LCD Prices

[clickynext]

I'm looking into purchasing an LCD monitor, but was wondering how quickly the prices on them were dropping right now. I remember a time in CRT technology where you could buy what was considered a good CRT, and just a year or two later the price would be halved for the same type. Towards the end of their reign, CRT prices seemed to stay pretty constant, or at least the price plunge slowed a lot.

So how's the LCD market right now? If I buy a $400 monitor, will I see it in a flyer for $200 in a year?

Thanks

 

[Arkaign]

Prices for lower sizes (15", 17", 19") seem to have hit a floor about a year ago. 22"s are sinking to the $200ish level, but beyond that, 24" and above have been hovering (for decent screens) at $450-$650 for at least 6 months now. There has been one odd 24" cheapie, with a decent enough screen, that pops up once in a while for $299. The stand and casing are cheesy, but the screen is pretty good.

What size screen are you looking for?

 

[clickynext]

I'm looking for 22" right now, but the bigger the better, really. My limit is $300-400. I'm not in a real hurry, though, which is why I ask this question. I could wait a year or so, until I build a new computer. Just means I'd have to put up with this old 15", 1024x768 monitor for a bit longer.

 

[Arkaign]

Oh, well you can get some great 22"s for cheap. I have two 22"s, a Westinghouse and a Viewsonic, alongside a Dell 2405FPW. The 24" has a marginally better image, but the 22" TNs aren't as bad as a lot of the elitists want to tell you. Check the glowing reviews from so many happy customers at newegg.com, and also go to a store and look at one for yourself. Preferably hooked straight up to a PC using the DVI cable, as opposed to the bank of screens that you sometimes see hooked up to a splitter, which makes all the screens look like crap most of the time.

I'd recommend either this :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824009094 $219 Acer 22", 5-star rated

or

look for that 24" special (think it's Office Depot) that runs once in a while, I'm sure someone will post the info here.

What video card and usage, btw?

 

[Zap]

The 24" deal is from Office Max, and is for a Soyo brand 24" for $299.99 plus tax. It has a 1 year warranty and I would suggest using a credit card that automatically adds an extra year warranty. My platinum MasterCard does that, and people tell me that their American Express card does that. I have this monitor and am pretty darn happy with it.

Regarding price drops, sure they'll happen, but then is $100 worth having a really nice monitor to use for a year? IMO it is worth it. Just find a deal and jump on it.

The 24" monitor at Office Max is available again this week. 22" monitors have been available for as low as $180 (Best Buy Westinghouse deal). Just find one of those deals, and I don't think "regular" pricing will be that cheap for another ½-1 year.

 

[clickynext]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Oh, well you can get some great 22"s for cheap. I have two 22"s, a Westinghouse and a Viewsonic, alongside a Dell 2405FPW. The 24" has a marginally better image, but the 22" TNs aren't as bad as a lot of the elitists want to tell you. Check the glowing reviews from so many happy customers at newegg.com, and also go to a store and look at one for yourself. Preferably hooked straight up to a PC using the DVI cable, as opposed to the bank of screens that you sometimes see hooked up to a splitter, which makes all the screens look like crap most of the time.

I'd recommend either this :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824009094 $219 Acer 22", 5-star rated

or

look for that 24" special (think it's Office Depot) that runs once in a while, I'm sure someone will post the info here.

What video card and usage, btw?

On that Acer 22", I was wondering if the contrast ratio matters a whole lot. I noticed that it's 700:1, while some monitors now claim 3000:1. Is the difference as big as it sounds?

 

[doggyfromplanetwoof]

If your worried about that, I would not even bother with a 22 TN panel.

 

[apoppin]

i wonder how low they can really go?

i just bought a clearanced brand-new [discontinued] Samsung 205BW ... 20.1" 16x10 ... nice specs for a TN ... and worlds better then my 14x9 Acer ...
. . . a perfect panel ...

--for $135
:Q

how much mark up is there?

 

[clickynext]

Originally posted by: doggyfromplanetwoof
If your worried about that, I would not even bother with a 22 TN panel.

So I take it there's not much difference between 3000:1 and 700:1?

How can you tell whether a panel is TN, by the way?

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: clickynext

Originally posted by: doggyfromplanetwoof
If your worried about that, I would not even bother with a 22 TN panel.

So I take it there's not much difference between 3000:1 and 700:1?

How can you tell whether a panel is TN, by the way?

Specs are BS ... manipulated by marketing - exactly like in audio equipment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD#TN_.2B_Film

 

[Laminator]

Originally posted by: clickynext

Originally posted by: doggyfromplanetwoof
If your worried about that, I would not even bother with a 22 TN panel.

So I take it there's not much difference between 3000:1 and 700:1?

How can you tell whether a panel is TN, by the way?

5ms or lower advertised response time is TN. Avoid panels with an advertised response time of 5ms. 6ms advertised response times should be PVA.

Most 22" panels are TN, even the good ones.

 

[j0j081]

3000:1 is a software trick I believe that adjusts the contrast on the fly depending on what you are looking at. most people don't bother enabling it because it can make a lot of things look worse. I did find it useful for playing counter strike though because on dark maps like train it really brightens things up making it easy to see people.

