PC Pals Forum
Technical Help & Discussion => Self Building, Upgrading & General Hardware Help => Topic started by: Tony on September 10, 2008, 17:53
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Peak Oil has made me do it, yes its that pricy electric. Mind you, these three second hand 17" Dell Triniton's have served me well, ones 10 years old and the other two are 8 years old. I've decided to go from 3 x 17" to 2 @17" and a 20" now running costs wise I'll be cutting electric consumption by 60% ....and my monitors are on from dawn to dusk basically ....so they will be self financing at the end of year six :o:
How tech stuff has come down in price:
I bought the first two CRT's second hand for £100 each in about 2000 I guess, and another one again second hand say in 2003 for £40. Well there may be no jobs left in the UK, but we are getting cheap monitors. :laugh: To be honest these Dell CRT's were manufactured in Hungary.
Anyway I have already got one of the 17" ones, it came on Friday, a Iiyama glass fronted one.......I was intending to go the Hard Glass route [more durable and grandchild proof] but have since changed my mind. These glass fronted ones reflect in sunlight, and if they catch sight of a energy saving light bulb reflection via a picture on the wall, that shows up vivid purple on the screen.
I was going to send it back but it was £15 to post, so I'm keeping it, and repositioning it in my set up. Reflection was not a real issue with the CRT monitors, and I must say text wise, the CRT's still knock the TFT's into a "Cocked Hat" So today I've ordered the other two monitors, the 20" one again a Iiyama 2ms job with 0.258 dot pitch. And a 17" Belinea like the 17" Iiyama but minus the Iiyama price premium, and glass, but same 5ms 0.264 dot pitch. The sooner I cannot compare the text on my Trinitons with their 0.25 dot pitch, the sooner I'll stop muttering to my self :)x
I went for the 20" 2ms job which will be flanked by the two 17" offerings, because it will be used for gaming by me and the eldest grandson. Well the new monitors will keep the wife happy, as she hated those massive CRT lumps dominating our computer study....she has a 15" TFT screen on her PC, it's fine for her, all she does is look at Marks & Sparks, Next, and play Freecell on it ;D
Must admit it will be nice getting most of my desk top space back :)
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Sounds like a nice set up, Tony. 8-)
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Peak Oil has made me do it, yes its that pricy electric. Mind you, these three second hand 17" Dell Triniton's have served me well, ones 10 years old and the other two are 8 years old. I've decided to go from 3 x 17" to 2 @17" and a 20" now running costs wise I'll be cutting electric consumption by 60% ....and my monitors are on from dawn to dusk basically ....so they will be self financing at the end of year six :o:
I love the in-depth justification :lol:
You forgot to factor in the heat generated from the CRT's (no to mention the free sun tan) that stop your heating thermostat from clicking on at a factor of 3n six multiplying .6 fathoms as the winter draws in hence a compounding percentage rise in condensation match betting Gas and Oil on a fixed tariff which will end up costing you 17.3% more over 6 years :bubble:
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Very valid points Cammy. I've just changed all my tungsten bulbs for low energy versions but now realise it will cost me much more to heat the house! :bawl:
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http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-050-SA
I have just treated myself to this arrived yesteday and am thrilled with it from the smooth swivel stand to the amazing picture on it,I played a DVD on it today. Using a Pixar film "Cars" as the animation is so good as is the sound and the picture on this monitor was better than on my DVD player with my TV.
High gloss case cant fault it.
The final bonus was the day after mine arrived the price increased by £30..so Im a happy feel,I had a square 17" with low resolution but this is a 22" widescreen and it feels like a mini cinema.....Just thought I would share this with you ;)
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Still glowing then, David? ;D Glad you're enjoying the monitor! ;)
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Since we are all comparing monitors, here is a picture of mine.
(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi2.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy37%2Fclivedown%2Fmymonitor1.jpg&hash=f4b107a752384bec805ac11c4876d0378298552b)
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;D
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Swap Clive ? ;D
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Still glowing then, David? ;D Glad you're enjoying the monitor! ;)
Im still amazed at the difference Simon :thumbs:
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Yes Cammy your right, I very rarely need heating on in my office with those CRT's radiating all that heat. On the few days it got really nippy I put a oil filled rad on. Bugger heating gallons and gallons of water via the gas boiler, then sending it on a trip around the whole house.
