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HOT! 21" refurb monitors, Sony, Dell, NEC starting at $189 + shipping

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Got my grade B nokia the other day. There are a bunch of fairly deep scratches in the dead center of the screen. Not too happy as they are way too annoying to actually use this thing as a primary monitor. 🙁
 
Jeraden that sucks. From reviewing the differant grades it looks like you got a grade "C" monitor?
My 19" grade B monitor is still pending from Saturday. I dont mind waiting since its a backup for another PC unless it arrives and has deep scratchs on the screen. I could careless for the casing or basemount. I guess Im just impatient and spolied from neweggs service 🙂

BTW..Thats for the replys guys!


From their website:
Grade A - Monitor is in Great Condition
Has slight Cosmetic Blemishes, examples of which are (but not limited to):
Slight Scratches in case

Grade B - Monitor is in Good Condition (many vendors would sell these as "A Grade"),
Has slight Cosmetic Blemishes, examples of which are (but not limited to):
Scratches in case
Slight Scratches in the screen
Hairline Crack in Case
Dead Pixel (3 or less)
Missing Control Door
Slight imperfections in the AGAS (Anti-Glare, Anti-Static) Coating etc.
In some cases missing base

Grade C - Monitor Works Recommended for Test Bench - Has Major Cosmetic Blemishes, examples of which are (but not limited to):
Major Scratches in case
Major scratches in screen
Cracked Case Picture Color is Off Major imperfections in the AGAS (Anti-Glare, Anti-Static)
Coating Lots of Dead Pixels (6 or more)
Missing base

 
I need to dig out the color strip and color tuning software that came with my Compaq or if someone on here can recommend some software to do a diagnostic and color tune that would be GREAT!
My research I did yesterday on this monitor, CPD-G500, I believe, indicates that it has a settings restoration feature whereby it will restore settings. This won't do it? Or is that the CPD-520? Here's what's said at Sony site: "Accurate Image Restoration Resets display to original factory brightness and contrast settings." This is for the G500, NOT the G520, BTW.

 
Originally posted by: LotusNotesGuy
Buckmaster:

I checked the site every day after I placed my order, I noticed some of the monitors at Merkor, go in and out of stock FFAASSTT. When I spoke to them on the phone about my order, the rep mentioned they come and out in huge numbers and the staff gets cleans them up and turns them over as fast as possible.

I bet they ran out of stock or had some coming in and your order got caught in that gray area between 1 and 0 in stock.
I assume they don't test them and if they do, they probably just plug them in and look at them for a minute or two for obvious problems. Chances are they don't adjust them. Assuming they were on lease for a year it may not be a big deal. Are these basically one year lease monitors? Actually, I don't see anything about one year lease, just one year warranty. These may have been on lease for years, AFAIK.

 
Ordered my Nokia 445Xpro (grade b) on Saturday night (11/10)

Shipped Monday (11/11)

Arrived Wednesday (11/13)


Now that is the fastest ground shipping i've ever seen (shipped to Baton Rouge). For $161 shipped, this monitor is PERFECT. There is a small scratch on the screen, but it is not visible when on.


This was a very good deal 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Dedpuhl
Ordered my Nokia 445Xpro (grade b) on Saturday night (11/10)

Shipped Monday (11/11)

Arrived Wednesday (11/13)


Now that is the fastest ground shipping i've ever seen (shipped to Baton Rouge). For $161 shipped, this monitor is PERFECT. There is a small scratch on the screen, but it is not visible when on.


This was a very good deal 🙂


Cool😎 To bad Jeraden above didnt get such a great one🙁. These are some of the deals i've been looking for. I really want a Sony G500😀

 
Well I have my 19" Gateway EV910 arrived tday. Well packaged and not a single scratch on the monitor. Looks like new! Bad news is it does have a small black dot in the middle of the screen which I can live with. The problem I hate is the everything shows a shadow on the icons, letters everything. Its kinda annoying and dont like it. It not good on the eyes for a long period of time! I tried to find some drivers but cant find any for Windows XP to try and see if it helps. Also on my papper work it shows my order Grade as 'D"? Humm

Anyways Im thinking of calling them and asking about it. I can live with it but I took a gamble I guess and didnt get the results I really wanted but could of been worse.
 
