21" CRT heading south, what to do next

CaffeineMeCaffeineMe Cedar Rapids, IA
edited February 2004 in Hardware
Year ago, I bought a 21" Cornerstone CRT at a computer flea market. Got it home, everything fine, then I started to notice blurriness, not bad, but noticeable. It got worse. I took it to a place here in town, dropped $80 on repair, and it got better for awhile. Now, blurriness is returning. I don't want to spend any more $$$ on this thing, so a replacement is in order.

I've returned to my old reliable 17" CRT, which, after a year at 21", seems absolutely puny. I want to go flat screen, but am leery as 20-21" flat screens are really expensive, and the bulk of a new 21" CRT seems ridicuolous.

What would anyone recommend? Big CRT, or drop the coin (which I'll need to save up for, either way!) on an LCD? Or just suck it up and use the 17"?

Comments

  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    19" samsumng 191t or equivalent.
    1 year is not a good sign for a monitor ...I've had this 20" diamondscan for over 10 years with not an oz of trouble.
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited February 2004
    Could always pick up a nice 21" flatscreen CRT from Merkortech. You can find a nice used one for less than $300-$400 easy.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    Oh my god.

    The Dell P1110 from Merkortech ran me about $300 shipped. Class A refurb. This monitor is flawless. I love this thing.

    I'm never buying another brand new monitor again.
  • fudgamfudgam Upstate New York
    edited February 2004
    I got a 21" Dell P1110 refurbished from ebay. Ive had no problems with it so far and Its great. I do haul my computer around quite a bit for lans and whatnot, but Its not too bad. Weighs 70 or 80 pounds I think. Cost me around $240 after shipping.
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    The Dell P1110's are fantastic.
    Any good deal on a Sony/Hitachi/Samsung Trinitron/Diamontron is worth looking into. Some of the 19" monitors are short necked, but if you have lived with yours that shouldn't be an issue.
    With monitors big and heavy are good signs.
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited February 2004
    I should also add my P1100 came from Merkortech and was just a touch over $300 shipped (I can't remember how much exactly). It's perfect, worth EVERY penny!
  • CaffeineMeCaffeineMe Cedar Rapids, IA
    edited February 2004
    csimon wrote:
    19" samsumng 191t or equivalent.
    1 year is not a good sign for a monitor ...I've had this 20" diamondscan for over 10 years with not an oz of trouble.

    FYI, the 21" was bought used, and lord knows how many miles it had spent in a semi on a pallet being shipped from show to show. It was a gamble, I apparantly lost.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    CaffeineMe wrote:
    FYI, the 21" was bought used, and lord knows how many miles it had spent in a semi on a pallet being shipped from show to show. It was a gamble, I apparantly lost.
    Then you probably didn't lose much money wise.
    There are some excellent crt's out there and quite a few lcd's. You want a reputable lcd. Beware of dead pixels and such. I don't know of anyone yet who has received the samsung 191t with a dead pixel and prime swears by this monitor as well.
    If you look into lcd's farther you'll probably find a better bargain but just be aware.
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited February 2004
    And if you do go LCD make sure you check into the manufacturers dead pixel policy. If they're a little less known brand but are willing to replace for a low number of pixels (4 total dead pixels or 2 clustered seems about fair replacement threshold to me) then it might be ok. But you really want to know this information up front as some of the companies think 20+ dead pixels are fine if they're not clustered. My 1920x1200 Dell widescreen on my lappy has a single dead pixel (died first week) and they'll replace it when I ask, but I'm waiting for them to run out of stock on the D800's with the Ti4200's in them and only have a decent (read cooler) video card int them. Of course the fact the video card doesn't like to work on cold boot also strengthen's my case :P.
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