My Samsung 204T & 204B mini review

[n7]

Today i picked up a second 20" Samsung LCD, mainly because it was simply too good of a deal to pass up.

I previously just had the Samsung 204T.

Now i have that & a new Samsung 204B (only cost me $330 CND + GST).

I haven't tweaked with settings much yet, & since i'm using DVI for both, there's not too much i can do, but thus far, here are my impressions.

The 204T is very good either in landscape or protrait mode, & tends to be superb for dark colors quality, especially blacks.
It's slightly grayish overall compared to the 204B, but that's likely due to the 204T's color accuracy, whereas the 204B tends to exaggerate color a bit.

The 204B is okay for landscape mode, but absolutely horrible in portrait mode. The viewing angles are an utter joke in portrait mode honestly.
Landscape is alright, but picture is better if display is tilted slightly down.

Color is excellent, & as i mentioned, i think just a tad too vibrant, though that looks far better in games.
Blacks are nowhere close to as good as the 204T, but color looks much better overall frankly, overly vibrant or not.

I tested some 720p movies, & honestly, side by side, both displays looked similarly stellar.
With pictures, it varied as to which LCD looked better.
Usually darker images looked better on the 204T; colorful images better on the 204B.

Games were no question better on the 204B, though again, very dark games might be a tad easier to play with the 204T.

Overall, i am quite happy with both.

Oddly, both LCDs contrast each other in strengths.

I'd say for games, the 204B is certainly the way to go.

But for graphics work or portrait mode use, the 204T is better.

Really, i like both. Only really big concern is how horrible viewing angles are on the 204B in portrait mode.
I had seen it at work before, & knew it wasn't good, but when i got it home here, i was just appalled how bad it was compared to the 204T.

My current monitor setup

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/715/picture0249kq.jpg
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/4403/picture0264ui.jpg

 

[pkme2]

Verrry interesting.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Viewing angles on the 204B are a joke in EVERY aspect, I hated mine so bad that when I saw the 215tw come out I jumped on it, and its much better then the 204b.

 

[Check]

Right now I am in the process of researching new LCDs and would you care to elaborate on what makes the 204b better for gaming other than the 5ms refresh rate? Is the ghosting really bad on the 204t?

Currently I have a Dell 1704fpt and I am completely in love with it. However it only has 1280x1024 as the max resolution. I was planning on going for another Dell until I found out that their 20 inch LCDs aren't as great as the 17 inch I currently own is.

For someone who uses the computer mostly for gaming and watching movies what would you recommend?

 

[Nextman916]

I have your same speakers n7, but the 2.1 version. They still are pretty kicking, just thought i would share. Oh yah nice set up:thumbsup: BIG mousepad

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: check
Right now I am in the process of researching new LCDs and would you care to elaborate on what makes the 204b better for gaming other than the 5ms refresh rate? Is the ghosting really bad on the 204t?

Currently I have a Dell 1704fpt and I am completely in love with it. However it only has 1280x1024 as the max resolution. I was planning on going for another Dell until I found out that their 20 inch LCDs aren't as great as the 17 inch I currently own is.

For someone who uses the computer mostly for gaming and watching movies what would you recommend?

I cannot see ghosting on either display.

The reason i say gaming is better on the 204B is the color.

Colors are much more vibrant on it than than 204T.

It's actually really hard for me to recommend between the two for what you are doing, but IMHO, the 204T is overall a better monitor.

I find the viewing angles on the 204B just horrible.

Even just slouching in my chair causes the screen to look off.

So while the 204T isn't as vibrant, it has far superior viewing angles & games still seem great to me.

 

[Check]

Thanks for the follow up.

After talking to my friend today I am leaning towards just getting another 1704fpt since I like this one so much. That way I will have the space that I desire with out having to shell out $450 to get a 1600x1200 monitor. Unfortunantly there aren't any computer places around here that stock 20 inch lcds so I can't take a look at one before making my decision

 

[Nextman916]

Where do you live? Best Buys, Circuit City's and Comp USA are filled with them, also any neighborhood costco, or sams club.

