Replace CRT Monitor with LCD

You should need nothing more. Most monitors are all PC compatable unless they say otherwise specifically. Most all install Plug and Play, but you can also install their dedicated drivers if you wish.  With the higher end LCD they may run a little better on DVI (digital connection),  VGA or analog (same conector as on your CRT)  though is almost as good. They come complete with both cables from Dell, and some other manufacturers, but check. Warning; once you go to LCD you will never go back to a CRT.

Be sure also you are comfortable with the higher resolution they must run in. Adjust your current CRT resolution to 1280x1024 to mimic a 17 or 19 inch LCD, 1600x1200 for a 20" plus LCD. Also keep in mind, with an LCD size is what you get, 19" is 19" viewable, not 17.85-18" viewable for a  19" CRT.

Check the back of your PC and see if you have a DVI connector already. Here is a view of a Radeon card connectors.

http://ati.com/support/products/pc/radeon9800/radeon9800procables.html

Enjoy

Mele20, have you tried playing with ClearType to see if it improves the text any?

Dave - 19" Trinitron 

Using my 1800FP, text also was not quite as good as on my old 17" Trinitron, even using the DVI mode, which only worked for 2 weeks before going into the commonly experienced defective DVI power saving mode.  After hours of adjusting font sizes and using bold type in many places, the 1800FP is now good enough.   Use of Cleartype did not solve the problem.   Dell tech informed me that they are working on the DVI problem.  Hope the problem is solved before "Consumer Reports" sends me their next product survey.

I too have to use 1024 by 768 or else the typical Web page is too small.

Mele20 -

As many other people have told you, the problem you are having is not due to the 1901FP monitor. I am 68 years old and I can read type on my 1901FP from six feet away. It is brilliantly sharp and clear - -  far better than my 19 inch Trinitron CRT. LCD monitors are inherently sharper than CRT. All Web sites I visit are sharp, clear and easily readable at 1284 x 1024, the native resolution for this monitor. I have the Internet Explorer type size set to medium and can read it without difficulty, and my eyes are none too good, I might add. I can set it to smallest and still read it easily.

There is something wrong with your settings, not your monitor.

Bob N.

I agree with robnich's above reply.  "There is something wrong with your settings, not your monitor."

I have a Dell 2000FP running at native resolution 1600x1200 and text and graphics are crystal clear and graphics are gorgeous.  My eyes are pretty old, as well.

I will never go back to those clunky old CRTs.  They also generate too much heat into the room.

This second monitor went into DVI defective power mode last night while I was on the phone with Dell tech support. So, Dell is sending me yet a THIRD one of these monitors. The tech insisted that the problem with the small print being fuzzy, thin, pale and in some cases not even present (for instance the tips on the OE main page have many words not even present and the other words are so fuzzy and pale they are unreadable) is due to defective power. Well, that was the problem with first monitor which was DOA.

I am disgusted and don't hold much hope that the next one will be better. Dell is blaming FedX for the first monitor's problem and Airbourne Express for the second ones problem. I don't buy that excuse because the first came overnight FedX and the box was in pristine condition on arrival and Airbourne Express can't get anything here overnight (Dell thinks they can but it impossible) so it was second day air and that box also arrived in pristine condition. I find it hard to believe that both carriers were so inept that they banged the box enough to damage the monitor to such an extent and did this while leaving no smudge, torn spot or any evidence of mishandling on the box.

There is simply no comparison between the 1901 in any way with the Trinitron. In every respect the Trinitron is far superior. The only advantage of the flat panel is it takes up less space and weighs a whole lot less. I have no air conditoning but I have never noticed the room heating up from my Trinitron. I think graphics are far superior on the Trinitron. I had them both hooked up side by side with the same graphics display and the Trinitron is much better when put in graphics mode.

I just got Diskeeper Pro version 8 and I could not read anything on the screen until I put the Trinitron back into 1024x768. I am running the Trinitron now hooked up to the new tower and had it at the same resolution as the 1901 default resolution until just now. I am so much happier with the Trinitron.

There is another problem with the 1901. It has extremely tiny buttons way on the right designed only for righthanded persons to use. I get a pain in my shoulder reaching all the way over with my left hand to use those. Further, it is very tedious and hard to adjust anything using those stiff, tiny buttons that are in the most awkard possible place. They should be in the center and should be much larger and easier to use. The display buttons on my Trinitron are larger and better placed for persons of either handedness. Plus, it is very easy on the Trinitron to use the screen and make adjustments and you can do it quickly.

