I just went down to Future Shop tonight to do some browsing of big screen TVs with the wife.
You can get a 22" widescreen Acer monitor for $349. Canadian. All the other brands are in the same price range. In fact, the only big display there that was even close to expensive was the Apple Cinema Display.
And this isn’t some Dell “We’ll pay you to take it” kind of deal… This is Future Shop, where they like to bend you over.
Is it just me, or have LCD prices dropped incredibly the last year?
My dream of two 22" widescreens side by side is very close to a reality with these prices.
Future Shop is usually some $50 more expensive than surrounding screwdriver shops, if they have the same stock. But $349… The closest price I can find in Vancouver is $375 for the same model monitor at Atic. And I wouldn’t buy anything from those SOBs.
Is that the one on Blanshard and Cloverdale, Backov? The Futureshop website lists that item at $429 with a $30 discount. If they have it in store for $50 cheaper, I might be tempted to pick one up.
I remember seeing some news report about how they made too many pieces of LCD monitors/televisions over in japan or korea or china, or wherever they make them, and that the prices are going to get even lower.
Ask yourself this, how big a monitor do you REALLY want?
I had the cash to get some big fuckoff widescreen mega penis-extension LCD, but I opted for a 19" one. Why?
two reasons…
a 19" still runs at 1280 1024, but with bigger pixels than a 17". Thats cool with me, as my eyesight aint stellar, I like to run at native resolution, and I dislike silly high resolution, when the default text is miniscule.
running full screen ninja games at 1280 by 1024 is doable on a reasonable video card. if you get a 1600 1200 setup, you need some megaton video card with a fan than rivals concordes engines. no thanks.
I keep seeing TVs in stores that are so big its just getting silly. Its the old case of ‘bigger is better’ and it just isnt. If you need a new monitor, dont get a 22" or 32" LCD. get a really high quality 17 or 19" one. I wouldnt dream of getting a monitor that wasn’t an iiyama one, and even a 19" iiyama one is now affordable.
Considering only my wife would ever see my LCD-Peens, that’s not such a great motivation.
The real motivation is I want widescreen (that 1680x1440 or whatever it is), and I want two of them. As for size… Why would I get a 17" or 19" LCD when a 22" is 350$?
Yes, was just pointing out for those of us without a FutureShop around. That’s a really nice deal. I paid more than that less than a year ago for my 20" Dell. Maybe I can pick up a 22" and give my girlfriend the Dell…
Anyone tried the Samsung 225BW? Its a 22" running at 1680x1050. Supposed to have a really hot response time and flawless for all kinds of games in that regard. But I have seen people complain about backlighting bleeding through the top and bottom of the screen edges. Its like $400 retail.
