It's not exactly all that uncommon for Dell to misprice an item on its website and, if you're lucky, it might even honor it. But it looks like the stakes have just been raised considerably in Taiwan, where the company recently listed a 19-inch monitor for NT$500 (or about $15US) and promptly received more than 26,000 orders for close to 140,000 of the monitors. Now, ordinarily, Dell would simply send out a polite email explaining their mistake and call it a day, but Taiwanese regulators have now stepped in and ordered suggested that Dell honors the misprice after receiving a couple of hundred complaints. For its part, Dell simply says that it plans to "compensate the buyers for the mistake," although it's not clear if that means it'll actually be sending out the monitors -- which, incidentally, would add up to more than $20 million at their full list price.

Update: Engadget Chinese tells us that the Taiwanese government has suggested to Dell that it compensates consumers fairly and will assist in legal action against Dell if they don't. Also, the $15 price applies only to the first monitor purchased with discounts applied to subsequent units for those who made multiple-monitor purchases.

Update 2: Dell has agreed to issue a NT$1000 (about $30) coupon for every monitor purchased including those made through multiple purchase orders. That sound more than reasonable to us.

[Via The Raw Feed]

Seems that HP got all the laptop love out of its system yesterday, as today were having a foursome of new desktops shoved down our throats. First up is the Pavilion Slimline s5000, which gets going at $289 and includes an AMD LE1600 CPU, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 320GB hard drive, 6-in-1 media card reader and a case that should be small enough for most dorm room corners. Next, there's the all-too-similar $269 Pavilion p6000, while the $599+ Pavilion Elite e9000 offers up a larger case along with an AMD Phenom II X2 545 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 500GB HDD, 512MB NVIDIA GeForce G210 CPU and a 15-in-1 card reader. Finally, the $379 Compaq Presario CQ5000 ships with a 2.5GHz Athlon X2 7550 CPU, 3GB of DDR2 RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE GPU and a 320GB 7200RPM HDD. Tap the read link for all the nitty-gritty details, but only if you're really, really prepared for what's to come.

Nobody was happy to see digital video standards splinter along the lines of DisplayPort and HDMI back in 2007. Two years on and Dell and Apple seem to be the primary forces behind the standard as the rest of the consumer electronics industry opts for straight-up HDMI. Kind of makes you wonder if DisplayPort is the new Firewire particularly with HDMI 1.4 and minascule Type D HDMI plugs around the corner. At least Eizo's tossing DisplayPort another bone today with the introduction of its 23-inch FlexScan EV2333W-H in Japan. The 1920x1080 pixel display with 3000:1 contrast, 300nits of brightness, and 7-ms response also packs a DVI-D jack to help ease the transition. It'll cost ¥54,800 (about $560) when it lands in Japan mid-July. Not exactly a game-changer.

How do you make an otherwise plain, unassuming monitor one that's worth paying attention to? You make it run off of sheer joy, that's what. Sadly, we've yet to see an LCD that gets all the juice it needs from the smiles on our faces, but NEC's 22-inch MultiSync E222W is unquestionably a step in the right direction. Said panel is said to utilize 50 percent less power and contain half the amount of mercury compared to traditional LCD monitors, and as for specs, you'll find a 1,680 x 1,050 resolution, 250 nits of brightness, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, a five millisecond response time, DVI / VGA sockets and a 4-way adjustable stand. Check it this July for $269.

[Via iTech News]

Don't get all worked up here, you won't find anything too far out of the ordinary. That said, there's nothing at all wrong with new LCD options in the 20-, 22- and 24-inch segments, and that's exactly what ViewSonic's delivering. The VG2027wm, VG2227wm and VG2427wm are all equipped with 1,920 x 1,080 Full HD panels, a 20,000:1 contrast ratio, 300 nits of brightness, an integrated two-port USB 2.0 hub, DVI / VGA ports and built-in stereo speakers. The new trio can be had right now for $319, $399 and $499 from smallest to largest. Sexy side shot is after the break.

Samsung's been dousing just about anything it can get its paws on with that 'Touch of Color' design scheme, and even the outfit's latest digiframe wasn't able to dodge the madness. The 8-inch SPF-87H, which was originally introduced to the world back in April, is now shipping to those scouting a multifaceted digital photo frame. Unlike traditional alternatives, this 0.91-inch thick frame can double as a secondary display (via USB), and the respectable 800 x 480 resolution panel ensures that you can fit more than just a weather widget on there. Other specs include 1GB of built-in storage, an SD expansion slot, 500:1 contrast ratio and a $129 price tag.

[Via HotHardware]

Compared to technologies such as Wireless USB, DisplayLink has actually done fairly well for itself. Nah, it's no worldwide phenomenon, but it definitely has enough traction to really shine once USB 3.0's bandwidth arrives. That said, the tech is making the most of its current situation with the introduction of the DL-1x5 Series processors, two of which actually support Full HD. The DL-125, DL-165 and DL-195 will all slide into USB-enabled LCD monitors here shortly, with the middle guy supporting resolutions as high as 1,920 x 1,080 and the DL-195 cranking things to 2,048 x 1,152 before crying "Uncle!" In theory, at least, this enables laptop users to connect high-res screens when their desktop replacement needs a helping hand, and it can be enjoyed now by consumers in Asia, the Middle East, Russia and Europe who can snag themselves a new SyncMaster LapFit LD190G or LD220G monitor.

[Via EverythingUSB, thanks Ian]

And once again, Dell's website earns its informal title as the number one source for all Dell leaks. Though still not official for the US, the company's 20-inch ST2010 HD monitor has reared its widescreen head in the customization options for the Studio XPS desktop. Comparing its additive fees with the others on the list, we'd wager the retail price will end up somewhere in the $130 to $150 range. No indication on when we can pick up the monitor sans gaming rig, but it can't be too far off now.

[Thanks, John]

Not that we haven't seen LCD monitors get less demanding when it comes to energy, but we've yet to see a company take eco-friendliness this far. Professional LCD maker Eizo has just announced a new pair of panels (the 20-inch FlexScan EV2023W-H and the 23-inch EV2303W-T) that boast a "human presence sensor." As the phrase implies, these displays are designed to shift to power saving mode when it realizes that its master has vacated the area, and when they return, it automatically flips back on in order to keep from being bashed by one of many USB-connected peripherals. Unfortunately, it seems the human detection timer can't be changed from 40 seconds, and no, there are no current plans to implement a robot presence sensor once the Apocalypse is realized.

[Via FarEastGizmos]