[TriLUG] Finding decent monitors?

[Andrew C. Oliver]

What I did, was looked at www.ubid.com (which is like ebay only you can 
buy direct from ubid
and cut out the risk).  I found cheap 21" monitors (my preference) and 
looked then at the reviews.
(this was a couple years ago so by todays standard the price might not 
impress).  I got a refurbished
(which was fine with me) 21" Hitachi professional grade monitor. 
 (Hitachi IMHO is an underrated brand,
and I had seen other monitors from their professional series and been 
very impressed - it uses Sony
tubes of course).

I did my research and read up on tubes and etc, and this monitor had 
been top of the line 2 years before and
I think about $2,200 or so (don't remember exactly).  The tube it used 
use crt guns that sounded really neato and
were still envyable at the time.  

I got the monitor for around $200 and the shipping was really high but 
it was still a screeming deal.  

Not everything on ubid is a refurb, but depending on the device I don't 
mind buying a refurb if I get the appropriate
deal.  For montiors I'd rather have a professional grade refurb than a 
brand new "consumer" model.

Again by now the difference may not be so profound, but in 21" monitors 
there are generally at least two series from any company a professional 
series, and the kind you buy at best buy.  The professional series 
generally are of far better quality at about 2-3 times the price.  Well 
worth it though considering I wish to preserve what little eyesight I have.

-Andy

>I understand that cheap is a sliding scale based on the buyer. I don't
>want anymore CRT monitors. I would be perfectly happy with LCD monitors
>for the rest of my life (with some exceptions if I ever get more heavily
>into video editing). However, my wife likes cheap and can't stand my 19"
>monitor. She says it is too big and hurts her eyes (It's an AOC from
>Intrex). I feel a 17" or 15" would be best for her, but it doesn't have
>to be great quality as she uses it for at most 2 hours a day with the
>length usually being less than one hour and that is always in web,
>e-mail, or word-type editing.
>
>The monitor you mention does look quite nice, but probably too much for
>her :)
>
>Thanks,
>Bill
>  
>