I found a deal on a 24 inch Acer monitor two years and four months ago. Back in December of 2005, a monitor that size would set you back over $1,000. But I found a great buy at my local MicroCenterfor $799, before a $100 rebate.
Two years later, when the price for the same monitor was down to about $499 net, I bought a second one for home. Nowadays Samsung makes a 24 inch that you can pick up for $429 or less.
The great thing about a monitor like this is the number of windows you can see at once. For example, as I write this, I'm watching the Royals and Red Sox in my Slingbox window. At higher resolutions I can get work done in three or four different windows, if it helps - and sometimes it does, especially when debugging, or looking at two data files and a code window at once.
Two years later, when the price for the same monitor was down to about $499 net, I bought a second one for home. Nowadays Samsung makes a 24 inch that you can pick up for $429 or less.
The great thing about a monitor like this is the number of windows you can see at once. For example, as I write this, I'm watching the Royals and Red Sox in my Slingbox window. At higher resolutions I can get work done in three or four different windows, if it helps - and sometimes it does, especially when debugging, or looking at two data files and a code window at once.
The not so great thing about a screen like this is spoilage. As in, now, I am spoiled. And early this month when my monitor at the office turned on for just one second, then stubbornly refused to re-display, I was very out of sorts. I have two computers there that share the monitor, so I first had to determine if my KVM switch was ok - it was - and then confirm that the monitor wouldn't display on any other computer - it would not.
So at that point I figured that my piddling one year warranty was well expired, and since I nearly never buy the extended warranties, I would now be in need of a new monitor. But just on the off chance that the warranty was better than I imagined, I looked on-line atAcer.com. I was mildly surprised to see that the 2008 version of my monitor carried a three year warranty. So then I went searching for the receipt, found it, and discovered that verily, my monitor was only a toddler - not quite three years old even.
That never happens. My stuff always breaks just after the warranty expires, never just before. I was almost giddy, under the circumstances, as I picked up the monitor, trotted it down to my car and thence over to MicroCenter, receipt in hand, where finally things ran more true to form. Microcenter doesn't handle warranty claims for Acer.
Oh.
I acted disgruntled, as though I would never shop there again, and the sales clerk acted sorry, like she was really, really sorry. We were both acting. Nevertheless, I carried on and carried my twenty-pound monitor back to my car, drove it back to my office, and used the standby seventeen inch monitor to look up Acer tech support.
The first thing I had to do was register my product. Evidently that had slipped my mind in December of ought-five. Acer wanted to know my purchase date and serial number. I dutifully supplied them, andvoila, I was qualified and warranted via E-Mail. On fixmyacer.com, I described my problem in great detail ("My monitor won't turn on") and promised to ship it to them. They promised to send it back, but not in the original box. I'm not sure why they go to great lengths to explain that you will not receive your monitor back in its original box, but I was not especially attached to that box, lovely cardboard though it was.
On May 6th UPS collected my boxed monitor at their local terminal, and for $29 promised to ship it ground to Round Rock, Texas. Acer received my monitor on May 9th, which is pretty solid speed by UPS ground. A gentleman named Ruiz signed for my monitor at the Acer repair center in Texas.
The following Monday, May 12th, I put in an inquiry to Acer Tech support, to get a status report. There was no phone number to call, nor could I find one on-line. However, an E-Mail was returned to me that evening, informing me that not only had my monitor been fixed, but it had also been shipped back out to me on May 9th. A quick check of the FedEx tracking number revealed that my monitor had begun the journey back to me at 1:07 p.m. the very day they had received it in Round Rock.
Wow again. Way to go Ruiz. And everybody else at Acer.
On the 13th FedEx delivered my monitor back to me, complete with a note about what Acer had fixed (I'm not sure what an inverter is, but now I have a new one) and that the repair was warranted for another 90 days, or the balance of my original warranty, whichever was greater.
So I was back in business, the monitor working good as new, and Acer with high marks from me for following through on their warranty, great turn-around speed and a still a really good product.
So at that point I figured that my piddling one year warranty was well expired, and since I nearly never buy the extended warranties, I would now be in need of a new monitor. But just on the off chance that the warranty was better than I imagined, I looked on-line atAcer.com. I was mildly surprised to see that the 2008 version of my monitor carried a three year warranty. So then I went searching for the receipt, found it, and discovered that verily, my monitor was only a toddler - not quite three years old even.
That never happens. My stuff always breaks just after the warranty expires, never just before. I was almost giddy, under the circumstances, as I picked up the monitor, trotted it down to my car and thence over to MicroCenter, receipt in hand, where finally things ran more true to form. Microcenter doesn't handle warranty claims for Acer.
Oh.
I acted disgruntled, as though I would never shop there again, and the sales clerk acted sorry, like she was really, really sorry. We were both acting. Nevertheless, I carried on and carried my twenty-pound monitor back to my car, drove it back to my office, and used the standby seventeen inch monitor to look up Acer tech support.
The first thing I had to do was register my product. Evidently that had slipped my mind in December of ought-five. Acer wanted to know my purchase date and serial number. I dutifully supplied them, andvoila, I was qualified and warranted via E-Mail. On fixmyacer.com, I described my problem in great detail ("My monitor won't turn on") and promised to ship it to them. They promised to send it back, but not in the original box. I'm not sure why they go to great lengths to explain that you will not receive your monitor back in its original box, but I was not especially attached to that box, lovely cardboard though it was.
On May 6th UPS collected my boxed monitor at their local terminal, and for $29 promised to ship it ground to Round Rock, Texas. Acer received my monitor on May 9th, which is pretty solid speed by UPS ground. A gentleman named Ruiz signed for my monitor at the Acer repair center in Texas.
The following Monday, May 12th, I put in an inquiry to Acer Tech support, to get a status report. There was no phone number to call, nor could I find one on-line. However, an E-Mail was returned to me that evening, informing me that not only had my monitor been fixed, but it had also been shipped back out to me on May 9th. A quick check of the FedEx tracking number revealed that my monitor had begun the journey back to me at 1:07 p.m. the very day they had received it in Round Rock.
Wow again. Way to go Ruiz. And everybody else at Acer.
On the 13th FedEx delivered my monitor back to me, complete with a note about what Acer had fixed (I'm not sure what an inverter is, but now I have a new one) and that the repair was warranted for another 90 days, or the balance of my original warranty, whichever was greater.
So I was back in business, the monitor working good as new, and Acer with high marks from me for following through on their warranty, great turn-around speed and a still a really good product.
