Yet another post on LCD monitors — the price has just dropped so much these days and it is just crazy looking at how much we have paid 2-3 years ago.

I have just received the weekly catelogue from Aldi Australia, and they are selling 20 inch wide screen LCD monitor for AUD$699 this week. Just noticed that it is available in Queensland Aldi Stores only, but it is pretty good spec’ed:

• 20″ wide screen LCD running 1680×1050
• Contrast ratio 800:1
• Brightness 300cd/m2
• Response time 8ms
• DVI with HDCP + D-Sub
• Built-in speakers
• 1 year warranty

Dell is also having heavy discount on their UltraSharp 2007WFP 20inch wide screen LCD as well — also AUD$699 delivered until 27 April, and it is not limited to the bloody Queenslanders. Spec wise they are pretty similar — same resolution, same contrast ratio, same brightness, also HDCP capable, etc. However 2007WFP has a slower panel (16ms) and it does not appear to have built-in speakers. You do get a named brand though, and there are lots of review on the web.

See how technology drives down the prices of these items? I can still remember paying almost $1,000 for a 19″ CTX CRT monitor back in 1999, thinking that I’ve got a bargain… Don’t even mention how much we need to pay for that 14″ SVGA monitor in 1990.

Jaxx wrote in:

Dell 2405FPW 24″ LCD Monitors — $1020 delivered. Head over to BulkBuy.com.au where they are doing a bulk order of these screens.

Discussion link for this bulk buy item is here.

2405FPW is a great monitor that has continuously won awards since it was released in February last year. The price has come down a bit, and I suspect that they are trying to move more stocks for the incoming successor the 2407FPW. Still, AUD$1020 delivered for a great 24″ LCD monitor running at 1920×1200 is a great buy, and last time I checked it is still the current editors’ choice at APC for large monitors. However, you need to submit your order before Friday 21^st April to be part of this bulk order.

For those who are still staying in civilised part of Australia during the Easter long weekend break, Kmart is having their one day only 15% off store-wide sale on Saturday 15^th of April. There is also 25% off Easter Eggs as well.

Get into Kmart for last minute Easter savings. Come see our biggest range of Easter eggs ever, great savings on LCD TVs and the release of King Kong on DVD.

Theres also a Monster 15 per cent off storew ide for one day only April 15th. Excludes iTunes, iPods, console hardware, cigarettes, gift cards, PixiFoto, Easter eggs and Kmart Tyre & Auto Service.

I’ll miss out this one as well because of FOCUS church camp which I believe will be bigger than even the monster sale. Moreover, we all know easter eggs and chocolates will be even cheaper after Monday.

OO.com.au has just sent out their Easter Egg coupons, and they are only valid over the Easter long weekend (17 Apirl 2006).

Coupon 1: EASTEREGG5
Receive a $5 discount on every order over $100 this long weekend.

Coupon 2: EASTEREGG10
Receive a $10 discount on every order over $500 this long weekend.

To receive your discount simply enter the coupon code (EASTEREGG5 or EASTEREGG10) during checkout. These coupons are valid for all orders placed from now to Easter Monday midnight (AEST). Please note that the coupons cannot be used on orders under the minimum amount.

While they are merely 5% and 2.5% off from an order that are exactly $100 or $500, but a discount is still a discount. I am not sure how many people will actually be shopping on-line though — holidays are always low seasons for online shops (comparing to the few days prior to holidays). At least I know that I won’t be online — I will be at the FOCUS church camp :)

Use the following coupon to get Dell UltraSharp 1906FP for AUD$399.

1. Go to Dell Australia‘s web site and use E-Value code “N1419AIO” to purchase a Dell UltraSharp 1906FP. Or alternatively use the link above to go directly to 1906FP’s product page.
2. Click through “Continue” (and ignore all other stuffs Dell tries selling you along the way) until you land on the checkout page. The amount should be $599 at this point
3. Apply coupon code 39113C48CB65, and you’ll get instant $200 off.

That is quite a nice 19″ LCD monitor for $399 delivered. At work I am currently using a 1905FP, one model older than 1906FP, and it is quite a nice monitor. The contrast is quite high so the black is almost pitch black. The new desktops we bought at work were all equipped with 1906FP and as far as I can tell it is very similar except the stand/legs.

DVI does make a huge difference on this monitor though, just like all the other LCD monitors. Go for digital if your video card supports it.

Expiry: 2006-04-12

Target is having its “exclusive” 3 day store-wide 15% sale (PDF) at the moment, from Monday 3^rd to Wednesday 5^th of April. Sale excludes gadgets like iPod or game consoles.

I know it is already half way through, but still have almost two days to catch it.

Saw it being advertised at Domayne.

Domayne lets you bring home a 17 inch Apple iMac and test it out for 10 days. At the end of test driving period, you can either buy it, or return it. I presume that it would be the new Intel Core Due based iMac as it offered the options for purchase. However, there are two problems:

1. It requires payment of full price as security up-front (which would be AUD$2,000 for 17″ iMac).
2. It will be very hard to bring the Mac back after you have experienced it.

