Aw, dude, fail. D:

I do hope you're second new one doesn't fail on you as well. Maybe you should pop open the old one, see what may have fried or whatever? :3

Tried that. No luck.

Well...when it comes to the actually computer, the root to most failures is in the power supply. A fact known by few outside of hardware specialists.

I would reccommend checking whatever your moniter has been plugged into for faults. There's a good chance you're getting power surges for some reason...as a side-note, surge protectors are a MUST if you're not using one. But even if you are, a faulty plug even on a surge protector will short out anything plugged into it, eventually.

Indeed. I learned that lesson about a year back when I "thought" my motherboard fried. Then, after spending several hundred dollars on a new one, I found out that what had really gone out was the power supply. An item easily replaced for around $40.00.
At least I got a faster CPU out of it, though.

I have checked the plugs and surge protector and all are working as they should. The monitor didn't actually fry. When I turn it on, it clearly displays a flashing message saying "NO INPUT SIGNAL." I have also checked all the cables that run from the computer to the monitor and they are all working properly as well. I'm not sure what the problem could be.

But I did learn another valuable lesson from all this: Never buy anything that doesn't have the manufacturer's logo plastered all over the front of it. If they don't want you to know that they made it, then you don't want to use it! I had to Google the model number of this damned monitor to find out that a two-bit company called Soyo made it. I sent them a support ticket about my problem but they have yet to get back to me.

Hm...I'd say it's most likely the video card, then, if you haven't guaranteed botht that and your current power supply are in perfect working condition.

I will give you a BIG warning, in the mean-time. A good power supply SHOULD cost you as much or more than your motherboard. A top-notch power supply is actually very important to the long-term life of your whole system, plus it is the only part of a computer which may last more than one generation of PCs. According to my sources (people who build PCs for money) a power supply should be at least $300.

It's not my video card. I can hook up other monitors and they work fine.

Wouldn't the monitor be under warranty?

My monitor is back from Samsung! Now i can run Mass Effect! Yeeehaw!
Sorry to hear, that your monitor is on it's end too. Nobody in this world can understand you better, than me at this moment, belive me! I was forced to live with a laptop as a substitute for more than 20 days...and nights! Was like hell to watch the tiny display... It's over though...for me! Be strong! This beer is on this Dragon-girl!

Thanks for the support, sexy.

I'm glad to hear that you got your monitor back and that your trying ordeal is over. I just got home with my new monitor. I love it! It's a Samsung 19" SyncMaster 932BW Plus - with a whopping 8000:1 contrast ratio. And it only cost me $210.00.

Let's celebrate!

/dance

/cheer

Ok. New question.

I can't seem to get the resolution right on this new monitor. It has a screen ratio of 16:10, which means a resolution of 1280 x 800 should work great. But that resolution makes all the text on screen look horrible. A resolution of 1600 x 1024 (close, but not a perfect fit) is acceptable, but makes all the words really tiny and creates some slight distortion at times. All other resolutions stretch the screen out of proportion in either width or height.

Anyone have any tips or ideas as to how I might correct this?

Right click on desktop and properties. go to the tab between Screensaver and settings: Should be View but don't know for sure what it is in english 'cause i use a hungarian version of win xp. There should be options like windows and buttons, color theme, font size and two buttons named Effects and Special.
Click on special and in the pop up window you can costumize how windows look like:
Aim for ikon size, and font type and size. Those can make your ikons look a lot more better if you get the all is too tiny problem. And change (icrease) the size of everything you need to avoid tiny problem.

*Whew* Back then it took me ages to figure it out. ---> Now the question is: Do you use Win XP? If the anwser is yes then you are lucky to have me around! :P

Indeed, I do use Windows XP. I gave what you suggested a shot, but it didn't help the look of things (although, it would have fixed the "tiny" issue if that were my only problem.) I believe that the problem is that my graphics card doesn't support these new ultra-wide screen monitors. It's a rather old Nvidia GeForce 5500 and doesn't allow for the recommended 1440 x 900 resolution of my monitor. Oh well... I guess I can make due until I can afford to buy a new graphics card.

Thanks for your help, though.

Perhaps in the Special button in the color&resolution change window you can click on the vga driver's tab and there you can set up custom resolution-color depth&refresh rate. My card supports that feature. Of course mine is a Nvidia Asus Geforce 9600 with 1Tbyte DDR3 memory... It was priced for about 230 USD roughly and is my most expensive item in the current pc i own. I skipped holliday for the pc so i party in the near of my home this summer.

Love to help in Pc software side problem - Hardware i don't know much of...But i started in DOS so i basicly hacked trough my life in every generation of Windows to make it less resoursce-eating and more efficent. Vista is the next on my list!