What a difference 2 inches makes...

[AlecWest]

About 3 days ago, I noticed a case of the "creeping purples" in the lower left area of my 17" CRT monitor. And, by yesterday, the top of the screen joined in with a little concaving activity. So, I looked online to see what CRT monitors could still be bought.

Note ... while I like flat-screen models and would love to have one, I suspect my cat would feel the same way (grin). She'll sit on my desk and, when she sees the mouse pointer move across the screen, will JUMP to the screen in an attempt to "catch it." With a nice/heavy CRT monitor, that's no problem. But if she did that with a light flat-screen monitor, it would probably only take a few "pointer attacks" before I'd have a dead monitor. So, I'm staying with the "deep-dish" CRT types for a while.

Anyhoo, I looked and looked and couldn't find any 17" monitors that were as cheap as the last one I bought. But then, I popped onto the OfficeMax site ... and noticed it was the last day of a 3-day sale on stuff. And, they only had 1 CRT monitor for sale ... a 19" StarLogic that was "cheaper" than my last 17" monitor - $89.98. And, one of the three local stores still had one in stock ... and held it for me until I could drive there to get it.

I can't believe the difference it makes. Wow! I won't be going back to 17" after this. Besides being a larger display size (obvious), the display is crisper than my 17" monitor had ... even on the day I bought it.

This calls for a poll.

[Noahtuck]

Yep, 19" are nice
Espc. for online gaming.
I started using 19" monitors a few years back, first bought a 17" then decided to go for the 19", no way i could ever go back to anything under a 17" & i go nuts when trying to look at a 15"

[ZAPPER]

Whenever my 15" (CRT) gets to looking dull, I get out the Windex and clean the cigarette smoke film off of it.

Actually it is kind of a bummer, mine just started acting up a few days ago too. I had a bunch of horizontal black stripes just pop up on the screen and I could just about make out what was supposed to be there through the spaces between the black. So I gave the customary nudge and it blinked back in for a second and then back to the black stripes. A bit harder, eh hem, "nudge" brought it back into line for awhile. It was late so I let it ride. The next day more of the same, so I reached around back, where I admit that I have the monitor slammed tight up against the wall, and wiggled the cable. Ehhhh, not the problem I was hoping for. The cable didn't seem to have a "sweet" spot" but slight movements of the the monitor did have an effect. I took the cover off and blew off the dust from 1997, and on, the best that I could with the less than half can of air that I had. I gave it a look see (Like I really knew what I was looking for) and plugged her back up and gave her a few more wiggles. All better it looked like, so I put the cover back on and hefted it back onto the shelf. About this time it was back to black stripes. ERRRRR!

Well I have been helping a buddy run some trim and kitchen boxes at his house and he gave me his old monitor just to get it out of his closet. Plugged it in, powered up and here I am. (Bet you hate my buddy now, Huh?)

At any rate I do intend to reopen my old one again and pull out the sponge that presses against the back of the guts and take a real close look at some of the connections. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions let me know. (Yes, I have a sledge hammer. No, I don't live in a tall building. No, I won't shoot it or blow it up either) I would really kind of like to get it back to working order. Of all the times that I have passed up monitors in the dumpster you would think that I would have grabbed at least one for a back-up. I have actually seen 30 yard dumpsters full of old systems, what was I thinking?

[Cobra]

I'd go for a TFT and buy a protector for it (if your cat insists on playing with it). You won't look back.

[rallynavvie]

I would have recommended a 19" ViewSonic CRT, they are splendid monitors. I've two ViewSonic G90s for my home workstation, one of which is coming up on 4 years old and still doing wonderfully. We use Sony FD Trinitron 21" CRTs at work but I don't really like aperture grille CRTs, I don't trust those two horizontal lines on them. The Sony 22" LCD displays we have are nice but for some terrible reason they start getting something like burn-in after only 6-8 months of use.

[Cobra]

No offence to any Sony enthusiasts, but it's quite possibly because Sony have something to do with the monitors.

