Need a good LCD monitor for 300.00$

[cactusclay]

Could someone please help me pick out a good LCD monitor for doing post processing for around three hundred. I really don't know what is important to look for. I'm wanting to hook it up to one of those new Mini Mac's or Mac mini's . Thanks for your time.

[Avalonthas]

Well for 300 bucks you can get a very cheap 17 inch LCD monitor, however after taxes the monitor will be well over 300. And that was based on a crappy gateway lcd i saw at 299, which isnt considered "good" at all.

If you budget is 300 bucks then ur gonna have to get a 15 inch monitor if u intend to get a good quality LCD monitor. But 15 inches is nowehere near good for post processing because ur toolbars and stuff in photoshop for example will take up most of ur monitor. Although LCD's are a bit bigger then CRT's (even if both are stated as 15 inch), it is far to small, and i would say a minimum of 17 inches is required.

For someone who does some serious post processing you are going to need atleast 19 inches to get some good space for fooling around with ur pics. You can find good quality monitors from several manufacturers, such as Samsung, LG, and Sony.....even Benq has come out with some nice ones recently, and Dell is starting to produce some pretty good quality monitors. But if you want a good quality one your looking atleast at 17 inches and atleast 400 dollars.

I suggest staying away from HP monitors because they tend to have frequenct pixel explosions.

[pcasciola]

The prices on LCDs are really coming down fast, and you can easily get a decent 17" for under $300. Not a top of the line 17", but not junk either. Junk 17" LCDs are under $200 now. You can actually get a pretty good one if you catch a good rebate. Maybe even a 19" if you are patient. My accountant just got two 19" LCDs for $275 each (forget the brand, but it was unknown) and I was surprised at how good they looked.

I'm not sure if this one is any good, but you can go check it out for yourself at CompUSA. Envision 17" for $250 after rebate.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=311035&cm_ven=Performics&cm_cat=AbleShoppers&cm_pla=General&cm_ite=Primary&ref=performics

[Avalonthas]

Opps I forgot bout sales and rebates when considering the price of them. Bah lol. Well Envision is a descent monitor manufactuer, however the longevity is much like HP's, where excessive use can cause lots of pixel damage (atleast in those that my friends and coworkers have used). Also it only has a 25ms response time. A good monitor should come with atleats 16ms.

[NGrinerPhoto]

LCD:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10360420&dcaid=1688

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10391261&dcaid=1688

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10364804&dcaid=1688

buy.com coupon

http://www.buy.com/retail/coupon.asp?prid=86107956&dcaid=1688

CRT:

http://www.officedepot.com/txtSearchPOC.do?uniqueSearchFlag=true&Ntt=558866+&x=10&y=2

$67 after rebates

[Avalonthas]

The only one i would trust is the LCD made by sharp (second link), however it isnt in stock so who knows how long you will be waiting, and hopefully they stock before sale is over. Shipping cost????

PS: Coupon only good till tommorow night....and it can only be used with instock items, so its therefore useless unless they stock tommorow morning.

[vwpilot]

I wouldnt trust any of them for serious photo editing. Really, if you do lots of editing and only have that much money, buy a CRT.

Some of the mid-priced LCDs are decent and you can get decent results with. Some of the Samsungs, Dells, LGs, and a few others would be ok choices. But I would really stay away from a $300 LCD for editing.

[Mike Panic]

^^^

i paid just over $300 for my 1 year old off lease sun 21" crt monitor from ebay, including shipping. ive had it now for a lil over a year and its worth every penny... yes it weighs in at close to 90lbs and takes up a lot of desk space, but the colors and density is leaps and bounds above lcd

[cactusclay]

Thanks for all the info. I've been doing a bit more research and it seems like the CRT's are still the best going. I just like having more space on my desk and that was why I was wanting the LCD. I've been using a Ibook for the past couple of years and it does the trick, but I know there are better options,just haven't got around to them I guess. It seems like a lot of people like the big Apple monitors, but they start around a grand and it seemed like some of the LCD's on the Dell website had close to the same specs, that's why I was wondering if I could get by with a cheaper deal.

[kb244]

If you are going to use a monitor for photo editing, put that 300$ into a very good CRT. Besides most of "dells' stuff (mice, keyboard, monitors, etc) are made very cheaply in order for them to make a decent profit.