monitors

Apple unveiled a new Cinema Display, too

The spotlight may have been on MacBooks at Tuesday's Apple press conference, but there was one other product on the stage: Apple's new 24-inch Cinema Display.

Admittedly, a monitor is hardly as exciting as an aluminum MacBook, but I do find myself intrigued. The 24-inch display is Apple's first with LED backlighting, which is not only thinner but also reportedly produces more accurate colors while using less energy than traditional monitors. It incorporates an iSight camera, built-in microphone, and speakers. And it includes a second cable at the rear of the display with branches for a MagSafe … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 830: One more thing: one less button

Steve Jobs delivers: he delivers one fewer button, an all-new proprietary display port, annoyingly glossy screens, and a paltry $100 price drop on the new MacBook. Huzzah. We do have some other news to talk about today, luckily, like Microsoft sticking with Windows 7 as the official name of Windows 7, and Joost deciding it might be time to get in the online streaming game. Good ideas, all. Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 830

Apple notebook event: Live blog at 10 a.m. PDT Tuesday http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10064559-1.html http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/13/mr-blurrycam-reveals-the-updated-macbook-pro-899-laptop-model/… Read more

Price Watch: 22-inch LCD for $167 shipped

It wasn't long ago that a 22-inch monitor for under $200 was cause for celebration. Now I'm just waiting for them to dip below $150. In the meantime, Buy.com has one the best deals I've seen yet: an Acer X223Wbd 22-inch widescreen LCD for $166.99 shipped. No rebates, no refurbs--these babies are brand new.

CNET hasn't reviewed this particular model, but there is a product brief if you're interested. It's a pretty basic LCD, with a 1,680 x 1,050 native resolution and 5ms response time. Inputs include both VGA and … Read more

Get a 22-inch LCD monitor for $179.99 (AR) plus three free pizzas!

To me, the two sweetest words in the English language are "free pizza." So imagine how much I'm loving this crazy Office Depot deal: Buy a 22-inch AOC Envision 2219S1 monitor for $179.99 (after rebate) and get three Papa John's gift certificates, each good for a large one-topping pizza.

The AOC 22191S1 has slightly below-average specs for a 22-inch LCD. Although it offers the typical 1,680 by 1,050 native resolution and 5ms response time, it has only a VGA interface (no DVI or HDMI) and no speakers. On the plus side, AOC provides … Read more

Dell lets loose two low-cost LCDs, the S1909WX and the S1709W

My LCD died two weeks ago, so I rushed out to Best Buy and grabbed the cheapest 19-inch model on the shelf, which turned out to be the $179 eMachines E19T6W. Had Dell released the Dell S1909WX in mid-September instead of today, I may have spent an extra $20 for it with its higher contrast ratio and arguably better styling.

Like my new eMachines purchase, the 19-inch Dell S1909WX is a wide-screen display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, 1440x900-pixel native resolution, 5ms pixel response time, and 300-nit brightness. It trumps the eMachines LCD's 700:1 contrast ratio, however, … Read more

22-inch Viewsonic LCD doubles as 720p HDTV for $229.99 shipped

A 22-inch LCD monitor for $200 is a solid deal. A 22-inch LCD with a built-in HD tuner for just $30 more is, arguably, even better. OnSale has the ViewSonic N2230W-S (refurbished) for $229.99 with free shipping, no rebates required.

Viewed solely as a desktop monitor, the N2230W-S has some solid specs: a 4000:1 contrast ratio, a 5ms response time, an HDCP-compliant HDMI port (meaning it's suitable for pairing with Blu-ray players), and built-in speakers.

Like most monitors of this size, it has a native resolution of 1,680 x 1,050. Unlike most monitors of this … Read more

Real Deal podcast on bandwidth caps

If Comcast's October 1 start date for their bandwidth cap has you rushing to fire up your torrent client, take a listen to today's CNET's Real Deal podcast. CNET TV Editor Tom Merritt, Webware Editor Rafe Needleman, and I discuss what the bandwidth cap means (hint: it's not a hat), why it's happening now, and what you can do to keep track of your data usage.

If you're interested in the programs we talk about, they can be found in this blog post from last month.

Price overruns for nuke detectors likely to be in the billions, says GAO

Soaring cost estimates for protecting US borders against nuclear smuggling arrived at by the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) are unreliable and could result in "significant" overruns, according to a Government Accounting Agency (GAO) report.

How significant? The projected cost to implement the Radiation Portal Monitor Program has gone from $399 million in 2003, when the Customs and Border Protection was in charge of the project, to $1.3 billion when DNDO took over in 2005. In 2007 the cost of equipping US ports with portal monitors was $1.7 billion. It's now $2.1 billion. But … Read more

Price Watch: Soyo 22-inch LCD monitor down to $169.99 shipped

A few weeks back I wrote about the Soyo 22-inch widescreen LCD, a pretty sweet deal at $179.99 shipped. It was a new unit, not a refurb, and you didn't have to deal with any heinous rebates.

Now, Buy.com has the same monitor for $169.99 shipped, and it's new and rebate-free as well. Hey, 10 bucks is 10 bucks.

In case you missed it, the Soyo DYLM2284 has VGA and DVI inputs (though only a VGA cable in the box), built-in speakers, a 5ms response time (plenty low for games and movies), and a native … Read more