Every single Sony product I have bought has fallen to bits. I don't trust Sony any more - their quality control needs serious work.

[Supreme2k]

Let me just whip this out...

That's what she said!

[Conquest10]

Let me just whip this out...

That's what she said!

Wooooooooooooooooo!

[ZAPPER]

Eh, I give up on picking favorites, everyone of them will let you down just as soon as you start to brag about them.


The Sony Trinitron that my buddy gave me has a manufactured date of 97 but what of it. The HP that just took a crap has a date of 97 too. But the guts of either could be made by anybody and who knows where they get their parts.

[thecoalman]

No offence to any Sony enthusiasts, but it's quite possibly because Sony have something to do with the monitors..

I have a 19" Trinitron rebranded by Dell that I purchased 3 years ago used for $100 Guy that had i before me I think had it for a year and this sucker is as sharp as the day I bought it. Haven't seen anything that compares to it. My only gripe is those horizontal lines Rally mentioned... They are always there but you get used to them. Can be a pain in the ass if your working on a image with white background.

[rallynavvie]

Every single Sony product I have bought has fallen to bits. I don't trust Sony any more - their quality control needs serious work.

I'm in the same boat for some of their products like monitors and digital cameras. Their professional DV camcorders are excellent, far better than the Canon and Panasonic counterparts, and the Sony Vaio lappers are some of the best on the market.

I guess the same can be said about other companies. They just try to tackle too much and, as you said, their become gaps in their quality controls.

[Super Warrior]

I use a Dell Laptop as my primary/only comp: It has a nice 14" LCD screen.

[bigmicka]

i used to have a 21" Sony crt. still rocked till the day i got rid of it. but it wasnt the monitor that stopped working it was the desk that broke under the weight of that beast.

so the new 19" benq flat screen i have now is really nice and only a little smaller than the 21".

the 21 inch now has a nice new home at the house of a visually impaired guy i know, he cranks the font up and can now fit more on the screen. Everyone is happy.

mic

[richdvd]

I have a 17" BenQ LCD that I've had for close to 2 years now.
One of the best LCD monitors I've ever seen.....as far as clarity goes.

MY next one (soon) will be a 21" LCD....either BenQ or Viewsonic.

[Baldrick]

24" !

[kato51]

Dual 19" LCDs.

[SingSing]

Portriat

[SingSing]

I don't really like aperture grille CRTs, I don't trust those two horizontal lines on them.

But there are so many vender use Sony tubes, or their copies.

[Doramius]

24" !

I have a 24" too , but it's a CRT. The only problem I have is when I play Battlefront 2, I have my head perched back as if I'm accelerating with high G-force. I've adjusted the resolution, but dang!!!!. I got a wireless keyboard & mouse and now I often lay on the floor and play.

[piano632]

Is it just me, or do CRT's look more natural than LCD's? I bought a new 19" CRT a couple months back after looking at many LCD's. There's just something about LCD's that doesn't look right to my eyes. Maybe it's just the glass on CRT's that makes it seem like they have more depth on the screen... Or it could be that CRT's are half the price...

[ROF]

Is it just me, or do CRT's look more natural than LCD's? I bought a new 19" CRT a couple months back after looking at many LCD's. There's just something about LCD's that doesn't look right to my eyes. Maybe it's just the glass on CRT's that makes it seem like they have more depth on the screen... Or it could be that CRT's are half the price...

It's just you.

but I must ask where are you getting decent 19" CRTs for $110? I just received my bill for 3 - 19" Digital Flat LCDs for $660 and some change. I can't even find decent 17" CRTs for the price you're paying for 19s.

[SingSing]

Is it just me, or do CRT's look more natural than LCD's? I bought a new 19" CRT a couple months back after looking at many LCD's. There's just something about LCD's that doesn't look right to my eyes. Maybe it's just the glass on CRT's that makes it seem like they have more depth on the screen... Or it could be that CRT's are half the price...

