Purchasing a New Monitor

I walked into an electronics/computer store this afternoon in search of a laptop. The laptops in that store are towards the rear of the building so I had to wade through the televisions, printers, stoves, refrigerators, stereos, and computers, and monitors. The laptops just happened to be on sale. But as I walked through the monitors (I can spend an hour easily in these stores just browsing and drooling), I paused. What struck me as odd was that there are no longer any non-LCD or flat screen monitors. You know the types: forty pounds easily and longer than it is wide. Those days are gone (so why do I still have one at home?)! It got me thinking: what are the two or three things that I should consider when buying a monitor:

Price. Price always comes first in my book. Value should come first but it rarely does. I go cheap most of the time. I do sacrifice quality at times but I can live with that. What is your budget for a flat screen monitor? Can you afford a slightly more expensive model?

Space. How much space will you have to work with? If you're like me, I still have a large monitor so space wasn't such a big requirement for me. Anything smaller than what I have is fine. I opted for the 22" monitor. Twenty two inches is way larger than I'll need but it's a comfortable size.

Quality. With so many models to choose from, it's difficult to know which one is the best. Staying with brand names such as Sony, Toshiba, Dell, or Samsung are safe bets. It's even better to look up that particular model online so that you can see the reviews of others who actually own the brand and model.

Your purchase of a brand new flat screen monitor should go smoothly if you follow those three criteria.