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Today you can easily buy a 15-inch LCD monitor from a major vendor for under $400. That's down from a price average of about $2600 just three years ago.

In fact, a quick search on PCWorld.com's Product Finder shows a handful of 15-inch LCDs selling for close to the $300 mark. Your options increase if you're willing to buy products of lesser-known vendors (for example, several online retailers offer a Proview-branded monitor for $319.)

Makes you want one, doesn't it? That's been the long-term plan of LCD vendors. Along with the companies that manufacture the panels used in the displays, vendors have weathered small to negative profit margins as prices on LCDs--particularly the 15-inch models--have fallen dramatically over the last year.

"It was a conscious decision to pump the marketplace up, and we're seeing a tremendous shift to LCDs from CRTs," says Herb Berkwits, senior product manager for LCD at ViewSonic.

"The $500 barrier was one of those magic price points," he says. "It opens the floodgates."

How long will the floodgates stay open? Analysts have been saying for several months that prices are hitting bottom, just before they fall again. Those analysts may dispute whether it was the LCD industry's intention to drop its prices so low, but there is no doubt that prices have slumped significantly. The average price of a 15-inch LCD in the first quarter of 1998 was $2600, according to Stanford Resources. In the first quarter of 1999 it dropped to $1100; it inched up to about $1199 in 2000; and at the beginning of 2001 it plunged to $750.

During August and September, the average price for a flat-screen monitor was about $470, estimates Rhoda Alexander, director of monitor research at Stanford Resources.

Buy Sooner Rather Than Later

While LCD monitor prices are at all-time lows, there's a very good chance prices could rebound in coming months, Alexander says. Analysts have been predicting price hikes for months, but in October the panel manufacturers actually stopped dropping their prices. That means the prices on the end products likely will level off soon, she says.

ViewSonic's Berkwits agrees.

"The people who have been making the panels have been running at a negative profit for some time, and they got tired of it," he says. It's likely they'll soon begin raising the cost of the panels, forcing LCD vendors to cut their profits or raise their prices, he says.

"We're holding the line for now," he says, referring to his company's plan to keep its lowest-priced retail LCD at $399 (after a $50 rebate). Of course, if other vendors start raising their prices, ViewSonic may too, he says.

"If your cost of goods go up, it's hard to hold the line and make money," he says. "That's what we are here to do is make money."

However, just this week Sharp matched that price with a $399 15-inch LCD monitor, the Sharp LL-T15V1. The 1024 by 768 XGA analog monitor is available now.

Skip the PC, Buy an LCD

An LCD might be the choice of a frugal shopper who doesn't want to buy a new PC but decides to make the current PC more comfortable to use, suggests Stanford's Alexander. As the economy slows down and people begin to spend more carefully, many are foregoing the purchase of a new PC, she says.

"The prices are very attractive right now, and it is something a person can do to get a significant improvement in performance," she says. Also, an LCD lets you reclaim desk space and offers some power savings over CRTs, she says.

Berkwits sums it up this way: "When it comes to the end of the day, what is it that you're staring at? It's not your PC."

Buyer Beware

If you decide to make the leap to LCD, conventional wisdom says you're better off buying one made by a major vendor such as ViewSonic or NEC-Mitsubishi, Alexander says. However, with lesser-known vendors offering products for as low as $299, it's tempting to turn elsewhere, she notes.

If you decide to buy from what she calls a "no-name" vendor, try to inspect the LCD in person first, she says.

"Take a good look at those," she says. And beware of the compromises you may be making.

For example, some low-cost LCDS offer a narrower field of vision. As you move to the side, and change your viewing angle, the LCD can become harder to read, she says.

Another thing to watch for is dead pixels. Most LCDS have a few of these--they look like little pinpricks in the display. However, if an LCD has clusters of them, you should steer clear of it, she says.

Finally, if you buy a cheap LCD you're likely to get fewer features, a cheap case, and a shorter warranty, she adds.

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