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For Those Interested in a High Quality Monitor But on a Budget


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<p>People are always posting in this forum looking for a good deal on a monitor, so I thought I would pass this along. To be upfront, I have no affiliation with either NEC or this seller and you need to investigate things on your own to make sure this deal is right for you.<br /> Tech 4 Less is selling the NEC LCD2090UXI for $248 for a factory refurbished unit. Yes, it is only a 20 inch unit but you can buy two of them for less than $500 which makes a great setup with lots of total screen area. I have not bought refurbished units and I haven't bought from this reseller but my friends and I have recently bought 5 of these elsewhere that were "new old stock" and they have been outstanding.<br /> These have the high-end IPS panels with 12 bit gamma and can be driven by the optional SpectraView II software that uses the monitor's internal LUT versus your graphics card's LUT. It also has color comp that electronically improves screen uniformity and compensates for differences in color/grayscale and luminance. Here is the link to the deaL:<br /> http://www.techforless.com/cgi-bin/tech4less/LCD2090UXI-BK?id=kKF9yKUb&mv_pc=239<br /> Here is the NEC product page, go to the "technologies" tab to learn about all the techie stuff:<br /> http://www.necdisplay.com/Products/Product/?product=5b7890c4-7c0c-48f3-8576-7c182c700a74</p>
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<p>That's funny, the Spectraview calibration kit will cost more then the monitor (about $300).<br>

I had the SV II kit on order for a couple of weeks and then was notified that it has been discontinued. It has been replaced with the Pro kit, which NEC and others do not have in stock at this time.</p>

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<p>I bought the SpectraView II software for $99 plus shipping. It works with most of the major colorimeters and photospectrometers that many here will already own like:</p>

<ul>

<li>NEC iOne Display V2</li>

<li>NEC iOne Display V2 WG</li>

<li>GretagMacbeth iOne Pro and iOne Monitor</li>

<li>GretagMacbeth iOne Display V1 and V2</li>

<li>Gretag Spectrolino (via RS232)</li>

<li>X-Rite DTP94 / MonacoOPTIX-XR </li>

<li>ColorVision Spyders </li>

</ul>

<p>You can also just use the standard calibration software that comes with your i1, Spyder, etc., although you won't get to take advantage of all of the monitor's internal capabilites.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the list Doug. I have the Spider2express, which is not recommended for wide gamut monitors. So I need to get a sensor and software.<br>

I went ahead and used it anyway, and it did improve things. But I do want to do it right. If the NEC kit does not become available soon, I'll start checking out the ones on your list.</p>

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<p>First off, Thank you Doug for posting this! <br>

I have been saving for this exact monitor and I thought I was going to have to pay $1000 for it with the Spectraview kit. I saw this thread and was skeptical about the whole deal. I saw that Tech4Less was a couple of hours from my home, so I called them. The salesperson (Kevin) was very helpful and answered all my questions about the monitors, where they came from, and the warranty. I decided to go ahead and buy one. I ordered it on Monday afternoon and it got here yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. The only flaw on the monitor is a "scratch" on the base. I was actually able to rub most of it off right as I type this. As has already been mentioned, the Spectraview software is out of stock, so I placed a backorder through B&H photo. Hopefully it will be here in the 2-4 week ETA.<br>

I was expecting the monitor to be in a NEC box. It came in a regular cardboard box. That was the only thing that was unexpected in the purchase. It was packaged well though.<br>

Between the monitor and the software, I paid about $550. This is about how much I had saved. For me, it was an amazing deal.</p>

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<p>Joe - sound promising so far. Can you confirm what warranty comes with the unit, please? Also, did you try ordering the SpectraView II directly from NEC? That is what I did after I couldn't find it in stock anywhere. The price was the same. Their website is pretty lame and you have to use Internet Explorer versus Firefox for the order to go through.<br>

http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/Monitors/spectraview2/</p>

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<p>Doug, here's what it says on the Tech for Less site under "conditions":<br>

<strong>"Refurbished products</strong> have been restored to meet manufacturer quality standards, are fully functional, but may show limited signs of use. These products include accessories and a 90–day warranty, unless specifically noted otherwise."<br>

I take that to mean the warrantee is 90 days. <br>

Joe, did you buy two monitors? <br>

Yes, thanks Doug, for advising us about these monitors.</p>

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<p>Doug,<br>

Hmm. I thought I looked at the NEC website. I thought they were out of stock too. Guess not. Anyway, I had a $50 gift certificate to B&H photo and I'm not in a big hurry to get it so I thought I'd save a little more on the credit card. Thanks for the link though. Yes, Diane is right, it is a 90 day warranty. The extended is covered by an outside company that you would have to take it to if you had issues after the 90 days if you chose to purchase the extended warrantee. He said they have offices in most major cities, but I would check into that before purchasing it. Ultimately, I just had faith in NEC and figured I would find issues within 90 days and hope nothing happens on day 91! So, I guess I'll trust the quality until given a reason not to. He said the Samsung and NEC equipment is refurbished to the point that is performs like new and usually looks new. When I told him where I lived he told me he could pull one from the warehouse and I could look at it (or any other product) if I wanted. This helped seal the deal for me.<br>

Diane, I purchased one monitor. But I have it connected to a laptop that will allow me to extend my desktop. The NEC will only be used for photo editing. Two would be awesome though! </p>

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<p>Joe...I ordered one also. But note that their definition of "factory refurbished" is that the original warranty applies, even though that's not what the specs for the monitor say. I'm keeping a screen capture of the discrepancy if something happens to the monitor after 90 days. Or I might even bring it up after I receive the monitor.</p>
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<p>First, thanks for the tip on the NEC. My unit came Thursday, but I didn't have a chance to hook it up until yesterday. The box it comes in is kind of poor as is the packing, but it is adequate to protect it from normal shipping. No manual, VESA screws or DVI cables, just a power cable and a VGA cable. It was a slight headache to get it out of the box as the base was extended, but after reading the manual I found that any time you lift it the base extends fully, so be prepared as it won't collapse without the weight of the monitor normally. At first I thought the screen was scratched, but they do a sloppy job of cleaning the screen. I cleaned it my way to find out it was perfect, and I cleaned the case/base and it looks new. It operates perfectly, no dead pixels or other weirdness. I don't have the Spectraview software yet, so I'm winging it at the moment. I am so happy with it that I ordered another yesterday. Techforless was fast on the shipping, so I'm very happy with them too. One joy was that I didn't get clipped for the Kali LCD surcharge either, which would be 16 bucks each for a 20" unit. It really is a beautiful monitor. With NX2 I can have the thumbs on my 21.6" Samsung 215tw, and it will open the file I choose to edit on the second montor, which now is the LCD2090uxi. I still have to decide to spring for the extended warranty through techforless as I don't think that the four year factory warranty is going to apply. I figure a two-year extended for 40 bucks per monitor is still leaving me with a superb deal. Once again, I appreciate the tip.</p>
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