Well, my homebuilt system has reached the point of frustrating me to the point of wanting to sell it on eBay and move on! After dealing with several days worth of troubleshooting and still not figuring out what the problem is (it just plopped some bad sectors on a drive, and I'm getting all kinds of oddness on it--I won't bore everyone here), I think I'm just about ready to get a Dell or something...I realized that I probably couldn't build a system for the price that Dell is selling them, and as much as that frustrates me, it's not a bad thought that all the hardware would be assembled and configured and I would have nothing to do, I would know that the hardware combination works together, I would have the option of just sending the stupid thing to Dell to let THEIR tech support fix goofy little problems like this, and I would get a QUIET system--between the fan on the processor and the power supply, I may as well have a jet engine running--in addition to the one in Flight Sim, that is.Anyway, ALL that being said (yes, I was venting), I'm noticing that Dell has a deal on their site where they're giving away a free upgrade to a 17" flat panel. Now, I'm used to simming on a 21" CRT... my question is whether or not flat panel displays have matured enough to be used for such gaming, and whether or not the difference between the 21" and the 17" would be incredibly appreciable and would drive me nuts. Although the screen would be smaller, I'd probably be able to run at a higher resolution than my honkin' NEC P1150.Thanks in advance,Kenneth

I'm using a 19" LCD since a few months back. I replaced my 19" CRT because it was worn out basically (fuzzy, dark, made funny noises).The technology still isn't that mature - I have one dead pixel (a bright red pixel visible against dark backgrounds), some slight discolouration and the 25ms refreshrate means there's some blurring when something is moving fast across the screen.It also has advantages however. Text is much sharper to read and it doesn't flicker like CRTs do below 120 Hz.LCDs are fixed at a certain resolution and this is typically lower than a CRT. Only the very high end 19" and bigger LCDs do 1600x1200. Mine is locked at 1280x1024 which isn't even the correct aspect ratio. 17" LCD's typically go up to 1024x768 or in some cases 1280x1024.I'm a little dissapointed with the LCD and would probably have chosen a CRT if I could do it again. But I'll stick with this LCD until I need to replace it.If you do get an LCD, make sure you it has 20ms refreshrate or better and you should also see it before you buy it. Check for dead pixels and discolouration and any other defects.

My experience with changing from a CRT to LCD is similar to JimmiG's. Mine too is a 19". One thing I'll add is that my LCD gave me back a nice chunk of desktop territory.LCD's still aren't ready to challenge good quality CRT's in the gaming arena. But the LCD's are the hands down winner in most other apps the average computer owner uses.Like most things in life it comes down to compromise and establishing priorities.Greg