LCD Advice. Namely the Samsung 171P and LG 782LE

[canadianpsycho]

I'm definitely looking into getting a 17" LCD (with digital input) monitor pretty soon. I've been reading up and looking around, and it looks like the specs and reviews of the Samsung 171P are pretty stellar. I've called a reseller or two around me, and they are all saying the 171P is gorgeous.

One of the resellers I called says that the 782LE by LG is also very nice (but obviously not comparable to the 171P)

There's a huge price difference though... Like 400 bucks (Canadian) difference between the 2. $1350 vs $980. The guy I talked to said he personally wouldn't spend the dough on the 171P unless he was very picky. But I was planning on using it for a lot of gaming, and I think the 171P's specs would be pretty good at reducing ghosting better then the LG.

A friend said to hold off on buying one for a month, as the prices have dropped in Taiwan, and another LCD manufacturing company is supposed to be starting up soon. But the reseller I talked to stated the prices have dropped already a bit, but only on his larger monitors (some dropped 200-300 bucks on the 19" models) and the 15" LCDs may be affected... I don't think a 18 or 19 inch would be totally necessary for me though. Most likely overkill. And I don't want to get a 15" and be stuck at 1024x768. I'm not a resolution ho, but I like a little higher then that.

I'd really appreciate some input/opinions.

Thanks.

 

[MWink]

Of the LCD's I've seen (on laptops) I can say Samsung is by FAR the best IMO. My eyes usually have problems if I look at a LCD for a long time. With the Samsung 15" LCD on my Dell Inspiron 8200 I never have a problem no matter how long I look at it. If I were in your shoes I would spend the extra on the Samsung, no question.

 

[subhuman]

There is no comparison here. The Samsung you're looking at is awesome. If you don't really play many FPS type fast-action games, then you may want to save a little and get a Planar 17" - they are really good for 2D/office work from what I've seen of them (This is the one I'm going to get @ my office). For my home, I'm looking to get a Samsung 171P, 191T, or the dell versions of those (1900FP...).

 

[canadianpsycho]

Thanks so far guys... Really trying to hold off on the extra 400 bucks, but it just sounds so tempting.

I'd love to hear from some LG owners.

 

[joeryu]

samsung 171p, saw it in action, DAMN that was sexy

 

[tart666]

why don't you try the Planar 19" (19!) for US$750 or so? (shows up in deals forums for that price every now and then - from Dell)

Check it:
DVI/analog
500:1 contrast
-85:+85 view
250 cd/m2 brightness
25ms response time
built-in speakers

As far as I can tell, 25ms is the best you can get these days, and it's good enough even for quake. (Should support 40 fps, right?) Plus that's what the Samsung gets.

now, I know Samsung is a nice monitor, but, dude, are you really going to pay $400 for the HDTV tuner and a nice remote? (edit:Cancel that: are you going to pay $400 for Samsung name) I confused 171p with 171mp

But: for the same price you can get a 19! in

my 2 ¢

Toni

 

[canadianpsycho]

I'm in Canada, so the Planar deal would be utter hell to get my hands on. Also, I don't know much about planar, as it appears they aren't in Canada.

AFAIK the 171P doesn't have the TV tuner, that is the MP series.

750 US is pretty nice though, works out to about 1200-1300 Cdn.

but this 17 is big enough... I can't imagine a 19" LCD, must be huuuuuuge.

 

[tart666]

if you don't care about 19 vs 17 then Samsung is the best choice i can think of. They consistenly have approx 50% of market share for LCD's (lots of brands use their LCD) The other 50% of the market is the "budget" LCD's with high defect rate and poor image quality. So having the OEM power affords Samsung the power to hand-pick the quality displays. Plus they have been the leader in research, announcing the biggest displays at the trade shows for the last few years ( I heard they are up to 40" LCD or so)

in any event, samsung is typically worth the money, if, I repeat, you think 19 is too big

some more ¢

Toni

edit PS: sweet oc, btw

 

[MWink]

So having the OEM power affords Samsung the power to hand-pick the quality displays.

Just thought I'd mention that my Samsung LCD is PERFECT! No dead/stuck pixels!

 

[Aquaman]

Samsuung baby

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[canadianpsycho]

Gah, Maximum PC did an excellent job of trashing the 171P.

Going to have to get a closer look at it. Hard to take their word for it considering they were recommending $1300-2000 US LCDs.

They did a decent job of trashing a 17.4" Planar too, but I've read a few posts where folks just love 'em.

So subjective

 

[tart666]

btw, if you dig into it, I bet the LCD itself on Planar's monitors come from Samsung. So the only difference is electronics, packaging, and speakers.

good luck picking a monitor

T

 

[Fun Guy]

I've got two 181Ts and they rock. Considering the 240T for widescreen video editing.

