CRT = Dead? LCD needed

[jjanders]

This afternoon I came home from the gym to find that my monitor had turned pinkish/purple. The very upper left corner still showed the correct colors, but the rest of the sceen had a purplish tint and there's some crazy lines vibrating near the bottom of the screen.

1. Is this most likely my monitor, and not my video card? It's a pretty old 17" CRT, about 7-8 years old. I just want to make sure it's the monitor before I go buy a new one.

2. I've been wanting an LCD for a long time now, but since the one I had worked well I didn't see any sense in upgrading. Since this may now be the reason I needed, what are some good recommendations? I read the LCD Buying Guide, which was great, but when it came to the recommendations list, there was only a few in each category. I don't do any hardcore gaming, I use the computer mostly for every day things - music, Internet, etc... so I'm not looking for anything fancy. All I want is a good, reliable 19" LCD. Budget is $200-$400 roughly.

Suggestions? Thanks.

 

[MacVista]

The general consensus for your question would probably be the Dell Ultrasharp 1905FP

Personally I just got the HP L1955 and love it, but there aren't many reviews or anything on it.

 

[touchmyichi]

Dell 2005fpw

 

[TheCanuck]

Did you try running the Degaus setting on the CRT? Most CRTs have that option that can clear up any distortion on the screen (usually found in the OSD settings).

If you want a decent / inexpensive LCD, you might want to look at the CMV 19" ($189 after rebates): CMV CT-934D

I just got one the other week and so far it's great -- no dead pixels, bright, and no ghosting in games. The speakers aren't the greatest, but it's got DVI and an 8ms response time.

One thing you need to do with LCDs though is run then at the native resolution (1280x1024) and enable clear type in XP if you want text to look decent.

 

[jjanders]

As an update, I tried the degauss - didn't work.

I also took the monitor to work and tried it with my computer there to make sure it was the monitor and not the video card - still pink when I tried it there, so I'm pretty sure it's the monitor.

Looks like I'll spend today researching LCDs.

 

[lavaheadache]

Originally posted by: touchmyichi
Dell 2005fpw

good suggestion

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Try jiggling the cable a little -- happens to me and my cheapo CRTS all the time.