[Zoom]

I've got a Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 900u, which has served me fairly well. I've got it set to 1280x1024 resolution and millions of colors, 85Hz. It's a 19" CRT (18" viewable).

There are 3 things I don't like about it:
- it's huge
- it's slow to wake
- it's a little distorted

It's actually not that big by CRT standards, but I love the small size of the LCD displays.

When the monitor is asleep, it takes a few seconds to come back to full brightness.

I've adjusted everything I can (I've even had the monitor replaced by Mitsubishi) and for some reason I can't get it completely ... not sure of the technical term, but if you were to lay a grid on it, I can't get the lines to be perfectly parallel and perpendicular everywhere. Also, sometimes when it wakes up, there's a color distortion on the upper left that fades as the monitor fully wakes up (2-3 seconds). It's like there's a magnet there, but there isn't, and it goes away quickly (the other 900u did the same thing).

Anyway, I think I'm ready for an LCD. I want a 19" minimum, 20" if I can find one for a really good price. I've read a lot of reviews, and I've still got some basic questions.

First, most 19" monitors have a native resolution of 1280x1024, the same as my current 19" CRT - the same pixel dimensions but 19" viewable instead of 18" viewable. Therefore, will I gain any effective screen real estate with a 19" LCD?

Second, I've heard that LCDs and DVI make for extremely sharp pictures vs CRTs. Is that true? That sounds enticing.

Third, I'm not a graphics pro, so I don't care too much about 100.00% color accuracy and things like that. I'm also not a huge gamer, though I still enjoy them now and then, so response time and such is somewhat important. What I really want is a sharp picture with more space to work in.

BOTTOM LINE: Is a 19" LCD worth it? Would I be better off with a 20-21" CRT? How about a 20" LCD?

Note: I can't afford an Apple 20" display, not now at least. Money is an object. I'm hoping to get a nice 19" LCD for $500-600 on sale: ViewSonic, Samsung, LG, BenQ, Sony.

In my research, I found some interesting articles:
- Tom's Hardware on why specs don't mean much
- Tom's Harware's review of 17" and larger LCDs
- PC Mag LCD Buyers Guide

[OSX Abuser]

They also use a lot less electricity.

[effgee]

First, most 19" monitors have a native resolution of 1280x1024, the same as my current 19" CRT - the same pixel dimensions but 19" viewable instead of 18" viewable. Therefore, will I gain any effective screen real estate with a 19" LCD?

Second, I've heard that LCDs and DVI make for extremely sharp pictures vs CRTs. Is that true? That sounds enticing.

First - no, you won't gain any screen estate. 1280x1024 pixels is what you get. Having the same resolution on a larger screen simply means that everything (icons, fonts, etc.) will be bigger.

Second, yes that is true. First of all - unless you have an absolute high-end CRT that is perfectly calibrated and is running at a very high refresh rate (≥ 100Hz), any LCD display will look sharper (VGA or DVI). One of my machines is an older G4 with a Radeon 8500 card to which I have hooked up two identical Sony 18" LCD displays - on via DVI and the other via VGA. The DVI connection is a bit sharper than the VGA.

Bottom Line - yes, an LCD display is worth it

[Buck_Naked]

I just replaced my 17 and 19" Crt's with a 15" and 19" LCD's from ViewSonic.

[Lancer409]

lcd's are pricey .. still waiting for them to hit the sweetspot
i'm using a NEC FE991sb monitor =P .. no complaints. ... great image quality, bright, no bad pixels =P .. and cheap

[MrForgetable]

Last time I used a CRT was, hmmmm, when I had a 233MHz pentium 2!! The LCD I have now has been problem free except for a row of dead pixels around 3/4s of the screen to the right and 9/10s to the top. doesn't bother me though, since the LCD is 4 1/2 years old.

[IronMentality]

Just remember to check for the response time in milliseconds on the LCD. If it's low (around 10 or below) that's good. Anything above will cause noticable differences if you play First Person Shooter games on the internet...

