Posting this as a follow up just for informational purposes. The problem seemed to be that for some reason there are two video adapters and two monitors (both identical) that show up in the device manager. Why? I have no idea. If I uninstall the "extra" set, they just re-appear. If I simply disable them, they stay disabled and I do not experience the blurry display. I spent months trying to track down the problem as I just had a gut feeling that the problem was not with the LCD display itself- I upgraded drivers, downgraded drivers, etc. I am not sure what made me notice the two entries in the Device Manager, but I think I have solved my problem.

Yes, it can be done. I bought a 19 inch Sharp LCD TV last summer and experimented with feeding a signal from an older laptop to it. The RGB video connection was used sucessfully. (An RGB cable is much lower in cost than a HDMI cable plus many older laptops do not have a HDMI output. The cost range of an HDMI cable is from $45 to $120.) On the laptop, I set the "display" to both screen and external device. On the TV, I entered its menu and changed its input to the RGB port. Both worked well. I intend to use this combination for a rock-hound club show to demonstrate gem cutting software. I can sit behind a table facing people who come forward to view the display. I can operate the laptop and monitor the results on its screen while the viewers can observe on the larger TV screen facing them. I plan a live demonstration, but as an option, I could also prepare a Power Point presentation and let that run when I take a break.

I took the new monitor back to Best Buy. The "geek" girl hooked it up to a computer. She couldn't get any sound to come out so she told me it doesn't have integrated speakers. I told her that I had used a wire with greenish/yellow ends going from the monitor to the computer. So she found one, plugged it in and turned on some music. I couldn't hear it over the noise of the store. She had me lean way in over the counter, and said "Can't you hear it?" I said "Yes, barely, but shouldn't it be louder than that?" She told me that she didn't think there was anything wrong with it, she just thought it was made to not be very loud. They let me exchange it for another like it and it's the same, half the volume or less of my older one. I guess HP wasn't selling enough external speakers so they thought by reducing the volume on the cheap monitors they'd sell some.

Is my computer monitor going out ~ Yes ~ and if so, can I just buy a new monitor and not the whole new computer? ~ Yes ~ But...when you go to buy the new monitor...take the info about your desktop with you to make sure that there's no compatibility issues between your computer and the new monitor. There shouldn't be a problem...but I tend to be cautious about such things. :-) Anne