On the 1901, it takes forever to bring the brightness down to 15% in the morning, up to 25% in the afternoon and then 50% at night. If the brightness is left at 100% I would have to wear sunglasses to deal with the horrible glare. I am more sensitive to light levels because I wear gas permeable contacts most of the time and they let in 25% more light than do soft lenses or glasses. But even wearing my glasses, the glare from the monitor set anywhere above 50% is horrible. White backgrounds look like you would get snow blindness if you looked at them for very long. Painful to look at.

I am not about to hassle with those buttons three times a day! On the Trinitron, I just hit presentation mode for daytime and at night I leave it at standard which it reverts to when it turns off (which I have it set to do after 3 minutes of inactivity). For graphics, I hit the same button (no screen where you need to tediously change the brightness) twice to get to graphics mode. Now that is so far superior to the awful mess of properly adjusting the LCD to the surrounding light level, that it is ridiculous. Obviously Dell thought the 1901 would be used in a windowless room with the exact same light level at all times. Rather stupid.

Dell says it is not my settings causing the problem. Both monitors are defective. Doesn't make me feel very good as the third probably will be also.

I had IE set at "largest" for text and it was extremely tiny on the 1901. Largest on my Trinitron at the same resolution as the 1901 default resolution is about like medium on a resolution of 1024x768 on my 17" Trinitron.

I can't imagine reading ANY text from 6 feet away. I couldn't do that on any monitor. Plus, with the LCD I have be directly in front of it....that is a real disadvantage. I would never get an LCD tv...plasma yes but not LCD for this reason. I stand up and the LCD screen looks awful. I have to be sitting directly in front of it for it to look good. I come from another room and until I get directly in front of it, it looks horrible. A CRT monitor doesn't have that defect.

I'm curious, go here http://www.dslreports.com/forum/security,1

and tell me if you can easily read the tabs at the top and bottom of the page that say posts, favorite forums, mail, etc. There are about 8 of them. The same ones are at the bottom also. Can you also easily read the dates in the right column of the list of posts? I can on Mozilla and Firebird at 150% text zoom on my Trinitron set to 1280x1024 resolution. I can't read the tabs at all on the 1901 at the same resolution and on the same browsers with 150% text zoom set. I can easily read the dates column on the Trinitron but it is pale and spidery, fuzzy print on the 1901 and very hard to read. As for IE, it displays using the "largest" text selection the same as Mozilla and Firebird when on my Trinitron so I think what IE calls "largest" is 150% of default and "larger" is 120%.. On the 1901 (both monitors at the same resolution) IE on "largest" text selected from the drop down menu at the top, displays in tiny text so that almost nothing is readable. OE does the same thing. I can't use it at all with the 1901.

Now how can this be my settings? My settings are the same whether I hook up the Trinitron to the new tower or hook up the 1901. I have Mozilla and Firebird set to default to 150% text zoom on all websites and using them I can read anything at the 1280x1024 resolution using the Trinitron but not the 1901. I can also read, but not as well, using IE set at largest on the Trinitron. On the 1901, I can't read small print using the 1901 but can using the Trinitron both at the same resolution. When I use my normal 1024x768 resolution on the Trinitron, I have Mozilla and Firebird set to default to 120% of the normal default. I need the text zoom at 150% for the higher resolution of the 1901. I see 20/20 but my eyes are aging and I have mild dry eye syndrome . I wear contact lenses or glasses all the time as I am extremely myopic. But my eyes aren't the problem here because I'm fine on the Trinitron.

WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHY I GET LOGGED OUT BEFORE I CAN POST? IS THE LOGIN TIME HERE VERY BRIEF? It is getting to be really a problem as I loose the text when I try to post and get sent to the login page again. It appears login here is only for about 5 minutes and then you are logged out.

 

I went to DSL reports. Here are some screenshots of my LCD taken with a Sony digital camera. I have it set to JPG so remember the monitor is even clearer than in the pics. And the last screenshot, I turned the LCD panel sideways, and took a pic. The camera can't focus on near and far at the same time, so remember that before pointing out the blurriness in the distance.

Message Edited by John Redcorn on 11-19-2003 06:23 AM

Wow! That is like the difference between night and day for how DSLReports looks on the 1901 I have. If it looked that on mine, of course I would be happy. Maybe the next monitor will be fine. (Cross my fingers and knock on wood :)).
I spend 80% of my time each day on that site so it has got be easily readable. Thank you for taking the time and effort to go there and take those photos. Even from the side yours is MUCH clearer than mine was when it was working. Those dates on mine were very faint and in thin, spidery black print that was actually grey in color. Nothing like yours. The words in the tabs were so faint on mine that I couldn't read the words.

I'm sure your main page for Outlook Express (if you have it) displays the tips on right side so they are readable. My monitor was unable to display about 50% of the words at all ...there were just blank spots where the words should be and the words that were displayed were in faint black, thin, spidery text.