Wholesale Hot: Princeton 17" TFT at Costco $320 *NO REBATES!* [7/28+]

[CheetahMk2]

I am a member over there, and I recently noticed this in the coupon book they sent me [available in the mail or at the membership desk]. They are going to have the brand new Princeton Graphics VL1715 in stock and on sale on the 28th, for $370. Best part is, there was a $50 off coupon in the Costco booklet, making it

$370 - $50 off coupon = $320 + tax on $320

If you are a Costco member, you know how hot this is. Couple Princeton's nice 3 year warranty and Costco's excellent policy, and you have yourself a winning combo worth paying more for. No worries about dead pixels! Costco stands behind their products.

Best thing of all, I hear these may be Hyundai rebadges? The L70S is a 16ms screen, this may be a different [lower quality] batch. 25ms.

Important spec notes:
1280x1024 @ 75hz max
.264mm dot pitch
25ms typical repsonse time
400:1 contrast ratio
300 cd/m²
VGA only
1W [ea.] speakers

[7/21] Some pictures/official page
The L70S. Notice the resemblance? Check the OSD functions....

 

[Paranoid2k]

Official page shows 1 year warranty. Because it's at Costco, that may be OK. Anywhere else, and no thanks.

 

[CheetahMk2]

Heh.. they must have changed it. Yesterday, that was a 3 year parts warranty....

"Modified: 7/21/2003"

I dunno why they did that...

 

[Hankysmoo]

this a good monitor? does it have dvi? or is the outpost/fry's monitor a better deal?

 

[CheetahMk2]

Originally posted by: Hankysmoo
this a good monitor? does it have dvi? or is the outpost/fry's monitor a better deal?

... you really should check the top post again a bit harder....

Anyway, the one at Fry's is slightly better, although with the rebates. 16ms vs 25, 2w vs 1w, but this has a slightly higher brightness rating. The main benefit from this is that there are no rebates and you have Costco's backing.

 

[Lager]

Seems like a good deal. Been looking for a 17" or 18" FT LCD.

Is it adequate for gaming?

 

[weepul]

i've had a princeton 17" crt before and it was great. not srue about their line of lcds, but i wouldn't expect it to be anything less than decent.

//krunk (^_^x)

 

[m1ke101]

cool, think I'm going to get in on this one. Anyone know if this is goin to be online? or if this lcd is decent for gaming?

 

[HiTek21]

Nice monitor, saw these at costco myself but it doesn't have DVI Still thinking about picking one up though

 

[Jedi Mike]

I actually work at Costco and they take anything as long as it has a receipt, I've seen some shady ass people bring in 5 year old receipts and get full cash refunds. They recently changed the return policy on computers, you can't return after 6 months. I swear people can be shady at times but thats the way it will always be.

 

[WoofyJr]

Jedi-Mike, which costco do u work???

 

[Jedi Mike]

San Jose, California

 

[Lager]

Response time?

 

[Deuce24]

Originally posted by: coldcut
Response time?

Yes, do anything but bother to read the first post of this thread. Your answer will more than likely not be answered there anyways....gees...

 

[Aar0n]

Most of the time they don't even require a receipt. I brought back a year old pot and pan set after losing the receipt and recycling the box, wanting to exchange the set. They of course wouldn't do an exchange. They refunded me the full amount and let me rebuy it.

Costco's customer service is the best...

 

[CheetahMk2]

Originally posted by: m1ke101
cool, think I'm going to get in on this one. Anyone know if this is goin to be online? or if this lcd is decent for gaming?

The coupon had 'Also available at Costco.com' on it, so I think so. But, to quote an employee, "They kinda screw you on the shipping". If you can, go in person and get it.

And I checked again, and it does look very similar to the L70S... almost to the point I am wondering if they under-rated the pannels. I guess I'll have to wait on saying that till someone can post some info..?

 

[gadgetboy]

Going to have to check this out - fits what the wife needs, but I can't find my Costco Passport (coupon) booklet. (ah - get one at the membership desk - cool thanks).

Costco rocks. They always seem to have very good prices on DVDs too.

I actually work at Costco and they take anything as long as it has a receipt, I've seen some shady ass people bring in 5 year old receipts and get full cash refunds. They recently changed the return policy on computers, you can't return after 6 months. I swear people can be shady at times but thats the way it will always be.

Amen brother. I.m guessing "shady" (I edited out stronger language) people abusing return policies is the reason stores end up with strict, limited return policies and restocking fees (just conjecture, no evidence). I particularly love the idiots who break their toy, buy a new one locally, and return the broken one; or idiots who buy TiVos, break them trying to hack them, and return them. No honor.

 

[CheetahMk2]

True, but you aren't paying a yearly fee of $30 [or considerably more] to retail stores. I look at it as a 'fudge factor'. Chances are I won't return anything, but if *it hits the fan, I am not screwed. Take the other end of the spectrum, Fry's, they even have a sticker on the box basically saying "if its broken when you open the box, it's not our problem".

I've had to return a computer to them once... dead pixel. I continue to buy from them even if they are 10% more expensive because of their backing. If you guys really want, you could hop on the L70S deal I mentioned. But, you'd have that little sticker on the box, and a rebate to deal with...

 

[TekDemon]

heh I'm paying the $100 executive fee so I can get CC processing through NOVA...hopefully it'll be worth it cuz it's cheaper than Paypal. *sigh*

On the upshot you feel kinda neat going in with your exec card although I guess it's kinda stupid, but you can also go in during special hours, although so can Business members...but on the upside you don't have to actually own a business =)

 

[nickels84]

I work at Costco #129 in Santa Clara these monitors are pretty cool. This is a pretty good deal. I have a friend that works in sales i'll have him install one of these monitors along with SOF2 and play it to find out the frame rates are and see if its decent for gaming. Ill report back later.