Yet another request for LCD/CRT monitor recommendation....

[NickySantoro]

I'm looking to replace a failing CRT 19" unit with LCD, I think. My
main requirement is sharpness and clarity of text using the existing
Matrox G450 32mb card. No gaming or fancy graphics requirements.
No fancy features, speakers, USB or anything else required. Just want
to plug it in, load the drivers and be astounded by crisp text. The
current Samsung 955DF has been good but doesn't seem as clear as it
once was and is losing the anti-glare coating in places.
1- Will I be better off with an LCD or a CRT of comparable price for
my requirements ? Space saving would be nice but is not a big issue.
2- Which one?
I've read the reviews and I've looked at monitors at Best Buy,
CompUSA, Staples, and Office Depot and I'm more confused than ever.
Any guidance by those more schooled in this issue would be most
appreciated.
TIA
NS

 

[Doug Kanter]

I'm looking to replace a failing CRT 19" unit with LCD, I think. My
main requirement is sharpness and clarity of text using the existing
Matrox G450 32mb card. No gaming or fancy graphics requirements.
No fancy features, speakers, USB or anything else required. Just want
to plug it in, load the drivers and be astounded by crisp text. The
current Samsung 955DF has been good but doesn't seem as clear as it
once was and is losing the anti-glare coating in places.
1- Will I be better off with an LCD or a CRT of comparable price for
my requirements ? Space saving would be nice but is not a big issue.
2- Which one?
I've read the reviews and I've looked at monitors at Best Buy,
CompUSA, Staples, and Office Depot and I'm more confused than ever.
Any guidance by those more schooled in this issue would be most
appreciated.
TIA
NS

I'd go to www.pcmag.com and find their latest review of these things. They
tend to be pretty accurate.

 

[Paul]

I'm looking to replace a failing CRT 19" unit with LCD, I think. My
main requirement is sharpness and clarity of text using the existing
Matrox G450 32mb card. No gaming or fancy graphics requirements.
No fancy features, speakers, USB or anything else required. Just want
to plug it in, load the drivers and be astounded by crisp text. The
current Samsung 955DF has been good but doesn't seem as clear as it
once was and is losing the anti-glare coating in places.
1- Will I be better off with an LCD or a CRT of comparable price for
my requirements ? Space saving would be nice but is not a big issue.
2- Which one?
I've read the reviews and I've looked at monitors at Best Buy,
CompUSA, Staples, and Office Depot and I'm more confused than ever.
Any guidance by those more schooled in this issue would be most
appreciated.
TIA
NS

You are confused, because you haven't seen a good one yet

The last time I was in Best Buy, I didn't see anything I would
consider buying or recommending. I'm not surprised you didn't
leave the store with one. But looking at them is important,
as the current specification methods are useless for judging
what to buy. (One LCD I looked at on an angle, didn't
even have a flat screen - there were "bubbles" of nonuniformity
across the surface of the screen. That is not something you'll
see in a spec. Another screen had non-uniform light intensity,
I mean seriously defective, and it was still on display.)

This article is from Feb.2002, has its own biases, but if image
quality means more to you than the weight of the monitor, or
the power consumption, a good CRT is still worth it. One
of the reasons for this, is the averaging effect of the human
eye, helps to hide the deficiencies of the CRT. And with a
multisync CRT, you have more resolution choices than the
one good "native" choice of the LCD (the LCD has to extrapolate
to make a 800x600 resolution choice, fill a 1280x1024 native
resolution -- the CRT does both equally well).

http://pcbuyersguide.com/hardware/graphics/LaCie_on_LCD_vs_CRT.html

My LCD doesn't give me a very convincing "black" level, and
grey is all it can manage.

Here is another article from June 2003:

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/bguide/0,guid,9,page,2,00.asp

If you have Apple or Dell stores in your area, you may find
some noteworthy products in there. To at least expose you
to a wider variety of products. Staring at 16 identical
$300 LCD screens all day will drive you insane.

Paul

 

[NickySantoro]

I'm looking to replace a failing CRT 19" unit with LCD, I think.

Many thanks for the responses, especially the heads-up about "black"
on the LCD and "native resolution". At this point I'm thinking of
looking for a good deal on a closeout CRT of 19+" since weight and
footprint are not an issue for me.
The LCDs seem fine but do have their own shortcomings apparently.
I do wish they had them though when my daughter was in college and I
had to hump that CRT monitor up flights of stairs to dorm rooms year
after year.
Again, thanks for the responses.