Monitor: Should I get refrub or no?

[Sulaco]

I've in the market for a new monitor here soon, and had previously all but decided on the NEC DP930SB for $294 at Newegg.

But after looking around, and hearing people say they've had good luck with refurbished monitors, I came across this site.

AccurateIT.com

Most of their stuff is refurbished. Some of their deals, like a 21" Sony Trintron for around $250 or so in perfect condition look too good to pass up (or too good to be true?).
Their reseller ratings are pretty solid, they're about a 20 minute drive from where I live (which is nice in case of any problems), and they offer a 6 month warranty on all monitors.

So what do you guys think?

 

[moonsite]

Are you in the market for CRT or LCD? If I spend 250, I would get a new 17" LCD. For CRT, I rather get the cheap one from Officemax or something. They usually have 19" for around $150 or less after rebate.

 

[Bucksnort]

I would recommend avoiding a refurb monitor at all costs. If you are prepared for a monitor to last 1-2 years, screen scratches etc then go refurb. You may see people saying a positive experience with a refurb initially but look at them 1-2 years down the road. You will see lots here asking about what a good monitor is to buy and that their refurbished monitor just died. Get the 930 new. Full 3 yr warranty. You will thank yourself for it. Have you checked Dell for that monitor? I got mine cheaper there with free shipping and if you live in a state where you dont have to pay tax you really come out on top. Dell has 10% off monitors right now also. I do not see free shipping advertised like before but when you are checking out and if you select standard 3-7 day shipping then it does say free. Dell Home Customers: Get free ground (3-5 day) shipping on peripheral items over $49! -$40.00
Expires Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Dell 19" monitors

 

[techwanabe]

Bucksnort is correct,

Monitors are so cheap anymore, esp on sale or special that 3 year warranty will pay for itself.

 

[Chudilo]

Hah. Well, CRT to LCD is a big Discussion, yes.

Sony has discontinued production of ALL but one CRT monitors. All discontinued monitors are up for grabs at tonns of different places for about the amount that you are talking about.
If you have the space to accomodate a 20+ inch CRT .. GET it.. no LCD will ever be able to touch the quality of a SONY CRT monitor. (unlike plazmas which do have a MUCH better color repoduction qualities)

However if you don't see the difference between the picture quality of a CRT vs a LCD then get the LCD.

I personally do a lot of graphics, so it makes a world of difference to me.
But if it's just for games, websurfing and office apps; and the LCD is fast enough for games.. you might be better of with the LCD.
But beware, all dark colors look the same on an LCD. There is like a break-off point where an LCD ceises to be able to display the difference.
Also, there is only a relatively limited amount of colors that an LCD can display. The best of 'em are only at about 64k colors not the true color 16.8 mil of a CRT.
Again the need for that is arguable. If you intend to diplay images, that's one thing; you will notice color banding if you look hard enough ... but it won't matter for games, usually textures are 16 bit color anyway and or Video card manufacturers take shorcuts to optimise performace of their cards by processing textures at 16 or 24bit or what not.
You still have to make the desision of what's more important to you. I have owned about 3 refurb Sony monitors over the last 6 years. With no complaints whatsoever. they did have to replace one within the warranty period. But i got traided for a bigger and better model and they shipped first. So you will not hear me complaining about Sony support.

 

[Comparisonman]

A monitor is definitely not something to skimp on. Buy a new monitor unless the ones at that store are in fantastic condition and you are given a great deal. For future reference, I have also found a way to help greatly extend the life of a CRT monitor. If you are planning on getting a CRT, something that I do is mount a 120mm fan on the top of it to cool it down. About 3 years ago, I bought a used 19" KDS VS19sn monitor for about $130. The monitor was running great and had a clear picture, but about 3 months down the line it started making a high pitched noise. At first I thought that it was just the resolution I was running in, but after a little experimentation I noticed that the monitor was very hot and decided to see what happened when I put a fan on it. Bingo. Within the same day after installing the fan, my monitor stopped making the high-pitched noise. Since then that monitor has been clear as ever and has never made another high-pitched sound. If you don't mind doing a little customization I highly recommend doing this to extend monitor life.

 

[Bucksnort]

Try vacumming the top vents periodically, does wonders. Don't need a fan, u need good ventelation and a proper atmosphere.

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: Bucksnort
Try vacumming the top vents periodically, does wonders. Don't need a fan, u need good ventelation and a proper atmosphere.

LOL! If the insides of our computers are any indication, this is gotta be true of monitors too!

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Don't know much about that vendor, accurateit, but I've been very happy with refurb monitors from other vendors.

I've bought close to 10 refurb crt monitors now from 2 reputable online vendors and they've been running just fine. No bad reports in the past 2 years.

 

[Kerry56]

I bought a Viewsonic G70f from acuraitit a while back. It seemed like a very good deal at the time, especially since the one I bought was new. Mine had a problem though. The monitor wouldn't focus correctly in the center of the screen.

I sent it in to Viewsonic under warranty and they fixed it, but I was out an extra $25 or so to ship it to them. All told, I think I still saved about $30 off the price I could have gotten anywhere else, but it took an extra two and a half weeks before I had a working monitor.

Be careful dealing with them. I would not consider buying a refurbished monitor from them, and would only consider a new one if you can find an outstanding deal.