…or rather, which LCD? I’ve been endlessly prowling around the internet, computer magazines, forums, chatrooms, you freakin’ name it (!) trying to find as much information as I can on which LCD would be worth my hard earned dollars (or in my case the less worthy Rand ).
I am not the kind of guy that goes with what the general media tries to sell, and with this I mean adverts, television and the worst of them all, magazines. They would review some brand spanking new product delivered to their door by the manufacturer, which of course they don’t want to bad-mouth or they’d lose getting new stuff to play with! Instead of writing an honest review you’d get something sort of okay that gets the pages filled up. Like the other day I read an review on a MP3 player that was released almost three years ago, and this magazine was going on how this would be a good buy for the people needing “a funky new player”. A funky NEW player?! Are you kidding me!
This could bring us back to the whole “why we need the press if we have the internet” debate, but I’d rather just shutup and leave it be. For me, you’d be a fool to think that whatever you see in the shiny gloss pages of the latest print is anything to go by for your next buy. I know of something better. You may have heard of this, it’s a technology that’s as old as the internet itself. It’s very simple. It’s called a forum. Smile 
All it requires is a little patience, and a little time. The point is you want to get right down into the nitty gritty where some weird person named Rambo53 tells you about his gripes with his brand new (but not so shiny) player that was supposed to be the latest and the greatest. It’s right there where you realize, reading about real experiences of real people, exactly what that MP3 player is all about. It’s right there where you realize that this player you’ve been drooling over really is just a piece of crap and you might just as well stick to the 10yr old Sony walkman that you’ve always loved so much despite the schlepp with tapes… Or not. NO NO NO! Send a letter to that magazine that told you lies and make sure they damn well know how much you think they suck. And never listen to them again, atleast not until you’ve done proper research.
A magazine should have talented people that can put together articles about something interesting that required research and time. Something that you can read with curiosity and lose yourself in on a cool Sunday afternoon on the sofa without feeling confused about consumerism taking over your life…
Anyways, the story about my research will have to wait for another day. I did find the one that according to the people is the best for what I need for the money I want to spend. So I started shopping around and to my amusement found that Incredible Connection (a local computer hardware/software retailer, in my opinion mostly over-priced) had it priced lower than anywhere else! I queried Digital Planet, an online retailer and all they could responded with was:
“Unfortunately we are unable to beat that price and the best price that I can do is R x incl. VAT as advertised on the website.”
I could guess and understand their reasons for that, but sheesh, how do you expect to sell your stock if you cannot even beat the more expensive retailers with a physical store!?
Given your interest in computers, you might like to read the essay, “Why I’m Not Going to Buy a Computer” by Wendell Berry – summarized on my blogspot – “Necessary Therapy”.