I need a decent, cheap monitor

[Kyros]

Hey everyone, a friend is looking for a decent ~20-23 inch monitor, preferably for $200 or less. It would be used mostly as a way to watch tv shows and movies, to avoid paying for cable tv. I think it would be nice to have at least 1920x1080 resolution so it can be useful for other stuff as well.

Mostly I'm wondering what brands I should specifically avoid, and which ones are especially good. There are so many cheap monitor options out there, that I don't really expect anyone to be familiar with all of them :lol:.

Also, are LED based monitors better than LCD monitors at the low end? They seem to be pretty similar in price, so I'd lean towards the LED ones.

[chucker]

Also, are LED based monitors better than LCD monitors at the low end? They seem to be pretty similar in price, so I'd lean towards the LED ones.

They're both LCD. LED refers to the backlighting technique, as opposed to CCFL.

LED backlighting is brighter and longer-lasting. CCFL gets much darker over the years.

RGB LED backlighting is even better, in that it produces more vibrant colors.

[Kyros]

They're both LCD. LED refers to the backlighting technique, as opposed to CCFL.

Right, I should have known that.

LED backlighting is brighter and longer-lasting. CCFL gets much darker over the years.

RGB LED backlighting is even better, in that it produces more vibrant colors.

Thanks!

[Dave]

Hey everyone, a friend is looking for a decent ~20-23 inch monitor, preferably for $200 or less. [...] I think it would be nice to have at least 1920x1080 resolution so it can be useful for other stuff as well.

Fry's has a couple that fit that bill, as does Microcenter. Don't know about the quality of any of them, but I'd imagine that I'll be able to tell you in a few years.

[Kyros]

Fry's has a couple that fit that bill, as does Microcenter. Don't know about the quality of any of them, but I'd imagine that I'll be able to tell you in a few years.

Hehe, yah, there's a lot of options now, that's why I need help cutting the choices down a bit :lol:.

[nikstar101]

I posted a link it in the sticky thread at the top which is a pretty good site for monitor reviews. Although it mainly does high end displays it does vary the price factor so it is worth a check. Plus there is a TFT selector to help you choose

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/selector.htm

Hope that helps.

[addison]

Have you looked through Slickdeals? I saw a 20" on there for $90 w/ free shipping but the resolution was a little lower than you mentioned.

[Eugene]

There seems to be one eIPS panel under $200 currently:

LG's IPS226V-PN - $170