Why you NEED a cheap 15' 4:3 LCD monitor

If you work on old computers, you can't beat the practicality of a 15-inch 4:3 aspect ratio LCD monitor, especially now that they're so cheap, or even free.

Demo clips used:
GoatHerderEd - "Computer Labels":

Joey and Freddy (a.k.a. Nick & Eddie Going) - no longer on YouTube, but their channel still is:

NCIX Tech Tips - "Xbox One launch, AC 4 IS PC optimized, and Bitcoins in Space! - Netlinked Daily FRIDAY EDITION":

[GoatHerderEd]

Oh. My.... That was a video of ME you showed at the end! HA! Can't believe that video is still making the rounds... I need to pick myself up a $2 monitor!

[NewtHew]

This monitor is what Zac Snyder intended for fans to view the Snyder cut on. The true cinematic experience.

[TheMitchelThomas]

I love how the thrift store classified the camcorder as "furniture". Even they think it's just a paperweight now XD

[barbudoru]

If you have a slow starting monitor, you can press the Pause key and most BIOSes will wait until your monitor warms up and you can see the other key prompts.

[BriGuyIT]

I used to work in a datacenter and we had these ultra-cheap 15-inch LCD monitors that were super bare-bones. Only VGA and DVI inputs and no power saving features at all which meant that it would instantly display all video from any server without the backlight powering on and off to save energy and hiding boot messages you want to see. They were so handy.

[josemendezfr]

This man still runs Vista, he fears nothing.

[Balleatomique]

What I miss the most is a direct access to Brighness and Contrast, sick of those neverending menus

[SkyTheLeafeon]

A monitor, no matter how cheap or expensive, is always a nice thing to have. You never know when you'll need it!

[charlesdeens]

That's one hell of a fuqing monitor you got there.

[MultimediaJay]

"This monitor might not display BIOS messages."

"Hold my beer. Time to jam all the keys and force a keyboard error." 🙂

[ksaspectre]

These videos really don't feel like they are made in 2021, seeing that date on the desktop shocked me even though I know the upload date

[Fantastic_Timez]

Lol when the monitor takes longer to boot than your PC

[carlcouture]

If you need a second monitor, even for modern gaming, these things can be super useful. You can have the game in one monitor and keep other important things open in the other like team chat, gamefaqs, streaming statistics, etc. without having to interfere with your main screen.

[.Deet]

I'm an analyst for a thrift store that uses tag colors like that. We cycle through one of four different tag colors each week, so that after an item has been on the floor for three weeks, it goes to clearance pricing before we remove it and send it to the salvage outlet. The discounted tag colors simply represent the oldest items on the floor. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but this goes for most normal donated items.

[AstonGryffynn]

Thanks for reminding me of when Linus didn’t have a beard.

[camtwan]

The correct title of this would’ve been “why I need a cheap monitor”

[onometre]

We have a bunch of those larger HP ones at work. 15 years of near constantly being powered on and they still have a pretty good picture

[blkdog]

I just got a 19" monitor from a thrift store too, for "utility" purposes. It was $5 because I had a coupon. Here's the important part- there were two monitors there, both Viewsonic, 'looked' like the same monitors. I checked ONE monitor for inputs- VGA and dvi, great! I grabbed the one that was less dusty. Brought it home and realized it only had vga. Spent several minutes (maybe a couple hours) looking for a vga to HDMI adapter because I was sure I had one, cause I got boxes of adapters. I was not going to be defeated, I was not going back to the thrift store either- this is my monitor now and it's going to work. I went to Walmart and bought a $14 adapter. So my $5 monitor became a $19 monitor.

[breakcoregirlxd]

ive gotten like 5 of these from my local charity shop for 50p each, one I want to get is a 1600x1200 one but they're not very common

[happysmash]

Old 5:4, 1280x1024 monitors are my favourite. I've been using them for years, and love them! It means subtitles go under the video instead of covering it, allows for better scrolling, and the more square aspect ratio matches a single eye better, and therefore matches HMD screens better, which makes them good for recording VR content. I love 5:4 monitors, and actually do not want to upgrade my monitors to anything newer unless something new comes out also in a 5:4 aspect ratio, because I've actually come to strongly prefer this resolution.

Old monitors that are still working today are also often super well-built and reliable, due to having withstood the test of time. If they have lasted until now, they will likely last a long time into the future. According to the manual of my Dell 1907FPVs, they even _drop-tested_ these monitors! Amazing!

0:47: Wait, you are talking about smaller monitors too, not just the aspect ratio =(O.O)= ?! I am intrigued!

The problems with the delay you are talking about sound specific to that specific monitor. My 19" Dell 1907FPVs have no trouble turning on quickly or switching graphics modes. It also uses a standard power cable and can be pushed down to lock in a way that makes it easy to pick up, despite also being super adjustable when unlocked.