Shopping For Deals and Brands
Searching for monitor bargains is as simple as visiting deal sites and browsing the day’s posted deals. On Dealnews.com and Slickdeals.net you’ll find coupon codes and discounted pricing on displays of all sizes every day. Depending on how much you’re willing to spend, a 22-inch, 24inch or even 30-inch display may only set you back a couple hundred dollars. In fact, Dealnews.com has an entire section for monitors and displays. For example, we like Dell displays (although we like others, too) and picked up the two 24” monitors on our desk at the same time for less than $500. For example, right now you can buy a Dell E2210H 22” display for $149 with free shipping (although that deal may have expired by the time you get to it. Some of these discounts are only valid the day they’re posted!). That means you can completely transform your workspace for as little at $300.
Speaking of display manufacturers, there are a number of brands and models that have established a good reputation in recent years.. Dell, Samsung, Acer, and even HP all make quality displays of all sizes at decent price points. Dell’s UltraSharp line has been popular with gamers and everyday PC users alike, mostly because of its low prices, frequent sales, and low screen refresh rates. The refresh rate isn’t quite as important as it used to be, since just about every display manufacturer makes LCDs with refresh rates that are low enough for PC gaming.
Dell’s display line is very broad, so if you’re looking for a display that rotates to portrait view, you’ll find one, but if you don’t care about that you can find another model of the same size without that feature. If you really want a card reader, you can find a model that has one, but if you’d rather have a display with HDMI inputs and no card reader, you can find one of those as well.
The same applies for manufacturers like Acer, Samsung, and BenQ; if you’re looking for a display with a matte display and not a glossy display, most manufacturers make models with both. Acer and BenQ are well known for making quality panels at low prices. Samsung is known for high quality panels (so much so that other manufacturers buy Samsung’s panels and re-brand them) with excellent color, brightness, and contrast – perfect for graphic and Web designers.
For example, any monitor with a swivel-tilt base and good pixel response (crucial for video with lots of action or sports) are perfect for replacing your TV and allow you to change the vewing angle without moving the entire display around your desk. The 24” Ultrasharp 2408WFP, for example, supports HD video, comes with a card reader, and features 6ms response time, which is perfect for gamers and movie fans looking for a well-rounded display at a good price. Graphic designers may prefer the 24” ViewSonic VG2427wm or the 22” VM2227vm, which both support 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and feature bright, true color. Many designers believe no one has topped Apple’s Cinema Displays for true color and longevity, even though they come at a significant price premium.
