Liquid Crystal Display is what LCD stands for, and you thought crystals could only be a solid. Liquid crystals were actually first discovered in 1888 and took more then 100 years to progress into the LCD monitors that we see for computers, laptops, calculators and so one. So why the history lesson you ask, because most likely you are interested in getting an LCD monitor for your computer, but want to get the best deal and quality of monitor. So you need to know everything that you can about LCD’s, or you might purchase the wrong one for you.

The difference between a good old fashioned CRT monitor and an LCD is not just the size, far from it. LCD’s produce a clearer picture and use a digital connection between the computer and the monitor instead of an analog one like CRT monitors. As we all know, digital is much better then analog since there is less signal loss.

In addition to its picture quality as a main benefit, LCD monitors also consume less power, which actually saves you money on your electric bill. Sure it won’t be much, but after awhile the savings will add up and make up for the cost difference between a CRT and an LCD monitor. So in the end you paid just about the same amount for an LCD as you would have for a big old clunky CRT monitor.

Okay let’s say you want to buy an LCD monitor now, but you don’t know which one to get. Well let me first tell you that all LCD’s are not created equal and the quality really depends on the manufacturer and a few certain other aspects. There are so many LCD monitor manufacturers these days that deciding which one to buy simply by the company name is much too hard. What you should do to find the best LCD monitor amongst all those other pesky inferior ones, is to compare the contrast ratio. The screen with the highest contrast ratio will have better picture and color quality, which is the whole reason we use a monitor anyways, too look at it.

Another factor that determines the picture quality of your LCD monitor is the response time. This basically means how long it takes to transform the liquid crystal to the state that will display the correct color. The higher the response time, the more blurry the images will be, especially images moving on black backgrounds.

The connection between the LCD monitor and the computer also makes a major difference in picture quality. LCD monitors have an AGP port just like CRT’s do, but they also have another port called DVI, which instead of being analog it uses a digital signal. Digital connections have less picture and color loss than an analog one, but do require you to have a DVI port on your computer. If your computer doesn’t have one, then you have to buy a new video card that does and install it.

Now that you have the basic knowledge that you need to know when buying an LCD monitor, you are prepared to buy one at your local store or online. Before you go though, I just wanted to say that I have owned an LCD for the past 2 years and I could never go back to a CRT monitor, my eyes have been spoiled! The picture quality is just that good, plus not to mention how much more desk space I have and the fact that I am using less power feels good too. I guarantee that once you have an LCD monitor you won’t be able to go back to a CRT either.

Printing forms an important part of any business. Whether it’s a menial job of taking out annual bills or a glossy printout of a high profile business brochure, printing is an essential part of business. Even at home, children frequently take out colorful printouts. In the beginning we tend to use the printer indiscriminately, not realizing the expense incurred. Later, realization of how expensive the printing costs are dawns when the cartridges have to be replaced. So now the question arises, how to save ink without compromising on quality? To know which measures can lead to optimum results read on...

Use your printer software supplied or Windows printer software to maximize the number of pages by selecting draft mode whenever possible. This is the simplest way to reduce ink usage per page printed. Economy modes are specially designed in modern printers that can also be used except when you need high-quality outputs.

More effective ways to save ink are given below:

• Avoid using color cartridges for black and white prints: Printing black and white with a color ink cartridge finishes it sooner as numerous colors are mixed to create the black ink. This results in your color cartridge getting depleted. Keep an exclusive black and white cartridge for printing out common tasks.

• Color management: Change the printer settings from best quality to draft while printing rough drafts. The draft mode is the lowest resolution setting you can use. This will use up ink cartridge much slower than a higher quality setting. You can switch back to high quality mode when you're ready to print the final version.

• Print “current page”: If you need to print only one page out of a multiple page document, check the “Print Current Page” option before clicking “OK”. Printing the whole document each time you need a page is sure way to deplete your cartridge soon. Also skipping the images will make your ink cartridges will last longer!

• Print “Selection”: If you need to print only a portion of a page, e.g., only one paragraph, highlight the said paragraph, and choose “print selection”.

• Black only pleases! Do you really need those beautiful colors when printing a fact sheet from the Internet? Print in colors only when you absolutely need to. Color cartridges are invariably more expensive than black ones.

Some more useful tips for saving on ink cartridges:

• Taking printout of a document for archival purposes such as an online bill? In such cases use the lowest possible resolution, which is just clear enough for you to read.

• Printer manufacturers usually tell that refilling ink cartridges damages printers. However it is not so most of the time. It’s worth trying if you have an inexpensive printer (ranging between $50 and $75). Damage, if any, rarely occurs.

Look at it this way: The new cartridges cost $30 while the refilled one is $15 refilled. After refill of three ink cartridges you have saved enough money to replace your expensive $50 printer cartridge with a brand new one.

• Next time bear in mind the price of the cartridges while shopping?? Prefer the ones with a lower cost of cartridges. The one in front might be requiring $30 cartridge but the one right beside it might use ink cartridges costing $17 only! The printer surely is a one-time investment but the ink cartridges make it expensive to maintain. The above tips hopefully can help you sustain your cartridges for a longer time and lessen the holes in your pocket. Using your cartridges judiciously can save you a lot of money and help you derive maximum benefit from your printer.