Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

davidflas · Dec 4, 2003, 11:26 PM

I just got a new powermac dual 1.25 fw800 and I need a good display to with it. I have a $500 budget and am not sure what to buy. CRT or LCD.... I do a lot of photo retouching in photoshop and some gaming, not a lot of word processing/office type stuff. Any suggestions?

l008com · Dec 4, 2003, 11:50 PM

You are going to think I'm joking but I'm dead serious. Buy a pair of $250 Diamondtron CRT's. 17" or bigger. You can hook both right up to your video card (one needs an ADC -> VGA adapter, I don't think those are expensive (or ADC -> DVI then DVI -> VGA). You'll have a ton of screen space and you'll never go back, especially in Adobe apps!!!
The only catch is desk space. Thats why I have one older 17" Apple CRT and one cheapo 15" LCD. It all works awesome in the end though.

Peter · Dec 5, 2003, 05:09 AM

I have this monitor, its a 17" NEC DVI / Analouge LCD Monitor. Its great for gaming, it has a response time of 16ms. 3 year warranty. Its great -

davidflas · Dec 6, 2003, 10:53 PM

I saw that display at a local store, it looked good and very detailed... I'm still searching for a display

l008com · Dec 6, 2003, 10:58 PM

Originally posted by davidflas:
I saw that display at a local store, it looked good and very detailed... I'm still searching for a display

Did you read what I wrote?

Eug · Dec 7, 2003, 01:20 AM

Samsung 173T. I have the previous model (172T) and it's great:

davidflas · Dec 7, 2003, 07:13 AM

Originally posted by l008com:
Did you read what I wrote?

Yes, I read that as well. Its a cool idea, but I'm not sure I want most of my desk space consumed by two large CRTs... Still haven't ruled it out though.

si_lance · Dec 7, 2003, 04:50 PM

Eug,
Nice spanning.

If you don't mind the space issue I agree that dual-headed is the way to go. Matter of fact, check this out:

http://www.eetimes.com/pressreleases/prnewswire/103399

davidflas · Dec 7, 2003, 07:36 PM

If only I could afford dual lcds....

l008com · Dec 7, 2003, 07:39 PM

Well if you're talking IF's, just IF an apple 30" LCD into your house, you'll only need one of those.

l008com · Dec 7, 2003, 07:39 PM

Maybe do what I did then if space is an issue and get one 17" CRT and one cheap 15" LCD. I bet you can get that for $500 total.

si_lance · Dec 7, 2003, 08:38 PM

done:
17" CRT $105.94
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...nics&n=1067714

15" LCD $322.99
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...nics&n=1067712

or 14" LCD x 2 ($214.99 x2)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...nics&n=1067712

davidflas · 08:44 PM

How about 2 of these they look pretty sweet!

or

these

si_lance · Dec 7, 2003, 08:45 PM

maybe buy the 2 17" CRTs I mentioned and buy an iPod with the rest (if you don't have one)

l008com · Dec 7, 2003, 08:47 PM

those 19's are gigantic, but if you have the space they'd be good. As far as those two amazon ones, I think you can get a better quality more expensive CRT and a cheaper LCD if you look elsewhere.

Eug · Dec 7, 2003, 09:26 PM

Text quality on LCDs (with DVI/ADC) is superior to CRTs.

chaldean oracle · Dec 7, 2003, 09:28 PM

Here's an interesting one:

The HP F50 is a 15" LCD that's well-reviewed by users on Amazon, supports DVI input, and is $229 after rebate.

Buy 2, have 2048 x 768 total workspace, a nice dual-monitor rig for Photoshop (photo on one screen, palettes on the other), and it will look snazzy.
Or, do as suggested above an get one of these + one CRT for better color reproduction / gaming.

l008com · Dec 7, 2003, 09:32 PM

Originally posted by Eug:
Text quality on LCDs (with DVI/ADC) is superior to CRTs.

I strongly disagree, CRT's always have a much higher resolution, and its pixels have less "sharp" edges, anti-aliases works much better and looks much better on a CRT. Generally a quality CRT will be better than a quality LCD in every single way, except Physical size, and the amount of electricity used. If I had the space, I'd have all large CRTs, but I don't, so I use one good CRT and one, possibly two soon, cheap LCDs

davidflas · Dec 7, 2003, 10:21 PM

Here's a photo of my desk with 17" Hitachi crt, B&W LM1 speakers,HP Photosmart 7550, and 30GB iPod:

l008com · Dec 7, 2003, 10:30 PM

Two can play at that game!!!!

