[SteelTrepid]

May be a silly question but it's one I've pondered over the past year, especially with prices coming down so much.

Here is my situation:
I work in a small shop and enjoy it a lot, but my old CRT's bug me. Sure the big 19" CRT's are ok (one of them is quite dim though) and really space isn't a issue, I was testing a 22" LCD last week and it was just awesome! A 22" monitor really isn't necessary considering that we mostly use them to run scans on computer, but I do other testing and stuff on the computers that come into the shop.

I am a cheap person but so is my boss. Of course upgrading all the monitors in our shop would cost him about $1200, so it's been hard to talk him into it. He of course always says if we sell our existing CRT's to users, then we could possibly get new ones. Nobody wants a CRT anymore, so selling them will never happen especially considering we have customers give them to us because they don't want them anymore.

One thing that pops into my head too is the fact I do not personally own one! Sure I have a dual monitor setup, but it's only a 19" and 20". So I kind of wonder if I should upgrade my 19" and bring that into work, buying the 22" for home.

This question probably applies to many of you? If you work in an office and have a crappy CRT, have you considered buying a LCD to use at work? I think income probably applies a little too? If you are a day trader, then you probably have 3 26" LCD's already! If you make 50 or 75K a year, you'd probably be more inclined to "invest" in yourself.
If you are only making around $10 an hour, then it would be a little more difficult for you to even think about doing this. Either way, please vote in the poll!

Also, if you have any comments feel free to leave them. You don't have to say how you voted but if you want to voice some thoughts on this, please do!!

[The Piney]

I voted yes due to the fact that I have a home office and would like to get one soon for that system. As far as working on PCs in general, I'm not sure I would use one for that in part due to the fact that some of the older systems that I have worked on will not support it. I'm currently using 17" CRTs for all the regularly used PCs in my home but would love to upgrade the work system and maybe the gaming/experimenting system after that. My gaming rig is a P4B 2.4GHz and is getting a bit outdated (built in 2002) so I'm thinking if/when I upgrade to a newer system I'll upgrade to LCD too..

[SteelTrepid]

Yeah, well that is another subject I think?
Like I mentioned I currently have two LCD's on my main desktop, a 17" laptop next to those, and then a 17" LCD on my "testing" system. So I do have my home setup pretty well at the moment.

I just wonder if I need to set myself up at work? I guess a good argument would be, I can get my job done just fine with what I have.....however I could be happier with better LCD's. At least 2 of the LCD's that we would replace at work would make perfect sense as they have limited space, so those are the one's I'd really like to get the boss to replace.
Like I mentioned, my area isn't space limited so that isn't an issue.....I guess I just want bigger screens!

BTW, I will finally vote on this. I am going to vote Null just to see the results, I don't think my yes/no decision has been made and don't think it should effect the outcome of the poll. Please EVERYONE else, vote yes or no.....do not do a NULL.

[YardDog]

I vote YES...

I work part time at a Mom & Pop shop and just got new LCDs.

A lot of the NEW computers are pumping out high resolutions
that make the icons on the desktop look like ants.

Its no big deal to set the resolution, as long as you
remember to set it back.

But, the LCDs do make stuff easier to see especially
with some of the weird themes people install...

I just got a 22" ViewSonic TV/Monitor with a builtin DvD player
for my home bench at CompUSA for $399... NICE

My $0.02

YD

This post has been edited by YardDog: 17 November 2008 - 11:56 PM

[Nuno Brito]

Each case is a case - I use to be a day trader and recently become a "yearly" trader since I won't be making any money anywhere soon from a stock portfolio that dropped 60% in a few weeks. Two years ago I'd simply work with the laptop anywhere I enjoyed using wireless and skip any special gimmicks with displays to follow the daytime trends.

I feel lucky because I didn't quit my daytime work or I'd be broke..

Back on topic, I'd say that having a single display helps to keep focus on whatever window is on top and only shift after the task is complete and this alone helps your work to get done more efficiently than diverting attention to everything possible - women somehow manage this multi-tasking concept quite well but it's a rare feature on men..

You should also beware of cheap LCD's - they will make your eyes get tired very quickly if their quality is nowhere good.

That's an advantage of CRT - I could work for hours in front of a CRT or even laptop display but regular (cheap) LCD's at work can cause a lot of headaches.

At my work - I once bought a better chair - was quite upset with the uncomfortable one that was used in the office and got myself a new one that made a significant difference. If you feel that you deserve better work conditions - go for it..

[SteelTrepid]

Even though I read the bad news on Wall Street on almost a daily basis, I can't stop but think of day traders when I want to reference a system with 3 or 4 monitors.

Thanks for the warnings about headaches and strain with "cheap" LCD's. I don't think that could be an issue? I move around quite a bit at work. I have my two PC's I'm working on, my laptop, another laptop on my bench if there is one needing repairs, the front desk that I take over on occasion with a PC to work on, and then I generally look over the 1 PC the boss may be working on. So I don't worry that I'll be sitting their straining at one for too long, I'll spend maybe 1/2 hour on one PC at a time then I just need to move on to check the others.

