new monitor time ?

[boink]

hey all.

I have an old Hitachi Super Scan 813 21" monitor and lately it's had a sort of funny thing happening. sorta like I hit the degauss button only very slight...the screen sorta "blinks" on me. it seems to happens a few times a night lately. just a few moments ago the screen went blank. no response from degauss button so I turned it off for a few moments and turned it back on again and it came on fine.

so I'm wondering if it's going to die soon or maybe it just has accumulated a lot of dust inside or ??

this is a big old CRT and very fine dot pitch. .22 dot pitch if I remember right and just a tic finer than everything else on the market when I was looking back then. it cost $900 or so new heh. these days people will pay to get rid of them even in good working condition for the thin LCD.

so, I'm wondering if it's gonna die, what do you guys think of the SONY PREMIER PRO GDM-FW900 ? I'd love to find the SGI virsion.
SONY PREMIER PRO GDM-FW900 24" FD TRINITRON MONITOR - eBay (item 170335481686 end time May-29-09 07:38:43 PDT)

back when I bought this Hitachi I wanted the Sony but it was $2000, now you can get the Sony used pretty cheap, but how long would it last ? can they be refurbed to get back to factory specs and last a good long time ?

or should I just say good bye to CRT forever and get a 24" flat LCD ? I can fit the big Sony on my desk still if I can find one at a decent price and if it's worth getting (age and remaining functionality factor) but I spose I wouldn't mind having more room on my desk (erm, my actual desk that is) if I got an LCD.

can anyone help with opinions here ? thanks alot !

[Cynthetiq]

I have a Sony Trinitron that is from 1967.. still has a great picture for a small protable black and white.

I have a Sony WEGA 36" it's 10 years old and I expect it to last another 5-10 years.

I've gone through 2 LCD monitors in 2 years... dual monitors... and I've known them to last a finite exact spec.

[boink]

I also had a HUGE Sony WEGA, about 300 lbs. it was great. I got it used for $500 and it lasted me about 4 years or so and just went blank one day. it was way too heavy to get to a repair shop so that's when I went LCD for my tv's. I got two Sharp Aquos tv's and one is my second monitor. no complaints but I've just owned them for about a year now.

this Hitachi has lasted me since '99 or so w/o any issues...til now anyway.

[Cynthetiq]

Aquos lives by it's MTBF.. it's accurate to about 2 days. At MTV we had a wall of them, installed 12 on one day and 12 another... they failed pretty much all at the same time. being on 24/7/365 for about 2.5 years maybe it was 3.

[boink]

"MTBF" ?
I read that the huge Sony Wega I had was so heavy if you didn't lift it right it was easy to crack a pc board inside and alot would show up DOA. I have no idea what kind of life mine had before I got it but it looked awsome and had like 13 PIP. either way I'm not dissing the Sony TV.

I'm just wondering about the symptoms of my current CRT and the thought of getting a referbed Sony CRT vs a new LCD.

[Cynthetiq]

mean time before failure.

If you're considering this particular model are you considering this auction? if so, $50 is not that much to burn in comparison to $2k. It's still 50 out of your pocket. If it lasts you 1 year, that's not horrific, but if it lasts you 3 more.... it's not a big deal at all.

[boink]

well, I wasn't concidering this particular auction, just posted it for reference. I have found Pinnaclemicro has one as a refurb for about $500...I may call them this week. I also want to call a local repair shop, both for my Hitachi and on the possibility they have refurb CRT's.
I am interested in this particular Sony just cause it's really one of the best CRT's ever made (or so I've read anyway) if I could find the SGI version in great shape I'd like that...it's got a black housing.