Monday, July 12, 2010

Looking for A Nice Home PC Monitor - You're Probably Out of Luck

Now that I'm going to be working more in the US and (I hope) a bit more at home, I've decided to go off and see if I can find myself a nice monitor for my home office.  Sadly, this has proven to be a very difficult experience.  My first stop was the Apple store.  Lo and behold, the perfect montitor was on display.  The Apple 24" Cinema Display for the MacBook.  This enormous high resolution monitor looks amazing.  


It's not just the clean lines and shiny case either.  The monitor itself has an incredibly bright picture with great color rendering.  I'm told that it uses the same high quality panels they use in the iPad - designed for high color and ease of viewing across a range of angles.  Just $900.


I headed over to Fry's to compare.  It seems that $900 is rather steep for a 24" monitor.  It turns out the cheapest monitors are closer to $200 for the same size display and similar resolution.  So, why after a weekend of window shopping, is my desk still bare?


In a word; FUGLY.  That's the only way to describe how most monitor companies make their products.  Are they aware that there are materials and colors in this world than black and plastic?  It does not appear to be the case.  I would gladly pay $400 for a Samsung or LG monitor, double the typical low prices, if I could find something that was not so hideous.


Instead, I find myself seriously considering paying $900, about 4X the comparable price, for Apple's gorgeous display.  As a piece of electronics, it's ludicrously overpriced.  As a piece of furniture I have to look at every day, maybe not.  I paid $3,000 for a dining room table.  I paid $500 for each chair around it.  Yes, I could have gotten a plastic hair at Wal-Mart for $19.  But financially-stretched drug-dealer is not the look I was going for in my house.  


In the TV business, high style has become almost a commodity.  Samsung, LG, and SONY all make a huge variety of thin and stylish TVs in a huge range of colors and finishes.  They should apply just a bit of that skill to their monitor businesses.  Until then, I'll be seriously contemplating that new Apple Cinema display.




It's not just a monitor, it's a piece of furniture in your house.  Picture from Junapol, cc









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