Monitor-Shite; sort of techy question

[Justin Case]

Vaguely AS related as I won't be able to post shite-spotting photos otherwise My monitor has given up the ghost and a new one will cost about as much as an el cheapo telly. As the computer (with D-SUB monitor connection) is on borrowed time in any case, and Mrs A is making noises about a laptop, would I be better buying the telly and replacing the kitchen telly with it when the inevitable happens or biting the bullet and getting the monitor?

 

Or are other solutions are available?

[MrDuke]

Whereabouts are you? I've got an old HP flatscreen monitor kicking about here that you can have for nowt - it worked a couple of years ago, but I'm using laptops now so it's living in a cupboard.

[Pillock]

Doh! I offloaded a Dell 15" flatscreen at the carboot yesterday for a fiver.

 

The TV will work but won't be as good quality - it won't match up to any standard PC resolutions so it'll have to stretch the picture.

If your PC has HDMI then that might be better as it'll communicate which resolution to use but D-SUB is dumb so you have to tweak with the settings to get it to work well.

 

It'll work for a while though, we use them at work a stopgap since there's thousands of them lying around. I just wouldn't plan on it being a long term thing, for the sake of your eyesight

[skattrd]

Nothing flashy, but I've got a spare 17" CRT lying around you can have if you're desperate.

 

I use lcd tv's with my media centre pc's and the resolution is spot on (1366x768 on the 32" and 1920x1080 on the 40") which are the same resolution as wide-screen monitors/laptops. Connected over vga/dvi/hdmi - all seem to work fine with no stretching. These are primarily used watching movies/tv though, due to the size of them I wouldn't recommend them for std monitor use. I would use a smaller lcd tv for pc use, as long as it can handle a decent resolution and has a suitable connection. CRT tv's though aren't ideal as they use odd resolutions and most don't have the correct input for a pc graphics card.

[Justin Case]

Thanks for the hints, tips and a couple of very generous offers However problem is now solved in an acceptable way.

When topping up the larder in Sainsbury's this morning we had a look at the tellys and ended up with a 32" Sharp display model for 20% off the already discounted price This is now in the lounge, the old 26" one will go to the caravan and the 22" one there will be the new monitor (the 26" one works ok as a monitor in the meantime so the smaller one should be fine.)

 

BTW, I'm not too bothered about my eyesight, it remains quite good as I discovered real girls at a relatively early age