I have been finding my laptop’s 15.4″ display too small to work on and hence was thinking of buying a Flat Panel LCD monitor. From the past 2 days I have been researching on products from different vendors and I finally ended up in a confused state.
At my workplace they have 19 inch Dell monitors (recently widescreen versions also arrived) and these monitors are a treat to work with. So first I went to check on Dell monitors available in India.
Paul’s review of Dell’s 30 inch LCD display was also one of the factors for checking out Dell first 🙂 .
17″ and 19″ inch monitors were ruled out and so was the 30″ monitor !. Dell India currently has about 5 monitors in the 20-24″ range and are not selling the 30″ LCD monitors.
After reading reviews on each of them, I finally shortlisted Dell 2007WFP 20″ UltraSharp Wide Screen Flat Panel LCD Monitor and Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP- HC 24″ Wide Screen Flat Panel LCD Monitor.
Now for the surprise: Dell 2007 WFP 20″ costs around 25000 INR (625USD) while the same costs only 339$ in Dell US store. Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP costs around 40000 INR (1000USD) while the same costs 670$ in US.
There is a huge price difference and I guess its just not worth buying a Dell in India. I guess Dell hasn’t factored in the strong India Rupee while fixing the price.
ViewSonic also had a couple of good monitors as part of their X Series. ViewSonic VX2245wm (22″) did seem like a nice choice; It also had an integrated iPod Dock. However the reviews of this model weren’t too great and the price was also high at around 30000INR (750$).
The other monitor I checked was the Samsung SyncMaster 244T (24″). TrustedReviews had a pretty detailed review of this display and they even put this monitor ahead of Dell 24″ display. PC World, in one of its old reviews quoted a price of 80000 INR. Again shocked 🙂
Looks like I checked on a wrong segment of LCD monitors.None of them were within my budget of 20000 🙁 .
How many of you are using a LCD monitor ? What size of monitor are you using ? Share more details on your experience; Hopefully it will help me to decide on one 🙂
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Great read. very informative I been meaning to research LCD monitors in India but looks like you did the job for me. Too bad the prices are overblown 🙁
Thanks Arpit
Yes the prices are overblown. Guess I should ask someone to get it from US 🙂
That’s the only reason I avoided Dell when I got my Samsung 19″ wide screen 4-5 months ago. By mid 2008 I may jump to a 24″ monitor and use the existing 19″ monitor with my laptop. 🙂
Shiv, even samsung monitors are not cheap, their professional series monitors are quite expensive.
Once you go for a LCD monitor exceeding 20″, there is a drastic change in the price. Today I called up Acer, even he is quoting 40k for 22″ monitor !!!!
If i compromise on 19″, then I guess I have lot of options 🙂
Viewsonic offers a monitor with iPod dock support but I am not sure of the price..
Heh, I was searching for 24″ LCDs in India and chanced upon this post. Dell 24″ *is* 40k. However the 22″ is 19k (right now, on the website). So most prolly I’ll spring for a 22″ right now, and then upgrade to 30″ mid 2008 or something. Lets see. Which one did you end up buying?
Yeah the 19K monitor is a entry level monitor and is probably not the latest model (Even the latest 20″ model costs 25K) So do compare the features, before finalizing on one.
I would definitely like to have composite input/s video other than the DVI; I am just waiting for the price to come down 🙁
It’s quite obvious that the Dell 24″ model should not be purchased in India because of the ridiculous USA/India price difference. Which brings us to the next question, if I buy it in the US, would I get a local warranty from Dell for that product? Or, does Dell provide International warranty for its products?
Can someone enlighten?
I too have been in the same LCD hunting. The current tread is that even 22″ prices have come down much. Viewsonic VX2255wm costs around 17000 INR. LG’s L226WTQ costs the same. HP india doesnot seem to pose any 22″ monitors but 24″ inches. Currently struggling to choose between these 3 (Samsung 244T may join my list if the price may fall down)
@Deepak,
Sorry for the “quick” reply ! Dell does not provide international warranty
Parthiban,
Since I wrote this post, Dell has bought in lot of models, which are worth checking out. I have done lot of research and Dell monitors stand out. I would suggest not to go for Viewsonic/HP. Samsung is good but very expensive i believe 🙂
@venukb:
Perhaps you can blog about the research? I’m still looking to buy a Dell LCD towards end of dec.
Hi All,
I still do not understand why many people complain about Viewsonic but the reviews actually praise it. I have been looking for 22″ LCD monitor and checked the reviews of VX2255wm. The product is excellent as per many of the reviews but only problem is its coating as its fingerprint magnet and prone to smudges. What else exactly are the problems with viewsonic?
I have not been able to find positives or negatives of 22″ Dell so far but in what way 2208WFP stand out? I still hesitate to go for this direct marketing of dell against always an authorized service center in my city sounding more reliable and attractive. Thus I wanted to choose between Viewsonic VX2255wm and LG’s L226WTQ. LG doesnot seem to have this fingerprints and smudging problem but I still have not yet analyzed its disadvantages. I would be grateful if someone could throw some light on L226WTQ’s disadvantages.
Venu,
Thank you for the quick reply. I still have not yet found anything great on Dell. Can you highlight some?
Is there any disadvantage in 22″ over smaller 19″ or 17″?
Samsung’s 22″ costs about 6000 to 7000 INR more than its viewsonic or LG counterparts. Since you also suggested Samsung as an alternative, can you explain on this? What makes 6000 INR worthier than VX2255wm or L226WTQ?
@aadis,
I am doing a regular check on dell website and waiting for the price to come down 🙂 As of now I am hooked on to the 2407 monitor.
@parthiban..
when i wrote this post, I read a lot of artciles and monitor reviews (including lcd terminologies); i didn’t read much good about viewsonic, in india its one of the cheaper alternatives, but technically they don’t come up to the class of Dell or Samsung. Some of the factors you should consider (other than size/max resolution) is the response time (for gaming), height adjustability(including potrait/landscape mode) and the different inputs available. I wouldn’t want to buy a 22/24″ and be only able to connect my laptop.. i would like to have the composite inputs (can plug in the DVD and other thigs) or S-Video etc. On this front Dell rules.
I read about samsung being the one matching Dell in terms of display and their high end monitors aren’t really for personal use 🙂
Checkout Dell US website, they do sell mointors from other vendors as well.. have a look at the popular monitors there …
Do point me to the viewsoinic reviews that you mentioned in the comment.
Hi folks,
I have Asus VK246H LCD Monitor, & it,s working better than other brands LCD Monitor.
>Full HD 1080p for High-resolution Digital Content Display
>Real-time Video Communication
>Advanced Video Technologies for Exceptional Visuals
>Stylish and User-friendly Design for Modern Sophistication
? 3-year system warranty
? 3-year panel warranty
U can chek more features on the Asus website.
http://in.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=10&l2=151&l3=824&l4=0&model=2622&modelmenu=1
Ya body i m also using ASUS VK246H LCD Monitor. i puchased it from Taiwan & i m very much satisfid with its performance.
Thanks to ASUS.