[Geoff H]

I have an original 21" CRT display which until recently has worked without any trouble.
Following a recent power surge/brownout it seems to have a mind of its own.
It will work OK for a short period then the display just goes blank, like it is being put
to sleep but the picture disappears into a white dot near the centre of the screen. After
a few hours it can be fired up again but it is not long before the same fault occurs.
I have tried using a borrowed Dell flat LCD for a couple of days & this is OK, so it doesn't
look like a system or video card issue.
Have any readers experienced the same problem? Is this a CRT or transformer fault? Can
it be fixed inexpensively or am I wasting my time?

[OreoCookie]

Well, it could be the transformer's fault. New quality-19" widescreen TFTs start at 250 Euros, you can get 20 inches for just a tad more … so I would say, do yourself and your eyes a favor and get a new monitor.

In the US, there was a [url=http://forums.macnn.com/57/peripherals/239743/17-b-w-apple-studio/?highlight=CRT+cinema+display+repair]repair program for certain CRTs (Apple would fix them for free), but the link mentioned in that thread no longer works. In either case, even if they fix it, the image must be pretty dark by now (as all the components age).

[angelmb]

Going from a 21 CRT to a 20 wide TFT display… wouldn't he find the TFT kinda small ?, I think that a 20 widescreen TFT has a vertical surface much like a 17 CRT… could be? -just asking-

[OreoCookie]

No, because a 21" CRT has an effective image which is 19, at most 20 inch (with newer flatscreen crts). Personally, I have an 18 inch TFT (4:3) on my desk and it seems larger than a 19 or 20 inch crt to me.

Obviously, larger is better and if he wants to invest in a larger screen, then he can do that. My point is that new monitors (even by highly-regarded manufacturers such as Samsung) are very cheap and affordable

[angelmb]

Arg !! Bad wording on my behalf… what I should have said is that what you get e.g. with the widescreen Apple 20" TFT is 1680 * 1050 as higher resolution… when the Apple 21" CRT gives you 1600 * 1200, while the horizontal value is much the same, the vertical one is way lower, slighty over the reasonable value from the 17" Apple CRT, -sure such CRT can go up to 1600 * 1200 but your eyes aren't going to like that-, well, I guess it is a matter of which resolution you run your CRTs, I can stand 1600 * 1200 with the 21" CRT, but there is no way I can do it with the 17" CRT…

[OreoCookie]

I couldn't stand such a resolution on a CRT, especially if the electronics has aged. 1280x1024, yes, but 1600x1200 is certainly too high for my taste, the image is not sharp enough (I've been spoiled by using TFTs since 1998 when I got my first PowerBook).

[phoenix78]

I reckon with repair labour and parts cost it is best to just trash it or trade it in and get a lcd screen. As mentioned previously the lcds have dropped in price and improved in quality in recent times.

It seems that Dell hs had a good reputation for giving large screen lcd monitors for a good price. I dont own one myself but i will stand corrected if users say otherwise

regards.
rob