 

[clickynext]

Okay, so after researching a bunch more, it looks like S-IPS or PVA panels are the way to go for me? I value image quality and more general use over gaming. At the 24" size, it seems these panels are going for ~$600 and might have a ways to drop in price, so maybe the best way to go is to wait another year so I can get what I really want.

 

[nataku00]

If you don't mind a no thrills 24" PVA panel (mediocre to poor quality stand, only VGA and DVI as inputs) that has a great panel, the Soyo panel being sold by Office Max right now for $299.99 is a great deal. I've had this panel for about two weeks and the image quality is excellent through DVI on my computer when compared against the s-ips Dell 2005 FPW it replaced.

 

[clickynext]

Originally posted by: nataku00
If you don't mind a no thrills 24" PVA panel (mediocre to poor quality stand, only VGA and DVI as inputs) that has a great panel, the Soyo panel being sold by Office Max right now for $299.99 is a great deal. I've had this panel for about two weeks and the image quality is excellent through DVI on my computer when compared against the s-ips Dell 2005 FPW it replaced.

Looks like a great deal but unfortunately I'm in Canada and Office Max doesn't ship here. =/

 

[kmmatney]

Originally posted by: nataku00
If you don't mind a no thrills 24" PVA panel (mediocre to poor quality stand, only VGA and DVI as inputs) that has a great panel, the Soyo panel being sold by Office Max right now for $299.99 is a great deal. I've had this panel for about two weeks and the image quality is excellent through DVI on my computer when compared against the s-ips Dell 2005 FPW it replaced.

Yep - I've been very happy so far with my 24" Soyo with S-PVA panel. I also own a 22" Acer, and it really is no comparison - the Soyo has a much nicer panel. For $200 a 22" LCD is a good deal - for $299 the 24" Soyo is a great deal. You just need to tweak the color a little in windows.

A coworker of mine saw my 24" Soyo and went to OfficeMax to buy one. they were no longer on sale, but they sold it to him for the $299 price anyways. He didn't have to fight or beg for that price - they just offered to him when he mentioned seeing my monitor on the price I paid.

Hopefully, in teh next month or two a few more manufacturers will come out with lower cost 24" panels.

 

[konakona]

Originally posted by: nataku00
If you don't mind a no thrills 24" PVA panel (mediocre to poor quality stand, only VGA and DVI as inputs) that has a great panel, the Soyo panel being sold by Office Max right now for $299.99 is a great deal. I've had this panel for about two weeks and the image quality is excellent through DVI on my computer when compared against the s-ips Dell 2005 FPW it replaced.

fair enough, bu tthis is a P-MVA as far as I know. Still great though, and supposedely P-MVA has its perks when viweing videos and such. Mine looks very good after color calibration.

 

[clickynext]

Does anyone know if the Soyo is still on sale, and if so how long it goes for? Maybe I can make a shopping trip down to Seattle (I'm in Vancouver) to get one.

 

[gizbug]

You might want a monitor that is capable of HDTV

 

[clickynext]

What's the specification of HDTV? 1080p? Which would mean 1920x1080?

I've got the opportunity to get a Dell 2007WFP for $300. The bad news is that it's used. The good news is that it's S-IPS and no dead pixels! Do you guys think that's a fair price for one of those?

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: clickynext
What's the specification of HDTV? 1080p? Which would mean 1920x1080?

I've got the opportunity to get a Dell 2007WFP for $300. The bad news is that it's used. The good news is that it's S-IPS and no dead pixels! Do you guys think that's a fair price for one of those?

Dude, you can get that same monitor from Dell for almost the same price, no big deal in that. if you have a friend in the states or trust someone here, I would do whatever I could to get the Soyo 24", its simply too good of a deal (price/performance). If I were you, check out some of the guys in the FS/FT forum, I'm sure one of the guys with high heat would do it for you for a minimal fee. Good luck

 

[konakona]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon

Originally posted by: clickynext
What's the specification of HDTV? 1080p? Which would mean 1920x1080?

I've got the opportunity to get a Dell 2007WFP for $300. The bad news is that it's used. The good news is that it's S-IPS and no dead pixels! Do you guys think that's a fair price for one of those?

Dude, you can get that same monitor from Dell for almost the same price, no big deal in that. if you have a friend in the states or trust someone here, I would do whatever I could to get the Soyo 24", its simply too good of a deal (price/performance). If I were you, check out some of the guys in the FS/FT forum, I'm sure one of the guys with high heat would do it for you for a minimal fee. Good luck

used or not, if it works fine then its a much better deal IMO. S-IPS >> P-MVA and many people prefer it over S-PVA as well. As much as I like my soyo, its no S-IPS killer.

 

[clickynext]

I'll have to check up on that Soyo and see if I can make a trip down soon! Does anyone know how stock is holding up on those? At that price I imagine they'll run out pretty quick.

 

[clickynext]

I decided on the Dell 2007wfp afterall. Making a trip down for the Soyo just didn't make sense, and I would have had to pay taxes/duties coming back anyway, which would have kinda killed the deal in conjunction with the gas.

Since the Dell sells for $400 new here, $300 for guaranteed S-IPS doesn't seem too bad, I think? =)

Thanks for all the replies and explanations. Now the only problem is video card. My AIW9600Pro doesn't do DVI, and I don't know how great my 8500 is going to be at high res.

 

[Arkaign]

Yeah, you'll need a new card. Shoot for at least a 7800GT/X1900XT.