Best 21.5" Monitors under $150

Hey Hackintoshers,
I'm going to be building a Hackintosh in a BitFenix Prodigy powered by Intel HD 4000 graphics with my i5. I'm looking to see if anyone has any recommendations of 21.5" monitors under $150. It doesn't have to be amazing, but it should be LED and have an HDMI port. Right now I use a Late 2011 MacBook Pro. It should be somewhat as good of a display. I've seen some posts about monitors but some are older threads. I want a more recent monitor.
Thanks in advance for the help,
HyperMac5

HyperMac5 said:

Hey Hackintoshers,
I'm going to be building a Hackintosh in a BitFenix Prodigy powered by Intel HD 4000 graphics with my i5. I'm looking to see if anyone has any recommendations of 21.5" monitors under $150. It doesn't have to be amazing, but it should be LED and have an HDMI port. Right now I use a Late 2011 MacBook Pro. It should be somewhat as good of a display. I've seen some posts about monitors but some are older threads. I want a more recent monitor.
Thanks in advance for the help,
HyperMac5

Click to expand...

Might I suggest the Asus VE228H ? 21.5", 1080p, LED, DVI/HDMI/VGA Right now $140 at NCIX US

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-ve228h

Only con = TN panel

Does it have to be 21.5" ?

One of LG's monitors with IPS panels (and thus hopefully very good color even when you move around the room) is a 22" unit on sale for US$130.
IPS224T-PN: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005341

I'm considering purchasing an LG IPS235V soon for a 2nd monitor next to my Dell U2410, which is why I thought of it.

EDIT: Whoops: not HDMI. But it has DVI: do you need HDMI?
The IPS224V-PN has HDMI and is just over your listed budget at US$160.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005363

If you need HDMI and don't need audio over it, you can just convert the HDMI signal to DVI to connect to a DVI-only monitor. I've done that with a monitor connected to an HDMI port on my H77N-WIFI build, no problems.
For example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812816054

DBP said:

If you need HDMI and don't need audio over it, you can just convert the HDMI signal to DVI to connect to a DVI-only monitor. I've done that with a monitor connected to an HDMI port on my H77N-WIFI build, no problems.
For example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812816054

Click to expand...

I have found a BenQ 22 inch LED monitor with DVI for $110. I decided to sacrifice HDMI for that. Is there a reason to have HDMI? Is it better than DVI? What would be the advantage of converting the signal?

If you only want video (and not audio) and you're going to be using it as a computer display (rather than Blu-Ray player, etc) then I think DVI-D is better than HDMI.
You don't have to deal with over/under-scan issues, black and white clipping, etc which are all things in HDMI because it's geared to home-cinema. Decent monitors with HDMI can have all this stuff tuned, but the default settings are sometimes "wrong" and cheap displays don't always let you tune everything you might want to.

I go through this stuff a lot when helping clients select projectors/etc for photography displays.

Advantages of HDMI might include:

• Your computer only has an HDMI port (fixable with an adapter as shown), and
• HDMI cables can be longer than most DVI cables. But usually not an issue for a computer monitor.

The reason I used the adapter on the H77N box at one point was it (the motherboard) has 2x HDMI and 1x DVI, and I wanted to connect 2x DVI monitors.

I'm willing to bet that BenQ monitor has a crappy TN panel, so the colors will shift as you move your head around. And sometimes even without moving (as you look at the opposite corners at different angles). Given the choice, I will always go for an IPS panel (such as the LG models I linked to).

I'll look more closely at the LG one. It's worth the extra $20.
Thanks

Edit: I wanted to add the BenQ monitors link, just to show which one it was. This is the 20 inch of the same model=same specs
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4978864&CatId=5469

Quite apart from using a TN panel (it does), that BenQ is a 20" screen with 1600x900 pixels. The LG ones I linked to are 22" with 1920x1080 pixels.

Something else to consider in monitor selection: how many pixels do you want to fit on the screen?
And if you end up with more than one monitor, it's nicer to use if both have the same size pixels (even if they have different screen size, it's good to be able to drag windows across both screens and have the window be the same size even if it's straddling both screens).

Thanks DBP,
I think at one point I will use dual monitors, but not now. I like the LG one you recommended! How do you think it compares to the MacBook Pro Late 2011 (no retina)? Is there a way I can compare them?