Best Monitor for Beginner

<p>I just launched my photography business and have been working off of my laptop. I am a graphic designer as well and really need a larger screen to work with anyway. I am wanting to find a good but really NOT expensive monitor to be able to edit my photo and continue to design with. I do NOT want a $600 monitor. I may eventually go that route, but for now the budget is low low low. Can anyone help me know what brands are good and what I should look for? i thought about screen calibration as well but am not sure what is best in that category either. My past jobs never spent a lot of time REALLY calibrating the monitor and we did just fine with colors, etc. So, I know I don't need to spend a bunch of money, but I don't want to waste money on something that isn't going to do a good job either. Again, my photography is new so I am not in to high end editing yet.</p>

<p>You may get several responses, when you decide, you can order it through Fry Electronics or TigerDirect on the Internet, if there is not a shop never you with prices as good. You can also search the Internet for the brand they recommend, to get the best price. </p>

<p>The best deal for a quality e-IPS paneled 22" LCD still remains the Dell 2209WA. There are specific reps you need to call directly to get this $300+ monitor for about $220 shipped. It's worth it to order 2.</p>

<p>Christa: 1-800-456-3355 x 9460448<br>

William: 512 946 0563</p>

<p>If I could do it all over again, I would have bought the best monitor I could afford after I bought my first real piece of glass. Looking back on it now it sure makes me feel stupid to have spent thousands on gear and then have no way to accurately view the product. I thought I could save some money and instead I payed for a real monitor, plus the money I already spent on a crummy one.</p>

<p>Here's a funny joke for you: What's worse than sending your prized images to a client and not getting the response you expected? Answer: Opening those files with a good monitor and realizing you sent the client files where the smooth tonal gradients you saw on your old monitor turned out to be brush strokes resembling a four year old's fingerpainting with a bunch of ugly colors thrown in for good measure.</p>

<p>What's not funny about that joke? It's not funny because it happened to me.</p>

<p>I don't know how many times I heard, "You can't edit it if you can't see it." I resisted. I thought it was one more piece of anal retentivity from super geek photographers. It's not. It's the truth. If you are going to use a crap monitor you might as well shoot junk cameras. After all, it's not like you could see the difference, right?</p>

<p>I agree with John, but it gets tedious rehashing the argument for starting out with "the best monitor you can afford". If someone says they are on a restricted budget, who am I to argue? The monitor I mentioned meets my needs as a hobbyist perfectly and is certainly better than any $200 TN paneled display you'd find in a "big box" electronics outlet.</p>

<p>Just got a NEC P221W display, with Spectraview II software and Spider 3 colorimeter... I'm very happy of my purchase! Professional results and affortable price for an amateur.<br>

Alberto.</p>

<p>Chas, I have that monitor and I think it qualifies as "good". The problem is that Kimberly is looking for something which doesn't exist, namely a big and cheap monitor that's good enough to base your livelihood around. <br /> The choice becomes quality or quantity. In this case it's far better to work with a smaller screen (and I have no problem with a 22") than a big one which gives less than satisfactory results. It's just not possible for a lower bit inferior panel to be as good as an IPS.</p>

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<p>I do NOT want a $600 monitor. I may eventually go that route, but for now the budget is low low low.</p>

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<p>Taking Kimberly's price criteria at face value, what delivers the most pro level performance at under $600? Perhaps the NEC P221W without the Spectraview II package?<br /> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/602072-REG/NEC_P221W_BK_MultiSync_P221W_BK_22_Widescreen.html<br>

With the Spectraview II, it squeaks in just under $600 USD. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/612998-REG/NEC_P221W_BK_SV_MultiSync_P221W_BK_22_Widescreen.html</p>

<p>+1 for the NEC P221. It's a real champion, wide gamut and easily profiled. If one is doing this stuff for a business, it's worth the investment (and of course serves as a business expense come tax time).</p>

<p>You've received good advice, keep using the laptop, save your money, buy a great monitor when you can afford it. </p>