23 March 2016
The last thing that you want to hear about when you've just woken up is someone telling you that the computer is broken. That brings to mind all sorts of bad things and most of them expensive costs. So, I immediately went down to assess exactly what "broken" means.
It appears that our monitor suddenly expired! It wasn't such a disastrous problem but it was the Holy Week, Holy Wednesday in fact, and that meant we only had today to replace it otherwise we'd be without a computer until the following Monday.
So, Patrick and I immediately went online through our mobile phones to check how much a new monitor costs considering we had a really tight budget (think our last remaining funds were pegged for food!). I did call our favorite PC parts shop, Dynamic PC, but they were still closed (I forgot because it was only 8am that time). So, we found out that monitors now cost PhP3K at the least for the smallest sized LEDs (15.6 inches) and we were prepared to spend that much on it considering our desperation :)
We waited for Dynamic PC to open so we can check their prices, although I was sure that they'd be cheaper and I was correct. Their 15.6 LED monitors cost P2800. With that benchmark, we then decided to head to their branch in Gilmore, San Juan and buy then and there.
When we got there, we asked the prices for the other sizes and brands of the monitors they had on hand. We decided to go for the Viewsonic brand because it was the brand of our old one and we didn't really experience any problems with that and it lasted more than 5 years.
We went for the 20" model (VA204a-LED) and it cost us P3800. The 15.6" was too small for us, it was like having a tablet for a computer monitor so we decided against it. The 20" was like our old one and it was still cheaper compared to other shops which pegged their prices at above PhP4000. We couldn't wait to get home and set it up.
So, as soon as we arrived, I set it up and was I devastated when it wouldn't work. I mean, the monitor was working properly but there was no input from the CPU. My first thought was that I should have just brought the CPU with us so they could've checked assuming that it wasn't the monitor that was a problem. I was so frustrated that I left the PC alone for a while. After about an hour, I decided to open up the CPU and fiddle inside it thinking that it may just be a loose connection or that the CPU was dirty. Was I jumping for joy when I plugged everything again and it was working!! yay!!
We just adjusted the contrast, brightness and colors to suit our tastes. What's great about this monitor is that it's really clear!! It's also got an energy-saving mode so it won't cost too much, power-wise. The "superior dynamic contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1" makes everything clear, like the dark and less visible details in images are better defined. There are also different color settings (warm, bluish, cool, etc) to choose from depending on how you want your colors, brightness and contrast to be.
Anyway, so far, we're liking it :) If you want to know more, here's the link to their page.
