'Afterlife' of a 20' imac ? - Monitor ?

[ivan308]

I am considering the purchase of a 20' imac however I am concerned about the 'afterlife' in about 4-5years when the computer is outdated and too slow. The computer will be outaded but the screen should still be fully functional.

Do you think it will be possible by then to somehow resuse the screen with anothter computer ? Do you think a third party will find a way to modify the imac to accept a DVI input and be used just as a monitor.

Thoughts, comments opinions ?

 

[kugino]

holy mega-screen, batman! a 20-foot imac?

i suppose it could be used as a monitor, but there would have to be some screen extrication and other video input manipulation...

 

[miloblithe]

You can use it to play DVDs and such, but without major manipulation there's no way to turn it into a monitor.

One of the big drawbacks of getting an iMac.

 

[TheMasin9]

outdated imac

for cutting edge stuff, yes the imac will be outdated. But for every day remedial tasks, word processing web browsing etc it will be fine in 4-5 years... thats what i am experienceing with the g3 imacs anyway

 

[jsw]

In 4-5 years, 20" LCD monitors will be wicked cheap. Don't sweat the obsolescence - if nothing else, use it for the iPhoto slideshows...

 

[Macky-Mac]

In 4-5 years, 20" LCD monitors will be wicked cheap. Don't sweat the obsolescence - if nothing else, use it for the iPhoto slideshows...

i agree, people are always talking about how computers go out of date but if you look back you'll find that the same happens with monitors too. 5 years ago people were still in the process of switching from 15" CRTs to 17" CRTs, and a 19" CRT was too expensive for most people.......today they're cheap and mostly considered yesterday's technology

 

[miloblithe]

i agree, people are always talking about how computers go out of date but if you look back you'll find that the same happens with monitors too. 5 years ago people were still in the process of switching from 15" CRTs to 17" CRTs, and a 19" CRT was too expensive for most people.......today they're cheap and mostly considered yesterday's technology

On the other hand, I'm perfectly happy with my 19" TV that's at least 10 years old. A 20" LCD is expensive, and there's no reason (other than failure) that a 20" LCD in and of itself shouldn't be useful for 10 years.

 

[kugino]

On the other hand, I'm perfectly happy with my 19" TV that's at least 10 years old. A 20" LCD is expensive, and there's no reason (other than failure) that a 20" LCD in and of itself shouldn't be useful for 10 years.

agreed. i recently sold my bondi blue imac from 1998. it's not completely obsolete as it runs panther fine and you can do a lot of stuff on it. i imagine a 20" imac will be able to do "normal" stuff for the next 6-8 years, at least. though i'm not a huge fan of his writing, ken rockwell has a piece on managing obsolescence for cameras...it's applicable to computers, too. basically, the best way to manage obsolescence is to buy asap, so that you get the most use out of it before it becomes obsolete...

 

[miloblithe]

But I think this applies far more to monitors than computers. What in the world of monitors is going to come about that a current 20" LCD isn't perfectly good display even for the next 20 or 30 years?

I can see something that's 15" being considered too small, but for average use, how is a 20" monitor truly going to become obsolete?