Buyer's Guide - Mid-Range, October 2004

Display Recommendations

Many users may already have a decent display and can simply stick with what they have. For those looking to add a monitor, we recommend at least a 19" CRT for this price range. LCDs are also an alternative, although they do tend to cost quite a bit more. Our recommendation is the same for whatever sort of work you plan on doing with your PC, but the alternative might be a nice upgrade for software developers or for office work. We do not recommend LCDs for content creation, as their colors are not as accurate as CRTs, but they could be used as a secondary display.

CRT Recommendation: NEC/Mitsubishi FE991SB-BK 19"
Price: $274 Shipped (Retail)

With a maximum resolution of 1792x1344@68 Hz and a more useful resolution of 1600x1200@75 Hz, the FE991 is a great monitor for just about any use. The screen is perfectly flat, colors are vivid, and text is crisp and clear. It may be more expensive than other 19" monitors, but we feel that it is worth the cost. The only major drawback is one that can be said of all CRTs: it is large and somewhat heavy, so transporting it to a LAN party would be difficult. If you're in the market for a monitor, checking out units at a local brick and mortar shop is always a good idea. Pictures on the web are a poor substitute for actually trying out a monitor in person.

LCD Alternative: ViewSonic VX715 17" LCD 25ms
Price: $369 Shipped (Retail)

There are quite a few 17" LCDs that cost only slightly more than our recommended 19" CRT, but we prefer to spend a little more for a model that includes a DVI input. The VX715 has a good picture, and while it might not be ideal for gaming, it works extremely well for office or programming use. LCDs are easier on the eyes if you spend all day staring at a monitor, which is also nice.

Due to their increased potential for dead pixels, we again suggest that you check out local stores and test out any LCD before you purchase it if possible. Most online resellers will only replace an LCD if there are a lot of dead pixels - eight or more, usually - and as anyone who has encountered a dead pixel on an LCD will tell you, they can be very annoying. Remember also that LCDs tend to look blurry when run at anything other than their standard resolution, and some people may feel that the default text size is too small. For example, 1280x1024 on a 17" LCD might be difficult for some people to use comfortably.