Flat Panel Fever

Here's a rare Sunday Threshold entry.
Why, it may even be a collector's item.
So for a while now I've had money burning a hole in my savings account and I've kept finding myself being tempted by all sorts or wonderful gadgets.
I had decided to spend a little money by purchasing Brian and Kathleen's old 17" LCD monitor, but that didn't amount to too much.
That particular LCD is intended for use with Munin, my secondary computer.
For a while I've wanted an LCD for Hugin as well, but I've been reluctant to pick one up for several reasons.
For one thing, they're expensive.
Periodically I've found reasonably-priced 19" LCDs, but anything bigger was always way too expensive.
As for the 19" variety, I've resisted those as well, since I already have a 19" CRT. Since it's flat screen, it has the same viewable area as a 19" LCD does, so there's no advantage there. Also, since I got my new desk space isn't at quite the same premium it once was, so again, no advantage there.
Further, most 19" LCDs don't have the same maximum resolution as my CRT does, so that gives it a disadvantage.
The only real advantage that LCDs have is that they're cool.
And with me, at least when it comes to gadgets, that's a pretty powerful advantage.
Still, I couldn't justify the expense.
Until today.
Brian and Kathleen brought in the 17" LCD today, and so LCDs were very much on my mind, so I spent a good portion of the day searching the Web for a deal on one.
I found this one.
At $636, on the Dell site, it was (though it may be hard to believe) something of a bargain.
It didn't quite entice me, though.
I did, however, find another very similar one for the same price, though this one was not the widescreen variety.
It did, however, match my current monitor's resolution, and it was the kind that pivots.
There are obvious benefits for me to have a pivoting monitor.
Still, $636 was a bit pricey.
Then I found that Dell sold a refurbished version of the widescreen monitor for $473, which was a real bargain, and was extremely tempting.
Still, I really wanted the one that pivots, so I resolved to just hold onto my money for a while and see if maybe a refurbished pivoting monitor would someday appear.
Then I found a 20" HP monitor that pivots, on sale for $629.
Since I have an HP computer, an HP digital camera, and an HP scanner/copier/printer, the prospect of continuing the brand loyalty (especially since one day I'll be likely to replace my current HP computer with a new HP computer) was appealing.
I read a review of the HP monitor on line, and noted that it was compared favorably to the pivoting Dell. I also noted that there was a link to a review of the widescreen Dell.
In reading the review, I discoved that the widescreen also pivots.
...
So I clearly had no choice.
At long last I gave in to temptation and spent a significant amount of money.
Well, sort of.
Brian mentioned that if I wanted to buy something I should have him do it for me with his AmEx card so that he could get some frequent flyer miles.
Tomorrw Brian will be coming by to bring me the power cord for the LCD (he grabbed the wrong one today), and I'll give him a check (BOING! Just kidding.).
So soon I'll be an all flat panel household. Granted, for what I've spent on the two LCDs I could have bought a pretty cool computer system, but that can wait. There's nothing wrong with Hugin as of yet, and by the time it becomes too old I should have enough money for a new system, and I'll already have a kick-ass monitor.
Anyway, just wanted to make a not-so-quick note about my big purchase.