Monitors

Nothing beats a big monitor. Got spreadsheets? Gotta go big. Going tomb raiding (see bonus deal)? Gotta go big. Binge-watching "Arrested Development" before the new season debuts? Bluths are definitely better bigger.

For a limited time, and while supplies last, TigerDirect has the AOC e2752Vh 27-inch LCD monitor for $199.99, plus around $9 for shipping. (Sales tax also applies in a handful of states.) That's $80 off the regular price and one of the best prices I've seen on a monitor of this size.

Of note, Best Buy also has the AOC e2752Vh for $199.99, with free shipping, … Read more

Thanks to smartphones, tablets, and Windows 8, touching and swiping are commonplace ways to interact with TVs, computers, and mobile devices. But what if you want to do the same without touching the screen at all?

That's exactly the experience EyeSight Technologies, an Israel-based company that focuses on digital interaction, announced today that it's found a way to provide with its new fingertip tracking technology. The company calls this the "world's first commercial gesture technology to allow users to control digital devices with a fingertip" -- remotely, that is.… Read more

Yesterday, reader Pete asked, "Are there any good monitor deals coming?"

Yes. Yes there are.

For a limited time, and while supplies last, Newegg has the Hanns-G HL272HPB 27-inch LED monitor for $199.99 shipped. That's about $70 off the regular price and at least $40 less than I've seen it selling elsewhere.

Assuming your desk can accommodate one, big monitors rock. They not only make everything, well, bigger (duh), but also goose your productivity by letting you keep more windows open.

Imagine, then, your Web browser occupying half the screen and, say, your word processor … Read more

You know the expression, "Go big or go home"? I say go big in your home! See what I did there? (I know. Terrible. You'll have to forgive me; it's early and I'm pre-coffee.)

For a limited time, Amazon has the Asus VE247H 24-inch LED monitor for $149.99 shipped. That's after redeeming at $20 mail-in rebate (PDF).

That rebate will come in the form of an American Express Prepaid Reward Card, which is more or less as good as cash. Don't like rebates? That's cool -- I'll see you back … Read more

Monitors made some quiet strides in 2012. From the ramping up of extreme definition, 27-inch displays, to the proliferation of touch screens, monitor shoppers have never had such high-quality and varied choices.

Next month at CES 2013, I expect more of the same, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. CES will likely bring more refinements and baby-step evolution as opposed to a complete technological revolution.

Wider aspect ratios Earlier this year, Dell, LG, and Phillips announced new 29-inch, 21:9 aspect ratio monitors with native resolutions of 2,560x1,080 pixels. These displays are geared toward graphic artists … Read more

Yesterday my brother-in-law Bill was balking at the idea of using a laptop as his primary PC. A longtime desktop user, he likes having his monitor up at eye level.

Fair enough, I said, but didn't he know he could connect an external monitor to his laptop? Like this one: For a limited time, TigerDirect has the AOC e2251Swdn 22-inch LCD monitor for $99.99 shipped.

That's $50 off the regular price and a good $30 less than most bargain-priced 22-inch displays I see. And it's proof positive that you don't need a Black Friday or … Read more

Windows RT. I'd say it's divisive, but I don't think there's enough support in its corner to elicit much in the way of disagreement. In other words, most people either don't like it or don't understand its purpose. Or both.

If you've no idea what Windows RT is, here's a quick breakdown. It's essentially the "lite" version of Windows 8. It runs on ARM processors (cheaper and more energy-efficient than its Intel counterparts) and is optimized for Microsoft's Windows 8 touch interface. It's also incompatible with traditional Windows programs.

Sure, we've gotten insight into the reasons it was developed, but I still have problems with some aspects of its execution. Namely the Desktop interface.

Also, so far, only three of the five officially announced Windows RT tablets have actually been released, and one of the five, the Samsung Ativ Tab, won't be showing its pretty face to the U.S. market at all. The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 is the only officially announced yet unreleased Windows RT tablet.

Both Nokia and HTC Windows RT tablets have been rumored for a while, but there's still nothing official yet.

Will we see further Windows RT tablets or will the OS suffer a quick death? By "quick" I mean less than a year and by "death" I mean no other Windows RT tablets are announced in the next few months.

It's still too early to tell, so in the meantime if you're interested in a lower-priced Windows tablet, the following four are currently your only choices.

… Read more

The iPad Mini has yet to be officially announced, but it's kind of the worst-kept secret in tech right now. There's a very good chance it'll be revealed later this month (although what its final name will be remains to be seen) and even if you've no plans to purchase it, you'll likely want to know what it has to offer anyway.

The Mini is rumored to sport a 7.85-inch screen at a price of at least $299. But when and if it debuts, it will not enter a vacuous 7-inch tablet market. Its opponents will compete on price, ecosystem, performance, and features. Each offers something unique, and Apple's new tablet will have to be an amazing piece of kit to answer the challenge.

Without further lollygagging, let's get to the list.… Read more

Why would anyone want to watch a movie on a sub-40-inch screen? Well, ideally you wouldn't, but we don't all get what we want in life, now do we?

In a perfect world, all screens would span 50 inches diagonally and sport superhigh resolutions. Also, we'd all have enough space to fit them in every room.

Real life just ain't chock-full of unicorns and seven-year wizard colleges, though, and real-life dorms and apartments can be small. Doesn't mean you'd want to miss out on watching movies the way they were intended. Well, at least from a color, black-level, and contrast ratio perspective. We addressed the whole difference-in-screen-size thing earlier.… Read more