e-IPS monitors - Any experience?

I use a laptop, and have found that my colors when printing are off, even after calibrating with a Huey. IPS monitors have been cost prohibitive, but I see that HP and Asus make affordable e-IPS monitors, that have decent reviews. I'm thinking of getting the Asus VS229H-P, can be had for about $130, it's 21.5", has HDMI connections, and overall seems good for the price.

Question is, are the e-IPS monitors good enough to work with? The S-IPS and SA-IPS are superior, but by how much? And is it worth the difference?

Yes, there are some decent e-IPS monitors. The Dell 2209WA that I used to use is an 8 bit per channel e-IPS panel and did a good job.

There are improvements in how well the panel calibrates as cost rises, and some of the high end monitors use hardware calibration and are 30 bit capable (although to get 10 bits per channel you need a high end video card, and usually the type meant for CADD, not gaming). Note: You don't want to buy a cheap 6 bit per channel monitor for color work.

The higher end monitors, like the NEC's, also seem to have better buttons than the Dell's, which isn't a big deal if you never use the power button on your monitor. I had one Dell where I needed to remove the power button and the plastic spring that disintegrated with use and set the micro-switch so that it stayed on continuously.

I bought a NEC PA series monitor because the panel and surrounding electronics is better than the lower cost monitors (better color accuracy and uniformity side to side, top to bottom), the hardware calibration works better than software calibration, it's built better than any Dell monitor I've owned and it's 10 bit per channel capable (least important feature for me right now). Before the NEC I bought the Dell 2209WA because it was a tremendous bang for the buck, did a decent job and was all I wanted to pay for a monitor at the time. Nothing wrong with either choice.

I'll preface, color tends to be a very subjective thing. What isn't subjective is color accuracy which your Huey will help with. Photography is my hobby while graphic design is my trade so my needs may differ slightly from yours as well. But this is the advice I'd offer you:

E-IPS, from what I understand, is the cheaper implementation of the previous H-IPS technology and where it can cut corners is with using cheaper LED panels for the backlight. P-IPS is the step-up. With E-IPS, the thing to be on the look out for is bad LEDs can cause bright/dark patches. This tends to be an out-of-the-box issue so make sure you scrutinize a bit more after calibration.

I've had good luck with ASUS monitors especially at their price-point, although I've had to return a few for the problem above...thankfully Amazon makes returns very easy! I've had more mixed experiences with NewEgg...

If you end up getting an ASUS monitor, be sure to turn off the "Splendid" mode immediately (it's on by default!). It will cause you all sorts of grief if it's on while you calibrate. It's a feature that's great for people who play video games/movies and want punchy colors, big blacks, or blown out shadows. But for photographers/designer​s it is about the worst thing you can imagine.

Whatever you decide, buy it from a store with a no-nonsense return policy...this doesn't always mean you'll get the best price, but trust me. Set it up where you intend to use it and spend a week or so with it after calibration.