David, Samsung do some nice monitors, and that's one of them. Funny thing was although I had settled on the 20 " Iiyama and the Belinea because all three screens will run through in line, and basically are matched in looks with the same base designs ....... ;D Anyway the Iiyama is £145, but this morning I saw the Samsung T200 20" [rose series] on E Buyer for £126, I thought hell that's cheap....anyway I saw it later in the day at £194, more like it's recommended price. E Buyer pricing is some times all over the place, for instance a month back I bought two Garmin Sat Navs because they where on a 1p each ........obviously I cancelled the order as I knew they would not honour it....its in the terms and conditions....I just could not resist hitting the buy button. :)x
But even the non mistake E Buyer pricing can be all over the place. For instance the Hard Glass 17" Iiyama, I ordered a week last Monday, it cost me £124, a week later it was £140 then it hit £154 yesterday, and today it's priced at £135 :crazy:......The Belinea is costing a reasonable £103, so all in all I've ended up spending £372 on the set up.... it's for work you know ::)
Nice one Clive, our first telly was a Stella....you'll remember them ............ :)x
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I think that TFT monitors are aceptable for pcs Tony, unless you are into really fast action games. I wouldnt move away from CRT for my TV just yet though as nothing is good enough from what I have seen yet, unless its being fed from a HD source.
I spent ages on tuesday evening setting up a friends new 42 inch Samsung plasma. I had it running alongside their old Toshiba 25 inch 4:3 TV.
After getting the picture the best I could I suggested they sent it back as it wasnt as good as their old TV.
The definition wasnt as sharp as their old TV, they both agreed and when watching a replay of the latest tennis final I said you could see the trace of the ball as it was being hit but couldnt see it on the old TV.
They couldnt see it at first and then after a few more shots they could see it but said that it didnt bother them :dunno:
I said that they should send it back and get their cash back and see what comes out in a couple of years as OLED is well on the way now, even though its still expensive and small screen sizes at the moment.
They have decided to keep it as they said it looks nice, (when its switched off I have to agree), and my friends hubby said he may be dead in 2 years as he has had heart problems ::)
When she told me they had ordered the TV I called in at Comet to see what they were like. They had about 5 rows of plasma and LCD TVs and I didnt see any that had a decent picture, until I walked down the last row. I couldnt believe how good the picture of all the TVs in that row were, absolutely stunning. Then I noticed the logo in the corner, they were all being fed off a Blu Ray DVD player at 1080p. A couple were actually buying one of the ones from this row and I almost felt guilty at not suggesting that they ask if they could see it being fed off whatever was feeding the other displays. If they dont have the sense to ask about it then I dont see why I should have to save them a lot of cash and disappointment when they see it at home :o
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You cannot tell some people Sandra.....we bought a 37" Toshiba, [1080p] now it had excellent reviews when running on a digital signal, but said the normal signal view could have been better. No don't get me wrong I think the ordinary signal offerings are fine, but I really bought it for HD viewing. DVD's are excellent on it, not got Blueray ye. But thinking of Free Sat when the bring out a Sky+ type box.
One thing the Tosh give us, was a lot of usable space in the living room. The 28" inch Sony Wega cut the room in two, because the wife did not wont its arse showing out of the first floor patio window. :)x So I converted best part of the garage into another occasional bedroom come TV room. With the Sony's 100Hz screen its better for close up camera shots where the camera has to pan fast to keep up with the ball in the footie........So Terry I can put you and the misses up if you want ;D
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but this morning I saw the Samsung T200 20" [rose series] on E Buyer for £126, I thought hell that's cheap....anyway I saw it later in the day at £194, more like it's recommended price. E Buyer pricing is some times all over the place
and today folks its 20" Samsung T200 (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143283) £141
Oh I found one of the Menu options on that 17" Iiyama I did not really want, because of the reflection issues, was not working. So as its now going back as faulty, E Buyer have arranged pick up for tomorrow. ;D And I have ordered another 17" Belinea, so the set up will look more balanced, plus cutting the overall cost by £19.
