I would personally go with a LCD, I have the Ultrasharp 1800FP.  Its much brighter and easier on the eyes in my opinion.  It also saves you a lot or room.  I would never go back to a CRT.  The Dell 1901FP seems like a fantastic monitor!  Give it a try.

If your main task will be reading text for hours I would suggest the LCD as well.  The LCD is generally brighter and will cause less eye fatique when viewed for extended periods of time. 

The CRT  is able to display a wider range of color and offers more resolution options.  The CRT is better suited for graphics and game play

First off, thanks for the advice. 

What are the main points to look for?  I saw the 1901 was rated high in "PC Magazine", but sometimes I don't trust the reviews in the magazines.  It seems like the reviews differ from magazine to magazine.  I've seen one where a View Sonic rated higher than the Dell.  Not to mention that when magazines like the one mentioned earlier do their reviews, they're not testing all the different monitors available.  I don't know if it's because one manufacturer is a better advertiser than another, or if they use different testing.  I've decided to see what real people actually have to say, and what they feel the better monitor is.  I naturally would rather get the Dell, after all my computer is a Dell, but not if for the same $$$ I can get a better monitor.

Thanks again for your advice!

I would stick with big name LCD makers.  Ive had Dell and Samsungs and I love them both.  I just ordered the Dell 2001FP last night, if you want I'll let you know how it is when I get it. 

Some points to look for are contrast ratio and response time.  Even though most manufactures aren't very honest about the contrast ratio, try to get atleast 400:1 or higher.  As for the response time I would say nothing above 35ms.  I would recommed 25ms.  I really like the 1901FP and the samsung 192T.  Both are 19in monitors and are fantastic.

If you have any other questions let me know.

Yeah, that'd be great if you could let me know what it's like.  I thought about a 21", but I was afraid it'd be too big for what I am doing with it.  They say your eyes get fatigued watching a TV too large if you don't have enough space between you and it.  That would be very sweet, though!  My card supports TV, maybe I should just hook up a 56" big screen!  J/K, LOL.  I am seriously considering the 1901.

So,  a higher contrast ratio is better?  For instance 600:1 would be better than 400:1?

I plan on using my 17" CRT as a 2nd monitor, sitting off to the side.  My graphics card supports 2 monitors, so it will be nice to have a second screen for reference materials (not having to close one window to look at another).

Have you done this, or are you going to do this?  I was just curious how it worked out.

Thanks for your help!

The higher the ratio the better it is.

I have the same video card that you do, the ATi 9700 Pro card.  I've also been doing dual monitor for over 6 months now.  The 2 monitors that I've been using are the Dell 1800FP and the samsung 170MP.  I have just recently sold the samsung for a good price and to replace it I bought the 2001FP.  Let me tell you something.  Once you go dual monitor, you NEVER go back.  I get soooooooo much more work done when I have two monitors.  It has been a hard month, I've only had my 1800FP  ;).  If you do both monitors I bet you, you won't keep the CRT for very long.  You'll see how much better LCD's are and you'll get a second 1901FP :-p.

T-minus 3 days or so till I get my 2001FP.

agree with the other postings here, for text and long hours of viewing , the lcd is probably your best best. i have the viewsonic vp171b lcd, and like it very much. i also have a sony g520 21" crt, and contrary to the others here, i still like the big crt . i paid a lot for it and it,s a high quality monitor, it has its advantages over the lcd .

i may be looking for a large lcd later this year, got my eye on the new viewsonic 20 inch lcd. it has 16ms speed, but its sort of expensive. also looking at the dell 2001fp but don,t like so of the postings here on bad pixels. if costcos get the dell 2001fp, might buy it there if i don,t get the viewsonic, costcos has a very good return policy if i get the dell 2001fp with bad pixels

Hi,

Have you got it yet?  I see in Small Buisiness, Dell has the 2001FP for $749 delivered until 01/18.  I was just curious if it had any bad pixels or anything.  I thought I saw that the specs said it had a 25ms redraw time, but then I also saw a review that said it had a 16ms time.  Hmmmm.  That's a lot of cash to shuck out to have a monitor show up with bad/stuck pixels.   I don't know what to do.  I also saw some people had light spots.  I really want to get it, but am afraid of what I'll have when it gets here.  I'm kicking myself right now thinking I should have ordered the 1901fp last night while it was still on sale.  I'll probably get the 2001fp, but need to do more checking to see what Dell's return policy is on the stuck/bad pixel situation.

Let me know how yours shows up, I hope it's okay, because I want one too!! :)

Got the monitor yesterday.  All I can say is they it is wonderful!  Zero dead pixels, and very clear and bright.  I say go for it!