CRT looks similar to TV screen, and Glossy photo. LCD look like LCD TV, and Matt photo. LCD is getting better, and almost there.

[Doramius]

but I must ask where are you getting decent 19" CRTs for $110? I just received my bill for 3 - 19" Digital Flat LCDs for $660 and some change. I can't even find decent 17" CRTs for the price you're paying for 19s.

I don't think he said decent 19" CRT. :P

Actually I'm in Vegas and I can get decent 17-19" CRTs for <$100. Depends on where you go and who's having a sale. I have also found if you go to the "higher quality" GoodWill, Salvation Army, Savers, D.I., and other places of the like when they have their regular shipments, you can find excellent quality equipment for low costs. Sometimes I go there and a company unloads it's surplus to a place like this instead of resell. They get the donation tax credit which is far more valuable than resell. I'll pick up a new (sometimes in box) Linksys wireless router for $12. 6-keyboards for $5. Excellent condition Optical mice for $1.50 each. The lower end stores usually don't get this stuff, so I don't even bother going to them, but I always try to find out where their larger, nicer stores are.

I've even bought some good & new furniture at a Salvation Army. Real Leather computer chair with armrests, tilt, and smooth swivel for $80. Same chair at Office Max was $200+.

[TheFamilyMan]

Upgraded recently from a 17" (really 16") flat screen CRT to a 19" samsung TFT with 8ms response time. For general computer use (email, web browsing) it wasn't that big of a deal. But for games, man, it was like I died and went to heaven!!! I didn't know how much I was missing with that funky 17" dell CRT. Gotta love that TFT footprint, no 19" CRT would fit on my desk!

[Doramius]

Upgraded recently from a 17" (really 16") flat screen CRT........

I hate that. Personally, I grew up with the diagonal size being the physical tube. Meaning, if it was a 17" TV it was telling me the tube was 17" diagonally. Now you have to verify whether they mean the tube is 17" or it's 17" with 16" viewable. I don't care how f**king big the case is as long as its not more than another 3" diagonally. That's the standard. The viewable is <3" unless it's a floor standing cabinet or has a built in HT. And those are rarely less than 24". Most of the time they are >27".

Just tell me the damn size of the screen I'll be viewing. This is 1 reason why I don't purchase too many monitors online.

[piano632]

but I must ask where are you getting decent 19" CRTs for $110? I just received my bill for 3 - 19" Digital Flat LCDs for $660 and some change. I can't even find decent 17" CRTs for the price you're paying for 19s.

I don't know how "decent" they are, but I got a StarLogic 19" CRT at OfficeMax for $90 when they had them on sale for $70 off. At least you can set the refresh rate up to 120 Hz and the image looks better than my old 15" HP monitor.

This is the one I got (only for $70 less than they cost now):
http://www.officemax.com/max/solutions/product/prodBlock.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&expans...kOID=537226058

Maybe they will have them on sale again sometime.

[AlecWest]

but I must ask where are you getting decent 19" CRTs for $110?

The decent StarLogic 19" CRT I just bought Saturday cost $89.98 (OfficeMax ... sorry, the sale ended Saturday).

[bacardi/avt]

Hey Baldrick: How do you like the Dell? I jsut got the Samsung SyncMaster 244T and it is just perfect. Only wondering since I read some reviews that said that the Dell Was not quite as fast when it came to video playback and gaming so I went with the Samsung instead and have not had any problems.

[Sabro]

On my 'main' system I'm still using a Gateway branded 14" that originally came with the P133 (yes one hundred and thirty three) Mhz box that I purchased when they were first released.

Laugh if you will but its a workhorse and hasn't failed me yet!

Sabro

[SingSing]

The decent StarLogic 19" CRT I just bought Saturday cost $89.98 (OfficeMax ... sorry, the sale ended Saturday).

The sales will be back. The large CRT factor in Singapore is still cranking out 19in tubes to recover the factor cost, so CRT monitor is still going to be around until you know what.