I went by Target and it turns out they only have monitors online, not in the store. Went to Best Buy and they had a pretty crappy selection of cheap monitors. The best they had was a 15" Westing House for $200. Costco had a 15" Envision for $180 and a 17" Envision for $240. I debated what to do for awhile because the 15" one only had 1024x768 resolution, but i finally decided to get the 17" one but go see what Fry's had before going home, since i can always do a return at Costco.
Fry's had a pretty wide selection of monitors but the only one they had that was the same size and significantly cheaper was a 17" Emprex for $190.
I didn't actually buy it cause i'm still trying to decide which i prefer. The Envision is amazingly thing and is made out of metal or metalic plastic, which looks pretty cool. It also has an 8 ms refresh time. The Emprex is made out of black plastic and doesn't look nearly as cool. It's also slightly heaver, slightly thicker, and has a 12 ms refresh time. Of course given that i'm already home i'll probably decide that saving $50 isn't worth going back to Fry's and buying the one then going back to Costco and waiting in line to return the other :)
Once i decide for sure which monitor i'm getting i need to work on getting an extension cable. Both Fry's and Best Buy have cables. Best Buy just has one type of cable in two different sizes i think, 10" and 6". Fry's has a much wider selection but their two kinds of 10" ones (one double shielded, the other gold plated) were about $5 more. (I wouldn't mind the double shielded, although that makes the cord more akward to deal with, the gold plating is just dumb.) I'd really like a slightly longer cable too. Fry's had a spot for a 15" cable but there were none there and it was a male to male and i _think_ i need a male to female. I'll have to double check that when i unpack my monitor.
Edit: According to the "Fry's" online store (it's unclear exactly how related the online store is to the real stores) they carry the same 17" Envision as Costco= for $280, $230 after $50 mail in rebate, so it seems like the Costco and Fry's prices are pretty much in line at least.
Fry's had a pretty wide selection of monitors but the only one they had that was the same size and significantly cheaper was a 17" Emprex for $190.
I didn't actually buy it cause i'm still trying to decide which i prefer. The Envision is amazingly thing and is made out of metal or metalic plastic, which looks pretty cool. It also has an 8 ms refresh time. The Emprex is made out of black plastic and doesn't look nearly as cool. It's also slightly heaver, slightly thicker, and has a 12 ms refresh time. Of course given that i'm already home i'll probably decide that saving $50 isn't worth going back to Fry's and buying the one then going back to Costco and waiting in line to return the other :)
Once i decide for sure which monitor i'm getting i need to work on getting an extension cable. Both Fry's and Best Buy have cables. Best Buy just has one type of cable in two different sizes i think, 10" and 6". Fry's has a much wider selection but their two kinds of 10" ones (one double shielded, the other gold plated) were about $5 more. (I wouldn't mind the double shielded, although that makes the cord more akward to deal with, the gold plating is just dumb.) I'd really like a slightly longer cable too. Fry's had a spot for a 15" cable but there were none there and it was a male to male and i _think_ i need a male to female. I'll have to double check that when i unpack my monitor.
Edit: According to the "Fry's" online store (it's unclear exactly how related the online store is to the real stores) they carry the same 17" Envision as Costco= for $280, $230 after $50 mail in rebate, so it seems like the Costco and Fry's prices are pretty much in line at least.
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