deciding for a monitor

I was slacking off on ArsTechnica when this article caught my eye. It talks about the sales of LCD monitors surging ahead of CRT monitors.

Now, remembere there are flat screen CRTs, which coud be thoughf of as trinitron TVs, since the underlying technology is the same.

I’m writing all this because noeshtiosita is in the market for a new monitor; we’ve just bought a computer on ebay and said machine needs a monitor. Our idea was to buy a LCD, but the inconvenient for us is the price since a new 17in LCD costs about US$115 and that’s on pricewatch. a 17in CRT runs around US$85.

The difference is quite clear, and tends to be even more marked when buying used. You just have to search forLCD and CRT on ebay. We at least have the opportunity to buy stuff there… other people can’t and have to pay much higher a price.

Apart from price, I read something that caught my attention:

LCD monitors have already taken over much of the computer world, and will account for 69 percent of all monitors shipped this year. By 2008, that number is expected to climb to 91 percent. It’s easy to see why: although CRT monitors tend to be both less expensive and more durable, the reduced footprint of an LCD makes for a far more attractive and useable desk space. Additionally, LCDs use less power and produce less radiation, making them a good option from an environmental standpoint as well.

I’ll emphasize the durability part of a CRT. Just a few months ago they had to change 8 LCDs at the Matrix Internet Cafe because the LCD backlight broke down. It isn’t too hard to change it, but you need some experience and willingness to try again if the fix doesn’t help (read: money to get another monitor).

I don’t have neither the experience to try nor the money to buy the parts. I’m also taking little Liam into account. A small child, by nature, grabs onto everything. I should know, my father told time and time again how I broke his LPs when I was a child myself. I can imagine Liam hitting the LCD, throwing some liquid at it – which gets underneath the LCD glass – or pulling a cable thereby making the thing fall on top of him. Or many other possibilites.

None of those things are good for Liam and the monitor. Here is where a CRT might be a better option. The glass is able to take more direct hits, is practically imposible to get a liquid inside the vacuum and because of its addtiional weight it’s not so easy to pull it by a cable.

Noeshtiosita just got home from the gym and she agrees :P

I suppose that with this post we’re going to get a CRT… now all we have to do is decide how big it should be. I want at least a 19 incher :D

3 thoughts on “deciding for a monitor”

  1. Yes, I agree… but, having money and spaces aaaaand without children we all die for one good LCD right?!?!?!

    good blog man, ive been reading yours and your wife’s blog and you both write nice. Sigan escribiendo. Saludos desde tijuana tambien.!

  2. hehehe so true.. but with kids around, we all die when they somehow manage to have it on the floor one day :P

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