For many, price keeps LCDs out of the picture
Connecting state and local government leaders
Are high prices keeping an LCD monitor off your desk? You're not alone.
Are high prices keeping an LCD monitor off your desk? You're not alone.In a GCN telephone survey, 82 percent of current nonusers who don't plan to acquire an LCD monitor anytime soon said that hefty prices were the reason they were sticking with their CRT monitors.Price tags for LCD flat-panels are declining, but many large-screen models from top manufacturers remain expensive'in the $1,000-plus range.Only a quarter of current nonusers said they expected to buy an LCD monitor in the next two years, and another 29 percent told us it was possible that they might buy one.But 44 percent of nonusers said an LCD was a no-go, at least for another two years.Among current LCD users in the survey sample, 64 percent had a monitor from Dell Computer Corp., reflecting the grip of Dell desktop PC packages on the government market. Dell had 44 percent of the installed PC base in our last survey of PC product preferences.LCDs from Sony Electronics Inc. and NEC-Mitsubishi Electronics Display of America Inc. occupied much smaller portions of the base, at 14 percent and 13 percent, respectively.Current users in the survey'55 percent of whom had been using a flat-panel for a year or less'found much to applaud. Sixty-four percent couldn't think of any shortcomings and many of those who did complained only about price.'I like the great [screen] clarity,' said a Geological Survey computer specialist in Denver who uses a monitor from ViewSonic Corp. of Walnut, Calif.'It's easy on the eyes,' said an Army National Guard information assurance officer in Augusta, Maine, of his Dell flat-panel's display.Many liked the small footprint of LCD monitors best. 'They take up less desk real estate,' said an Interior Department spectrum manager in Washington who uses both Gateway Inc. and Sony LCD monitors.'I can see what's on my desk now,' added a Marine Corps sergeant who's had a flat-panel from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. for less than a year.
The GCN Reader Survey is intended to provide data on trends and product preferences. This survey on LCD monitors is based on a telephone survey of 100 government readers of GCN.
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