Samsung rocks, all others are second place.

 

[zCypher]

Thanks for making this thread, canadianpsycho. I've been thinking about LCDs a lot lately myself. I have a 15" Optiquest CRT monitor right now - the quality, specs and performance are all great (1280x1024 as good as most 17" monitors), but the two things that bother me are the HEAT it creates (MUCH more than any monitor I've ever seen) and also the space it takes. With an LCD, my room would be a lot cooler, but it would also take far less room on my desk, thus leaving room for whatever else I need - which could be important considering college starting again in a week.

I have heard many good things about Samsung monitors in general. I built my bro a system and I got him a 17" Samsung for it. Doesn't go past 1280x1024, but the quality is astounding even compared to my Optiquest, which already, I find is much better than most monitors I see. I don't know about their LCDs, but I'm willing to bet (and judging by responses here) that they are no exception to their CRTs.

I would love a 18 or 19 inch LCD. My only fear is of dead pixels and quality. If I can avoid dead pixels, and have quality equal to or greater than my 15" Optiquest CRT, I would be willing to fork out a good penny for it.

 

[Fun Guy]

One of my 181Ts has a dead pixel in the upper right-hand corner, but I only notice once or twice a month. Doesn't bother me.

The other one is flawless.

 

[subhuman]

Planar panels are definitely NOT made by samsung!!

I would have to agree here...

1) If you're gaming (particularly fast paced or FPS) and ghosting is main issue with you, then definitely go straight for a Samsung or a Samsung panel (Dell 1702FP, 1900FP).

2) If you do mostly 2D work, office stuff, occasional DVD, etc, then I think you'd do fine with a Planar. These use an MVA style panel so they ghost a bit more (even with the "same" 25ms quoted response time), but this probably isnt a big deal if you're not into fast gaming, etc. In this case, you could get the 19" Planar for the same price as the Samsung. Both will be the same resolution - 1280x1024, but the Planar will be larger...

BTW, now you've got some nice panels to choose from.

I'm looking at a Dell-rebadged-Samsung or Samsung for my home machine, and a Planar/Sceptre for my work monitor. (Planar and Sceptre have a few panels that are identical .. except warranty 3yr vs 1yr).

 

[canadianpsycho]

Cool, thanks for the info. I've read MVA panels are quite nasty for gaming.

I'm glad this thread has garnered some good responses, really helping me fork my money over

 

[tart666]

hey, the planar is on sale for US$703 delivered. 3yr warranty, 2nd day replacement. hotdamn!
btw, did you settle on a monitor, psycho??

T

 

[subhuman]

My friend recently ordered the Planar 19" LCD when it was on sale, it should arrive this week. I'll try to give a brief review of it in a week or two.

 

[blues008]

bump.

 

[canadianpsycho]

Well the 171P has dropped 60 bucks CDN since I've been mulling this over, but that Planar keeps getting cheaper. I wonder if there's any way in hell I can get that Planar delivered to me

EDIT: THe Samsung 760V that I've been fooling around with has to go back this week, and I don't think I can go back to a CRT... I get paid this week, probably going to bite the bullet and go 171P. I'm not convinced the Planar will be great for gaming.

 

[zCypher]

Good luck. I want to know how it turns out.

 

[subhuman]

The black 19" Planar arrived...

I'm impressed. The screen isn't quite as evenly back lit as say, the Samsung 151S, but it is a much bigger too. The viewing angle is pretty darn nice, colors are okay (blacks are VERY black; other colors are slightly unnatural, even moreso than the Samsung). Overall, I didn't really notice any ghosting in the Jet Li fight scenes off DVD, nothing that would bother or annoy me. If you look really closely, it's there, but it's very very faint. For 2D work (ie: you sit and code all day or work on HTML), and the occasional DVD/Divx's etc, you should be very happy with this Planar. If you're doing anything where precise colors are important, or if you're really picky about ghosting and play a lot of games, this may not be the LCD for you.

Anyone know if the 19" Planar is pretty much the same as the 17" planar only bigger?

I'm now curious what the 1900FP/191T panel looks like; does it have a more even backlight? Are the colors better? Is it worth $200-250 more for the Samsung panel over this nice MVA? I'm not sure yet.... if you've got some experience let us know!

 

[canadianpsycho]

Welp I screwed around too much.

The price on the 171p actually dropped below 1300 cdn. BUT, the damn thing just went on backorder. At both places I wanted to buy it from. Apparently Canada is backordered for the 171p

One of the 2 places has said that they will call me if anyone changes their mind on the new shipment they get in tomorrow.

Here's hoping.

 

[Handle]

I am actually looking at LCD monitors such as the ones that you have described here, but I can't find anywhere in Canada that sells them at reasonable prices. What stores were you considering?