Any Advice on Moniters?

[AdamBomb]

Hey All, I'm looking for an external display for my Black MacBook. I'm looking for something in the 22-24" range. My MacBook supports up to 1920 by 1200. Looking for somthing in the > $300 range. BestBuy has quite a few under $300.

 

[clarinetJWD]

For photography, none of those sub $300 ones will be worth looking at, unfortunately. Invariably, the cheap ones are TN panels. TN panels have excellent response time, sometimes as quick as 2 ms, so they're good for gaming, but they have fewer bits per channel, awful color shift, and awful viewing angles. I know. I'm staring at a 224" TN panel right now...

The Dell 2408 is widely considered to be the best quality/price ratio on the market. It's a VA panel (MVA/HVA are the types), which means the response time is a bit slower, but the color and viewing angles are significantly better. It will run you about $600, but believe me, it's worth the extra money. I love my monitor for gaming, but as soon as I'm doing anything else, I wish I had spent the extra cash.

The highest end monitors are IPS panels (Most commonly S-IPS), and have easily the best color representation, grayscale performance, and viewing angles, but will be around $1000 in that size, and unless you absolutely need the highest level monitor, VA panels will get it done. I believe all the Apple Cinema displays are S-IPS panels, but they are also very, very expensive.

Edit: I'll be damned... 22" Dell Ultrasharp with an IPS panel for $300...better check some reviews, though...
Dell : Dell UltraSharp 2209WA 22-inch Black Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor : Displays : Home & Home Office

Last thing's last: LED lit monitors are coming to the market now, and are in general a real improvement on the common fluorescent models that saturate the market. The light is generally more even, more white, and does not fade over time, and has a very long lifespan.

...Can you tell I'm thinking about replacing my monitor?

EDIT2: OK, I looked up the reviews for that IPS, and it seems pretty much an exact match for the 2408, despite being an IPS. Not to say it's bad, just that both monitors are quite excellent.

 

[AdamBomb]

Thanks for the Reply! I wonder if there would be a problem getting that monitor to the US. It isn't available from Dell USA. The only thing I DONT like about the Dell is that there's no HDMI input, but I don't know enough about monitors yet to know if thats a deal breaker.

Did you find any others that are in the $300 range that would be considered the best "Bang for the buck," I suppose? I'll be asking for this as a gift for my Birthday next month so i'd really like to make the right choice.

I really wish I could afford an Apple Cinema Display!

 

[AdamBomb]

I'm NOT looking for a monitor for gaming, I have a awesome setup for my 360 already. Maybe a movie here and there, but mostly for web and for Graphic design stuff.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

If you are looking for a monitor for Graphic Design or anything related then trying to do it on a budget is folly.
You will need something with high res, good contrast and accurate colour. Such beasts are not cheap.
So sell your body on a street corner and get the Apple display or check out the NEC range.

 

[clarinetJWD]

Any monitor with DVI can also do HDMI with an adapter, you just won't get audio. Most every one with 1920x1080 resolution or higher is also HDCP compliant these days.