Wednesday, September 26, 2007

A 32" monitor is not too big, is it?

The VP of Maintenance asked for a wall-mount monitor so the maintenance managers could see the status of all our aircraft in the air. We subscribe to a real-time tracking service, but it is too expensive to give everyone a subscription. Right now they have to get up and walk a few steps to the computer running Flight Explorer to see it.

After some negotiating, the CEO approved the purchase and I began shopping. I wanted a large screen model that could be seen from 30 feet away. So that meant a 30" screen or better. Plasma was out of the picture because I had a limited budget. I also wanted DVI, but had to settle for standard RGB at the price point I could afford - about $800.

I found a nice 32" model from LG Electronics (M3201C-BA) that fits the bill just perfectly. I bought another slightly smaller (27") LG model last year, for the maintenance library to view their aircraft schematics. It has served us well so I was predisposed to the LG brand. I found the one I wanted and began the negotiations with the suppliers.

I couldn't get them to go much less than $820 but got one of them to throw in some free freight and a reduced price on the wall mount hardware. Sold! Just have to set up an old retired computer with a wireless card to run the Flight Explorer software and we're in business. I bought the optional stand for $97 which we can use until we get it mounted on the wall.

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