Just go ahead and pick up a CRT?

[SonicIce]

Originally posted by: dalearyous
get NEC fp2141sb

from where

 

[corsa]

...dead pixels anyone ?

 

[CP5670]

Originally posted by: Creig
Where in the world are you guys pulling these numbers from? There is a HUGE thread over at hardforums about used/refurbished FW900/A7217A and nearly every person who bought one was thrilled with it. There might have been one that had convergence problems in one corner, but I think he was able to clear up the majority through the extensive OSD. Yes, some had minor scuffing or cracking on the bezel and some got a bad one from an unscrupulous seller, but I believe most people are happy with their purchase.

I am going by my own experience and what I've seen around here. I went through three bad 2070SBs early last year before getting a good one (these were actually brand new ones according to NEC, but each one had five or six different issues of its own), and can think of at least three threads here where people were complaining about getting a dud off ebay despite buying a high end model of some sort. It's mainly the tube manufacturers at fault though. If you look around the internet, it seems that the later batches of Sony F series monitors have long term reliability issues and develop problems after two or three years with no indication of it beforehand, while the Superbright Diamondtron monitors made during certain months (roughly 1/04-3/04 and 10/04-1/05) have a strange vertical linearity problem that can't be fixed. Basically, the heavy QC cost cutting by Sony, Mitsubishi and everyone else towards the end of their CRT production has resulted in a lot of duds being released into the market, which makes buying them a much riskier business than it used to be at one time.

Also, I'm betting that a lot of people have minor problems but are just assuming that it's normal behavior. I've seen many remarks about some degree of blurriness on high end CRTs, particularly at the edges, which really shouldn't be an issue on these top models. After tuning the focus knobs, my 2070SB practically looks like an LCD in terms of text sharpness, and I'm guessing a perfect condition FW900 will be no different.

 

[kmmatney]

Originally posted by: corsa

...dead pixels anyone ?

I've only recevied one LCD with a dead pixel (and I've ordered about 20 of them). Most of the time when I think there might be a dead pixel, it's just a piece of dust. You get the same effect with dust on a CRT.

 

[dalearyous]

should be able to buy it online. ... perhaps not, which would explain why someone at my work offered decent amount of money for mine. i have a friend who has one but being an idiot bought a gateway widescreen LCD and rarely uses the nec. if you interested pm me, he may not mind parting with it

 

[Compellor]

Originally posted by: corsa

...dead pixels anyone ?

A few dead/stuck pixels are no match for misconvergence and poor geometry. Plus the cheaper CRTs that you can still buy today won't last as long as the ones that were manufactured in Japan pre-2000. Even some of the higher end ones that you can get off Ebay aren't of the same quality. IMO, CRT quality went south after companies like Sony moved their manufacturing to Mexico. I had three 19" Sony CRTs (made after 2001) go bad within a year. A buddy of mine still uses his 17" Sony CRT from 1997 (made in Japan). I also have a 15" Sony that was in an office enviroment for many years and still works.

I love CRT picture quality, but unfortunately the companies still making them today are using cheaper parts and labor to make them. If you buy one, don't expect it to last very long under daily use.

 

[Randum]

I had a slew of Sony Trintrons, which I thought were amazing and when I could afford it, i got a fairly higher end LCD, the NEC LCD1765 (at the time it was unmatched) AMAZING, and no ghosting in gaming, etc.
Now I dumped my 20' Trintron and replaced it with a 19' samsung widescreen....and well text, photos, gaming= all better than my trinitrons, and they fit on my desk. LCDs have come a LONG LONG way, i would give them a chance, take a look around.

 

[Hadsus]

One little problem with CRTs and high end video cards I've come across. I've got the NEC FE2111sb which takes a VGA input only. The highest end video cards are DVI-out. My 7900gtx has two DVI outputs. Well, the DVI to VGA converter/plug introduces a small amount of noise in the video signal.

I purchased a Ratshack gadget that allows you to control two computers using the same monitor/keyboard/mouse. Hit scrollock twice and you can switch between computers. Comparing my old rig which has an ATI x850xt with a VGA output to my new Conroe rig with the DVI-to-VGA plug showed the ATI rig had a better, smoother image. The ATI also has a DVI output so when I used that output with the converter I noticed the image was very similar to my new conroe rig with the 7900 gtx.

So.......I'm looking for possible solutions like a cable that has VGA on one end and DVI on the other. That might do no good. Or maybe I should look at some of these LCDs with the DVI input. I think the x1900xt also has no VGA outputs. I'll see how much this noise issue bothers me. It has no impact at all with games.