Are there any significant problems with these? My wife has wanted one for a year - just because. I could understand if she wanted a new radio for the car, but this??? To keep the peace, i'm gonna go looking this week. Any suggestions, PRO or CON. Thanx.
rick

She is probably asking for a flat panel monitor. Personally, I'm waitng for prices to come down.

[This message has been edited by Gene McGill (edited 10-28-2001).]

Gene just mentioned the BIG problem http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

Gene just mentioned the BIG problem http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

The only problem that I can think of with a flat panel monitor (aside from cost) is the same problem that exists with all laptops. They have a native resolution, e.g. xga, that (as far as I know) is the only image size you can use, unlike a crt monitor which you set to whatever looks good to you. If that is not an issue with you, then the advantages of a flat panel over a crt monitor are numerous. One note; a 15" flat panel monitor is actually 15" (diagonal) whereas a 15" crt monitor is closer to 14".

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Bob McCormick
69 Malibu project

Bob nailed it. Prices on the 15" are coming down pretty nicely though. You can pick up a good one for around $300 now (of course a nice "equivalent" 17" CRT is less than $200).

The manufacturing has gotten pretty good and the dead pixel issue isn't too bad anymore. I just picked up an 18.1" flat panel at work and there's only one dead pixel on it.

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Rick Sutter
Member #383
'67 Chevelle Super Sport
67SS.com (http://67SS.com)

Thanx for taking time to reply. The $$$$ was my primary objection. The 17" we use now is fine. We have plenty of room on the computer desk, but she just WANTS one. So to keep the peace we will be going flat panel Guess that I should have sprung for it 4 months ago when we replaced our system.
rick

Bob has a very good point about the resolution. Check them out very carefully before you buy..

Tim

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BobMcC:
The only problem that I can think of with a flat panel monitor (aside from cost) is the same problem that exists with all laptops. They have a native resolution, e.g. xga, that (as far as I know) is the only image size you can use, unlike a crt monitor which you set to whatever looks good to you. If that is not an issue with you, then the advantages of a flat panel over a crt monitor are numerous. One note; a 15" flat panel monitor is actually 15" (diagonal) whereas a 15" crt monitor is closer to 14".

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not quite so. Laptops can be ordered with a better LCD color screen that will handle resolution up to at least 1024x768 with no problems. As far as external (i.e., desktop LCD monitors), to quote a ZDNet review of a Sony 15" - The SDM-M51's display specs and features are typical for its class. Like most other 15-inch LCDs, its native resolution is a comfortable 1,024x768 pixels with a 75Hz refresh rate. Its viewing angles of 140 degrees horizontal and 120 degrees vertical are also within the typical range.

There are some 17" LCDs that are now in the $550 street price range. Still some bucks, but...



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Dale McIntosh
TC Gold #92/ACES #1709
67SS & 67 Elky
http://www.dalesplace.com

The less than a year old namebrand flat screens do not have the resolution problems. I support about 300 flat screens where I work that are of various makes. My favorite at the moment is an 18" Samsung that has a TV tuner built in it runs about $1300 from PCConnection.com (the non tv version is $800). However I did see a no name at tigerdirect.com with a tv tuner for about $800 but I do not know the quality of it. The compaq flat screens also work well. We use the 15 and 18 inch versions of these.

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* Jim North *
* 71 Chevelle ragtop *
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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dale McIntosh:
Not quite so. Laptops can be ordered with a better LCD color screen that will handle resolution up to at least 1024x768 with no problems. As far as external (i.e., desktop LCD monitors), to quote a ZDNet review of a Sony 15" - The SDM-M51's display specs and features are typical for its class. Like most other 15-inch LCDs, its native resolution is a comfortable 1,024x768 pixels with a 75Hz refresh rate. Its viewing angles of 140 degrees horizontal and 120 degrees vertical are also within the typical range.

There are some 17" LCDs that are now in the $550 street price range. Still some bucks, but...
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dale -
I agree that "Laptops can be ordered with a better LCD color screen that will handle resolution up to at least 1024x768 with no problems." but that was not the point. The point was that they have a "native" resolution, which means that it cannot be changed. Therefore if you don't like it, too bad. Higher resolutions such as 1024x768 on 17" or smaller screens make the text and smaller components very difficult to read for a lot of people. It is for that reason that laptops, flat panels, and projectors may not be the best answer for everyone. CRT monitors give the ability to change the resolution to size the components to a comfortable "physical" size. Other than that, I also agree that flat panels have a lot of advantages, but Rick was looking for the "significant problems" which that could be, if his wife has up-close viewing problems. I believe that it was worth mentioning and I stick to it. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif



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Bob McCormick
69 Malibu project