HDMI input. For me, the HDMI audio device that shows up has been the audio source/output device, i.e. my graphics card's HDMI output. I doubt the monitor itself has a separate audio playback device, but I have no experience in this, as I haven't used monitors with speakers or connected TVs to my desktop.

I did use a TV with my old laptop and its HDMI connection, and the TV did not show up separately in the audio device menu.

The Full HD resolution is indeed prevalent, even in the bigger budget monitors like 27". For me, 24" has been the sweet spot of price and picture legibility. 27" starts to feel huge when the resolution only goes up to 1920x1080. If that is the resolution you want, then you should be good to go.

Alright my search for a 24 monitor with HDMI & in-built speakers hasn't shown results. These are the top 3 but all of them have poor laptop-quality speakers

Asus VW246H 24-Inch Full-HD LCD Monitor with Integrated Speakers
Viewsonic's VA2448M-LED 24-Inch Widescreen LED Monitor - Black
ASUS VE248H 24-Inch Full-HD LED Monitor with Integrated Speakers

Is using a regular LCD TV as a full-time monitor a good idea? Price-wise, it's not much more but I'm concerned if this would draw much more power, more heat and bad for the eyes
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIERA-T ... =24+lcd+tv

Two things: monitor speakers are arguably always bad, and TVs in general assume a viewing distance greater than at a workstation, not to mention they use slow panels and processing: good enough for 30 FPS consoles and 20-something FPS video material, bad for just about everything else. Power figures I don't know about, but I'm sure the spec sheets are close enough.

Easy solution: abandon speakers, get a good monitor and a pleasing set of small speakers. This would have been my suggestion from the start, if I'm honest. Some monitors even provide a headphone output that might just work with speakers, if you have to bring audio over HDMI. I've never fully understood the appeal of HDMI in computer use.

i actually use a 40inch edgelit led-lcd samsung 3d smart-TV as a monitor. 3d smart tvs have enough processing power for the job, and samsung led screens look great up close