Good deal on a monitor for your Mini

I just ordered a Dell 2005fpw, which is a 20.1" widescreen LCD monitor. This will delay my purchase of an Intel Mini for a bit, but my old LCD was giving me eye strain and I desperately needed something better since I work on a computer roughly 12 hours a day. Anyway, Dell is currently running a 25% off select LCD monitors, which brings the 2005fpw down to $396.75 with free shipping. You can also snag a Dell coupon for $35 off orders over $300 from ebay. Costs about $2 for the coupon. Here's my price breakdown:

Dell 25% off select LCD monitors: $396.75 for the 2005fpw
Ebay coupon from seller "ponpongirl": $1.98 for $35 off orders over $300 in Dell Home (instant delivery)
Sub-total: $361.75
Shipping: Free 3-5 days
Tax: $21.71 for Connecticut

Total: $383.46 (plus $1.98 for the coupon)

So less than $400 for a monitor comparable to the Apple 20" widescreen LCD monitor. Apple sells their 20" LCD for $799, or $699 if you're a student. The Dell monitor is less than half the price of the Apple and just as good. I know it doesn't exactly match the Mini or other Mac equipment, but if you're on a budget like I am, it's a great deal for a killer monitor. Anandtech has a great article comparing the two monitors. Here are the specs -

Dell 2005fpw features:
-1680x1050 resolution
-20.1" widescreen panel
-16:10 aspect ratio (yay for widescreen movies!)
-600:1 contrast ratio
-300 nits of brightness
-12ms gray-to-gray response time (yay for games! bye bye ghosting!)
-.258 pixel pitch (yay for graphics!)
-Pivot/tilt/swivel; rotates 90 degrees (great for viewing documents)
-Can take a VESA mount
-4 USB 2.0 ports (sorry, no Firewire ports)
-DVI & VGA ports
-Composite & S-video ports (hook up your Playstation or VCR!)
-Supports picture-in-picture (PIP)

I'm glad that it has multiple input ports. I will initially be using this via VGA with my Windows laptop, then I'll hook up a Mini to the DVI port and switch between them when the time comes. The multiple ports coupled with the USB hub makes it a nice little switch as well as a great monitor. I have a USB keyboard and USB mouse, so I'll just have to swap one cable to transfer it from the laptop to the Mini and then switch the inputs. Yay!

Is there something im missing about the monitors though? I dont know much about them. Off newegg.com you can get 8ms 19 inch flat scrrens for $240. Why are the apples, or dells for that matter, so much more? Is there something that makes them better?
Thanks and congrats on the monitor.

playm0de said:

Is there something im missing about the monitors though? I dont know much about them. Off newegg.com you can get 8ms 19 inch flat scrrens for $240. Why are the apples, or dells for that matter, so much more? Is there something that makes them better?
Thanks and congrats on the monitor.

Click to expand...

Dell is usually pretty competitively priced; Apple is more pricey because they are "name brand" for Mac enthusiasts and have a distinct aesthetic advantage over the competition's designs (i.e. they'll match your Mac well). Also, you have to compare monitors of the same size in order to compare their prices...a 19" 4:3 monitor will always be a lot cheaper than a 20.1" 16:10 widescreen monitor with a USB hub and DVI/VGA/s-video/composite inputs built-in, plus the ability to be rotated. In addition, both Apple and Dell use high quality panels and both generally have good, high resolutions. Many of their LCD monitors even use panels from the same manufacturer, such as LG/Phillips. Hope that clears things up!