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Then how can Sceptre sell 4K "dumb" TVs so cheap? I bought a 50" UHD TV for $299. You can get these at Walmart and Amazon, among other places.

http://www.sceptre.com/store/TV/4K-UHD-TV-category1category73.html

Thank you. That's neat, but this is still a TV — with a tuner and built-in speakers. It is unclear, what OS it has, but it must be something capable of making use of the USB-port, that is listed in the specs. So, it may not be as "smart" as the LG in TFA, but it still has features well beyond, what I'd like. It is not purely a monitor...

It may be a good value for $800, but there are still features I don't want.

Back in "the day" a little company that called itself Sceptre made these wonderful 14" CRT monitors. I had a few clients that had them and they were nice for their price. But every other one we set up would have crazy sync problems and the screen would just wave. Perplexed I called Sceptre to get some insight. The technician matter of factly and very serious instructed me to point the monitor toward the North Pole (we were on the Gulf coast). I suspiciously complied once I figured out which direction was North and viola! wavy screen went away. We had to rearrange the furniture.

Speaking of CRT monitors I remember when Sceptre monitors came with instructions in the manual that if you had banding on the screen then your monitor was not facing True North and recommending you reposition it so it was to correct the issue.

Sceptre also makes a 42" 1080p.
It's quite nice once you tape over the annoying blue LEDs on it, remove the ugly speakers, and calibrate the picture (contrast is too high out of the factory and the auto contrast/color settings trash the picture).

"If you play fast action games then CRTs are still the best"

You probably baught a cheap LCD. My Sceptre X9 19" 12ms LCD, cost about 100$ more than the cheapest 19" LCD on the market but the quality is supurb. I can play BF2, wow, quake4, etc.. all look beautiful. 180* turns are flawless with no motion blur. In addition, this particular monitor is shiney/reflective, like a crt, so you get a bit of glare from the sun, but the blacks are truely the most well done i have ever seen.

Where I work we have hundreds of LCDs. verying manufacturers. Some people will get really attached to a perticular model or manufacturer. If we switch it out for them, even say from a 15" to a 17" they immediately complain of eye problems and the like. LCD's come in a vast range or specs. Buy a nice samsung one if you cant afford 550 for the spectre. I use a samsung at work. Tried to switch to an NEC, but couldnt do it. similar feeling to look at a 60hz CRT when you used to 75-85.

also, correct me if im wrong, but Hz doesnt really apply to LCD like it does to CRT. I thought that was true but i dont know why.

"Or "manufacturer releases LCD display where black is black, not grayish""

Check out this monitor. I just baught one. The screen is shiney and reflective like a CRT. i dont know how they did it, but the black on this monitor is true jet back. so black that you get glare if you have a light behind you.

Theres no glass infront of it either. I dont know what kind of crazy technology they used but it was worth every penny.

In order to get 1600x1200, I would have had to buy at least a 20". And judging from the current prices at NewEgg, that's at least $600.

So shop other than at NewEgg.

20" pretty decent 1600x1200 20 inch LCD:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?prodid=1 1044707&whse=&topnav=&cat=&s=1

I picked up one of these babies for less than the above price last summer, and they've come down further since (under 500 now if you know when/where to look):
http://www.sceptre.com/Products/LCD/Specifications /spec_x20g_NagaII.htm

It will do 16:9 or 4:3, has picture in picture, multi-input (DVI, VGA, S-Video), USB Hub and built in speakers. Great colors, excellent brightness (important to me because my window faces the morning sun), good response times, and very nice video quality.

That said, even NewEgg has 20" LCDs for under 600.

To get a 20" viewable screen in CRT you need to go to a 21" CRT. Of course there will be price differences. What's a 21" going for?

Samsung, NewEgg, 21" flat screen:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16824001149
459 smackers. Definitely not a third of 600, actually comparable to what you can get a 20" viewable LCD w/extras. You got higher resolution but less space to use it with.

Comparing the price of an 18" viewable CRT to the price of a 20" viewable LCD is an invalid comparison.

'rneches' has clearly looked at the current market of available laptops. Prolly only missing out on a few low-profile products.

This is an 'Ask SlashDot' posting. Why are people posting additional questions rather than useful tidbits of information.

He has specific goals in mind for the laptop of his dreams (goals that I happen to share), why would you suggest a piece of hardware that violates 90% of his wish list as a solution?

That ends my rant for now and here are a series of links I have dug out of other postings.
PSI_Linux Psion hardware / Linux software project.
Sceptre - Hardware retailer
AMPRO nifty smallish hardware
IBM X-series laptops
Linux-Laptop.net lot's of docs on making laptop hardware work with Linux
TuxScreen strange hardware hacking project
Cyberresearch hardware retailer

Check out Sceptre . I remember reading a few years ago that they were the original oem for dell, quantex and a few other laptop makers. Can't confirm it though. I think PC Magazine even had a story about how Quantex and Dell Inspiron were essentially the same laptop with a few small differences.

BTW, if you're looking at the 5000 (slimmer, not as expandable version of the Inspiron 7500) think very carefully about a Celeron or something else that runs cooler. My 7500 is incredibly stable and stays reasonably cool, but the PIII/650 Inspiron 5000's my company bought have real heat problems. Your lap getting uncomfortably warm is one thing, but having drive and cpu flakiness that trashes a filesystem when you run it too hot is a little outside what I'd consider acceptable. If you can hack the extra weight grab the 7500.

If you do want the 5000 look at Sceptre. They source the chassis from the same manufacturer Dell does.

I don't recall IBM made HPA screen laptops, but I'm pretty sure Acer and Compaq do.

No matter HPA, TFT or others... lightings are always the problem. I chose the TFT screen because I did not need to switch the brightness to high level like the HPA needed. Even during the bright environment or under sunlight, I could still use the lowest possible brightness and contrast, and pictures and text still displayed clearly on screen.

At the same time, most TFT screens allow higher refresh rate than HPA screens. (Mostly depends on what video card it come with or their designs.) And I felt that most TFT show sharper colours than HPA or others.

I compared the Sony, IBM, Compaq and Acer in the warehouse and I could tell that IBM and Sony's TFT looks better. However, I was not able to test the Dell laptop. I really wanted to see their 15.4" TFT.

Here is an LCD Definition article from Sceptre.com and it said HPA is "...a Passive-Matrix Display technology the provides better response rates and contrast than conventional LCD displays. Although HPA displays aren't quite as crisp or fast as Active-Matrix (TFT) displays, they're considerably less expensive to produce. Consequently, HPA is being used by a number of computer manufacturers for their entry level or value notebook computers."

One way of testing laptop displays is to put the laptop on the office table, has a office table lamp right at the back of the screen. I am sure you will see the different between HPA and TFT.

Hope this help.