BTW Nice Tower

davidflas · Dec 7, 2003, 10:33 PM

what's that covering the top optical drivebay on your tower?

l008com · Dec 7, 2003, 10:35 PM

-eep-

l008com · Dec 7, 2003, 10:36 PM

Its a monitor cleaning spongy thing, its resting on the open door of my upper optical bay covering the very bright white powerlight, because my bed is right behind the camera. I have a green one I cover the monitor's one with too. Also notice on the right of my desk, attached to the bottom is a USB hub. My scanner is plugged into that and its way off nearly behind where you sit.

si_lance · Dec 7, 2003, 10:37 PM

davidf wins, as his glass of beer is FULL!

davidflas · Dec 7, 2003, 11:00 PM

Originally posted by si_lance:
davidf wins, as his glass of beer is FULL!

SCORE!

davidflas · Dec 7, 2003, 11:02 PM

Originally posted by l008com:
Two can play at that game!!!!

BTW Nice Tower

Kudos for having the roll of toilet paper on your tower!

si_lance · Dec 7, 2003, 11:09 PM

I think he's in a dorm with a shared bathroom, but I could be wrong.

Eug · Dec 7, 2003, 11:41 PM

Originally posted by l008com:
I strongly disagree, CRT's always have a much higher resolution, and its pixels have less "sharp" edges, anti-aliases works much better and looks much better on a CRT. Generally a quality CRT will be better than a quality LCD in every single way, except Physical size, and the amount of electricity used. If I had the space, I'd have all large CRTs, but I don't, so I use one good CRT and one, possibly two soon, cheap LCDs

Well, that's your opinion.

CRTs offer better colour, better response, etc. but the one thing they suffer is clarity in comparison to LCDs, even when using the best quality VGA input. I have the space for a CRT, and got rid of it months ago for an LCD.

As for resolution, that's a completely different story. Sure, you can run 1600x1200 on a 19" CRT, but of course OS X isn't built for that high a dpi. You can always increase the font size, but stuff like web pages, etc. will look odd.

Peter · Dec 8, 2003, 10:34 AM

Still say - go for the NEC 17" great for gaming and DVDs, either DVI or VGA input.

driven · Dec 8, 2003, 07:13 PM

Originally posted by PeterClark2002:
I have this monitor, its a 17" NEC DVI / Analouge LCD Monitor. Its great for gaming, it has a response time of 16ms. 3 year warranty. Its great -

I have that 18" version of that monitor on my PC.
I love it. It's display would be better if I can find a damn DVI cable at an affordable price. (I keep getting DVI-I cable and I just need a stinkin' DVI-D cable!)

The only monitor that I have that has a better display is my Apple ADC 17" LCD. :-)

loh · Dec 9, 2003, 02:59 AM

Dunno if this has been mentioned, but the new NEC LCD's with the apple like frame look beautiful. Also those sony lcd's with the fancy frame are nice, but I know the sony's are only VGA

AlphaQuam · Dec 9, 2003, 01:31 PM

Originally posted by Eug:
Sure, you can run 1600x1200 on a 19" CRT, but of course OS X isn't built for that high a dpi. You can always increase the font size, but stuff like web pages, etc. will look odd.

Do you have any more information on how or why OS X isn't built for that? I run OS X at 1600x1200 on my 19" and have no trouble at all. I can't imagine having the resolution any lower.

driven · Dec 9, 2003, 01:40 PM

Originally posted by AlphaQuam:
Do you have any more information on how or why OS X isn't built for that? I run OS X at 1600x1200 on my 19" and have no trouble at all. I can't imagine having the resolution any lower.

I *think* what he means is that the text will appear to be very small.

(Kind of like using the Windows version of IE 5.5 or IE 6 on my 1600x1200 15.1" laptop LCD .... without my glasses only a mouse could read the text.)

Truepop · Dec 10, 2003, 03:15 AM

http://www.macofalltrades.com/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=7

Apple 17 Inch LCD display with 30 warranty and money back guarantee for $499.

Peter · Dec 10, 2003, 06:46 PM

I think Samsung and NEC etc monitors are much better than Apple displays, I find the fact you cant use an Apple monitor with a lot of Apple products, weird.

driven · Dec 10, 2003, 08:24 PM

Originally posted by PeterClark2002:
I think Samsung and NEC etc monitors are much better than Apple displays, I find the fact you cant use an Apple monitor with a lot of Apple products, weird.

FWIW: My Apple 17" digital LCD has a much crisper display, and is much brigher than my newer NEC digital 18" LCD.

(I love them both, just calling it as I see it.)

Peter · Dec 11, 2003, 05:03 AM

yes but the Apple display is a lot more than my NEC. I would have bought an Apple Display if it was DVI, because I cannot use an ADC monitor with my PC OR my iBook