17" TFT £130 and other bargains

colinh0674

I waited over three months for a refund on an order that was never posted out.
In the end I had to threaten them with legal action.
Stay clear!!! :mad:

paulofalus

Just a caution: I ordered a TFT from aria.co.uk last June. I phoned them every couple of weeks to see what was happening but the screen never arrived. Eventually after a couple of months they decided the product was discontinued. Even then it took a further couple of months before I was refunded! I hope they've got things working better now.

Teak

Yeah I'd be careful of Aria. They might seem like a good deal, but when things go wrong and you need to return it can be a pain. Getting an RMA number can take a few days. Also took them 20 days just to 'look' at my return. Would of only taken them 5min to see if was faulty. In the end took 30 days to get a replacement.

As for Ebuyer, again do good deals, but don't seem to want to know when things go wrong. Their eNotes system is meant to be replied to within 48hrs, but took over a week last time for me. Also they prefer you use the manufacturer's support, rather than them. I guess they want to keep customer support to a minimum to afford their prices.

I've started using overclock.co.uk (not to be confused with a company of similar name) and while maybe they aren't the cheapest for everything, their customer service is A* and has the personal touch. Which as I have found out, is the real bargain when things go wrong, as they can do from time to time.

lellie

see.. living near aria is fantastic.. the guys in there are nice actually.. and I don't have worries of their customer service as instore it's fine.. you just take it back and dump it on their desk..

but yes - these TFTs are stunning quality.. They have them set up in there for browsing their catalogues and I keep wanting one.. can't afford it though..

they've got dell CRT monitor factory refurbs in at the moment.. £20 for 17", £85 for 21" and 120something for 22".. the 21" are lovely.. I got a 17" for my sister.. one didn't switch on but the replacement is great..

bloggsy

If anyone's interested in my experience with Aria & the Digimate 1715 TFT monitors here's some snips of recent emails with Aria. Sorry if it's a bit long:

>>Stuart
Thanks for your prompt replies on this.
However, I can only be disappointed with the length of time you've taken to
process this "dead on arrival" item.
When I spoke to one of your colleagues in Cust Supp this morning (Thursday),
& explained why, after two weeks, I needed the replacement asap she assured
me that the it would be despatched today for Friday delivery.
As I have not received an email confirming despatch I can only assume that
you have failed.
>>With hindsight (always easy!) I should have returned this for a refund and
bought another. My other orders with Aria have been no problem, & it would
be a pity for this experience (going back to 12th Jan.) to spoil future
business.

>>Hi Stuart
Replacement TFT arrived Monday eve, thanks.
The original two that I ordered on 11th Jan were the 12 ms response time as
shown in the 11th Jan product info (enclosed), before you started stocking
the 16mS version again.
I have checked with Digimate & both these monitors are 16mS types according
to serial numbers, however the replacement is a 12mS by ser. no. This means
that the second of the 11th Jan.order (which also has pixels out, though not
enough for you to be interested!) is not as advertised. What would you like
to do about this one?

>>Hi Stuart
I've just checked my card statement & there is no credit for the collection
costs (£15.22) taken on 12th Jan. There are no credits pending either.
Please advise what's happening on this. Thanks.

Re the confusion over response times, I contacted Digimate & was told that all L-1715s
before Ser. No. 998097886 are 16mS, all after are 12mS. Thus the two I originally bought from Aria as 12mS were in fact 16mS but the eventual replacement for one with
about six pixels out was a 12mS.
Aria's initial service & delivery were good but replacing a faulty one has been long-winded at best. I'm still waiting for carriage refund despite assurrances that it's been credited!
That said, the monitor & their cheap AMD P80L DVD players are very good!

Pemps

http://www.dabs.com/uk/productView.htm?quicklinx=3lvw

cheapest 19" i have ever seen.

kenbennett

There are indeed some very good prices on items from this company - but with delivery at £6.95 + VAT for even the smallest and cheapest items the final delivered price may not be the best around.

As usual you have to select your items and go to the checkout to find this out.

Happy Hunting.....

Raymondo111

I bought one of these from ARIA a few weeks ago, no problems with dead pixels but had to turn the brightness right down as the screen is very bright. I use a very expensive Dell monitor at work and would say the Digimate is on par.

Cactus_Jack

I can't decide between a 17" or 19" screen - I mean it can't be good to be sat in front of a 19" viewable screen? I'm using a 19" CRT with 18" viewable area so I guess it isn't much bigger. Is there anything to suggest bigger monitors are worse for your eyes/neck/back or whatever?

driver8_2

Hi Cactus_Jack - I'm no expert, but one thing to consider is that TFT's have an optimal resolution, and if you don't use it the display won't be at its best.

For both 17" & 19" monitors, optimal res is 1280x1024 (= 'sxga'), so this means everything will be bigger on 19" but you won't get more 'space' for big photos or big spreadsheets (whereas a 19" crt could go to 1600x1200 or whatever).

Make sense ?

So the benefits of the larger size may not be quite as big as you might think. Might be good to position the monitor farther away from you though, depending on your desk setup at home - so this could be more comfortable ?

After saying that, I'm typing this on a 19" dell tft (@ work) and it's great ! Like you, I have a 19" crt at home, and I'm looking at replacing with a tft - I'll probably just get a 17" from Aria as it looks to be at least £60+ for the extra 2" (mind you, that dabs 19" link above for £200 looks tempting ...)