We Don't Need No Stinkin' Monitors

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Monitors

Sunday, May 6, 2012

I remember it like it was yesterday; I came home from a Thanksgiving dinner a few years ago and tried to turn on my computer. The lights (and sound) went on and but no one was home. I realized that my CRT monitor was dead and needed a new one. Since it was late, I figured I'd just go get a cheap inexpensive new flat screen after I wake up in the morning. Also, since the next day was Black Friday, the store would be open earlier than usual. I should be able to get up early and buy one quick, right? Wrong.

Little did I know that if one store didn't have any low price monitors left, another had some ridiculous method for Black Friday sales, where you needed a ticket to purchase something and all the tickets were given out. I walked up and down Queens Boulevard in all the electronics stores looking for a low priced monitor. Finally I ended up in RadioShack, bought a no-name monitor and brought it home. Worked without a problem, and it's been my PC monitor ever since until yesterday.

So, which new monitor did I purchase? The Westinghouse LD-2240! Now, you might say to yourself "hey, that's not a computer monitor; that's a TV" and you would be correct. I was shopping around BestBuy online and in the store and didn't really see any dedicated computer monitors for a good price. Remembering my father's TV had a VGA port in it (even though he doesn't want to hook a computer up to it) so I figured there must be other televisions with a VGA port. Not only is The LD-2240 a regular TV with audio / video composite and coaxial inputs, along with the VGA port it also has HDMI and component inputs as well.

The reason behind getting a new monitor was because I was noticing the picture on the screen was fuzzy when doing work in Photoshop. Figuring it was just the monitor being old, I bought the new monitor, hooked it up and ended up having the same problem. After a bit of searching on the internet, I figured out the problem; a weak signal. I also own a projector and I send the signal from the computer to the projector and then from the projector to the monitor. The projector wasn't sending me a good signal to the monitor. I tried using a PC to TV converter but it didn't pick up the signal, although the device tends to be a bit selective on when it wants to work. This was remedied by using a VGA splitter and now the signal is crystal clear to the monitor. When using the projector, I need to adjust the resolution because it doesn't support the resolution of the new monitor.

After this success, I wondered why anyone buys a dedicated monitor anymore? If a flat screen TV has a VGA port now, what's the point of purchasing something with only that capability? Wouldn't it be better to save money, space and electrical energy by getting an all-in-one unit? The answers to these questions should be clear.

And by the way, my family is using the old monitor; still going strong.