A few years ago, on my first blog (currently our family blog/baby picture site), I railed against the salespeople at Best Buy. I know they serve a special purpose in the eco-system that is a retail store, but why is it that the one time I go to the store with a specific purpose, there isn’t a salesperson in sight to help me out? I was just there the day before and I was bombarded by kids asking if they could help me. Now, in my time of need, there’s none around. Sad.
Anyway, my purpose in going was to purchase a new monitor. There’s nothing wrong with my old monitor, it’s a nice ViewSonic 19″ CRT, but it was taking up a lot of desk space. So with birthday money in hand, I went to upgrade to an LCD flat panel. I studied the review sites, read user reviews and scoured every bit of info I could find. I wanted something under 350$ and I wanted a DVI connection. I was this ” ” close to buying a Samsung 17″ 712N. The reviews were positive and the price was fantastic but it didn’t have a DVI connector, which caused me to hesistate. Then I saw the LG Flatron 17″ L1720P, also at a sweet price. I’ve only recently heard of LG, but I’ve heard really good things about them. Choices, choices.
By looking at the two monitors in the store, you couldn’t really tell the difference. Why is that? Because those renobs at Best Buy aren’t running the LCDs at their native resolution. Almost all the 17 and 19 inch LCDs run at 1280×1024. Their little demo/screen saver is running at 1024×768. (It doesn’t help that they split one signal for like thirty monitors) It looks like crap! I didn’t let that deter me, though. After deliberating (and waiting for someone, anyone!) I decided I go with the LG. Of course my Best Buy was out of stock, so I had to go this afternoon to pick one up at another store.
My first impressions? WOW. Simply WOW. It’s only been running for about 2 hours, but I am stunned at how nice it is. A pure work of art. I was worried that 1280×1024 wouldn’t be enough resolution, but it is perfect. It’s just wonderful. My arm hurts I’ve been patting myself on the back so much. After I give it a more thorough test I’ll post some more observations.