If you are in Australia and looking for a new computer monitor here are a few ideas that may help you along the way.
I found it quite hard at the beginning of building my computer to find places which supplied affordable quality parts. The hardest of all (who would have guessed) was my computer monitor, the Acer X243HQ 23.6”. The best advice I can give any new comer to buying new hardware in general is to check the prices of the part on the brand’s website and then try to find a better deal somewhere else.
On the Acer website for Australia, the computer monitors which I were viewing were around $40 Aus more from the Acer dealerships than the shop I finally decided to buy my parts from. The store I also bought my monitor from and most of my other parts from was also not listed in Acer’s database of sellers so don’t just assume that you can buy the cheapest part from the dealerships supplied by the brand.
Once you have a comparison price, check out different local computer shops. I visited about 4 in my area and just asked for quotes. Staff are usually friendly and will have no problem in helping you find the monitor and suggesting different models which may suite you better than your choice. Don’t hesitate to ask for a discount, the most they can say is “NO”!
In the end, my LCD computer monitor ranged from $298 – $400 (Acer Dealership). Second from the cheapest price of $298 was around $360! Take the time to go out and look around before just choosing a place because they are just below your comparison price. It also doesn’t hurt to search online for different reviews on computer monitors as some sites may give link you to good shops to buy your computer LCD monitors.
So finally, after much deliberation and searching I found CPL (Computer Parts Land) from one of my good friends and also MSY from one of my even closer friends. MSY came down to around literally $2 cheaper than CPL and it turned out that it was closer for me to visit MSY rather than CPL. Both stores have a wide variety of the latest flat screen computer monitors as well as a huge variety of parts for any custom PC hobbyist. Unfortunately I can’t buy from newegg.com as they do not ship to Australia, but for anyone in the US I strongly recommend this site as they are quite cheap and from what I have read online many people have been satisfied with the product and the price.
Research, Research, Research…That is the key!
Good Luck.