Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support |
Best computer monitor for under $350 USD. |
AFV064
Senior Captain, A220-3(CSeries)
Joined on April 20 2006
Online Century Club
International Tourist
Double Century Club
"BAFD, our experience saves lives" Howell, MI USA
255 legs, 1,315.4 hours
184 legs,
929.2 hours online 251 legs,
1,279.7 hours ACARS 3 legs,
9.1 hours event 304 legs, 1,416.0 hours total 0 legs dispatched, 1.1
hours
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Posted onPost created on
February 28 2009 09:28 ET by Steve Orloff
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Well, after years of great service from my Gateway FPD1830 (19''), the monitor is starting to go on the fritz. It loves to flicker when the pixels get cold and it is rough on the start. I've been reviewing a couple monitors from Samsung and I want to get your opinion.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001273 The Samsung 22'' T220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001275&Tpk=Samsung%20T240 The Samsung 24'' T240. Mind you, a store in my area has it for below $300 USD.
I am looking for a monitor for gaming and for everyday office work. I've heard good things about the T220 and gaming because it has a 2ms refresh rate. Any thoughts on whether these are a good choice? What do you recommend?
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AFV153
Senior Captain, A320
Joined on January 12 2009
Double Century Club
"Brace yourselves this might be bumpy" Sandwell GB
207 legs, 362.1 hours
207 legs,
362.1 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
February 28 2009 19:39 ET by Dave Gandolfo
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Steve,
I have a 226BW from Samsung, not sure if the models are the same over in the US, after all you guys call pavements sidewalks, bumpers fenders, taps fawcets and generally insists on trying to reinvent the english language by miss-spelling and mispronouncing everything
Anyway, the main things to look out for as you have mentioned are pixel refresh rate which for LCD's is generally rated as a gray to gray not black to black, but at 2ms it makes no odds, it will work faster thatn your inferior human retina.
Another thing to note though when switching from a CRT to LCD (which I assume you are doing) is that a CRT has an infinite number of colours in its palate where as an LCD will have a limited palate, 24million colours (notice the correct english spelling... :D) is a lot but still limited and you will notice the difference in dark areas where you will always notice banding on an LCD.
The specs look good for the 220 and the 240, what you have to bear in mind is the 240 will be more demanding on the GFX card having a higher resolution and running an LCD at anything other than it's native resolution will result in degredation of image quality, If you can afford it and your GFX card can handle 1920x1200 get the 240, otherwise the 220 is the better option.
There are actually only about 4 companies in the world that manufacture LCD panels for various companies and they are then rebranded and hooked upto various controllers before being stuck into a plastic case and retailes as brand X or brand Y. I have both a Samsung monitor and a Samsung LCD TV both of which were the best spec available from any manufacturer for the price, had I had the money I could have bought Sony which is generally thought to be better, I have yet to be convinced of that though. My samsung monitor was £8 more expensive than my friends ASUS 22" monitor with the same specs on paper and he constantly tells me he wishes he's bought the 226BW I got.
In my opinion Samsung are a good choice, but my 17" Hitachi LCD is also a good monitor albeit a 4:3 sceen and cost £360 when I bought it. LCD's will continue to get cheaper and better as it is the technology of the moment despite CRT producing a better quality image. Yes it is true, it's like betamax and VHS, the better technology doesnt always win.
At the end of the day it all comes down to how much you can afford not just for the sceen, but for the hardware to drive it at it's full potential.
My half drunken rant may not have helped...sorry
Dave
Dave GandolfoSenior Captain, A320
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AFV153
Senior Captain, A320
Joined on January 12 2009
Double Century Club
"Brace yourselves this might be bumpy" Sandwell GB
207 legs, 362.1 hours
207 legs,
362.1 hours ACARS
|
Posted onPost created on
February 28 2009 19:47 ET by Dave Gandolfo
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Oh, one more thing...
with ANY LCD, you will have to mess around with contrast/brightness/colour setting to get what you think is the best settings. Most LCDs, samsung included have some propiretory dynamic contrast settings which will attempt to make colours more vibrant and "alive". It doesnt always work and like most things it is down to personal preference and a lot of tweaking to get what you like best. As mentioned earlier, an LCD has a 24 million colour palate and so there compromises on colour reproduction in places as long as you are aware of this you wont be dissapointed by any LCD.
Dave
(my god I do go on dont I???)
Dave GandolfoSenior Captain, A320
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AFV064
Senior Captain, A220-3(CSeries)
Joined on April 20 2006
Online Century Club
International Tourist
Double Century Club
"BAFD, our experience saves lives" Howell, MI USA
255 legs, 1,315.4 hours
184 legs,
929.2 hours online 251 legs,
1,279.7 hours ACARS 3 legs,
9.1 hours event 304 legs, 1,416.0 hours total 0 legs dispatched, 1.1
hours
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Posted onPost created on
February 28 2009 21:09 ET by Steve Orloff
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You guys from the UK sure think you know everything when it comes to English don't you?
Thanks for the info, Dave! Currently, I am running on an ancient Ge Force 6150. However, I hoping to upgrade to the 8800GT(?) series soon - the 6150 is starting to push its limits. It sounds like the only noticeable difference is going to be in price (probably a slight performance deviation, but not enough to make me choose one over the other). I guess I'll have to do some comparison shopping at my local sears and best buy.
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DVA6983
Captain, B737-800
Joined on February 07 2009
Century Club
""Can't, never did anything.."" Phoenix, AZ USA
125 legs, 233.4 hours
4 legs,
7.2 hours online 125 legs,
233.4 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
March 02 2009 18:43 ET by Dale Westlund
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I"m running an "LG Flatron wide".. It's just a little 19" wide screen LCD and it's beautyfull..!! 250 bucks bestbuy.. May be cheaper now.. But I would get that 8800GTX to go with it if you can afford it..
Cheers..
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DVA3382
Senior Captain, B717-200
OLP, COMM
Joined on July 26 2006
Event Half Century Club
50 State Club
Globetrotter
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
Kangaroo Club
Three Million Mile Club
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Online Seven Century Club
Everett 1500 Club
White Knuckles Club
"Go For Launch" Houston, TX
3,298 legs, 8,687.8 hours
712 legs,
1,197.7 hours online 3,236 legs,
8,528.6 hours ACARS 61 legs,
145.0 hours event 0 legs dispatched, 6.1
hours
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Posted onPost created on
March 03 2009 01:03 ET by Ryan Daugherty
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I have nothing but good things to say about Samsung monitors. I'm on my 3rd one and I have loved them all.
Just my $.02
RD
Ryan DaughertySenior Captain, B717-200
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