[cmoney]

I've now switched from 2 19" Samsung CRTs to a 17" Sony LCD and 20" Dell LCD.

As already answered, switching to a 19" LCD @ 1280x1024 gets you no more real estate than what you already have. But, I chose the 20" Dell LCD because it's marginally more expensive than a mid-line 19" LCDs especially when you can find a Dell special which is almost every other week. (I got mine for $780 after shipping and tax, which is about $100 more than a typical 19" LCD costs.) The Dell is also rated pretty well and gets you 1600x1200 resolution, which is even better than Apple's own 20" LCD which costs several hundred more.

And other than the size of the objects on screen, there's really no advantage in going from a 17" LCD to a 19" unless you have bad eyes. So if money really is an issue, you'll get the the same benefit from a 17" LCD (versus a CRT) while saving a few bucks as well.

That's essentially what I did, I got the Sony first to replace a 5 year old Sony CRT that was warping the picture.

[Zoom]

Are there any 19" monitors that will do 1600x1200? I tried this resolution on my 19" CRT and it was pretty small text. I'm not sure if another inch would make it much better. I'm really hoping for more real estate, though - otherwise, I'm not sure it's worth it. Maybe I need to suck it up and get a 20" LCD so I can do 1600x1200. How does that look on a 20" screen?

I've heard a lot of good things about that Dell monitor, but man, I hate Dell. I swore I'd never buy from them again. Still, $800 for a 20" LCD with good reviews sounds very tempting. I just saw that the ViewSonic VP201S is on sale for $849 shipped. That's looking pretty good.

[Zoom]

What is Dell's dead pixel policy and warrantee? ViewSonic has a 3-year warrantee which includes the backlight and a 10-pixel policy (any combination of light or dark). I can't find the Dell warrantee info.

[york28]

Well, my opinion is that there is no point to a 19 inch LCD, since it costs more than a 17 inch, takes up more space on yoru desk, but gives you no additional resolution. I'd say either get a 17 inch or a 21" that will do 1600x1200. Since you want more space to work in, getting a mopnitor with the same resolution as the one you have isn't going to help.

LCDs are higher contrast and appear sharper to the eye even when connected via analog VGA. I believe that very little if any of this has to do with the DVI cable. The tradeoff here is viewing angle, which is smaller on an LCD, but perfectly acceptable to do most graphics work if you are careful.

[Zoom]

Originally posted by york28:
Well, my opinion is that there is no point to a 19 inch LCD, since it costs more than a 17 inch, takes up more space on yoru desk, but gives you no additional resolution.

I've reached pretty much the same conclusion, and I've opted for the 20" route. It's just a matter of which one I choose.

[Zoom]

Well, this should be interesting. Did a little checking around and found an obscure deal on the ViewSonic VP201s.

First, I ran across this deal on FatWallet. It gives you a login for a ViewSonic "friends and family" store purchase. This got me the display for $799 shipped. That in itself is a very good deal. Seems a little shady, but it worked...

Second, I ran across this rebate (pdf) for $100 off this model. Now, I'm not sure if this rebate will be valid, but I'm sure as hell going to give it a shot. I'm not counting on it working, but I'll keep my fingers crossed!

[cmoney]

That's definitely a good deal if it works out! The Viewsonic looks pretty good too.

Yeah I was hesitant to buy Dell but I put a picture over the Dell logo and I forget it's even a Dell. Another nice thing is the Dell has SVideo and Composite video input if that matters to you. Text isn't too small, I'd say it's comparable to 1280x1024 on the 17" LCD.

I think I read the Dell warranty was 3 years also. Don't know the dead pixel policy as I don't have any AFAIK.

As for DVI vs. VGA inputs, I was a stickler for DVI but after comparing it for a few months now, I don't really see much difference. Either way it's better than CRT.