19" samsung (with dyna flat screen) - $257 FINAL PRICE!

[duragezic]

hkchan: Yup, right on. The 900NF tube is made by Mitsubishi. I posted a thread in the general forum for 900IFT vs. 900NF but haven't gotten any replies yet. I ordered the 900IFT from Onvia but it has been on backorder for a while. So I might cancel and order the 900NF (it's out-of-stock too, just I think it is a better monitor). As far as coupons, I can't find any $25 off but I am signed up with Pointclick and I want to order before July 31st if I do reorder so I can get $30 off Samsung rebate.

 

[MisterPotatoHead]

So does that mean the NF is better because of the tube? I heard someone complain that the NF's screen is slightly inset and doesn't take up all of the screen, so there's a black border. The IFT looks like it retails for a lot more than the DF or the NF.

How to choose... Anyone have one of these that can vouch?

 

[hkchan]

MisterPotatoHead, where did you get the idea that the 900IFT retails for a lot more than the 900NF. When the 900NF was introduced several months ago, it was more (say $50 to $75) than the 900IFT. Now it's a tossup. For example, 900NF is $421.95 at Buy.com, $449.95 at Computers4Sure, $439.98 at Onvia and $419.95 at HardwareBuyline. The 900IFT is $431.95, $449.95, $410.54 and $398.95 respectively.

I have never seen the 900NF, but I have the 900IFT. The tube is not flat but close. They simply bond an extra layer of (flat) glass to the screen to give the illusion. If you look at the corners at an angle, you can see the curvature and the so-called black borders.

 

[duragezic]

He said that because for the 900IFT at Onvia, it says it retails for like $829 or some ungodly high number like that. Haha I don't think I would worry.

On a side note, I had ordered the 900IFT but cancelled that (was backordered) and I am going to order the 900NF (similar price tho also backordered) just because I THINK it will be a slighly better monitor. I still need a $25 coupon though... Someone else told me that comparing the 900IFT to 900NF is just personal preference because the .20 dot pitch of the 900IFT is better but many people just prefer the trinitron tube. I never seen a trinitron tube so I just went on what most people said that the 900NF has a slight edge IN THEIR OPINIONS.

 

[hkchan]

After normal business hours, you can go to http://www.cmpexpress.com and put in the two model number (one at a time of course) and get inventory data that are no more than several hours late. Good thing about this is that they'll show how much they're backordered because the numbers go negative too.
Again, it's misleading to comparing the 900IFT's 0.20mm horizontal dot pitch to the 900NF's 0.25mm dot pitch.

 

[Prancer]

So which is better? IFT or NF? Should I just go with DF? I don't really use high resolution.

 

[MisterPotatoHead]

I'm leaning towards the 900DF. It has gotten good reviews and is much cheaper. The IFT has a good picture but I heard there are black areas around the edges because of the screen being set back. The

Here are some comments from Onvia customers:

900NF
-----
I just bought it. There is a problem with color uniformity: the right side of the screen is noticeably darker then the left side. The text is very clear and sharp. I hope the replacement unit will be better. This model has both VGA and RGB inputs: it is possible to connect two computers without an external switch box.

A customer from Oklahoma
Very Good BUT !
I recently received a 900NF from Onvia. This monitor had one of the most perfectly focused screens I have ever seen. Crystal clear text and graphics. However, unfortunately this screen suffers from the same horizontal pincushion problems that virtually ALL of these recent flat screen displays have. This effect causes a line of text or horizontal line in the upper half of the screen to bow downward as it approaches the center of the screen then back up as it nears the right side. Text or a horizontal line in the lower half the screen bows upward as it nears the center then back down as it nears the right side of the screen. This effect is at most 2 mm however it is VERY noticable at times. For me it is unacceptable so am returning it for a refund. Its back to paltry 14 inch screen again and my search will continue for a new 19 monitor with decent geometry control. tdk

A customer from Sacramento
It has it's problems
I noticed the same horizontal pincushion problem as others have mentioned. Unfortunately, there are On Screen adjustments for everything but this. The problem is that horizontal lines "bow" near the top of the screen about a third of the way across. I sent the first one back for replacement and the second one I received had the same problem. I then heard that this problem is common with all monitors. Some people don't seem to care about this geometry issue, but for me it really bothered me once I discovered it. Other than that annoying problem, the monitor is excellent. The colors could be a bit more vivid though. blacks could be blacker, grey's could be greyer. Overall a nice monitor.


