Kristoff The Barbarian’s Blog

Looking for a cheap LCD? Well, if you’re reading this in time, you can get a ViewSonic 17″ for $99 after a $40 mail-in rebate. If you do your math right, you’re paying $140 up front (excluding shipping of course). The downside? Well, the deal ends this Tuesday (Oct 17, 2006). Also, it doesn’t say what kinds of connections you’re getting, so it’s probably analog. It’s got a 25ms video response, which is kind of high compared to most newer LCDs. Either way, you’re getting a freakin LCD for $100, and it’s a ViewSonic. For those of you who aren’t in the compu-know, ViewSonic makes some of the best monitors you can buy, and they’ve been in business for a long time. This may be an older generation LCD, but that doesn’t mean they skimped out on quality.

The offer I bit though is basically the same deal as above except it’s $20 more, with an 8ms video response and analog and digital inputs. Also, you’re getting a $50 rebate back, so it’s really only $10 more ($110 AR). For ten extra dollars, it’s definately worth it, even if you are just going to sell it again. Get it here.

While we’re at it, there is also a Samsung for $180 after rebate (8ms) that ends on the 19th (Thursday) and an HP for $190 AR that ends January 14th, which is also 8ms. So, there’s the lowdown on some good deals for now.

EDIT: My monitor came in, and I’ve been using it for a few days now. It’s got crappy speakers (they all do), but at least it gives me a way to listen to my other computer because they’re slightly amplified and my KVM switch doesn’t support sound. The digital input is about as bad as my other monitor, but with these monitors, analog usually works pretty well. There is 1 dead pixel that I can notice at the moment, but it’s off to the side and took me a day to actually notice it. I have a lot of excuses, but you can’t ask for much more for a $110 monitor. One thing that impressed me the minute I took it out of the box is how easy it is to get to the inputs on the back, with a removable panel. Can’t say much else about it other than it works, it’s not too dim, and it a freakin $110 LCD that I’m thinking about keeping rather than selling. Well, at least until I get an offer I guess. I decided to break it in a bit so I could tell someone exactly what I’m selling. Also, I’ll have to take the UPC off the box, they weren’t going to get that anyway.