What kind of monitor?

[bburton]

I've been on the Forum for seven weeks now; consequently, I'm spending even more time sitting in front of my computer monitor (my wife only thought she missed me before!).

Anyhoo, I'm wondering if going from my 19" CRT to a halfway decent LCD monitor would really make a worthwhile difference in my viewing enjoyment and/or photo representation. If nothing else, would it save these getting-older eyes of mine?

What experiences have the other members had?

P.S. I'm not financially prepared to jump to MAC right now; want to continue with WindowsXP.

As always, 'preciate any and all comments.

[Joe_Lorenzini]

If you've got a 19" CRT than consider moving up to a 21" LCD. For the best bang for the buck, consider the Samsung 213T.

http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/n...od_id=NB21BSAB

It can be had for around $750 and from what I hear, provides gorgeous color and speed.

_/oe

[bburton]

Originally Posted by Joe_Lorenzini

If you've got a 19" CRT than consider moving up to a 21" LCD. For the best bang for the buck, consider the Samsung 213T. It can be had for around $750 and from what I hear, provides gorgeous color and speed. _/oe

Thanks for the tip, Joe. It's a sweet-looking monitor for sure; might be out of my price range, however. If I only had $750 to spend, I'd be strongly tempted to buy a new DSLR: Canon Rebel 350D; Nikon D70 -- then wait on the monitor. Probably for now, if I'm persuaded to buy a monitor, I'll try to stay under $500.

[Bill Huber]

I have a 15in LCD and a 20 CRT, and I have looked at a lot of bigger LCDs but I will keep my 20 CRT.
I think the colors are better and the you get truer color with a CRT. I use the LDC for my tools in Photoshop and this way I have a full screen to work on images.
I just do not like LCDs for working on images, they are just fine for just about everything else but editing.. Thats just my opinion.

[bburton]

Originally Posted by Bill Huber

I have a 15in LCD and a 20 CRT, and I have looked at a lot of bigger LCDs but I will keep my 20 CRT. I think the colors are better and the you get truer color with a CRT. I use the LDC for my tools in Photoshop and this way I have a full screen to work on images.I just do not like LCDs for working on images, they are just fine for just about everything else but editing.. Thats just my opinion.

Thanks, Bill. I would have thought just the opposite from your experience. Maybe, I can save some of that budgeted $500 toward a DSLR after all and have a new monitor too..

[Jim Victory]

Unless your willing to spend the money on a good LCD, like the Samsung 213T, then you are better off going with a CRT.

For processing digital files there is nothing better to give you true colors than a CRT, unless your willing to spend the money for a good LCD.

I spent $800+ for a Graphics series Sony 21" CRT because it would have cost me almost 4x that for a comparable LCD.

If you just want it to look at then a more reasonably priced LCD would be fine but not for digital file processing.

[rhrocker]

Sorry to get off topic for a second, I don't mean to steal the thread. Bill Huber, how are you able to use one screen for tools, and another screen for the actual photo? I can't figure out how to set up a dual monitor system, but I'd like to.

[Bill Huber]

Originally Posted by rhrocker

Sorry to get off topic for a second, I don't mean to steal the thread. Bill Huber, how are you able to use one screen for tools, and another screen for the actual photo? I can't figure out how to set up a dual monitor system, but I'd like to.

I have an ATI 9600 All In Wonder Pro graphics card, there are a lot of different cards out there that will do it. With a dual output card you basically have a big wide desktop. You can just drag and drop from one to the other. or you can have the same thing 1/2 on one side and the other 1/2 on the other.

You start out with the tool bars on the main monitor and then just drag them over to the other monitor. It is best to have the same size monitors for both, but you don't have to. In the picture you can see that I don't, but for what I use it for its just fine.

Now what is really nice about the ATI All InWonder cards is that it has a TV tuner on the card. So I can have the TV up on one side, about 1/2 the screen and be working on an image at the same time.

It is also really great when you are working with a tutorial on-line, you can put your browsers on one and work on the other screen

[rhrocker]

That's slick! Thanks Bill.

[labguy]

rhrocker wrote:
Sorry to get off topic for a second, I don't mean to steal the thread. Bill Huber, how are you able to use one screen for tools, and another screen for the actual photo? I can't figure out how to set up a dual monitor system, but I'd like to.


you can also buy another video card if you have an available slot, even if its a cheap one since you're only using it for tools. i haven't tried this but more than one person told me it works.

[labguy]

sorry bout that last post, i didn't realize i was still in quote mode. i don't do forums that much and don't really know how things work too good in them!!

[Bill Huber]

Bill, you are correct, you can put in 2 cards, but I have found that you have a lot more problems with 2 cards, driver conflicts and the like.

You can get a Matrox Millennium P750 that will handle 3 monitors for $210 or a Asus V9400GE/TD 64MB gpt under $50.

Here is a link to find cards, from $39 ti $3k.
http://www.superwarehouse.com/Dual_M..._Cards/c3/1884

[OversighT]

I have dual 19" CRTs and I love it. Sure I'd like to have dual 19" LCDs, but I don't have the money. I just recently bought the second monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 900SL) for $69 at a local used shop and it's much better than the other Dell I have.

I also run 2 separate video cards under Windows XP and have a slick little program called Ultramon to manage the extented desktop and I haven't had any problems.

Here's a shot of my desk (yes the clutter is almost always there):




T.

[swanny338]

personally, I would love two 30" Cinema Displays hooked up to a Dual 2.5Ghz G5 with 8gigs of ram... but, its a little bit out of the price range....

[CincoJoe]

$12,047.00 to be exact,,,,