New Monitor?

[Stormcrow]

Everyone who drops by my house takes one look at my computer setup, and instantly starts ranting and raving about how small and sleek their OEM Dell LCD is that came with their 400 dollar crapbox, compared to my 19 inch CRT (whom I've lovingly dubbed Clunker), and how the picture quality is, and the colors, and what have you. To be honest, I don't really care if the thing can make you coffee and gather the local forecast on Mars, its about price to performance with me. But I have seen a couple of widescreen Samsungs that have caught my eye, and they do look pretty amazing when teamed up with a good graphics card.

The thing is, a good LCD is about 250, with some of the lower 19 inchers in the 180 bracket. That could be a new, faster processor to me, or a couple of new hard drives, or a few more gigs of RAM. There's rave reviews for many models of LCDs, and analog is gasping in its final moments as DVI finally takes the centerstage and with HDMI becoming more common. I guess the point I'm asking is, what is so special about a LCD that I should drop 250 bills on and retire this perfectly good monitor here? I know all the basics, footprint, power consumption, digital and HDCP, but is it really worth it if my current CRT is running fine? And no, I'm not asking because I care what others think of my Clunker, if they really want to give me a hard time on it I state one of the pros of CRTs: A lethal weapon when combined with gravity and decent aim

[NoctisReitop]

I'm currently in the same kind of situation. I've got, though I'm not sure of the size (something like 17"), a view sonic CRT. I love it. Only real drag is that I have a pretty deep gash in the glass. Happened while transporting it in my trunk. Guess I was bad on the brakes or something. I've been debating upgrading to a LCD (19" or 22"). I'm having trouble justifying the cost.

I've been using a laptop for the last few years. I'd plug my laptop up to my CRT when I know I'd be stationary for some time. Gaming on a Monitor that can be placed at a proper height and using a full size keyboard & mouse is so much better. But, I'm constructing a new system at the end of this month. My video card will have a DVI out, which would be nice to directly pipe into a new LCD monitor. Where the LCD would truly come in handy would be ease of transportation. I pretty much live out of my suitcase, being in college and all, so transportation is a must. The pc case can be packed up along side any regular size suit cases... Monitor gets wierd to pack away. I figure that an LCD would pack away a lot easier than a "Clunker". But those are my thoughts. I don't really feel I need a new one if my other one works just fine. A friend of mine has a pretty nice LCD monitor, and I have to admit, it's VERY pretty. I haven't come to a decision yet. Let me know what you decide. Maybe I can resolve my issue also.

[OCNoob]

Any pros CRT's have had over LCD monitors have been fizzled out. Every spec is virtually equivalent on CRT's and LCD's. The real only difference between the two is probably color accuracy, but with a quality monitor, anyone but a hardcore professional would be hard-pressed to find a difference between the two technologies.

In a non-scientific example, my boss bought a Dell E207WFP back in January and said if he sucked in CS with the new monitor, he would return it. He went on to record 15-4 in about 20 minutes of play. That's not bad considering he was very skeptical of any LCD larger than 19". The brightness was spectacular compared to his CRT and the view angle was almost as good. He kept it and I haven't heard a complaint from him since.

FWIW, I'm itching badly for an LCD upgrade myself. It's not that I'm starting to suck at CS now (which I'm NOT) but that documents are getting harder and harder to read with this thing. I can read text just fine on my brother's old ass 15" LCD. I could use the extra desk space too. Anyway, I hope this helps the discussion.

[halutzparilla]

well, i'm not a samsung fanboi except for their digicam, with LCD i prefer the ff brands:
BenQ
DELL
Viewsonic
and Samsung would be in my bottom list...

[Stormcrow]

Samsung was just one that came to mind, theres plenty others and what I care about is price to quality, not brand names. Well, I've been thinking it over, and I've decided to get an LCD. Not for any particular reason, but because I've been wanting something larger then my 19" for some time, a good 22" widescreen with DVI so I connect it directly to my new video card I'm getting. That, and CRT's don't have HDCP, which has annoyingly invaded much of everything nowadays. The LCD would give me a lot more desk room, perhaps enough to get another and run dual monitors, and ol' Clunker I can hook up to the Linux box I'm planning on making.

Noctis, if I was you I would go for a LCD, simply for the ease of transportation. My CRT is a pain to lug around, and I'm always afraid I'm gonna drop it. So perhaps a 15-17" LCD would suit you better, and leave the clunker at college or donate it.

[Yellowhello]

I've got a Gateway widescreen and it's fine.

I'd consider Gateway, too.

[NoctisReitop]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

Noctis, if I was you I would go for a LCD, simply for the ease of transportation. My CRT is a pain to lug around, and I'm always afraid I'm gonna drop it. So perhaps a 15-17" LCD would suit you better, and leave the clunker at college or donate it.

Heh, well thanks. I think I'll go to some half-faced comp store around here, and I'll see whether I prefer a wide screen or a regular screen. I don't yet know if widescreen is for me...

I wonder if 4 monitors, plugged up to the 4 DVI ports in a SLI configuration would be nice... >=D (Not happening)