Picked up the Samsung 245BW at Sam?s about a month ago since there?s a $50 rebate also available (there are two forms floating around, one that excludes Sam?s and Costco, and one that doesn?t). They had two different versions, a white-box one made in Mexico but with very recent manufacturing date and a brown box one made in China, but several months old. Didn?t notice the difference in the place of manufacture at first and naturally chose one of the more recently manufactured ones. Almost immediately noticed a problem in games where a series of white horizontal lines would shoot across the screen periodically in games. Oddly enough, it was reproducible in the exact same spots in each game. Took that one back and got one of the older China-made ones. No problems with it beyond the ones you should be aware of involving TN panels. At that size, the viewing angle color variations come into play. That?s the only problem I had with it. Got it calibrated to a point that I was satisfied enough with the color, and there is no ghosting, etc. that catches my attention, but I?m primarily interested in gaming. Since you?re interested in color accuracy, you probably don?t want to consider the Samsung.
Best Buy happened to put the Westy on sale for $349 a couple of weeks after I got the Samsung, so I felt obliged to pick up one of those to compare since it?s not a TN panel. Tremendous color advantages (naturally) over the Samsung. Still, the Westy has its own problems. I see noticeable ghosting compared to the Samsung. Also, it has the much-reported screen door problem in the upper right quadrant and the whine when the brightness is set below 98 or so. The whine I honestly don?t notice unless the computer is off since I have a lot of fans in my rig. The screen door issue is a bit more irritating because it?s quite obvious sometimes, such as when I?m playing WoW and look up at the minimap in the corner. The other negatives against the Westy are that, if you?re using the HDMI input, it doesn?t go into power save mode when the computer is off, and it also looks a bit cheap. The stand has no height adjustment, and it?s made of plastic and wobbles at the slightest touch.
Net result is that both monitors have drawbacks. Since you mention spending $400 on a monitor, you might want to check Best Buy or Circuit City for the LG L246WP on clearance for around $450. It?s non-TN, so the colors are good, but there?s still ghosting in games. However, it doesn?t have the other issues the Westy does, and it comes with height adjustment and portrait rotation.