How to Choose a LCD Monitor

No matter how powerful or excellent your computer configuration is, your computer won't let you smile if you had a poor monitor, since monitors are your window into the computer - everything that happens in your software and applications happens via the monitor. It is hence very important to choose a good monitor to go along with your PC.

Traditionally, CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitors have been used for desktop computers. However, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitors are now more and more popular. It's easy to see why: LCD monitors are affordable now, easier on the eyes, and they're slim/portable and of high quality plus laptops also use LCD screens.

Before you buy a LCD monitor, you will need to know the following things:

1. Your Budget
Of course, this is the very first thing you will need to consider, and once the budget is fixed, you narrowed your choices, and you may focus on a few models.

2. Your Requirements
If you're a graphics professional, you may prefer a CRT monitor because they are said to show more realistic colors. However, the latest high-end LCDs can also give equal color quality (Well, of course, you’ll have to pay much more for this than for a regular LCD monitor ).

If you are a demanding gamer, you may need a comparatively larger screen LCD monitor with a better response time, you won’t like the tails of the mouse, will you?

If you just want a computer for on-line surfing or occasional gaming, a LCD is a good choice because the various pixels that you find on a LCD will have nicely defined edges. This gives sharp and focus letters on the screen better than a CRT monitor does. However, a high-end LCD in this case is definitely unnecessary since you will never have a chance to make use of its advantages.

3. Resolution
If you have a computer with a video card that supports a resolution of 1680 x 1050, while you bought a large LCD monitor with a 1920 x 1200 resolution, then you won’t have the pictures/videos fully displayed on the monitor, or the pictures will look much less clear or sharp.

Besides the 3 points above, there are also many other things need your attention:

Panel Size: In an LCD monitor, the panel size reflects the viewable area you can use. Again, the measurement is made diagonally from one corner of the screen to the opposite corner. LCD panel sizes now range from 15 inches up to 23 inches or even larger.

Defective (dead/stuck) pixels: A LCD panel display may have certain defective pixels (red/dead…). But this can be identified by turning the desktop background into a whole black.

Viewing Angle: One problem specific to LCD monitors is the fact that you cannot see what is displayed if you move off to the side of the monitor too much. A greater viewing angle is therefore typically better - especially if you need to show presentations to others on the LCD screen very often.

If you do not want to bother yourself with those technical details, there is also another good way to choose a LCD monitor: to read reviews and ratings, for example, consult product reviews in computer magazines or on the Internet. Many different companies put monitors through rigorous testing and really can help you to buy wisely. A good site to consult about monitors is http://www.epinions.com/cmhd-Monitors-All, you may also find many customer reviews from resellers’ websites, for example, Newegg.com.

How to Select the Perfect Gift

Whether it's Christmas time or a loved one or friend's birthday, many of us are still scrambling around trying to choose the perfect gift for a friend or relative. What do they want? What do they need? What can we buy? We can spend hours in shops asking ourselves these questions. There is another way to select the perfect gift but it involves changing our perception of what gift giving is all about.

The problem is that we think about giving gifts as the exchange of physical objects. A useful alternative is to think of a gift as communication. When you give a gift to someone, what you are actually doing is speaking to them. You buy, make or discover a gift that says something to the receiver. They receive the gift, and if they are perceptive, they understand your message. Of course this is obvious, but somehow we forget it when we go to choose gifts. We focus first on the object or the need, then check what message it conveys.

What gifts communicate is seldom attached to their price tag or their prestige.

You may have realized gifts are communication when someone gives you a gift and you are instantly aware of what it says. Some gifts communicate distance, others intimacy. Some say ” I love your creativity”, others “You should look after yourself”. Some are downright insulting. What gifts communicate is seldom attached to their price tag or their prestige. Some of the gifts that I have appreciated the most have been practically free for the giver to arrange for me, but have said so much that they have been immensely valuable.

If you harness this thinking, when you choose gifts, then you can quickly move towards the perfect gift. Ask yourself first, “What do I want to say to this person?” Then move on to “What can I give them that will communicate this?”. This is opposite to the more common “What can I buy them?” and then “What will they think of it?”.

This method could help you come up with some slightly off beat gifts, but at least they will be meaningful. One gift that I received recently was given as a result of this sort of thinking. My wife gave me a 1 day ticket of freedom. She took on all of my responsibilities for a day and sent me off to Tokyo to play. She wanted to say that she appreciated everything that I did, and that she understood that my responsibilities were sometimes a burden to me. That helped her to design the perfect gift which was simply a break from it all. I loved it.

The gifts that we come up with when we think of gifts as communication may be the same that we would think of in other ways. The difference may simply be that we arrive at a decision faster and with more certainty that our gift is right for that person.

Of course, there is a caveat. If you have nothing positive to say to the person, but feel that you must give a gift, then go back to your old ways of thinking. Communicating negative things with a gift, may not be the best way to enjoy the occasion. Try it only if you are feeling brave.