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Get a 21.5-inch laptop LCD monitor for $119.99

The Samsung LD220G also works with desktops, but its low-rise design and USB connectivity option make it a perfect companion for laptops.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read
The Samsung LD220G sits right on your desk, making it a better match for laptops than elevated LCDs.
The Samsung LD220G sits right on your desk, making it a better match for laptops than elevated LCDs. TigerDirect

When it comes to desktop productivity, nothing beats a dual-monitor setup. But if you're a laptop user, you may have discovered an annoying quirk: most LCD monitors stand a few inches higher than your laptop's screen.

Not so with the Samsung LD220G 21.5-inch LCD, which TigerDirect has on sale for $119.99 (plus $9 for shipping). It's designed specifically to sit alongside laptops, and does so at just the same height.

In other words, it has no stand. Well, not the traditional kind: it has an arm that folds out from the back to prop it up at an angle ranging from 10 to 40 degrees--the better to match the tilt of your laptop screen. Cool, huh?

Also cool: the LG220G can connect to your laptop via VGA or USB. Samsung's UbiSync technology allows for plug-and-play connectivity over USB, great for laptops that don't have an available VGA port--or, even better, for making this a third monitor.

All the other specs are pretty standard: 1,920x1,080-pixel native resolution, 5ms response time, one-year warranty, and so on.

Before you pull out your credit card, however, be sure to read CNET's review of the LD220G. Perhaps unsurprisingly, graphics performance over USB isn't great, and the reviewer's unit had some display issues. On the other hand, TigerDirect customers collectively rated it 4.7 stars out of 5.

I'd say if you're looking for a laptop-friendly second (or third) monitor, give this one a try. You can't beat the price (it was $230 when CNET reviewed it just a year ago), and TigerDirect has a 30-day return policy.

Bonus deal: The ever-popular Fantom 2TB external eSATA/USB hard drive is on sale for $79.99 shipped (after a $20 mail-in rebate). Unreal. If you have any experience with this drive, let me (and your fellow Cheapskaters) know what you think of it!