CP monitor shopping...

[DukeIronHand]

To all,

 

My faithful Sony Trinitron 21" CRT, of 10 years, has finally gone down and I need a new monitor. My 12" (or is it 14"?) emergency/temporary replacement monitor ain't cutting it for OFF!

 

I figured instead of flying blind I would throw this question at the many experts here.

 

Since I haven't monitor shopped in long years what would be the best replacement?

 

I care not between CRT and LCD as long as it is a good performer for OFF and other sims. Back in the day when LCD monitors first came out there was talk of a "graphics lag/image smearing" due to the refresh rate(?) of the early LCD's. I assume this is not an issue anymore since (I believe) there are many LCD users here.

 

Any got a hot tip for a new 21" (or bigger) flat screen CRT or LCD monitor? Cost (within reason) will be an issue I'm afraid. Damn college age children!

[DukeIronHand]

Thanks for the link to TigerDirect. Had forgotten about them as I have had much luck buying hardware from Newegg.

 

Will have to fire up a pot of Joe and do some comparison shopping on both pages.

 

And it looks you right about CRT monitors at first glance - I guess I was dating myself!

[12oclockhigh]

Speaking of monitors what are people's thoughts on the 3D versions that are starting to appear. Seems to me that OFF would be a fantastic game in 3d. Is this something the devs are looking at and is it even possible?

[Cameljockey]

Here's a link to a Dell ST2410 24" Full HD Widescreen. I've got the same one sitting on my desk. Great for OFF or games in general.

 

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=320-1070&cs=19&c=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=39715&lid=1003769

 

I have no complaints at all!

[Bandy]

I was looking for a widescreen a few years back, and was shopping based on price and then features. Apparently a number of the bargain types are basically the same monitor and components but in a different case, and sold under different names, so price at the low end is really not a consideration.

 

All I can say is, after having a number of low end 22" and 24" HannsG LCD monitors crap out on me (thank the gods for Costco's return policy!) I paid a bit more for a Vizio 26" 1080p HDMI and was literally blown away by the quality an extra $100 to $200 made. Night and day.

 

Go to see the monitors in a store first, like Costco or... write the name/model down that impresses you the most, then shop online. Choose a fast refresh rate (minimum 5 ms, 3 is better) and highest contrast ratio you can find in your budget.

 

Read a few online articles, education is power.

Edited July 13, 2010 by Bandy