955DF
-----
A customer from Virginia
Not Great
I have a Samsung 900P, but wanted to go for a flat monitor. The 955DF @ $344 before rebates and coupons seemed like a the right monitor for me. I run mine @ 1280 x 1024 and the left and right 2" portions of the screen were quite grainy. Adjusting the focus control eliminated the grainyness, but brought a lot of fuzziness to the areas. The center of the screen remained in focus, though. I had it replaced and the same problem was present on the second one. Then, I went to look at one on display at my local retailer -- it, too, had the same issue. At 1024 x 768, this monitor is fine. If you run at higher resolutions, I'd say pass on it. This monitor could not compare to my 900P when it came to clear focus across the screen.
-The 900P has a curved screen and a higher dot pitch than the DF or the NF.

A customer from Cleveland, OH
Quality Product
I have owned the 955DF for a couple weeks now and I can say nothing but good things for it. The flat screen is crystal clear and I have not encountered any type of graininess when working, watching DVD's, or playing video games on my monitor. It is connected to a GeForce 32MB DDR video card, which provides great images at 1600x1200. The casse is a bit large due to the slide out controls on the front, but it gives it a veryt sleek look. I would reccommend this monitor to just about anyone.


Before coups, they are going for
900IFT - 410
900NF - 439
955DF - 344

I think it's a little cheaper because of 1)the lower refreshes and 2)no BNC connections. But running 1280x1024 at 80Hz is plenty high for me.. and I don't plan on using the BNCs.


edit: the dot pitch of the DF is .24mm diagonal

 

[hkchan]

MisterPotatoHead,
1. What 900DF? I think you meant the 955DF.
2. If that's the case, then the black areas around the edges would be present too since it uses the same tube as the 900IFT. Read my other posts.

 

[MisterPotatoHead]

Yeah 955DF, my bad.

They both use dynaflat but I don't think it's the same tube
Samsung says:
900IFT - CRT Type INVAR Shadow Mask
955DF - CRT Type Infinitely Flat INVAR Shadow Mask

They both say dynaflat for the tube style, though. Could be just marketing coming up with more descriptive words, you never know. Price wise, the DF is a hell of a deal, regardless

 

[hkchan]

Here we go again.
http://www.samsungmonitor.com/html/900ift.html
It says "Infinitely Flat Tube" then later "DynaFlat?".
http://www.samsungmonitor.com/html/955df.html
It says "DynaFlat - Infinitely Flat Tube" then later "DynaFlat?".

 

[TexasAggie]

Eagle___2
Check with Onvia CSR because I ordered a 900NF today and he said they had a few in stock in Cali. There are, however, no 955DF's. I ordered a 955DF on 7/3 and received it on 7/5. At 800X600 the screen would wobble slightly. At 1024X768 it was fine. At 1152X864 it would wobble even more than 800X600 and at 1280X1024 the refresh rates made it unbearable. This may all be attributable to my awesome video card. It is a Powergraph 64 3D with 2mb of memory (circa 1996). Those problems may have gone away with a better card (and other new components) but the monitor also had the grainy sides and the darkness on the sides that others have mentioned. It still was a good deal for $257 but I decided to upgrade.

For those of you worried about my well being related to my ancient computer, I am in the process of building my first computer. Here is what I am looking at:
Tbird 800 (currently have PI 166)
Asus mobo
Samsung 900NF (currently Princeton 15&quot
Geforce2 (Currently STB 2mb)
Soundblaster Live value (currently Soundscape Vivo 90 circa 1996)
Antec sx830
Plextor 8/4/32
Pioneer DVD
Logitech Mouseman wheel
MS Natural Elite
128 Mb Mushkin
Blah blah blah.

Whoop

 

[unclebud]

gotta princeton 15" on my oldie also...don't you just love the refresh rates? anytime my games switch to video, the screen goes crazy until i turn it off and back on

 

[MisterPotatoHead]

hkchan

Who cares? You can't get a better 19" for 257 bucks.

 

[hkchan]

I thought you did. You said you didn't think they used the same tube. Aren't forums for the exchange of information?


<< You can't get a better 19&quot; for 257 bucks. >>


For slightly more money, I'll go with the Samsung 950P ($329.98 at Onvia but no Samsung rebate). It has a non-flat tube but is a well-proven monitor (along with its predecessor the 900P). Of all the 19&quot; monitors (maybe more than 100) that I've researched, the 955DF is just about the only one that does not do at least 75Hz at 1,600 X 1,200. An earlier model NEC was the only other one at something like 73 or 74 Hz.

 

[Xmenxmen]

If you really want to run 1600x1200, why not just grab a 21&quot; since you say it's a matter of price.

 

[hkchan]

1. Who said it was a matter of price?
2. I have no experience with the 955DF.
3. In my opinion, low price does not necessarily mean low quality.
4. I don't have to run at 1,600 X 1,200 to worry about the low refresh rates. It's like tires. You have the run-of-the-mill SR-rated (speed rating) tires, then TR (rare), HR and VR etc. I forgot but the VR is like for speeds to 130MPH+. Should we care if we never drive over 60? Yes, the VR-rated tires will, in the majority of cases, allow the car to handle better at even the lower speeds.

