CRT: What is good and where to buy?

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frankhuzzah

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Apr 18, 2007
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I'm looking to replace my 7 year old KDS 17" and my zillion year old NEC Multisync XV17. As I do a good amount of graphics work, color is important to me, hence me leaning towards staying with ol' trusty CRT. On the other hand, I'm probably going to have a secondary LCD display to use when I'm recording guitar tracks and what-not. But there are plenty of resources on picking the right LCD, so I'm not as concerned about that.

My problem is that I don't really see many places that sell new CRTs. And the few places that do seem over priced. So where do you guys go to look for CRTs? I read about 100 pages of the FW900 thread and am drooling over the concept of having that monitor, but buying it used off of eBay causes a bit of concern. I'm looking for 19"+ and it certainly needs to have a minimum resolution of 1600x1200.

Well, any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. I know there are many CRT lovers here, glad I'm not the only one!
 
It would be pretty hard to find a quality CRT that's new. I bet a lot of the quality ones stopped being produced and all that's left are budget.


I'd look at getting a high quality LCD with high color quality vs. response time. Your eyes will thank you. Are those LED backlit LCDs out yet?
 
Buying off eBay isn't too risky. UBid.com is another site worth checking. Of course, it's always nice to be able to see a monitor in person. Check your local Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA stores. You might get lucky and find a great CRT at a clearance price.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, I've been looking at AccurateIT and their selection is overwhelming. Are there any particular models (other than the FE211, I've been checking it out) that anyone recommends?
 
frankhuzzah said:
Thanks for the suggestions, I've been looking at AccurateIT and their selection is overwhelming. Are there any particular models (other than the FE211, I've been checking it out) that anyone recommends?
Click to expand...

The HP A7217A or the sony FW900 are highly recommended:D

realistically, anything by NEC or sony, with samsung being the next best IMO
 
There are many good, higher end crt's. Look for something that specifically advertises .24mm dot pitch, and hopefully at least a 1920x1440 resolution @ 75hz refresh (higher would be even better for rez and refresh).

This ebay merchant will soon relist these brand new Dell P1130 trinitrons (aka sony G520something) for $225 with shipping. So keep a close eye over the next few days.

I've tested or owned many different 21" and 22" CRT's and surprisingly i've found the Dell P1130 ranks right up there with the best of them imho, some may disagree, but i stand firm with this observation. It's perfectly capable of syncing 2048x1540 @ 85hz with .24mm dot pitch, and it's a decent compromise of fairly sharp text, good color, graphics reproduction and geometry...rare for a CRT to do all decently imho. The menu options are also easy to access, adjust and understand. The only monitors i've personally seen that may be better are the Lacie III 22", the Mitsubishi 2070sb, and some sony which i can't remember the model number. The Nec 2141sb, FE2111, Dell P1100, sony G500, IBM P275 are good but not any better than the P1130 imho. I'm not as sure about the NEC 2141sb since i still have yet to calibrate mine ;). Mitsubishi's tended to use better internal electronics than their NEC counterparts btw, though i'd probably still give NEC a high overall ranking. Overall the viewsonics, samsungs and some other names were pretty hit or miss, some good models, but plenty of garbage too.

If you choose to buy a different CRT, and are unsure about it's quality, post the model here for the rest of us to dissect :)
 
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Hi,

I would definitively suggest the FE2111SB over a used crt. Chances are used ones will have some issues (3+years tubes) . With considerable shipping costs, I do not I believe it is worth it.

You might also consider NEC 2690 lcd.

Regards,

Tarc
 
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