Monitor Showdown: Samsung vs Dell

[imported_ultimus]

I'm looking forward to upgrade my 4 years 17" no-good lcd monitor to something else. I'm willing to burn some good money, 500-700 euro, for an equivalently good monitor. I've narrowed down to two monitors.

My first choice is Samsung SyncMaster T260HD

- 26"
- 10,000:1 contrast
- VGA, 2x HDMI, component, DVI-D
- 5 ms
- TV-tuner (not that important for me)
- $550

http://www.buy.com/prod/samsun...loc/111/208166510.html

then here comes the popular kid on the block, Dell UltraSharp 2709W and i don't think it needs introduction. but well,

- 27"
- 3,000:1 contrast
- DVI-D, HDMI, USB, S-Video, VGA
- 6 ms
- $640

http://www.amazon.com/UltraSha...&qid=1219431516&sr=8-1


the Samsung looks better on paper but UltraSharp is more well-known for its quality. SyncMaster is not shabby either. but I don't know if $100 extra worth the brand recognition. Although UltraSharp lacks one HDMI port, but it balances with other ports. FYI, I intend to play my 360 on this and I'm a PC gamer through and through. I don't watch TV much, so most of the time I'll be watching movies on my computer.

So help me to decide!

 

[SRoode]

I just got the T260HD this week and I absolutely love it! The picture is every bit as sharp as my old Dell FP2001, except MUCH bigger. I am on the road for work for a year, and needed a TV for my apartment. I didn't need another TV for my house, but was thinking of upgrading my monitor, so this monitor was a perfect fit. The TV picture is fantastic, and the tuner even picked up about a dozen HD channels in my area. The 1080P picture is stunning. I hooked my laptop up the the monitor to check it out as well, and even with a standard VGA cable the picture is great. The screen is so bog you can have a two page view of your documents in MS Word, and have both sheets open to the same size as a real 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper (with some room to spare!). It's a great monitor, especially for the price.

Someone else posted his review, and I pretty much agree with it:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=31&threadid=2170238

 

[darXoul]

The T260HD is a TN panel display so vertical viewing angle will be virtually zero. With such a large diagonal, it could be a problem. I know I'm still on a TN monitor and I'm more than willing to trade that last kick of speed and reactivity for color stability. Not even mentioning color fidelity and black levels, which are not really stellar on any TN out there.

The 2709W would be a great gaming monitor if it had no such horrible input lag. Its average lag is about 4 frames which makes the mouse pointer visibly sluggish even on Windows desktop. No way I could live with it as a gamer but YMMV.

I actually recommend the LG W2600HP. It's a 26" H-IPS panel which of course means good colors, decent contrast and perfect viewing angles. This particular model also has a very low input lag (under 1 frame) plus good pixel response time and no ghosting/smearing. Just make sure to get rev. 2 (805M serial no. or later) or if you get rev. 1, you can send it to LG for new firmware (around 60 EUR cost).

 

[SRoode]

Be careful with the LG W2600HP. There are 2 versions out there, the TFT and the IPS. I think the IPS is very hard to get in the USA 9and more expensive?), so make sure you get the right one if buying. As far as vertical angles go, it's not a concern for me since it will be used as a monitor at home. I hooked up my laptop here, and when sitting in front of it I had no problems. If I stood up, I did see a change. For TV viewing, this may be a problem, but in my apartment I get a nice picture across the horizontal viewing plane.

TV viewing was important to me, so the T260HD was almost a no brainer.

 

[Schadenfroh]

I actually recommend the LG W2600HP

Where can you buy this H-IPS panel? A search at NewEgg, Amazon, and Ebay turned up no results for W2600HP

 

[Buck Armstrong]

Does the one with the most input lag win?

 

[darXoul]

LG W2600H = TN
LG W2600HP = H-IPS

I'm Polish, and it's pretty easy to get any version here. I assume it's the same story in most of EU countries.

 

[dalearyous]

i bought a T260, my really good friend saw it and fell in love with it so he bought one as well. i am considering buying another one. i can buy T260 (non HD, 1:1 pixel mapping and tv tuner are not important to me) for $440 so for me it was a no brainer. the vertical viewing angles aren't great...but they aren't nearly as bad as some of the other ones we have seen. not a big issue with me. just move your chair up and down or get a stand.

 

[imported_ultimus]

wow. cool! thanks guys. I dont know T260 is highly recommend, and over 2709W too. I'll also look at W2600HP

 

[darrenford]

dalearyous, where can you get the T260 for $440? Cheapest I have found is $499 with rebate.