Best LCD monitor for < $150

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beowulf7

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A colleague bought a new computer but without a monitor, to replace his ~10 y/o computer that has a CRT monitor. (Yes, it's an ancient HP, I saw it the other day.) He wants a new monitor rather than use that old tiny CRT. His budget is $150 firm.

I told him he could get a really nice 20" or decent 22" on that budget. What do you think? I know Dell runs sales on a regular basis, so I'll probably point him in that direction. If you have other recommendations, please mention them and I'll forward them to him.

In our area (N. TX), we have Best Buy, Fry's, Staples, and Office Depot within easy driving distance. He doesn't care about buying on-line or from B&M. TIA.
 
I would do just as you said and probably stick with dell... Sometimes you can get decent sales from Fry's but that is few and far between. Also you might want to mention to him about Dell Outlet, will shave some dough off and might be able to afford something bigger.
 
The Acer 22" and Asus are the usual recommendations in that price range.

In store: Staples has the 22" Hanns G for $150.

Edit: just re-read the first post, so your friend doesn't mind purchasing online? If so then that expands the field quite a bit further. If that's the case then it's just a matter of hunting down the cheapest price on an Acer 22" from a quality vendor (or if Dell is having a sale)

Tiger has it for $140 + $2 shipping: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3883448 (the DVI port is HDCP compatible)
 
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there is only one monitor you can buy that is 22" that is a DELL 2209WA
THERE IS NOTHING IN THAT PRICE RANGE THAT COMPARES !!!!! muAUAHAHAHA
 
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Hopefully this thread will help out others as well. I'll pass along these recommendations to my colleague.

I tried to up-sell him on a 24" Dell LCD (which I own and really like, but the year 2005 version), but $400 is way too rich for his blood. :(

I should also note that my colleague is in his 40s and will just use his new computer for basic tasks, such as MS Office documents, Turbo Tax, Web, and e-mail. He's not a gamer.
 
Just a quick update. Unbeknownst to me, my colleague went ahead and bought a 21.5" HP LCD over the Internet using a link from our company's "preferred vendors" (that typically includes an employee discount). It has HDMI and native resolution of 1920x1080. He paid $200 shipped for it (after discount) and bought a 3-yr. extended next-day warranty on top of it. So, he stretched his budget by almost $100. For $200-$250 (w/ or w/o warranty), I think he could've done a bit better, but I'll just leave it at that. Thanks again for everyone's input. And I hope this thread can help out someone else in the near future.
 
beowulf7 said:
Just a quick update. Unbeknownst to me, my colleague went ahead and bought a 21.5" HP LCD over the Internet using a link from our company's "preferred vendors" (that typically includes an employee discount). It has HDMI and native resolution of 1920x1080. He paid $200 shipped for it (after discount) and bought a 3-yr. extended next-day warranty on top of it. So, he stretched his budget by almost $100. For $200-$250 (w/ or w/o warranty), I think he could've done a bit better, but I'll just leave it at that. Thanks again for everyone's input. And I hope this thread can help out someone else in the near future.
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Oh what a peeve of mine, he forces you to find the deals by stating $150 firm, but when he has to do it himself he takes the easy way out and pays a full $250 for a 21.5" monitor :confused:

Which is why i no longer assist coworkers with PC stuff :p

That tiny pixels on that monitor are going to kill his eyes, i bet he ends up running a lower resolution.
 
wtf this thread makes me mad

he could have had the best monitor you can buy for $200 WTF !
argh !
 
SJetski71 said:
Oh what a peeve of mine, he forces you to find the deals by stating $150 firm, but when he has to do it himself he takes the easy way out and pays a full $250 for a 21.5" monitor :confused:

Which is why i no longer assist coworkers with PC stuff :p

That tiny pixels on that monitor are going to kill his eyes, i bet he ends up running a lower resolution.
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Seriously, 1920 x 1080 on 21.5" is crazy. And since it's LCD, running at anything less than native will look bad. He's in his 40s and said his eyes aren't what they used to be.

