Scott,
Do a search on this forum for ‘monitor’, etc. There are several threads on this already.
By the way, you CAN get flat-screens that are CRT-based. I have a NEC-Mitusbishi 930SB and love it. No built-in speakers, though.
Jake
Scott,
No real experience of my own to offer, but I’ve seen some good reviews in the past on both NEC and Samsung LCD monitors. If your friend isn’t too concerned with being able to color calibrate the monitor, then I think either of those brands should be reasonable in cost and offer good build quality. Beyond that, keep in mind what your friend’s needs are and, if fast moving video (games, movies) is one interest, be sure to look for a monitor with a short refresh rate. Fortunately, in a 17-inch monitor you can find some pretty good specs of 25ms or less. Better still, if you can check out a monitor on a local store display, you can give it a good looking over yourself. Oh, and I’m not saying these less expensive LCD monitors can’t be color calibrated if desired, but I’m not sure how easily or accurately that could be done without an investment in calibration hardware/software.
Regards,
Daryl