would this be wise?

Ok, I am running a dual monitor setup kinda. One 17" CRT with a 19" TV anyways, it's cool and all, but I am getting a new 19" Viewsonic for free from my aunt soon Anyways, i've been saving up for a new monitor and this puts into reach yet another monitor. Anyways, my question is; would it be wise to run the 19" CRT and then get a 17" or 19" LCD and use the LCD for normal chatting/web browsing, and then switch the desktop over to the CRT for gaming? Or would it have no real purpose?

Cerberus2k7 said:

Ok, I am running a dual monitor setup kinda. One 17" CRT with a 19" TV anyways, it's cool and all, but I am getting a new 19" Viewsonic for free from my aunt soon Anyways, i've been saving up for a new monitor and this puts into reach yet another monitor. Anyways, my question is; would it be wise to run the 19" CRT and then get a 17" or 19" LCD and use the LCD for normal chatting/web browsing, and then switch the desktop over to the CRT for gaming? Or would it have no real purpose?

Click to expand...

Why don't you just get a second video card?

I already have a 9800pro so I can run dual monitors. But that's not my question.

Cerberus2k7 , I've been running the exact setup you're describing for the past 3 years now and love it. I have a Synchmaster 955DF 19" CRT with an LG 782LE 17" LCD, side-by-side on my desktop. I use the extended desktop in WinXP and can drag things from one monitor to the other. It's essentially like having a 34" monitor! I do a host of multi-tasking with Photoshop, Office, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, MSSQL Enterprise Manager, email clients and multiple browser sessions running all at the same time and would never be able to manage it if not for the dual-monitor setup.

The other advantage is that with a CRT and an LCD you get the best of both worlds; Excellent sharp easy-on-the-eye text on the LCD, excellent image gradiation and games without any pixel lag on the CRT. Put your images on the CRT and your code on the LCD and enjoy life!

Go for it man! It will be the best cheap upgrade you've ever done!
Hint: Get an LCD monitor with a DVI input. You'll be AMAZED at the image quality!

FWIW; my next upgrade will be a Matrox triple head with a CRT in the middle flanked by 2 LCDs...probably sometime around mid-2005 after the predicted LCD price dump occurs.

Edit note: A 17" LCD is the same viewable area and resolution as a 19" CRT. A 19" LCD would be a bit larger than the 19" CRT and would not have as "seamless" a feel.

Alright sweet

I've been looking at the SAMSUNG 191T LCD for my upgrade but I don't know much about LCDs. I know the faster the response time, the less ghosting you get, but that's about it. Does anyone know if this would be a good upgrade?

Thanks

EDIT: Ooh, and I can leave my TV hooked up through S-Video and use that to watch animations or movies.

(Is a 3D Animation major)

Great Contrast ratio; brightness leaves a bit to be desired, viewing angle is good, has DVI in, 25ms response time is standard, the small bezel will be nice to use on an extended desktop. Samsung monitors are generally very reliable and have few dead pixels. The price is good. The native resolution of 1280 x 1024 is the same as a 17" LCD (You MUST run LCD monitors at native resolution; anything else looks like crap). As long as your 19" CRT supports this resolution, you should be OK with an extended desktop. Just realize that this monitor is going to be a bit bigger than your CRT, so when you drag things from one monitor to the other with the same resolution, they will appear to increase/reduce in size.

Well, the CRT monitor i'm getting is the ViewSonic G90FB but i'm getting it from Frys Electronics. It can handle 1920x1440 @ 64Hz so I think it will be suitable for the LCD/CRT combo.