"I got referred to this place by some one on the Ars forums. I purchased the Samsung 172W (wide screen version of the popular 172T). I placed the order on Monday afternoon (president's day holiday). The next morning I received notification that it had shipped. I received it the following day (total of 2 days from ordering time, using FedEx 2 day service).

No problems with the monitor or the company. Everything went smooth."

"Ordering process painless. Website easy to use, nice comparison features. Great prices. The product was shipped left their door much sooner than expected. I will look here first on my next monitor purchase. "

"awesome service, i ordered this monitor planar px171m before it was even in stock, and they said they would have it to ship by the 15th of january, well i recieved it on the 15th instead in mint conditon, because they had the factory ship it to me....GREAT SERVICE"

"Well-organized website with very useful pre-purchase resources. Prices are very good and if you catch specials, great! Personal follow-up by email to ensure satisfaction and safe delivery are a very nice touch. Would highly recommend this company to others!"

"Ordered an Hitachi cml 174B from Monitors Direct on 1/28/03 via the internet, real easy. They sent conformation information and a UPS tracking number the following morning. They informed me that the monitor would arrive in one week and it was exactly so, plus free shipping. The box arrived in fine condition so no worries there. I install the monitor a few days later, very busy schedule. When I did hook it up, wow. No ghosting, no trailing, no dead pixels. I gave a call to tech support a few days later to get assistance with a feature I could not figure out. The support staff was most helpful and courteous and the hold for them was less then 5 minutes, a surprise when you are dealing with an internet purchase. They had the best prices, the best service and for $25, the best three year 24 hour return policy I have ever seen. All in all this is one of the best internet purchases I have ever had. I would do business with them in a minute and absolutely reccommend them to all my fellow computer users. Well done Monitors Direct this monitor blows away the competition.



















"

"This company is excellent. Their website is a wealth of information for buyers. After I ordered, they went out of their way to allay any concerns I might have had, and the president of the company sent me an email (probably a form letter, but who cares) asking me my opinion about the company. Overall, it's clear that they know what they're doing, and are trying hard to please customers, and they have great prices.

I think that the Before You Buy section is superlative. It's always important to:
a) get the specs
b) read reviews
c) compare feature-to-feature

All of these things are well covered on MD, and though I'm not really a neophyte, I still found the explanations of specs (and the Notes column of the comparison) easy to read and extremely useful in making my decision. "

"MonitorsDirect has a good website, great prices, and even better after-sales support. Come to think of it, they're the best I've seen in all three categories.

Now, the long version, with timings and the rest. I'll finish with a note about who I am:

So I need a new screen. After consulting Tom's Hardware Guide, I decide to purchase a Hitachi CML174SXW LCD monitor. I first check the sites I've done business with before, but they weren't selling this particular product. I then found MonitorsDirect on pricewatch.com, which was listed as having a Hitachi CML174 at a very reasonable price. I poked around the website to ensure that it was actually the same monitor. The specs and photographs confirmed that, indeed, they had the screen for me (complete with links to review sites, and some web content, such as the comparison feature, that might aid less fanatical users). Overall, the quality, detail and content of the website successfully conveyed the impression that, as a company, they would stand behind the product. Besides, their resellerratings.com user comments were off the scale.

The order:
The monitor was listed in stock; I placed the order at 15:30 EST, and received immediate confirmation of the order. Product was shipped the following evening, and notification of shipping was immediate. Although at the time I placed the order the website claimed same-day shipping on orders placed before 4 pm EST, it seems their cut-off time is somewhat earlier. Of course, I may have just misread them. In any case, the product shipped within 24 hours.

Delivery:
I opted for ground delivery, and spent the intervening time playing with E-tracking, and poking around the MD site a little more. The product arrived on time (although the UPS delivery person couldn't find my address).

Post-Sale:
Well, I installed the monitor and ran the SW Flash tests that the MD website had. The screen had two dead subpixels, which is certainly acceptable. But what preoccupied me was a different factory QA flaw: someone over at Hitachi had let a piece of dirt (looked like a strand of fabric or maybe a short hair follicle) get between the backlight and the surface of the screen. I tried to dislodge it from its location, but without success.
So I sent an email to the MD tech support address, asking whether I should contact them or Hitachi to deal with this issue. 4 hours later, the head of TS emailed me back, instructing me to call their tech support line.

I called at 14:15 central time, and got an "all lines are busy, please leave a message" message. I left a message.
At 15:15 tech support returned my call. After a short discussion, they issued an RMA and arranged to overnight me a replacement screen.
The next morning, I checked the screen, and the offending fiber had moved. A few shakes and it was gone. So I called them up at 10:15 CST, and waited four minutes on the line before being connected to a tech. I elected to cancel the replacement.

Thumbs up.


Who am I?
I'm a computer geek who buys parts and assembles his own systems. My last computer that could be called new, in that it didn't take any mission-critical parts from the preceding computer was a 486DX100."

"Very nice experience. Informative web site; much more organized and thorough than many others I've used; lots of data to help me choose; I changed my selection based on the information on this web site (cross-checked with other research via Google). A pre-purchase email question was quickly answered. Clear processes and contacts for support. No return charge if I needed to return the item (I didn't). Free surface shipping got it here in 2 days from when I clicked "Buy." Very good prices on Hitachi and Planar; not consistently as good prices on other brands. I'll buy from Monitors Direct again."

"WARNING: IF you don't want GREAT selection, GREAT prices, GREAT customer support and Accurate shipping information, DO NOT BUY from Monitors Direct.

Need I say more. I do a fair amount of shopping on the Internet and overall I have been satisfied. However MONITORS DIRECT by far is the best company I have ever dealt with. Buy with confidence!"

"Website stated ETA and after placing order was again pointed via email to the ETA. Actually shipped one day early. Unfortunately the monitor was defective. Emailed Friday evening, got a response on Saturday, was called on Monday and received replacement on Wednesday. I have done quite some online ordering but this has been one of the better experiences; especially with an RMA involved.
Highly recommended."

"I just bought a Planar PX171M 17" flatpanel from Monitorsdirect.com and I would highly reccommend this company. Not only do they have great prices, but they also have great customer support. I had a few questions regarding the Planar vs. the Hitachi CML174 and the Chief Harware Engineer responded within 48 hours. I challenge you to find a monitor reseller more committed to their customers. I for one will be doing all my future display business with monitorsdirect."

"I would highly suggest monitorsdirect.com. their prices were the best ive seen, their support staff was very helpful when i had to call to make sure that they had verified my shipping address and shipping was very prompt. I would definatly purchase from them again."

"I purchased a Hitachi CML174 17 inch LCD monitor. I had done some research about what mointor would best suite my needs. I found MonitorsDirect.com web site very easy to navigate and found their monitor side-by-side comparison feature very helpful. They had more specs on each monitor than of any other website. After the order was placed on a Saturday night, I received the monitor via free ground shipping the following Friday. I called the company as I had a few additional questions about the monitor I wished to purchase. The sales person was very friendly and helpful.

The Hitachi monitor is great. I couldn't find a better price and even got free shipping. The President of the company E-mailed me to make sure everything was OK. I would highly recommend this company for your monitor needs. "

"I purchased the Cornerstone P1500, and love it! I was extremely happy with the level of service I received from MonitorsDirect. I had a few questions to ask before purchasing, and they were very responsive, patient and provided better information than I could get at a computing store. Their customer service is excellent and I have no qualms about buying a monitor online through this company again."

"Purchased Qty. 2 Planar 15" Touch-Screen LCD Flat Panel Monitors."