Tech: Westinghouse LCM-19v1 19" LCD Monitor

I know this is a bit off topic, but I just picked up a new LCD monitor to replace my Dell 17" LCD. I couldn't find any reviews online before I made my purchase, so I thought I'd post a quick one here. This monitor is a new arrival at Best Buy and retails for $350. You can find cheaper 19 inch LCDs if you look around, but I didn't want to go the mail order route in case there was an issue with the screen (dead pixels, interference, etc.) - I also didn't want the hassle of those awful rebates. The specs are pretty impressive for this price point:

• 300 cd/m² brightness; 600:1 contrast ratio
• 21ms response time
• Built in speakers
• 1 year warranty (not 3 years, but we can't all be Samsung)
• Max resolution: 1280x1024
• Includes: stand, power supply, VGA cable, and audio cord

My personal (completely subjective) impression: The monitor looks good. Setup was as simple as plugging it in and pressing the auto-sync button. Text is sharp, colors are bright, and I haven't noticed any problems with ghosting. However, I haven't played any action games or DVDs on it yet. The monitor is bright enought that I had to turn down the brightness setting to 50%, so the backlight has plenty of juice to spare. One unique feature is the addition of a "turbo" button to the front bezel. Have you ever seen a monitor with a supercharger before? Having no clue what this button did, I pressed it in the hope that it would accelerate all of my PC-related activities to lightening speed. Instead, it cycled between three contrast/brightness presets for different types of activites. Overall, I think this is a great choice for a budget 19" LCD - it should be more than adequate for email, surfing the web, and other basic tasks. The monitor also has built in speakers, but a quick attempt at listening to NPR showed them to be rather weak, even at full volume. Further analysis is needed to determine if it would suit the hardcore gamer or graphic designer, but my initial impression is very positive. More details available here.

Update 2/23/05: I found out that the reason the volume was so low is because it was at 50% inside the monitor itself...you have to go into the on-screen menu to turn it up. It's still not going to rattle your windows, but at full volume it is not too bad.

Finance: Microsoft Money budget report doesn't show credits

I ran a quick report in MS Money to tally up all my credit card spending for the last five months of 2005. Looking at the total, I realized that it didn't include some credits to my statements for items that were returned. I checked the transaction register and these credits were in there, offsetting the debits, but they weren't making it into the budget report for some reason. This could overstate your expenses, making it look as though you had spent more than you did.

Here's the solution: Create the report then go to Customize -> Details -> Type: All Types. This will include credits as well as expenses.

Finance: Take the Mileage and Run

For 2005, the IRS has increased the per-mile allowance to $0.405/mi. This is good news for me, as I am going to be driving across the country from Texas to North Carolina when I relocate. Plus, gas has recently come back down to a more reasonable price where I live...not sure if this is a nationwide trend. My employer will be reimbursing the mileage as well as any other travel expenses along the way, so I hope that this will help offset any other moving expenses that pop up.

Career: The work of a financial analyst is never done

I don't know about you, but I spent all weekend in the office closing the books for year-end. Technically, Friday and Monday were also holidays but I worked those as well. Such is the life of a financial analyst for a Fortune 500 company. They sure do like to work us at the quarter endpoints. It probably has something to do with satisfying the capital markets' insatiable desire for constant earnings growth.

You might think that a lot of the grunt work gets pushed on me since I'm the low man on the totem pole - and you'd be correct - but my boss and his boss were in the office all weekend as well. Given the fact that we have to deal with this every three months, I'm amazed that no one wants to change the systems and processes so that we could get more of our work done ahead of time and leave the weekend open for any emergencies that might pop up. The people here don't seem to be interested in that kind of change...it will be interesting to see if my next job is any different.

Finance: Tracking expenses

...doesn't have to be a herculean task. Most major credit cards have an "account online" option that can download your purchases directly into Microsoft Money (or Quicken). Once you have your transactions in MS Money, it's easy to categorize them, and the software will generate reports comparing your expenses to your budget for any period of time. From there, it's easy to drilldown on variances and understand why you were over/under budget. I try to keep cash and check payments to a minimum but even when I can't avoid them, it's still very easy to enter the details.