 

[QuantumPion]

I recently got the 204B as well, and am satisfied with it. It is true that the vertical viewing angle is poor, and it basically futile to use in portrait mode, but I don't plan on ever using portrait so I don't care. The vertical viewing angle isn't so bad that as to be a problem in landscape mode. You might notice a little brightness shifting if you move your head around but once you find a good sweet spot you will be set.

The monitor is very adjustable, you can set it very high or very low and it has a wide tilt range, which makes overcoming the poor viewing angle easy. The horizontal viewing angle is fine regardless.

The monitor is bright, but not so annoyingly bright that you have to turn the brightness setting down, which would cause a loss of color quality. The colors do look very bright and vibrant. They sometimes look a little bit washed out, but I think it just needs some tweaking to fix. I did not notice any color banding at all, even though it is only a 6-bit panel.

There is almost no back light leaking, it is limited to the center bottom and top edges, and is barely visible even on a black screen.

The refresh rate is fast enough for games for me, but just barely. I do notice ghosting if I look for it, although I don't notice it most of the time. I am picky about ghosting though, YMMV.

I bought mine locally at circuit city for $420 with $60 in mail-in rebates, no dead pixels.

I was considering getting a newer AS-IPS panel like the new LG or Dell LCD's, however, after seeing that I can still see a bit of ghosting on this fast TN panel, I figured it would be too blurry to get anything slower. The colors look just fine, and the viewing angle is not problematic, so I decided to keep it.

 

[Check]

I live in Maine >_<

But I've been to the Best Buy near here and they didn't have anything that large on display. I haven't been to the new circuit city, but I asked a friend and he said he didn't see any. As for Cosco and Comp USA, forget about it.

 

[hans007]

maybe i have really discriminating tastes when it coems to monitors...

but i had a 204b for 1 day. i thought that monitor was well horrible. it was inexpensive, i think thats all it had going for it. the colors were not vibrant, the blacks were well very black, the viewing angles were so awful that the top half would look like it didnt quite match the bottom. the backlight also was not very uniform.

the build quality was also not that great, as the plastic frame seemed to be quite as "stuck together" on one corner.

so yeah... its uh cheap. thats about it.

my normal monitor is a fancy nec with opticlear super contrast coating , but well i wanted a larger monitor. i guess ill be saving my pennies. that said the samsung DID though not have any dead pixels and came with a dvi cable. and the pivot feature was cool.

 

[lazerlover]

i just got a 204T. have had it a few days, and am happy with it. i think it's an improvement over the dell 1905fp that i had before.
screen is big and sharp. i did notice the blacks, but the colors are just fine from my perspective.

the viewing angle on the 204b just could not convince me to get it.
it was cheaper and i was lokking at it. and the 204T was hard to find in silver, but for a little extra time and cash i think i got the better monitor.

the 16x5 ms response time may be a big difference, but for me it will work ok.
the dell was a 20ms and i had no problems with games.
i am not a hardcore gamer but i do play, and the 16ms is about the same or slightly better than the dell. so no worries there.

don't notice any dead pixels.

i like all the adjustability that you can get from the OSD and the magic tune.
you could not do anything with the dell.

the silver looks slick & neat and i like it alot better than the black one.
looks like solid well built construction.

downloaded driver and magic tune program from samsung, and all works well.
left disc alone.

 

[Spamdini]

Originally posted by: n7
Now i have that & a new Samsung 204B (only cost me $330 CND + GST).

i live in canada and i would LOVE to know where you got this monitor for 330 CDN.

 

[Spamdini]

bump.

 

[Spamdini]

bump

 

[txcruiser]

Yesterday I bought a brand new 204T for $279 US Dollars. Plus tax it was $303.

That's right ... $279....

I went back and bought another... 1 work and 1 home.

Check out SAMS!