The shittiest, cheapest walmart monitor you can get 
Quote (jayandnix @ Jan 6 2013 01:44am)
ips monitors are brilliant but cost a fortune
definately (stop being cheap

) pay the extra and get the spyder 4 pro
it tracks ambient lighting and adjusts accodingly, also u can have multipe monitor configured, not much help now but maybe in the future
I looked them up, the lowest I saw was like 299. Its just hard for me to justify getting anything expensive right now, since Im blowing 2k of our tax return on glass as it is.
Yeah when I was reading the specs I didnt care about the single monitor thing, so I figured the basic would be all I needed. I guess its worth the extra $60 though?
Quote (lithfkn @ Jan 6 2013 04:23am)
This. The express lacks in so many important features. I have a pro, its great.
Tax time is coming yeah? Get yourself a Dell u2410 or u2710. I have 2 24's in my office and calibration is spot on with the pro. I can't tell the difference between them and the 2k eizos I used to use. You won't know yourself with a decent screen. Use your old screen as a second monitor for desktop/tools.
See above
Those are crazy expensive o_o I might be able to get one if Trev gets one too. Thanks for the recommendations!
Quote (DisconnectYourBrain @ Jan 6 2013 07:25am)
First of all you should go to that lab and ask them to show u how pics look on their pc, doing that kind of work myself im pretty sure they wont mind, there u can see the difference between ur screen and theirs.
Second it all depends what you say to them before you let to do your prints. If you know colors and size all fixed then u just say no changes. If not let them add brightness or whatever u find it needs, they can change that alot.
Third. try diff labs if possible, paper color calculations can be bad in labs sometimes if shitass workers, so pro lab can not be pro lab at all tbh.
Also if you cant calibrate monitor atm, then just remember the difference between ur screen and lab one, thats what i do cuz i own crappy monitor and im too lazy to calibrate it lol.
hopefully that helps you,
also id suggest you to make proper crops, always ofc 300 dpi and right cm for paper or whatever your country standarts are.
Example here 10x15 is actually 10.2x15.2 or 15x21 is actually 15.2x21.6 and so on. So they wont have to crop out anything.
I guess I could drive into Texas and see, might be a little difficult though
Im probably quite a few hours away from them. They are a pretty trustworthy lab though, a ton of pros use them. I have been trying to remember the difference when I edit though, after getting those test prints. Ive been adding brightness even if they look properly exposed on my screen.
Yep, I do that ^^ Plus they use ROES so its easy to do crops and such if not.
Thank you guys for all the advice. I love asking for help here.
E: And lith, what about the U2412? Pretty big price difference but it still looks really nice.