Buying Monitor but I have a dilemma

[BuddyGoodness]

I just built a new computer and I want to upgrade from my 17 inch crt to a 22 inch or higher. I am really on the fence between LCD and CRT. There are pros and cons to both but my biggest worry with LCD is the native resolution and refresh rates that come with that big a monitor. I do not like running windows and surfing the net at 1680 x 1050, because it makes it hard to read the print and I hear using any other resolution than the native one makes the image look like crap. Another concern is that the native resolution only has a 60 hz refresh rate which I imagine would be bad for games, especially the FPS ones I will be playing.

Now I really want to buy the 24 inch widescreen sony crt but my concerns for this are: weight, not just for carrying but for the huge cost to send it in for warranty service or repair.
Can't buy new, I can only get used ones and I worry about getting stuck with a real expensive paper weight considering it is hard and harder to find people that repair crts any more.
Power consumption: this monitor uses 130W constantly while the LCDs use like 30W, I am not sure if that is such a big deal but it seems like a pretty big consumption.

I don't know which one I should pick.

 

[tyr86]

I play tons of game on my LCDs and it works fine. 5 years ago I couldn't recommend getting any LCD over a CRT, today there are tons of LCDs that are as good or better than CRTs.

The refresh rates are good enough so that detail is moot.

You should pick an LCD.

 

[BuddyGoodness]

Thanks for the reply, so a refresh rate greater than 50hz is good enough for FPS games? Or is it response times rather that refresh rates? I should probably look this up because I am sure this topic has been addressed many times on this forum so sorry if I am asking the same old questions. Also, can the resolution be turned down to a smaller one without messing with how it looks or how it displays text in windows? That is my other big concern because from what I gather, LCDs only look good in their native resolutions.

 

[tyr86]

Refresh rate doesn't matter. It's the response time -- you're going to want something less than 8 ms, preferably. 10 to 16 ms is OK, less than 8 is awesome! Yes, you're going to have to stay in the native res or you're gonna get some trippy graphics.

If your video card doesn't suck ass, then you shouldn't worry about the native resolution. But, Oblivion at 1600x1200 will destroy your video card.

LCDs are much better right now, besides you don't have to worry about electromagnetic radiation that CRTs give out.

 

[BuddyGoodness]

I have the 8800 GTS video card so it shouldn't be too bad on oblivion.

 

[mikeny]

uh oh! electromagnetic radiation from CRT's? There goes my fishies

 

[BuddyGoodness]

heh, who knows what kind of messed up stuff LCD's are doing to us that we will not find out about for another decade or so.