Monitors at Best Buy - Prices and selection compared to online shopping

[duragezic]

Hello,

After several posts here and some research I decided to get a 19in monitor. In spite of some people's other recommendations, I hope to get the Hitachi Superscan 715. Why?

Well it is about $398 at onvia.com with free shipping. Then subtract the $25 coupon and take off an additional 10% from pointclick and it is around $335 shipped (if I remember correctly). I could get the Samsung 955df, which was recommended, for even cheaper but the refresh rate at 1600x1200 is only 60hz, compared to the 75hz of the Hitachi for a little bit higher price tag. The Samsung 900ift looked great, especially with the $30 rebate too but I couldn't find it anywhere in stock for a good price. Enough talking, down to my question

Where I live there is no Best Buy but about 2 hours away there is one. I have been there many times just never looked at monitors because I had no need to. But now I can probably go there to look for a 19in monitor but before I do, GENERALLY, how is their prices and selection? Online is always cheaper but I was thinking if they had a special sale or something, it might be worth it to get it there and then not have to wait for UPS ground shipping either! WHile I understand every Best Buy is different I want a general answer please. I also know that more than likely they won't have the Hitachi Superscan 715 but they may have some other good ones that are similar. Do they?

eagle

P.S. I think there is a CompUSA in that city too so do they have good prices and selection?

 

[da loser]

you can check online and compare their prices. Generally they have about 10-15 monitors plus the oem branded ones. I don't think you can really compare to onvia, since you gotta factor in tax, plus its a retail store. Sometimes they do have good sales after holidays and such. I'm not sure if best buy carries hitachi though. Sony, Nec, KDS, Samsung, Pixie, EMC, CTX are the ones i can remember, go check online.

http://www.bestbuy.com
http://www.compusa.com

 

[LXi]

Buy from Onvia.com, you get a $25 coupon, 10% discount, plus $30 rebate if you buy Samsung. That cuts down the cost for almost $100, plus Onvia doesnt charge tax or shipping(yes you heard me, free shipping).

 

[duragezic]

Thanks da loser. I couldn't find the monitor section at the Best Buy website but the one in CompUSA had a pretty bad selection and high prices, which I should have expected.

Yes, LXi that's what I planned to do unless I found some good deals at a store like Best Buy or CompUSA.

eagle

 

[randomlinh]

best buy == no monitor selection. Well, they had the 900ift.. but NEVER in stock. Sony's sometimes, and some viewsonics, and bout 20 OEM's.

BTW, prices can't compare, and i would recommend against buying from them. A lot of the lazier workers tend to drop them a few feet when restocking...

 

[T2T III]

Comparing BB to On-line retailers ... well, there is no comparision. If you were to waste the time (2 hours each way) to go to BB, you would get there and see a "wall of monitors". All of them are being driven off of one CPU/video card. They do have some individual monitors connected to individual PCs, but usually you will find only HP, Compaq and other 15" or 17" monitors connected to these PCs -- I've never seen a 19" monitor connected to a dedicated PC @ BB.

For price comparison, BB had the KDS AV-195TF featured last week in their sales circular. $479.99 - $30 (mail-in rebate) = $449.99 + Tax on $479.99. Seems a bit pricey when you consider that BB provided you with nothing of benefit when purchasing from them, with the exception of getting some "instant gratification" in taking your purchase home with you right away. Purchasing this same monitor on-line would allow you to get it for about $340 after rebates and all.

I don't particularly like shopping on-line for a monitor, but feel that you have chosen a nice monitor and the Hitachi should work out well for you even though you are purchasing it on-line. Go for it!!!

 

[Ulysses]

<<A lot of the lazier workers tend to drop them a few feet when restocking... >>

So do those industrious guys at UPS - especially those big 19 inchers !!

No - No - Don't go for it yet:
Monitors are pretty touchy and unlike a lot of HW they are more individual in their performance from one unit to the next. And specs aside, I'd never buy one without looking at one first. So I'd vote for calling BBuy to see what's in stock and then get one if they have what you want. Also, if you keep the packaging and receipt a return is a breeze and no restocking fee I believe. I think there's a greater chance of having to return a monitor than most types of HW. Other stuff I'd normally buy on-line.

 

[T2T III]

I still say &quot;go for it&quot;. Onvia is good to deal with if you have a problem. If you get a monitor that has problems, Onvia picks up the shipping to retrieve the monitor from you, plus will send you a new one at their expense. Onvia is about the only retailer that makes shopping for a monitor on-line enjoyable.

 

[Ulysses]

Have you seen this:
http://www.pcworld.com/current_issue/article/chart/0,1925,17159+2+0,00.html.

It's very up to date.

 

[duragezic]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll go with Onvia but I never did think about UPS breaking it during shipping...

Wow the 950p looks pretty good! But the specs listed on Onvia are completely different than Samsung's website.

