Thinking of buying an LCD Monitor

Ive been searching on newegg for an lcd monitor but am not sure which to choose. I am on a budget of under 200 dollars and these are the specs I KNOW I want:
19'' or larger
5 or less ms response time
widescreen
under 200 dollars

things im not sure on:

contrast ratio, is higher better? Ive seen from about 700:1 to 1000:1 ratios.
brightness? theres a measurement for this right?
usb ports would be usefull

I would like to stray away from rebates if possible and still get the best deal but a 20-30 dollar rebate is fine I suppose.

On a side note, Why does my notebooks screen have such a high resolution even though its a 15.4 inch widescreen? I have the wsxga+ screen on my notebook, and these larger 19-20 inch widescreen lcds usually only have wxga+ or whatver it is.

 

I'm not familiar with any of the manufacturers of the 20.1" monitors within your budget at newegg, but of the 19" models I'm quite partial to the Samsung 941BW.

 

well i have never owned a screen larger than a 17inch crt 4:3 ratio..soo Is there much a difference between 19 and 20 inches?

and i have noticed that the contrast ratio on that screen is only 500:1, which is best, can you notice a difference?

 

In overall viewing area, not really. In resolution, you're looking at WXGA+ (1440x900) vs. WSXGA+ (1680x1050). Presuming you run your CRT at SXGA (1280x1024), you're trading a little height but end up with roughly the same overall res.

 

well actually i run the crt on my old desktop system that i hardly ever use anymore. For my laptop I only use the built in 15.4 widescreen wsxga+ (the 1680 one). Would i see a huge difference in viewing area between a 19inch and a 20 inch?

 

You could try this one. I have it's big brother, it is a great LCD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001094

 

If you look around and wait for bargains you can get a 22" Acer Lcd for about 170 dollar. I helped my friend buy one of those. Best buys had one on sale for about 190 this week. But for 200 dollar you can definately get a 22" or at least a 20"

 

yeah i'm in no hurry as I do not have all of the money yet, (Im 16 and working). Are Acer lcds great? Also I figured that I would want around a 5ms response time because I heard that the picture quality on most of the 2ms ones arent very good.

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...00050000&type=product&cmp=++&id=1177112670706
this seems like a GREAT price..It says that its in stock at my nearest best buy, which is 2 hours away, is there a way i can call and ask them if they have it in stock and if they can hold it until later that day?

 

I jumped in on the 22" Acer monitor deal. I love it for the price and I would never have picked up another monitor if it wasn't around $200. They won't hold the item for you, but you can always select in store pickup as an option to guarantee its availability.

 

can i select the "in store pickup" even though the website says its out of stock, but in stock at the store?

 

The thing is a lot of people knew about that best buy deal before it even came out...so they bought the LCD for regular price and just price matched it on sunday, which is why they are out of stock so fast. I had an 19" Acer before upgrading to my 24" dell and the Acer was a good cheap LCD...no ghosting and good quality. My brother is actually using it and it is still working fine after about 5 years.

 

awesome, well i just checked the website again and it said it is now out of stock at the store nearest to me which really sucks. Any idea how long it takes them to get them back in stock? For either the store or the website? And when they do get back in stock, will they still be on sale?

 

would this be a good alternative to the best buy deal? i cant find any reviews on it
http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/s...atalogId=10051&langId=-1&specTabId=6#desclink

 

I just ordered the one from staples, on the website of staples it says it only has vga, but on the acer uk site (for some reason this is a UK monitor) it says it has dvi also, I asked the staples guy on the phone to check it and he sent out an email and called me back and it is VGA and DVI so thats good for anyone who wants to know.
I got it for 230 shipped which is probably around what the best buy one would cost because the best buy one isnt free shipping. Either way its still a good deal for a 22" monitor. When I receive it i'll post the quality of it.

 

Yeah, that is still not a bad deal. Almost identical monitor except I believe this one has something else to it or it is a later model as there is extra character in its name.

Still, I would say that is a hell of a deal on this great monitor.