Again, I've never used the 955DF so I can't say with authority whether the low refresh rates do matter. But without the opportunity to use one before purchashing, I'd go with a safer bet the 950P, albeit with a less-exotic tube.

 

[MisterPotatoHead]

All I'm saying is that it's possible there is a different kind of dyna flat tube. It's a newer monitor. They both are DynaFlatTM tube monitors, but the CRT Type in the specs is not the same. You know, like Intel Pentium III (different kinds) They both use the DynaFlat patented technology, but the tubes could be slightly different. Maybe they just worded it differently, maybe not. I don't know for sure, do you?

 

[hkchan]

Tell me this. If the 900IFT and 955Df use different tubes, what are the odds of the 955DF using a better one? You said that you'd heard that the 900IFT had black areas around the edges because of the screen being set back. My reply was simply that that should not be a consideration since I thought they used the same tube.

 

[T2T III]

<< Again, I've never used the 955DF so I can't say with authority whether the low refresh rates do matter. But without the opportunity to use one before purchashing, I'd go with a safer bet the 950P, albeit with a less-exotic tube. >>


And that's been my position all along. I've posted my comments in other threads on this forum. The 2 955DF monitors that I had could not compare (in regards to overall focus, etc.) to my 900P monitor. While I missed the flat screens of the 955DF monitors, I was impressed by the image quality of my 900P when I put it back on my desktop. The adjustment period of getting used to the 900P (since it wasn't flat like the 955DF) did take a few days.

 

[hkchan]

After using the 900IFT for five months, my opinion is that it's a nice monitor but I could care less about its screen being flat. In this case the screen is flat but the tube is not.

 

[hkchan]

Hey Wje,

Since you had the 955DF, can you tell us if they had a black border around the screen. IOW, the tube is not flat, Samsung bonds an extra layer of glass to the front. So at the corners you see the separations between the tube and the glass. That's the case with my 900IFT.

 

[MisterPotatoHead]

Yes please let us know

 

[T2T III]

The black border around the screen of the 955DF wasn't any more significant than my 900P. If I remember right, the screen width and height adjustments allowed you to expand the screen in such a manner that a border was not present -- when viewed from straight on. However, viewing from an angle, a border could be seen. This is the same scenario with my 900P. There is a small black area that can be seen when you approach your monitor from an angle. The border on the 900P and 955DF is not like a picture frame where the border would be continuous around the screen.

For $250 (or whatever this monitor -- the 955DF) is selling at, is a very good price. Even though it wasn't the right monitor for me, it doesn't mean that it's not right for someone else. Although there were a few shortcomings in the 955DF from what I could tell, they certainly were no greater than those shortcomings encountered in previous monitor purchases that I've made -- and some of those monitors were twice the price of the 955DF.

 

[SupAcHinK]

Can someone tell me if they are actually out of stock or not before i decide to make my purchase.. thanks

 

[rochlin]

HOT DEAL PART OF POST:
You can get another $10 off at Onvia (on top of the $25) by signing up for their pricequote service. The website tag said &quot;$10 off next purchase&quot; but if you call sales instead of buying over the net, you can get it on the current purchase.
1-800-331-2822. I talked to a sales drone named &quot;Jay&quot; ext 54874 who was very helpful and handled a lot of garbage for me (cancelling old orders etc.) so he deserves some commission $. He should also be pretty familiar with the situation on these monitors by now.

Product info part of post:
I just ordered a 900NF from Onvia yesterday.
FYI they are OUT OF STOCK.
They're out of stock on the 955DF and 900IFT too.
They are all listed with the same ETA for new deliveries, but I believe the 955DF are backordered even beyond what they expect to get in the next shipment.

I previously mentioned that there was a $50 rebate on the 900IFT and 900NF but only $30 on the 955DF. I was wrong. That's true in canada (search for rebate on samsungcanada.com) but not in the US.

I chose the 900NF because I'd read an article a while ago that compared the Mitsubishi flat tube to the Samsung 900IFT dynaflat and came out with a much better impression of the Mitsubishi (900NF has a mitsubishi tube based on their Trinitron license).
Also, comparisons generally show the .22 pitch (or lower) quoted by Samsung generally compares with .25 Trinitron type pitch). I spend enough time eyeball-glued-to-CRT that I was willing to spend a bit more for higher refresh/lower distortion vs the 955DF. The 900IFT is a closer call (still a dynaflat), but its a much older monitor (last year), and only $30 less than the 900NF.

Hope that's helpful