If I have one issue with E Buyer, it is the fact that you have to pay 10p a minute to call them to arrange a returns note. First you must ring Customer services .....queue [8 in front]......then after explaining the problem they give you a RMA request number. Then patch you through to Tech Support.......queue [14 in front] who will then decide if the request is valid, and who will bare the cost of returning the goods. I dare say that could have set me back four or five quid in phone charges. >:(
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If I have one issue with E Buyer, it is the fact that you have to pay 10p a minute to call them to arrange a returns note.
Is it an 0870 number Tony? I find the SayNoTo 0870 site to be invaluable. http://www.saynoto0870.com/search.php The alternative numbers given usually put you straight through to an operator.
8-)
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Yes I use that website, I tried a number on there and all a I got was put straight to somebody plonking on a piano. No Zero pence per minute message from the 18185 phone service I use, and no company info statement.
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Update,
You have to laugh, right the 20" Iiyama and 17" Belinea arrived yesterday, straight into the OSD menu. And low and behold I cannot access the image function [greyed out] on the 20" Iiyama, and this is a different laid out OSD menu to that used on the 17" model.
Now I'm thinking, hang on there cannot be the same fault on this model, with a different OSD Menu as well. So I'm straight into the Belinea, now funny thing is, this is using the same OSD menu as the 17" Iiyama was! Come in exactly the same packaging, and I mean the exact same, apart from the box was Belinea presented, there's a thing to ponder :o:
Anyway I digress, so I'm thinking, what's the difference....and there it was 20" Iiyama, like the 17" Iiyama was connected via the DVI socket. With the Belinea being connected to the D-Sub socket on the same graphics card. Swap them around and the 20" image menu is accessible, Belinea is not accessible. Conclusion.....it is not a fault, obviously connected via DVI there is nothing to alter image wise or so it would appear....you would think it would say something in the manuals.
So today I thought, Tech returns are going to suss it, so best come clean and add a note to the open RMA on the 17" Iiyama, explaining what I have just posted here. Did not wont them thinking I was trying it on. In any case I'm happy with the Belinea, in fact another Belinea is arriving tomorrow to replace the 17" Iiyama which was returned. And my defence would be [if one was needed] Tech support should know about this confusion regards the DVI/D-Sub relationship with the image menu, and verified as such when I reported it as a fault...but there you are.
Just done that and .....bing bong.....you have mail.....opens it and there are two emails from Ebuyer
Dear Hung like a Donkey,
Following extensive tests by our returns technicians, this item was found to be faulty. A replacement product will be dispatched as soon as the RMA is closed.
Second email....Yep I've another 17" Iiyama arriving as a replacement. Tried to cancel it online but it wont give me that option......phoned Ebuyer...explained.....but they cannot stop it as its despatched from another warehouse.......its going today...just got to refuse delivery ....then they will credit my Credit Card when the replacement arrives back at E Buyer.
Like I say you got to laugh, mind you it still cost me best part of £1.50 to wait in two queues and explain to two different people what was what...........not even a plonker on a piano on the Sayno 2 0870 website alternative phone number offering. ::)
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Nothing's ever simple is it? :laugh:
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Here's mine
(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi4.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy147%2Fsuggy1%2FMyPC.jpg&hash=f5b13c33f240e0055b9bec8a52a1e6f269322599)
and here's the Wife's ;D
(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi4.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy147%2Fsuggy1%2FLindasPC.jpg&hash=cdcf73bc0bef91f09760261d92eca086b7da9b30)
PS: there's no where to put a conservatory, so we have to bring our tender plants into the computer room over winter. We have not got a clue what the plants with the long flowers that are in the process of opening, are. But they are descendants of a plant we where given by a customer back in 1973/5 ish. He said they where pineapple plants, but they are not.
I'll show you them when they are in full bloom, very exotic
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A very impressive set-up Tony! Looks just like a dealer's desk! ;D
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Nice set up, Tony! 8-)