After a bit of further use, not only does this P.O.S. have 5 vertical scratches at the center of the screen, it has severe ghosting, a burned in image of what appears to be the close-program dialog (ctrl-alt-delete box), and the left side is noticeably darker than the rest of the screen. On the positive side, the text is nice and crisp! 🙂 Guess I have a new tv monitor now.
 
Originally posted by: Jeraden
After a bit of further use, not only does this P.O.S. have 5 vertical scratches at the center of the screen, it has severe ghosting, a burned in image of what appears to be the close-program dialog (ctrl-alt-delete box), and the left side is noticeably darker than the rest of the screen. On the positive side, the text is nice and crisp! 🙂 Guess I have a new tv monitor now.

How in the world do people scratch CRT monitors? Why? I mean, it would require quite an effort to make a scratch; are these idiots playing some weird version of etch-a-sketch?
 
Originally posted by: BuckMaster
Well I have my 19" Gateway EV910 arrived tday. Well packaged and not a single scratch on the monitor. Looks like new! Bad news is it does have a small black dot in the middle of the screen which I can live with. The problem I hate is the everything shows a shadow on the icons, letters everything. Its kinda annoying and dont like it. It not good on the eyes for a long period of time! I tried to find some drivers but cant find any for Windows XP to try and see if it helps. Also on my papper work it shows my order Grade as 'D"? Humm

Anyways Im thinking of calling them and asking about it. I can live with it but I took a gamble I guess and didnt get the results I really wanted but could of been worse.
I think those shadows you notice may be artifacts you can get rid of. It may not be due to a problem with the monitor but a problem with the way it's hooked up. I once had a monitor hooked up with an extension and that introduced ghosting such as you describe. How do you have it hooked up? Can you try a different cable?

 
I ordered from Merkortech....great outfit. It seems most of the complaints listed here are about the monitor itself and of problems that the monitor itself had even when new...(I wish manufacturers would run tighter tolerances).

Here is my experience:

Ordered a Hitachi Superscan Elite 751 clone (Gateway VX900).

Awesome out of the box, however after 2 hours the screen turned green (blue electron gun stopped working). I found the 'nut' that the monitor cable connects too broke off and that wiggling the cable the monitor would work.

Called up merkortech, rma issued right away and I shipped it back ($19 to be reimbursed).

Within a week I got my monitor back and it was repaired. Everything was great, but after a few hours the same problem. 🙁 This time they said they would just send a new one out and have a pick up done at my house.

This is great service!

I recieved a new monitor and everything is great. We elected to go with a HP M900 which is still the hitachi elite 751, but newer. Screen is great and the only thing it exhibits as a problem is the common 1/8" sag in the very top of the screen. Other than that not so noticible condition the picture is perfect. Clean glass, perfect convergance and color.

I am happy....$178 to my door for a 19" is great!
 
Muse,

This monitor came with a seperate video cable. Not the kind thats built into the monitor itself but the kind you have to screw into both the monitor and PC. I was also curious if the cable could be bad but dont know if I have an extra one. The odd thing is it seems when I play anything using the 3D part of the card its unnoticeble. I think because most games are so dark in the back ground. You can really tell the shadow, blurryness when your using explorer, typeing a letter in word, or using anything from windows desktop.


alkemyst, Im glad you got Good Customer Service! Thats hard to find now days!! Im going to wait for some more responses from here and maybe call them and see if they have any suggestions. Maybe send them a print screen shot if it helps. If I could just get this fixed Id be SO happy! 🙂
 
printscreen shots wont help,
they dont indicate how good or bad your monitor is.
you may have to send in snaps
 
I do not see the logic in buying a used monitor off the internet..perhaps if the company was local and you could try out the product then it might be a better deal.

