26 Inch for under or close to $300 possible?

Gutspiller

Gawd
Joined
Oct 19, 2005
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I have a $300 budget and I'm looking for the following:

26 inches if possible

1920x1200

Decent brand

fewest dead pixels possible

And any other specs that may affect it's viewability on games. (Response time, contrast ratio, etc.)

If monitors exist with these specs, can people please throw out their models so I can take a look?

I was looking at a KDS at mwave ( http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SkuSearch_v2.asp?SCriteria=AA72964 ) which looks pretty good from what I understand of the specs. I have used KDS CRT monitors before, but never an LCD. Does anybody know if their LCDs are of decent quality?

Is $300 to low to be trying to find quality 26 inch? Am I going to have to settle for a 24 inch if I don't want some cheap-ass brand?

Also recommendations on places to order from in case it has dead pixels? I've heard to stay away from Newegg. I think if it had more than 3 or 4 I would want to send it back, so Neweggs 8 or whatever is way off of my allowed dead.

Thanks for any help or deal directions.
 
After googling a bit "KDS K-2626MDHWB review" is productive) I find that there's a thread about that KDS monitor here:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1304046

Also google for reviews of the ASUS VW266H and ASUS VK266H, the only other 26" monitors I know of anywhere near that pricepoint. I did not bother to research them, I will let you do that. Edit: and I see the very next post in this forum is about those monitors:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1391389

All I can say about whether they would actually be any good or not is that $300 is an awfully low price for a monitor of that size.
 
Got my Asus VW266H on Friday. One dead pixel. UGH. It's kind of dark, so most of the time I can't see it. It's towards the upper right corner. I should be able to live with it. Otherwise it's an awesome monitor so far. I haven't done much with calibrating it yet.

I'm not sure if it's dead or stuck though. On a white background, it looks pink, but on a black background I can't see it. It looks blue with other colors. Seems more like subpixel issues, but I don't know.
 
I know this isn't an answer for your original question but...

I had a hannspree 26.5 in TN panel here last summer. The color from the top of the screen to the bottom was not even close to uniform. Gamma shifting they call it? Color differential? Anyway, I didn't think I would care too much as there was no ghosting or input lag and it was a huge screen!

After a week I had to take it back. Any $300 26in panel will be TN and from what I read, all TN panels over 22in have that color issue. In my case, it just bothered the hell outa me no matter the size and performance.

Buy local and take it home with you and test it out.
 
I have to agree with the posts regarding the Asus VW266H. I just received mine this weekend, and all I can say is, what an awesome monitor! Luckily mine did not have any dead pixels. The color reproduction is pretty good really, and the backlight bleed is very minimal. Also, the ability to do 1:1 pixel mapping is cool as well, in case I don't want to stretch old games that aren't supported in widescreen.

It looks like this monitor is now $299 after MIR (see link below). Personally, I think this is one of those 'hidden gems' that only a few people have discovered.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1391188
 
Sorry, my previous reply was lost in the corruption. I have purchased the KDS 26 and it has zero dead pixels. If I had waited and that westinghouse link was still working, I would have gone with that over KDS probably as I've been happy with my 47 Westy, even though it has 3 or 4 dead/lit pixels.

Thanks for all the feedback people.
 
For anyone reading this wondering the same thing, the ASUS deal is still going at the egg. 299 shipped after MIR for a 26" is a steal. The coupon code is in hot deals.
 
the code is dead so the ASUS is 339 AR w/ free shipping. It's still a pretty smoking deal and I'm leaning towards it. . .
 
Cosco has a westinghouse 26" lcd monitor for 250.00 shipped. It is 1920/1200 resolution with dvi and hdmi connection. Does anyone have this monitor or know anything about it.
 
Cosco has a westinghouse 26" lcd monitor for 250.00 shipped. It is 1920/1200 resolution with dvi and hdmi connection. Does anyone have this monitor or know anything about it.

I woulda gone with the Westy before KDS myself, but didn't know about the deal. Perhaps the bigger thing to ask is, what's Costco's return policy on dead pixels?
 
I woulda gone with the Westy before KDS myself, but didn't know about the deal. Perhaps the bigger thing to ask is, what's Costco's return policy on dead pixels?
costco is pretty good about returns, and pretty much all b&m's are like this.

costco let me return my 2 year old tv and they really didnt ask questions (the tv's bulb kept dying)
 
For anyone reading this wondering the same thing, the ASUS deal is still going at the egg. 299 shipped after MIR for a 26" is a steal. The coupon code is in hot deals.
ecstatic.gif

Coupon not working? :confused:
 
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