lcd monitors...

I got an imac in the shop this week...
thinkinging it might be usefull to grab an lcd monitor (17-24") to use with my macbooks until I get my imac back...( Apple was gracious to give us a free logic board on an outa warrenty imac...too cool)

so I'm thinking cheap.... but also need decent quality...

anybody know of any good values to look for, that can serve for digital imaging needs?

I agree, but I'm getting my imac fixed, so any external monitor will eventually get regulated for use as a second screen with tool pallets etc, for now it's just gotta be able to calibrate with a huey and be serviceable for a week or two...... there are good values to be had in most price ranges....
I just don't usually shop for non apple computer stuff..

Perhaps someone has an old CRT no longer in use that you could borrow?

Samsung (HP use samsung panels) is probably the better of the cheapest ones, if you want to buy new.
link link the HP seems to be the better one though

The Dell 2209WA 22" seems to offer excellent value. Unusually at this price it has an IPS panel, and seems to be well thought of among photo enthusiasts. I would like to say what it's like from personal experience, but I'm currently having difficulty sourcing one here in Sri Lanka (though it is available in India and Malaysia - and presumably Europe & N. America).

BTW it needs to be the 2209 with the WA suffix, not the 2209s with prefixes (sod's law determines that these ones are available all over Colombo:roll.

Mhuni is IPS better then PVA for photos?
I know that Eizo use PVA and that Samsung and Sony does as well, so I was looking for one of them.

Stefan,

My knowledge of screens is limited at best so I can't really advise on IPS vs. PVA. However, I posted another thread recently, in which I got some useful feedback:

link

As you'll see the Dell is recommended there. I looked it up elsewhere, and found some very positive feedback from photographers - mainly, but not only, on dpreview. It seems that for the price (around £160 if I recall correctly) it's hard to beat. Unfortunately all I've found here in Colombo so far are TN panelled monitors.

Ok I got a samsung for $218.00 canadian... it regularly retails for $275.00

it calibtrated with the huey and seems to work/look fine, I will be doing some editing and printing later today.
will let you know how it works out. So far I'm optomistic that this was a good buy, because when my imac comes back, it will get used as a second monitor for video editing, and it is definately upto that job!

Thank you Mhuni, found the answer in one of the links there.
link
S-PVA/MVA panels offer better color reproduction and viewing angles than TN panels, have slightly worse response times than TN or S-IPS, offer the best contrast ratios, may suffer from color shifting or input lag and have higher availability than S-IPS panels. Mid range, fair price.

I can happily speak from experience as I bought the 2209WA about 6 months ago - certainly gets my "highly recommended" !!

Simon

Well thank you all for the advice. I can honestly say the Samsung 2333 is impressive for the price.
out of the box it's very bright, and needs to be adjusted BEFORE calibrating with the Huey.
A little blooming off the highlights, but man, it is a very good display easpecially for the cost. if it lasts, it will have to go down as one of the best bargians I've found in computer gear!
A keeper for sure.