At this point brand new 21" monitors have come down in price quite abit ,if you are patient a brand new NEC Accusync 120 can be had at Dell when they have there 20% off monitors for $368 and usually shipping is free as well...so its $368 out the door for a brand new monitor with a 3 year warranty that you know is good.

You can get a Sony E540 for $417 shipped.


I was reading about one guy that bought a 21" Viewsonic monitor and 2 years after he got it it broke, Viewsonic overnighted him a new monitor and told him to throw away his old one, they did not want it back.

Talk about service!


Also I have an old Viewsonic monitor that still works great and looks great too but recently I got a new monitor and I saw a huge difference in the picture quality!

Sure an old monitor might have a nice picture but nothing beats a crisp picture on a brand spanking new monitor.


 
Originally posted by: BuckMaster
Muse,

This monitor came with a seperate video cable. Not the kind thats built into the monitor itself but the kind you have to screw into both the monitor and PC. I was also curious if the cable could be bad but dont know if I have an extra one. The odd thing is it seems when I play anything using the 3D part of the card its unnoticeble. I think because most games are so dark in the back ground. You can really tell the shadow, blurryness when your using explorer, typeing a letter in word, or using anything from windows desktop.


alkemyst, Im glad you got Good Customer Service! Thats hard to find now days!! Im going to wait for some more responses from here and maybe call them and see if they have any suggestions. Maybe send them a print screen shot if it helps. If I could just get this fixed Id be SO happy! 🙂
Try posting in the Video Anandtech Forum for some expert analysis. I still think this might be fixable and may not be a problem with the monitor per se. You can also try the newsgroups (video related), and if it was me I'd do searches at Google Groups, perhaps advanced searches (specifying a certain newsgroup), if non-advanced searches don't work out. Good luck!
 
I still see a great value in used monitors still. My monitor has a 1 year replacement warranty and came here in like new condition...absolutely no blemishes on anything. It even had new cables.

The DELL 20%/free shipping is one of the better ways to buy a new monitor though, the 20% off usually has their price being one of the lowest and then the free shipping seals the deal. You can get entry level 19" screens at around $200 and the high quality ones at $300. I paid $178.25 shipped for my Hitachi SuperScan Elite 751 screen. I like this screen a lot and didn't have the money for it when it came out and then won the best monitor awards for a few years like my old Samsung Syncmaster 17GLsi. If I wanted a total flat I could have chose the P991 Dell for around $200 shipped which compares to the new P992 Dell for $303 with discount and free shipping. $100 is not a lot of money really, but 1/3 difference is and $100 buys a lot of other computer junk too 🙂.

Also many of the new monitor case designs are retarded looking, like shelf stereos now...all space aged and look like something a 12 year old girl would love. 🙂

The saddest part of it all is many new monitors would be shipped back if consumers knew about the problems that they don't realize (convergance mainly, and a lot just have bad focus that ppl assume it's the way it is).

Probably the best way to do it is set a budget first, then look at screens...if the one you want falls into your price range new, you're set. If not perhaps you can find it used within the price range. I think a monitor is the most important part of the PC and so many people scrimp on it.

 
The dell deal is good but looking at that page even the cheapest 21 inch will be about $360 shipped. For $20 more you can get a 21" Sony CPD-G500 from Merkor with a 1 year warranty which to me is a much better deal on one of the best monitors out there.

I got the compaq P110 grade A for my friends new system and it looks like it has just come out of the box....Now its not as good a deal as I got for my Dell P1110 for $240 shipped from Ubid but its still a great deal and with Merkor you do not risk as much as you do with Ubid. I could have just as easily got a lemon from Ubid and dealing with their customer service is a nightmere from what I have heard. Merkor customer service is top notch..They are becoming the Newegg for monitors and I will be buying from them from now on.
 
$360 shipped is a little high if you are looking for a secondary monitor like I was. I managed to snag one of those IBM 21" FD Trinitron Grade A monitors at compgeeks for $172 shipped. I mean, you HAVE to go for a deal like that.
 
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