New monitor-- suggestions?

[Ed Eubanks]

Well, its time to buy a new monitor for the computer-- and the tax refund we'll be getting soon (yep, I've already e-filed my taxes) will pay for it. So, what are your suggestions? Let me give you a starting point:
<UL><LI>Budget: $200 or less
<LI>I'm completely content with a CRT-- especially since it will offer more bang for the buck
<LI>I'm currently using 17-inch, so no smaller than that (and 19-inch is awfully tempting!)
<LI>I will be doing extensive photo editing on it, so it needs to be "good enough" for that
</ul>
Now, I know very little about brands and such-- I know that ViewSonic and NEC are supposed to be long-timers and probably pretty decent. If you have brand recommendations, that's fine; what I'm really looking for, though, is stuff like this: what is the max. dot pitch to look for? What controls MUST I have to properly adjust my viewing? How much does a true flat screen tube really help? Are there certain brands I should absolutely avoid?
Also, here's a real kicker question, in my book: will I do better going with a somewhat-higher-end 17-inch, or will the 19-inch that I can get for that kind of dough be good enough?
Thanks in advance.

[Steve Baggett]

CRT's have almost become a commodity item. You should not have any trouble buying an adequate 19-in monitor for $200. I'm a software engineer in a 45-person development group and we've toyed with a lot of different 17-in and 19-in monitors, including flat screens. This subject is sometimes a lunch-time topic among us. The general consensus is that most of the "name brand" monitors are fine and the dot-pitch and other technical specs don't have that much effect on the output "quality". Some of these guys (particularly the 20-somethings) are hard-core gamers and they universally despise flat-panels due to the "ghosting" on rapidly changing images, which would NOT be an issue for your application. These guys talk more about their video-cards than their monitors (or their girlfriends, at least those that have them). I know that this is not directly applicable to photo editing, but I offer what I know so take it for what it's worth.

[David R Munson]

Personally, I'd say see if you could buy the 19" LaCie CRT used. Top-notch monitor, and if you can find one used it should fit your budget.

[Edward (Halifax,NS)]

One thing to keep in mind Ed, is that a 19 inch CRT monitor is a fair bit deeper than a 17 inch. It will really dominate your desk. If I go from 17 inch to 19 inch it will have to be LCD because a CRT won't fit on my desk. Make sure you measure before you buy.

[Gary Samson]

I second David's suggestion of the 19" LaCie monitor - about $379 new plus shipping. This is a terrific monitor for heavy duty image processing. You will also need a calibration device like the Colorvision Spyder to keep the monitor output consistant.

[gfen]

I own an NEC montior (a something 900, v900 perhaps?) that I picked up about six years ago.

Now, admittedly, I haven't had a problem with it in the last five and three quarters years, but the first one they sent me had bad pixels all over it right out of the box, the refurbished one they sent as a replacement also had a single dead pixel on it.

Which, as they told me, was well within their quality guidelines.

I swore to never buy another NEC again. I picked that monitor based on their brandname. I suggest that everyone avoid NEC based on their brandname.

[Ted Harris]

One more voe for the La Cie 19" on top of that you can buy one factory refurbished direct from LaCie for 250. A bit over yoru limit but well worth it.