How long do I have left to live?

[wavefront]

Hi Everyone,
My faithful Viewsonic monitor (6 yrs old) is starting to look sick.
I just noticed that my text has little ghost shadows about 1mm to the right of everything. My guess is that the green or blue (I can't quite tell which) image components are drifting. I tried to degauss the monitor but I think the problem is at the other end of the electron stream.

• Can I do anything to fix the problem myself?
• If I can't fix the problem, is there anything I can do to keep the problem from getting worse?
• If I can't do anything, how much longer do I have before my monitor is DOA.
• What monitor (brand/type) monitor would you buy to replace my current monitor (Viewsonic MB90 - 19in w/ built-in speakers, subwolfer and USB hub. My teaching contract wasn't renewed for next semister and I don't want to spend anymore money than I have to.

Thanks in advance.

[Telexen]

You don't have a VGA extension cable on it do you? I had this same problem with my 4.5 year old Relisys and it was fixed when I took it off

If it is going dead, you can't tell how much longer it will live...just how much longer you're willing to put up with it...

Personally I'm looking to buy a Viewsonic myself...I've heard nothing but good about them, and after having two brand new KDS monitors fry on me I'm not about to grab another one of those...

[Digerat_X]

Hey, I am not to sure as to diagnosing the problem (my knowledge of troubleshooting monitors is limited to gamma and how to locate the degauss function ), however, I may have some ideas on other monitors to replace it if need be. Also, IMO, you may want to consider buying speakers and subwoofers seperate from a monitor, as it may turn out to be not only cheaper, but also result in you being able to get a better quality monitor (as most of the good ones don't have built in speakers; or so I believe)
What price range are you looking at?

[wavefront]

Thanks for the tips.
I am not using an extension cable (I tried to use on once on another system but I got very poor results).
I've noticed that the problem sometimes goes away for a short time.
Last week (when the problem started I was able to "fix" it but changing my V refresh rate from 75 hertz to 85 hertz then back again.
Today that trick didn't work.
Right now, the problem is not noticeable (I completely powered down my monitor for an hour). Does anyone have a particular brand (model) that they highly reguard? I'll award bonus points if you can tell me a good place to buy it .


Edit: The problem just showed up (again). I guess after about 10 min the problem happens. Does anyone know what the technical name for this is? (ghosting??)

[blubomber]

I would stick with viewsonic. I have a 17" viewsonic at home and i love the thing. Good color and sharp picture.

Neweeg.com is a good palce to look. The prices are not bad either. you can probably go someplace cheaper but i have been very pleased with Neweggs pricing and service.

[Digerat_X]

MMMMM.... bonus points....
I would say check out newegg first, then some other places that specialize in monitors, and then check out pricewatch. These three places combined will give you a good idea of what a fair price is for the monitor you end up wanting....
My entire family uses NEC Multisync LCD 1830's (I believe they no longer make that model....) and we love them. They are good for gaming (the only problem I have noticed with them is the lack of a killer refresh rate, but that's not the end of the world) and I think you can get the 1760 model for about..l wait for it.... $400! That'll rob some money off ya real quick... but when we got ours they were $800 a pop so it's not so bad after all.
If you do get those, I wqould suggest black, because white monitors jsut tend to look kinda chessy (you can tell they are plastic and all, it's just a preference)
Hope this helps (did I earn my bonus points now??? j/k)
Digerat

[AsteralTraveler]

Hi.

I agree with Telexen that it may be time for a new monitor, and I also agree that Newegg.com is a good place to look (Digerat keeps the bonus points ). Here's a link to the NEC monitor I'll probably buy in the near future: http://www.necmitsubishi.com/product...4&division=NEC

I've gone through a lot of monitors at work, and the NEC Multisync's seem to hold up well. $253. at Newegg.

Hope this helps.

AT

[Toddly]

I think there are a number of good monitors on the market these days. I always shop by dot pitch and some of my preferred manufacturers are Sony, Samsung, NEC and Viewsonic. Here is a Samsung 19" with 0.22 dot pitch for 189.00. No Shipping charges.Samsung About the 8th one down.

[wavefront]

Thanks for the advice about the monitors and newegg.com (bonus point to everyone )
I was looking at some LCD monitors and they are almost twice the price of CRT monitors for the same viewable area. I was wondering if you are getting twice the value in LCD?

[jmebonner]

Depends on personal preference. I'm using a Dell 18" lcd, but I've solt it to cash out and bought an envision 17" for $70. I love the lcd, the space saving, instant-on (no waiting for the thing to warm up), etc. But, for me, I'd rather have the dough, I used the profits to build another computer, so it's really whatever you decide. What will it most be used for? Word processing, surfing, gaming, etc? The answer varies greatly between these types of usage. Does your video card have a DVI output? If not, you'll lose out on a lot of the higher-end functions a fp offers.