Onvia:Syncmaster 950P 19&quot;/18.0V 26MM 1600x1200 85HZ
Samsung: Syncmaster 950P 19&quot;/18.0V 22MM 1600x1200 76HZ

I'd say the Samsung info is correct. Hmm we have a new contender! I guess it's between the Hitachi CM715 and Samsung 950P and the 950p is cheaper except the $30 rebate isn't for the 950p. Oh well I guess I'll have to decide soon.

THank you everyone for all the help regarding my monitor decision!

eagle

 

[LXi]

I still think you should go with 955DF or 900IFT, cause they're just the same thing as 950p except they're purely flat.

 

[ccc]

get the Samsung 900NF rather than 950p,
it has a flat tube and better resolution
than 950p.
And it has $30 rebate, Onvia stated it
is out of stock, but call the Customer
Service, it is actually in stock only
in 1 of the warehouse.
I just called today and ordered 1.

 

[T2T III]

<< I still think you should go with 955DF or 900IFT, cause they're just the same thing as 950p except they're purely flat. >>


The 955DF is not the same as the 950P. I've gone through a few 955DF monitors -- and they've both gone back to the vendor. I've put my Samsung 900P back on my desktop and I'm happy once again. The image quality of the 955DF monitors that I had were not near the quality of image that my 900P can produce. Although the 900P is not truly flat like the others listed, I'm not bothered by it not being totally flat -- for me, it's the overall image quality that counts.

I can't wait for a few more years to go by. There should be lots of excellent totally flat shadow mask monitors from many vendors -- and not just Hitachi and Samsung which are the only two in the 19&quot; league for now. 'Tron' monitors in a flat format are available from many manufacturers, but the shadow mask makers need to catch up.

 

[mosdef]

Some things to make a note of:
1. The $25 off coupons at Onvia end today.
2. PointClick has removed Onvia from its list of merchants for the 10% cash-back program. I e-mailed PointClick asking when Onvia'll be back, and they said they have no current ETA.
3. The coupon is here http://www.netbate.com/coupons/samsung/1347.htm. Make sure the model you are looking at is supported.

On a side note, I ordered the 955DF on June 28th and I got it today (it was out of stock). It looks pretty nice but I haven't plugged it in yet (it's for a new computer that I'm putting together). I'll post my thoughts on the monitor when I've given it a good test drive.

-mosdef

 

[randomlinh]

oh, shippping by UPS.. hahaa... pick FedEx

BTW, i really don't like shopping for monitors w/o looking for them too, but NO where local has the monitors that I am interested in hooked up to dedicated machines. Like the Samsungs and some viewsonics and sometimes sony.

 

[T2T III]

lnguyen,

The Micro-Center in Fairfax has some of their monitors hooked up to dedicated PCs. Also, the CompUSA in Fair Lakes has some in this configuration, too. Best Buy ... well ... they should hook some up to dedicated PCs and they might be surprised how many more monitors they would sell.

 

[LXi]

wje: I have seen and compared the DF and P line of the Samsung monitors, and I must say I like DF more. Although the 955DF isnt able to produce high refresh rate at high resolution, other than that, the image quality and colors are pretty much on par with all the other Samsungs. The 900IFT on the other hand, looks even better, it's the best looking Samsung shadow mask monitor.

 

[ccc]

ahhh i see that you prefer Shadow Mask monitor...
Samsung 900ift is IN STOCK at Onvia.
go search for 900ift.

 

[randomlinh]

heh, now that you mention it, I've been to that micro-center, one of the rare places that has room filled w/ monitors. And a 18&quot; Viewsonic LCD.. drool

 

[duragezic]

Well. After reading the posts since I last posted it took me about 15 seconds to decide to get the Samsung 900ift! Why?

Well the 900ift is in stock at Onvia (thank you ccc, never thought of searching) which was the most important because LXi and a few others actually recommended it over the 900nf and 955df. And it is only $410! Let's not forget the $30 rebate too! Simple mathematics shows that the 900ift is cheaper than the Hitachi and most likely better.

I would like to thank everyone again for the recommendations and helpful hints because I have no clue when it comes to monitors and I don't want to spend such a large amount of money and get crap. I just need to get the money and order it before July 31st when the rebate runs out. Finally I'll have something easy on the eyes since this 15in at 1024x768 is probably giving me a refresh rate no higher than 60hz and I've been using this thing for over 4 years.

eagle

 

[ccc]

actually 900NF is better than 900ift in my opinion...
but that's really depends on which type of monitor
you like...
900NF is based on Diamondtron NF (Aperture Grille monitor)
and 900ift is a Shadow Mask monitor.

I prefer AG, so I picked 900NF, and 900NF is a newer
model than 900ift.

But if you like Shadow mask monitor, 900ift probably is
one of the best from samsung.