Refurbished Monitors @ Computer Shows Good or Bad? Please Help...

[QwErTyBk]

I was thinking of buying a monitor at a local computer show. They have seemingly increadible deals on Sony Trinitron/ Viewsonic monitors. Many of them are branded as Dell, Gateway, and the like which leads me to believe that they are refurbs. I was wondering if any of you have had experiences with these kinds of monitors. I was looking at the 17" ones from sony and Viewsonic. They were $90-$120. They all supposedly have warranties too. I was just wondering if this is a bad/good idea. I just want a quality monitor that wont cost me bigtime. Thanks in advance.

 

[dave127]

as long as they have at least a one year warranty, you should be ok

Dave

 

[MrBond]

Dell ships trinitron moniters with most (all?) of their new PCs.

If you have access to a laptop, take it along and ask them to demo the monitor on it (if they don't have it plugged into a pc already). Play with the adjustments, etc. They shouldn't balk, it is your money and its portable. And don't be afraid to walk away.

Monitors at comp shows are usually decent. I was running a refirb 17" unit, and will be again this fall (my 21" won't fit on my desk at school ) It's not a bad place to pick up a new monitor either, as prices are usually good.

 

[QwErTyBk]

Thanks a lot for the info. They supposedly have 3 yr warranties (surprising to me for refurbs). Any other things I should look for in the monitors?

 

[vi edit]

Couple things to look for -

1) Look on the back of the monitor for the manufacture date. You'll be surprised how old some of those monitors may be. If the monitor is over a year old, I wouldn't even think about purchasing it. You can find better.

2) If it is a year old, or newer, turn it on. If it is hooked up to a computer, ask to have the background colors changed around with a couple different colors such as white, black, blue, and green. Look and see if you can notice any discoloration in the corners.

3) Look at the edges and see if they are straight. If they are curved, use the digital controls to try and straighten them out. Many refurbs are returned because the edges of the screen are forever distorted. Some people can't stand it, and others don't mind it.

I've had pretty good luck with my refurbs. I picked on hell of a nice 17" Mitsubishi Diamondtron off of an auction site for about $90. Probably the best monitor I have ever used.

 

[QwErTyBk]

Thanks...I'll make sure to watch out for the distortion and old monitors.

 

[Raspewtin]

i worked at a clearinghouse for used monitors. i suggest you don't buy them. Many have had the contrast/brightness too high too long. New Monitors aren't that expensive. Refurbs are good at offices and such to save some cash.

 

[QwErTyBk]

Raspewtin, that cant be adjusted on the refurbs? Remember they are not used monitors per se, they are Refurbished monitors. Cant I adjust the contrast/color problems?

 

[QwErTyBk]

The monitors @ the shows are much like this refurb at egghead. Any opinions?

17" Sony .25dp @ egghead.com