LCD or CRT?

[Rooster71]

I'm looking to upgrade to a bigger monitor. Most of the monitor discussions I've seen here lately involve LCD's. But I notice some deals on eBay for 21" Sony Trinitron CRT's (reconditioned w/warranty) that have a "semi-flat" screen for around $200 (including shipping). The average price for a new 19" LCD seems to be around $400 to $475. The LCD's are much more convenient and easier to handle (the 19" CRT weighs 60+ lbs.), but the CRT I'm considering has the extra 2" of screen area. Overall the LCD well worth the money, but the next time I upgrade to a new PC (probably in about a year), the deal will probably include a big LCD monitor anyway.

Any suggestions? Would you guys go with the reconditioned 21" CRT for $200 or the 19" new LCD for around $400-$475? I was originally planning on buying the CRT, but the flat-screen LCD looks better and better. Any recommendations on a specific LCD, brand and/or price?

[AngryCola]

I would go with the CRT unless you have a big need for a thin LCD flat screen.. You get more screen size for less money, and the resolution and picture should be just as good (if not better) as any LCD you can buy, so long as you go with a quality CRT.

Flat screens are neat, but unless you really need the space you would save with one, the CRTs are the far better deal.

[BusterStacks]

They are a better deal... but you'll never say to yourself "I wish I would have bought the CRT..." Do it once, do it right, get the 20" Dell 2001fp if you can.

[Rooster71]

[ QUOTE ]
I would go with the CRT unless you have a big need for a thin LCD flat screen.. You get more screen size for less money, and the resolution and picture should be just as good (if not better) as any LCD you can buy, so long as you go with a quality CRT.

Flat screens are neat, but unless you really need the space you would save with one, the CRTs are the far better deal.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the reply. Are you familiar with a brand named "MAG"? They are the least expensive ones at Best Buy, but I've never heard of that brand.

[AngryCola]

I'm a gamer who loves my big screens. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

In the past it used to be true that LCDs produced "streaking" during games..especially FPS games. I hear that is no longer the case with the models that have been released the last year and a half (or so).

I still think the CRTs are the better deal right now. I have a 23 inch Viewsonic Professional flat screen (PerfectFlat) CRT. I wouldn't trade it for ANY 20 inch LCD.

[BusterStacks]

I hear ya. For me at least, gaming had to take a backseat to poker. I sold my 21" Sony CRT when I got the LCDs

[AngryCola]

They are okay from what I have read and seen. It's definitely a budget brand. Without a specific model number, I can't really advise you any further. If I had some model numbers, I could look up the specs and see how it measured up on the tech level. I'm willing to guess they are middle of the road monitors.

I think Viewsonic and Sony make the best monitors. Viewsonic monitors went retail sometime last year, I think. In the past, you had to order them directly or online.

[Rooster71]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?j=1&id=1077629948643&skuId=6554604&pro ductCategoryId=cat01011&type=product

[Joseph Busti]

You will be highly dissapointed if you buy a 19 inch lcd when you decide to try and play more than 2 tables of online poker. To play 4 tables and see all 4 tables with no overlapping you need 1600x1200 resolution. No LCD under 20" has that resolution, thats my guess on why there is such a drastic price difference between a 19 inch lcd monitor and a 20 inch lcd. I agree with BusterStacks, the 2001fp is the [censored], I have 2 of them and got them shipped tax and all for a total of $735 a piece. A week later they went down to $619 and now theyre at $799 plus ship and tax. Its all about timing on when to buy them, the price flucuates weekly.http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=320-1578&category_id=4009. They also sell refurbished ones for $598 when theyre in stock.

[Topflight]

If you've been following the boards you'd see that the 2001 fp has dropped significantly in price.

I bought mine a few weeks ago for $654 shipped, and feel almost ripped off. I think people have been getting them in the $500s lately.

I don't actually feel ripped off because the monitor is fing badass. But you should be able to get one for less than what I paid.

[Blarg]

I got two 19-inch CRT's for a combined price of a little more than $200 new at Fry's Electronics, where they seem to be on sale for around $100 or so roughly a couple times a month. I can 8 table easily on them for 8 hours or more without eyestrain.

If I could afford it or wanted to spend a lot more money, I would be spending five or six times as much to get LCD's, and that's on sale. I'd probably like them, too. But it all depends on where your priorities are, and how they fit in to your budget. Ferraris may be fantastic, but that doesn't mean other perfectly good cars stink. You'll be happy either way, and won't wind up crying about either decision.

[Joseph Busti]

[ QUOTE ]
If you've been following the boards you'd see that the 2001 fp has dropped significantly in price.


[/ QUOTE ]
You have me there, i have not been following the boards. I have been following dell.com which is more reliable.

[illunious]

Rooster, that link isn't working for me, is it the $199 Samsung 997df? I was planning to buy this exact monitor from best buy in the near future. Looks like a quality CRT, and 1920 x 1440 is pimpin.

[AngryCola]

pricewatch.com is the best place to look for any kind of computer realted hardware. They sort the prices daily of just about every online retailer & wholesaler.

I'm not affiliated with them, but you won't find better hardware price listings anywhere on the web. I read about the site in PC Gamer, and they haven't let me down in 4 years.

*EDIT* - I forgot this was about Dell hardware, but they might have listings for that too.

[Rooster71]

Samsung SyncMaster 997DF, 19" flat screen CRT. $199 less a $20 mail in rebate.

[GrunchCan]

CRTs have better color saturation, better brightness, better tone accuracy and most importantly are still much faster than LCDs. On top of all that, there lots cheaper. Unless your'e into gaming or doing photography type stuff, none of this probably matters much except $ and size. I still say get a CRT unless you have some compelling reason to get an LCD.

[AngryCola]

[ QUOTE ]
Unless your'e into gaming

[/ QUOTE ]

Good post, but CRTs have always been better for gaming, not worse. The recent generations of LCDs are starting to catch up, but CRTs are still the way to go, IMHO. I realize that's your suggestion, as well. I just wanted to clarify the gaming bit.

[Rick Nebiolo]

IMO a lot depends on how your desktop is set up and whether or not you want to go to two monitors (the nuts IMO even if you don't play much online).

With a corner setup like mine my 22" Viewsonic Professional Series P225f CRT fits nicely and is available at most larger computer shows refurbished for about $230 (new they are over $500). To the right I have an inferior no name 15" LCD (another CRT would take up too much space) with a lot of wasted space around the edge of the screen. Today I saw a great looking 21" LCD with little wasted space around the edges for about $900 at Best Buy. If I ever get into serious multi-tabling I'd get one of those (it does 1600 by 1200, needed to do four tables at once without overlap).

~ Rick

[AncientPC]

I think I'm better off first buying a table that can hold my monitors without caving in first before buying 2 LCDs that support 1600x1200.

I can't justify spending an additional $1500 for 2 LCDs when I have 2 monitors (Samsung 900NF and 900IFT) here that do the same thing already. Space isn't an issue, I'm just tired of the monitors tilting towards the center since the middle of this cheapo Wal-mart table.

Meh, I'll just buy a real desk when I'm moving in a few months.

[DaveB]

There's a 25% off LCD's coupon you can "win" in the Dellf game right now... plus there's a $40 off you can get at bensbargains.net, and free shipping through tomorrow. I just ordered the 2001fp for under $600 inc tax... I think you can also buy those 25% off coupons on ebay for like $3-5 if you can't win one.

[GrunchCan]

CRTs have always been better for gaming

That's what I meant to say, sorry. CRT = g00t for games.