Sarah Stokely blogged on APC Magazine on the recent price reduction of large 20+ inch wide screen LCD monitors. She took Chimei‘s CMV 221A/D as an example. A well designed high spec LCD monitor boosting 1650×1050 native resolution, 5ms response time, 800:1 contrast ration and 330 cd/m² brightness — for around AUD$500 mark if you don’t need the DVI input.

That’s cheap.

Not sure whether she has checked staticICE for the best pricing, but I’ve found Mwave Australia is selling one for $496.80. Well, it is pre-order, but a big wide-screen LCD monitor for less than $500?! Wow.

However, if you want DVI input — which should have been compulsory for monitor of this size — then it is going to cost around $40 more. Search for Chi Mei 221D on staticICE for the best price.

One great thing about these large LCD monitor is its resolution. If you need to work in front of a computer for an extended amount of time, looking at multiple windows with text and images scrolling all over the place, then you know how treasurable screen real estate is. At work I am having a 19″ Dell UltraSharp running at 1280×1024, connected to my notebook with its 14″ LCD running at 1400×1050. And it wasn’t enough — I have to run virtual desktop software to keep all the windows I need opening at the same time. Maybe I should get rid of the 19″ for a 22″ with the same vertical resolution as my notebook LCD and make a 3050 pixel wide desktop :)