Seeking advice: LCD Monitor

Ogbar · Post by **Ogbar** » September 26, 2003, 10:35 am

I am looking for a replacement monitor for my computer at work, and have decided to try an LCD monitor. I am a bit spoiled with my old tube, a Sony 21" which I ran at 1600x1200, so ideally I would like something at that resolution. Of course, big brother does not have infinite pockets of cash, so a good price is also to be sought. BTW, I mainly use it for document creation (nice to have two documents side by side), but I also will run the ocational drafting program, Matlab, Photoshop, etc.

- Any thoughts on a decent 1600x1200 LCD monitor that is relatively inexpensive?

- Any thoughts on a nice quality 1280x1024 LCD monitor that has nice performance but is still a good value.

Thanks

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » September 26, 2003, 11:08 am

We have 613 Samsung Monitors LCD monitors in the 17 and 21 inch range here where I work, in a years time we have had problems with 2 of the 613 and one was an out of the box failure. They are crisp and clear and in a test even EQ looked passable on them. Model name on the 17's is 171S but I do not have a 21 handy but i I remember right it is a logical model name like 211S heh

Seebs · Post by **Seebs** » September 26, 2003, 11:20 am

I have no links of technical expertise Oggie, but I am holding off on getting an LCD until I'm certain they are stable and can hold their own against the CRTs.

Man, the CRTs are dropping in proc and I'm loving it. I'm used to having a big ass monitor so I can wait this one out, especially until the LCD price drops.

Melrin_Specclaster · September 26, 2003, 1:53 pm

LCD's don't last as long as CRT's, but if its the man paying for it and you dont care, then have at it...although, if you are looking for 1600x1200, it may cost a lot, a lot of them still tap out about 1280x1024, although if you look around you may likely find one. I'm not getting one till I can walk to our command center and not see 5 of them with ugly spots on them. CRT's are just more reliable by a huge margin still for me to spend my money on LCD's even though I'd love to have one.

The fact I can get a 21 inch CRT for the price of a 15-17 inch LCD also is a big gap.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » September 26, 2003, 2:28 pm

I did a bit of research when my last monitor died a few months ago. While they look nice in Best Buy and such I decided to go with a CRT one more time simply due to price difference. Getting that resolution you are used to will be on the pricy side.

Drolgin Steingrinder · September 26, 2003, 2:46 pm

Finding LCD screens that run 16x12 with a reasonable refresh rate is going to be *very* pricy.

Marbus · Post by **Marbus** » September 26, 2003, 2:50 pm

Yea Oggie you would probably have to go with one of the high end Sony's or Apples.

Marb

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » September 26, 2003, 3:22 pm

LCD's are easy on your eyes but they look like shit compared to nice CRTs.

While it's nice to save some deskspace and be able to move your monitor around easily, you're taking a step back, not forward when buying a LCD unless you had a cheapo CRT.

As long as you keep your refresh rate 85Hz or above on CRTs, they aren't hard on your eyes either.

Price is way too high for LCDs. When they are equal in price with CRTs then you can decide whether you want quality image (CRT) or light, flat, solid, lessor quality image of the LCD.

Aabidano · Post by **Aabidano** » September 26, 2003, 4:46 pm

Melrin_Specclaster wrote:The fact I can get a 21 inch CRT for the price of a 15-17 inch LCD also is a big gap.

And that 21" would probably have a .23 dot pitch as well. The pixels on the LCDs are still too large for me, unless you go very high end. And those seem to have an even higher fail rate than the cheap onces.

Aaeamdar · Post by **Aaeamdar** » September 26, 2003, 5:08 pm

CompUSA has something you are looking for, though I am sure if you go find it then you can search elsewhere for a better price. As part of their LCD displays, there was one 21" 16x12 500:1 compression at $1200. It also inverted if you like that sort of thing for word processing.

For me that still has not hit the mark, but I have been watching 16x12 LCD prices and quality for about 2 years now, because replacing all my CRTs with LCDs is something I want to do as well, but only at 16x12 or better and right now the price/quality is still not there for me. That one in CompUSA came as cloase as I have found, though. I'll get you the brand the next time I stroll in there - but that could be a while, so if you are interested and have one near by, go check them out.

Ogbar · Post by **Ogbar** » September 26, 2003, 5:51 pm

Thanks for all of the replies.

I am starting to rethink the LCD, though they ended up being cheaper than I expected: (search results from PriceGrabber.com)

The Sony looks nice, and is suprisingly available in the 1200-1300 range. Then again, I can get a G series tube for almost half that. I may just suffer through one more generation of desk anchors after all.

masteen · Post by **masteen** » September 26, 2003, 6:19 pm

The Sony G series Trinitron screens are like butter in your ass.

Marbus · Post by **Marbus** » September 27, 2003, 4:14 pm

Never had butter in my ass, what's that like Masteen

Vaemas · Post by **Vaemas** » September 28, 2003, 2:37 pm

I love my LCDs for the small footprint. I've got a 21" monster monitor at work but personally I'd rather use the 15" LCDs I have at home. Not sure why but an LCD a couple inches smaller always seemed comperable to me.

*shrug*

One other note: color representation on an LCD isn't going to be as "correct" as it will be on a CRT. So if you do any kind of design or color correction, you might want to just go with the tube.

Ceken D`Stroi · Post by **Ceken D`Stroi** » September 28, 2003, 3:57 pm

butter in ass....bad