I like the mention of chairs also. Being cheap and being smart can sometimes mess you up with decision making. But then again I guess if you get a little extra money, that helps you to decide to upgrade when you really need to.
I used to buy the "cheap" office chairs (for around $40 when on sale) for use at my home office. After my back started bothering me more I thought my desk was causing it, I had a OLD metal one that was free. I lucked out and found a nice used one for $100, I was almost crazy enough to buy a new one for $500!! Didn't want to, but since I do so much work on UBCD4Win at my desk.......I need to be comfortable.
The desk of course didn't take care of it all so I broke down again and bought a nice chair for $120. I am more comfortable, but I still hate sitting at my desk. Oh well.

Ooops, got side tracked.
I was really hoping for more votes and at least a lean towards yes or no. Currently though it's an even divide.
Guess it really doesn't matter much right now because all "my" money is stuck into Xmas shopping. I generally spend money on myself and this "work" throughout the year so spoiling the kids twice a year (B-day's) is acceptable I guess?
It is very good to hear arguments for and against this idea and it will help me (and hopefully others) in the end. A couple of months from now Xmas will be over and I'll hopefully have a little extra money burning a hole in my pocket!!! If the voting and comments continue in the yes direction, I will be looking for deals in a few months!!

[masterchi]

I'd say no only if you were planning on using it on other computers and here is why......There is a chance you will drop it, hit it, bump into it, damage it, etc and i'd rather it be a CRT then a expensive LCD. Secondly when repairing multiple computers i've been known to pull the VGA cable while the monitor is still powered on out of impatience and have seen it destroy a monitor before so i'd hate for that to happen on a LCD.

If your getting it for your stationary computer in your office that is only hooked up to one PC and is in the back away from dangers then go for it if you want.

[rdsok]

I voted as if I were working for someone else ( which I'm not so my reasoning won't apply that much to me )... I voted no...

As a computer tech... I would ( and have ) purchase a tool that I may need... but not the monitor itself. The reasons are similar to what SteelTrepid mentioned for me also... I'm either moving from system to system or going out on a service call so in each situation it wouldn't "pay" for me to move a monitor along with me to work with.


Now... since I do own my own business... If I were unhappy with the monitor's I was using, and could afford the investment of course, I would certainly get a newer/larger monitor for the stations that I perform work at. Of course it would be the business that would be doing the purchase so again.. its not "me" purchasing so to speak.

I also do plan on personally buying a larger LCD for home than I currently have. I will then take the old 17" and replace the 15" at work... or move the 15 to new workbench area so I could work on yet another system.

[SteelTrepid]

Getting better, at least it's not at a dead heat anymore. Let's get some more opinions in here, come on people vote.

[Jotnar]

I bought a 22" flat panel for my fiance last year to use at work. She works with spreadsheets all day long and they all have to use 17" CRTs. Yuck.

[rdsok]

Jotnar, on Nov 21 2008, 10:40 PM, said:

I bought a 22" flat panel for my fiance last year to use at work. She works with spreadsheets all day long and they all have to use 17" CRTs. Yuck.

That doesn't count... the question is would you purchase one for yourself... not your significant other in order to score possible "sweety" points in your favor... LOL


( P.S. Thanks for the posts on the software updates )

[Jotnar]

I would have bought myself one if I had to suffer with a 17" crt.

Thankfully I was able to order some 24" flat panels (using work money instead on my own) for my job

[SteelTrepid]

I'm a moron, I couldn't resist.

TigerDirect has 22" Acer LCD's for $159, $2 shipping for up to 4 of them.
I ordered 3 for work earlier today to sell. Then I just couldn't resist anymore. So I called our rep. back up and ordered 2 more. I plan to use them at home but haven't decided what I'm going to do with my 20" and my 19"? If anything I should probably keep the 20" for my home backup system/testing area. Then I wonder what I should do with the 19" and 17"? Use them at work or sell them at work? I dunno, for testing I should probably keep the 17" since I rarely use it. Then use the 20" at work and sell the 19"?

Crap, I gotta figure out how I'm gonna pay the boss back too!!!

[SteelTrepid]

MORON is the better term here!

Seems like every time I do something, shortly after I regret it. I won't bore you with examples, except this one.

NOW, 5 minutes later......I get the email from NewEgg. Turns out they have the same LCD for $149 with FREE shipping. Then of course they have an ASUS for $129 after MIR, limit 2. However the ASUS doesn't have DVI inputs which is one of the main reasons I finally made my earlier purchase so that one doesn't count.

Just ticks me off that I spent $22 I didn't have to. I watch prices and deals daily, so this just drives me nuts!!

[rdsok]

SteelTrepid, on Nov 26 2008, 06:59 PM, said:

so this just drives me nuts!!

short drive eh... lol