How embarrassing...I meant 20" not 20' in the subject line! Bella

There is another post here this week asking about lcd monitors you might look for it. I have a 19" Acer and Love it. As I said on that thread one of the main reasons I chose Acer is the 3 yr warranty, plus the fact it is an awesome monitor. Most only come with a 1 yr warranty. The prices on the Acers lately have been great. I have seen them at around $179-$189 range. I got mine at Buy.com. It is also a super simple monitor to add to you system it is fully plug and play no drivers to mess with no software to load. The most important thing to consider is the connections, do you need analog or digital or can you use either one. Check on your pc to make sure you get a monitor that has the correct connections. This is the spec info on my Acer and it works and looks great. It does everything I need it to do. I use analog because I use a KVM switch for connection of all my computers to my one monitor, works flawlessly and even in linux it has no problems. Product: Acer AL1916 Type: LCD Monitor Specifications: * 19ⳠTFT LCD * 1280 x 1024 native resolution * 500:1 contrast ratio * 140° /140° horizontal/vertical viewing angles * Analog D-sub input only * 250 cd/m2 brightness * 12ms response time * Black finish * Dimensions: 16.2Ⳡ(W) x 6.8Ⳡ(D) x 16.1Ⳡ(H) I did not need speakers on my monitor since I have a nice set of speakers. Some monitors have a USB hub built in to their base that is a nice added bonus but this one does not have that, I have a stand alone USB hub on my desk so I did not need it. Here is the newer Acer 19" widescreen at Tiger direct for $179 you can read the specs and see user reviews. The ratio aspect looks absolutely fine on mine, I use it for regular daily pc use, not for any type of extensive photo or video processing. Here is a link that might be useful: tiger direct

If budget really isn't a problem, and you can afford to wait a while, a new technology called SED is on its way. The result of a collaboration between Toshiba and Canon, Surface emitter Electron Display sets use electron emmission technology just like a CRT (so the picture quality is every bit as good), but since the electron emmission is from the surface rather than a gun, SED sets will have a flat screen form factor, something like 4cm or so. These will be the new standard for light, slim, flat screen displays. The picture quality will blow LCD and plasma away (real blacks, very short recovery time for pixels so no blur in fast images), and will use less power than LCD or plasma, too. And they'll be 1920 x 1080. Sorry to complicate your choice even more, but if you can wait these sets really sound like they'll be worth it. From what I've read production has already started, and sets will be available end of this year or early part of next. Pricing should be comparable to plasma, and the first models will be in the 40-50 inch range. If you need something right away, I personally like plasma. CRT is too small and heavy, LCD doesn't have true blacks (neither does plasma but it's better than LCD), and RP sets have too small a viewing angle. As for ED vs. HD, if you can afford it I'd go HD. I compared the Panasonic sets and, while the ED picture looked good, I saw "jaggies" around the text that wasn't there on the HD, and the HD sets seemed to have better depth. Personally I'm waiting, only because I can't currently afford a good plasma HD, especially when SED is less than a year away.

No regrets what-so-ever. As it was, I was poised to buy the Sony Bravia but I felt that the picture was not as good. It actually looked blurry to me. Again, this is my own personal opinion. Additionally, the Bravia is more $$. Two of my other TV's are Sony Trinitrons and they have been very good to me. I'll make one more suggestion. A lot of times these big electronic chains will let last years model go a lot cheaper than the brand new model. Sometimes the only difference between this years and last years model is the contrast ratio. While it is true that the higher the contrast ratio the better your picture, sometimes the difference is something like 6000:1 vs. 7000:1. Again, I'll bet most people will be hard pressed to see the difference..especailly for a thousand dollars. Please remember, this is my own opinion. If you do go after a left over model, make sure it has all the features you were looking for in a brand new model. You have a tough decision to make. Will there be a gaming system, like Playstation, hooked up to the TV? Will there be anyone who will leave a static picture on the set for a really really long time? Will the set be kept in a room that is bright most of the time? If you answered yes to all these questions, then you'd be better off with a LCD. If not, then you'll be able to get a bigger screen for a lot less if you go with plasma. One other thing. How far away will you be viewing the TV from? Most people think thas getting a gigantic set and plopping themselves down three feet from the screen will give them a movie theater like experience..buzzzzzz, wrong. The only thing it will do is first give you a headache and then make you angry because the picture will look like a million little boxes. In any case, LCD's look less boxy close up. Again, see these things for yourself when you go looking. By the way, you're not a pest. ;-)