Net Logistics, an Australian web hosting company that has servers in Brisband, Canberra and Sydney, has released a revolutionary free Australia-based web hosting plan called “Revolution”, as announced here

Free hosting is nothing new, and it is not the first free hosting from reputable Australian company either (see Jumba’s free hosting plans). However having free hosting on Australia-based servers sets Net Logistics different from other competitors, as traditionally hosting on Aussie servers is quite expensive, as the bandwidth here is not cheap.

And it has pretty descent plan as well:

It is available for non-commercial (individual, non-profit org, charity etc) purposes, and it uses cPanel hosted on dual-Xeon boxes. Here is more information about the plan.

You can either register a domain name with Net Logistics, transfer the name to them, or get your registrar to point DNS to their servers.

I am also currently looking at a cheap Australian hosting plan to host this blog, as it mainly targets Australian audiences, and being on a server in Atlanta doesn’t really help. Not sure whether having AdSense adds would classify me as “non-commercial”…

Update 2006-04-13: Net Logistics “Revolution” has stopped its registration, and they have removed the free hosting page, probably due to popularity. Hopefully they will be back soon.

Every other shops are selling Apple iPod these days, and what set each reseller apart are their price and services. Just got from their news feed, it appears that DealsDirect has also joined the race of iPod reselling. Their service is fine — very usable online interface and relatively fast delivery. And their price?

Apple iPod nano 1Gb white for $199 + $5 delivery

That is the cheapest I can find — for $204 total to have this beautiful MP3 player delivered to your door. That beats:

• Apple Australia RRP $219
• Getmac $205.86 + $7.50 delivery
• I.T.Box $209 + unknown delivery

Weird thing is that I cannot find that (or any Apple) product under DealDirect’s MP3 player category. Maybe something big is coming?

William wrote:

Pre-order MacBook Pro 1.83 GHz and 2 GHz from I.T.Box, pay 20% and get a double RAM. The Price is also cheaper than Apple Store.

1.83Ghz for $3,169 and 2.0Ghz for $3,959 are cheaper than buying from Apple Store. However a few catches:

• This is pre-order, although MacBook Pro appears to be shipping already.
• You need to pay 20% deposit for their deal.
• Not way to find out delivery cost without creating an account.

Still not as cheap as Getmac, but they do have a price matching policy. Moreover they double your RAM for MacBook Pro pre-orders.

Another cheap(er) price to buy for those of us who can’t have the EDU discount.

GoDaddy is having its everything 12% off sale at the moment, and that applies to every order — domains, hosting, etc. Use this coupon code between 24 and 26 March to claim the discount.

gdh0324a

That makes .com registration USD$7.87 + $0.25 ICANN fee. It would be more significant with hosting plans, etc.

OO.com.au is giving away $5 discount when you provide customer feedback at the point of check out — that’s on top of their already much discounted price.

So, for a limited time, we are offering YOU an instant $5.00 discount on every order. All we ask is that you offer your comments or suggestions during checkout.

We will use your comments to improve the way we serve you in the future. Your comments will be treated confidentially in accordance with our strict privacy policy.

All it takes is giving a one line comment on the check out pages. This offer expires on Monday 27^th March 2006. They have their warehouse in Banksmeadow (10-15 minutes drive from Kingsford 9 Ways roundabout), and they allow local pick-ups to save on delivery.

For those waiting for the monthly store-wide sale, Kmart is having its 15% off store wide sale on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 of March 2006.

Dive in to Kmart for a Monster 15 per cent off storewide! Excludes iTunes, iPods, console hardware, cigarettes, gift cards, PixiFoto and Kmart Tyre & Auto Service. That’s great savings on everything from clothing and manchester to footwear and entertainment and much more. No deposit layby available at all Kmart department stores for the duration of the sale.

There is also 15 per cent off Goodyear and Dunlop tyres from Kmart Tyre & Auto Service.

But hurry. It’s all for two days only from March 23 to March 24.

So 15 percent off only applies to Goodyear and Dunlop tyres, but not the rest of Kmart auto service. Also the sale excludes console hardware — that means there is no 15% off for Xbox 360 that will be launched tomorrow.

Deals Direct continues to surprise me. In their latest deal, they have sourced 600 brand new HP iPAQ H5550 and sell them for AUD$199 each. Here’s the basic spec for this Pocket PC:

• Intel XScale 400Mhz
• 128Mb RAM and 48Mb ROM
• 3.8″ QVGA TFT screen at 240×320
• Built in stero audio
• SD/MMCard slot
• 802.11b (Wiki), Bluetooth, Infra Red
• 138 x 84 x 15.9mm and 206.8g
• 1250mAh Li-ion battery

Because of the circumstances Deals Direct has sourced them, there is no packaging, no software nor USB cable and cradle. It comes with only the pocket PC itself and a charger. However software (Active Sync) can be downloaded from Microsoft, and who needs a cradle when it can sync across my wireless LAN :)

I know H5550 is about 2.5 year old, but still a very good pocket PC implementation. With discount coupon (expirying tomorrow) you can get this for $188.10 delivered.

Update: All sold out. But apparently many of them were bought to be placed on eBay, selling frm $249+.

I heard about VoipStunt in the latest APC Magazine (April 2006). One of Betamax‘s (German’s telecommunication company) Voice over IP (VoIP) front-ends, together with others like VoIP Buster, Internet Calls and SIP Discount, offers free* calls to many international landline and mobile phone destinations.

Yes — it is really free, with a little catch.

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