Q I'm setting up a computer for a complete newbie and couriering it to them across the country. The box has an NVIDIA Pro card and their screen will be an Acer AL511 flat screen. If I set the monitor up to suit my hardware, a 'detected hardware' change at the user's end will effectively uninstall the NVIDIA drivers. I therefore want to set the box up with the correct settings for their monitor just before shipping the box off, so it will work straight away on their system. Problem: there are lots of Acer monitors under display config, but no AL511. I know that they are probably cross-compatible, but some will not be. I don't want to pick the wrong one in case it causes grief to this complete newbie at the other end. I certainly don't want it to run diagonal lines, have bad flicker or have too low a resolution for their hardware.
A LCD displays are fairly easy to set up. You just need to choose the appropriate vertical refresh rate in X to ensure that the modes used are not beyond the maximum refresh rate for the display. A 'General LCD' setting should be sufficient to ensure that the display works correctly. Reviewing the display specifications on the internet will help you decide which resolution should be set as default and which refresh rates can be used.