"Switching to Widescreen" by Troy H. Cheek on Jan 26, 2007
Well, this week's article was supposed to be about how I'd switched my main computer system to a widescreen monitor, but as it hasn't arrived yet, I've just been spinning my proverbial wheels.
A couple of years back, I made the decision to switch from a plain old CRT monitor to an LCD one. I made this decision for a couple of reasons. Reason #1 was that my CRT monitor was starting to get a little fuzzy (the electron guns were losing their focus, I guess), meaning that I was sitting closer to the monitor and squinting more. Reason #2 was that I had bought the 19" CRT monitor I was using several years back for $300, and 19" LCD monitors were selling for less than $300.
Well, my 19" LCD hasn't gone fuzzy, but I do notice that it's not quite as bright as it used to be. Also, I've got one (1) dead pixel which is starting to bug me. Oh, I'd had the monitor for months before I'd even noticed it, but now that I know it's there, it preys on my mind. Also, I found that I can buy a 22" widescreen LCD for under $300.
Enter the KDS K22mdwb 22-inch LCD Multimedia Monitor, Black which I ordered from CompUSA. Yes, I know that KDS isn't exactly the largest name in monitors, and CompUSA isn't exactly the largest computer retailer, but I've used CRT KDS monitors in the past and they've worked all right, and CompUSA was the first one I found which hit my magic price point.
So, I bit the bullet last Friday and ordered one. The item was in stock and ground shipping was supposed to take 2-3 business days, so I figured I'd see it on Monday or Tuesday.
Well, apparently the order came in too late on Friday to be counted as Friday. Saturday, it seems, isn't a business day as far as CompUSA is concerned. My order wasn't processed until Monday. So, I should expect my monitor to arrive on Wednesday or Thursday, right? Well, I should, except that I'm writing this on Thursday and the online order tracker still says (as it has since Monday) that the order has been shipping via Virtual Shipping, whatever the heck that is. Furthermore, the help pages on the site say that ground shipping takes 3-5 business days.
Further even more, it snowed last night in Tennessee. Oh, it wasn't a lot of snow. I'll be able to get to work later today, darn it, but it was forecasted to be a lot worse, so I'm sure any number of businesses have shut down today anyway. I'm sure that there is even less snow in Texas where CompUSA is located, and even less than that in Atlanta where the monitor will most likely be shipped through. Yet I am sure, based on past experience, that should I call today and ask where my monitor is, I'll be told that it was held up because of snow. Even though, as I pointed out, the monitor should have arrived a day or two before the snow hit.
I'll continue this article if/when the monitor arrives.
