Dell M992

Dell M992

While CRTs and LCDs still have tradeoffs, you wouldn't be unwise to select this monitor. A few years from now, this assessment probably won't hold true. LCDs are soon going to be the Germany to France’s CRTs. But we're not there just yet, so hold that thought.

Over at CNET, they're working themselves into a frenzy complaining about the 17”-caliber 1024x768 resolution of this monitor. And they should be - running that low-res on a 19", you might as well hook a 1970s-era television up to your computer and sit five feet away. Hey, I've got TV-Out, so I might give it a try. On second thought, I need to get the 1280x1024 that I was promised on this 50-lb behemoth, or I'm going to be tempted to bludgeon somebody with it. (sdpedro, in the home office, with the Dell monitor - you won't need too many clues to figure that one out.)

Here's the deal - every 19" ever made in the history of desktop computing runs at 1280x1024. Dell, the shrewd marketing vehicle that it is, naturally caters to this reality. You go to Dell, you go to customize, you scroll down to monitor, and you select "help me choose" and a little pop-up tells you that the M992 runs at 1280x1024 @ 75Hz. No surprises there – if there were, everyone would save some cash and pick up the cheaper 17” CRT. 19” models would pile up in warehouses, eventually reach critical mass, and open up a wormhole into a parallel universe without internet review sites. Our loss.

After the ordeal at Dell’s customization site, you finally get your hands on a M992, and that’s right about when everything goes south. You're staring at a huge sticker taped to the face of the monitor that says 1024x768. Thinking this is a mistake, you fire up the computer only to have the monitor itself tell you, under menu-help-recommended resolution, to "set resolution to 1024x768 using pc."

Schwhatever. It’s time to question authority. Ignore CNET's asinine refusal to crank up the resolution. Forget that Dell says one thing when they're selling it to you and another after you've signed for it. Sacrifice the 10 Hz bonus you get from running at 1024x768 @ 85, and turn up the juice to 1280x1024 @ 75. CNET says it's blurry. Six-point font is blurry at both resolutions, so why suffer at the lower one?

You can even crank this overgrown oscilloscope all the way up to 1600x1200. I haven't tried because I don't want to get an angry phone call from Michael Dell wondering why I didn’t pony up for the 21”. CNET chimes in and aptly points out that most 19"s go up to 1900xsomething. Cool. As long as I can run this piece on a resolution better than I got on my 14" laptop, I'm happy.

Resolution controversy notwithstanding, everything seems in order with this equipment. I'm keeping the pixel-count turned up high because if I put it back down to what the monitor recommends, I'm going to start thinking I'm in preschool again with all the big block letters staring me in the face. I’m going to be writing with those really thick pencils that force you to spin the big hole in the sharpener all the way around and playing with Duplo come recess. (You know, those really huge Legos that Danish babies play with in utero.) It’s just not for me. But go right ahead make those pixels fat if you're still stuck in one of those weird Freudian states. The major advantage of this monitor is that it caters to all types.

I'm sure there are better CRTs out there but for the price I didn't even bother shopping around. In the year 2006, we'll all have flying cars and 20" LCDs. The M992 (the “M” stands for “monitor”) will tide you over until then.