I told him I asked some friends for recommendations. (Yes, I called you folks my friends. :eek:) He asked out of curiosity what I would've recommended, so I mentioned the Acer, Hanns, and said Dell often has sub-$150 deals for 22". He e-mailed a little while ago saying he got the shipping e-mail that the monitor was shipped out and that he should receive it in 5-7 days.

123Lanoix said:
wtf this thread makes me mad

he could have had the best monitor you can buy for $200 WTF !
argh !
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I know. What a pity that his "$150 firm" budget was not so firm. But at least I won't take the flak if he's not happy w/ it. While I'm not going tell him "I told you so", he'll know it.
 
My recommendation, tell your coworker to change the pixel scaling on Windows to 120 dpi (+25%). It will make things a lot easier for him to read. I also own a 21.5 monitor at 1920x1080 resolution, the Dell SX2210. I really like the fine pixels, it makes text very crisp. But I definitely had to bump up the font size to make things more easily readable.
 
vjcsmoke said:
My recommendation, tell your coworker to change the pixel scaling on Windows to 120 dpi (+25%). It will make things a lot easier for him to read. I also own a 21.5 monitor at 1920x1080 resolution, the Dell SX2210. I really like the fine pixels, it makes text very crisp. But I definitely had to bump up the font size to make things more easily readable.
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Thanks for the heads up, I'll let him know that. He's expecting to get his monitor by today but probably won't use it until his computer arrives next week.
 
I got a couple used Dell 2001FP's (non-widescreen 20" S-IPS, 1600x1200) for around $130 shipped. They were both manufactured in 10/2005 and are pretty good bang for the buck, especially since they are S-IPS. Probably off lease or something.
 
beowulf7 said:
Just a quick update. Unbeknownst to me, my colleague went ahead and bought a 21.5" HP LCD over the Internet using a link from our company's "preferred vendors" (that typically includes an employee discount). It has HDMI and native resolution of 1920x1080. He paid $200 shipped for it (after discount) and bought a 3-yr. extended next-day warranty on top of it. So, he stretched his budget by almost $100. For $200-$250 (w/ or w/o warranty), I think he could've done a bit better, but I'll just leave it at that. Thanks again for everyone's input. And I hope this thread can help out someone else in the near future.
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wow ><

he could have done way better, doesn't geeks have those 21 inch lcds debranded for like 129 sometimes?

considering for 240 i got my benq 24 inch, which is regarded as one of the best TN panels available i think he could have done way better...hell i've been trying to sell my relatively high end LG 22 inch for 145 shipped...warranty still intact.

EDIT: ok shit i sorta necro'd this, but its early and i didn't check the date ><
 
Manaknight said:
wow ><

he could have done way better, doesn't geeks have those 21 inch lcds debranded for like 129 sometimes?

considering for 240 i got my benq 24 inch, which is regarded as one of the best TN panels available i think he could have done way better...hell i've been trying to sell my relatively high end LG 22 inch for 145 shipped...warranty still intact.

EDIT: ok shit i sorta necro'd this, but its early and i didn't check the date ><
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I'm going to check out his new computer and monitor this weekend since he requested my help to put it together and migrate his data from the old PC (which is literally 10 years old!) to the new one. I can't imagine what 1920 x 1080 is going to look like on a 21.5" screen. I'm used to 1920 x 1200 on my 24" screen. :cool: Given that his eyes are worse than mine, I suspect he's going to be in for an unpleasant surprise. :eek:
 
A quick follow-up. I helped my friend set up his new computer, including the HP m2159 LCD monitor he bought. While the monitor came w/ both DVI and VGA cables, his computer only has an internal graphics card w/ VGA only, so that's what I used. The monitor actually looks pretty good for 21.5" using 1920 x 1080 resolution. He seemed happy. I told him if he's going to watch a lot of videos/DVDs, to get a stand-alone video card and use the white DVI cable.
 
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