I think you'll definitely be happier with something newer, but it doesn't necessarily have to be that iMac you've been lusting after. Have you checked out the refurb eMac deals at Apple Store online?
I recently bought a 17" LCD display at the BestBuy post-Thanksgiving/Christmas sale for very cheap. I'm at that age where reading glasses are becoming necessary which is incredibly bothersome since I was born with near perfect 20-10 vision. I've ruined several monitors by running their refresh rates at absolute maximum. My eyes are very sensitive. I get headaches from the residual refresh flash of anything less than 85 Hz, and 100 Hz or higher seems best for long exposures. I've got several genius computer geek friends. They told me that CRT's are REALLY bad for your eyes. It basically had to do with the non-interlaced scanning and slow refresh rates combined with font smoothing techniques that give everything "fuzzy" non-distinct edges. They said your eyes are straining to constantly refocus on the CRT's fuzzy edges. This is what causes the eyestrain headaches after long exposure. I also know that when I've quickly turned off the lights to complete darkness after using a CRT for several hour that there is a visible residual light burned into my eyes so that in the complete darkness I can easily make out the "hum" of the CRT's 85 Hz. It persists for quite a while, longer than 10 minutes for me.
They said that LCDs don't suffer from this because the individual LCD pixels don't fade quickly as CRT's phosphor pixels do. They also said the LCD's provide "hard edges" that allow the eye to establish true focus and stops the refocus problems associated with CRTs. One of these guys told me that I really needed to even avoid analog LCD's and be certain to get a digital LCD. He even set up a comparison of two identical 19" LCD's side-by-side to show me the difference. One was analog and the other digital. There was a definite difference that was easily discernible, but I'm not wealthy like these guys, so I had to be cheap and get the analog. My eyestrain and headaches are gone at only 75Mhz with the analog LCD. I'm definitely going to change to a digital LCD as soon as I can find one I can afford.
In the mean time, I think the LCD display is probably my single best investment and totally agree with Steve Jobs' introduction of the older 'new' iMac that "the CRT is dead". I also find it obscene that the eMac is kept as a residual, lowball product only to keep Apple's foot in the door with public schools without much money. For the same amount of money a cheap generic PC with LCD monitor is better in my opinion. I've experienced so much eyestrain over the past 10 years that appears to have been 100% avoidable. Only my own stupidity made me wait too long to switch. Subjecting young children to something that has caused me so much anguish seems crazy. In my opinion, the eMac belongs in the same dump they buried the Lisa. Buy the iMac. Your eyes will thank you in the years to come.
Kris Tilford
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