I am looking for a monitor for gaming and design work (student level, color accuracy is desired but not critical).
Size: 19" 4:3 or, more likely 20" Widescreen 1600x1050, with the ~0.25 dot pitch. Not willing to go higher due to GPU (8800 GTS 320mb), and sitting distance.
Budget: $200-400 (I am on a budget, but can shift resources if the sacrifice is worth it)
The only store I can buy from is FRYS.com, because they are the only ones that have 100% 30 Day Return guarantee, so I can get a replacement, different model or refund in case I'm not satisfied (according to their sales over the phone, and what's listed in their return policy online).
All the local B&M chains require 15% restocking fee for any open box LCD, and some claim to be Final Sale only. I haven't tried smaller stores yet.
Most other online stores have shameless dead pixel return policy, 7 or more, and don't recognize other issues like image tearing.
I've talked xtknight and he suggested the HP w2007.
I went to see it at J&R (NYC) - took some time to calibrate since someone messed up its settings, but once I reset and tweaked it the image quality was great. The glossy screen was a problem for me, however, as darker images (common in games) resulted in too much of a reflection. I am used to some reflection from CRT, but this was higher.
The exterior design was also an annoyance - its one high-gloss box inside another, with ~1/4" space in between, perfect for collecting dust and being hard to clean.
The Samsung 206BW they had a much better exterior design, but apparently a bad roll in the panel lottery - tearing and color bleeding / jitter / flickering was highly visible on both static and moving images. The colors were acceptable for me on both, as I could calibrate it much like the HP.
Back home I went through the review links and the best so far was XBITLABS.com - xtknight please check out his format, especially things like RTC / Non-RTC specification and RTC-Error percentages.
Conclusion: I'm basically screwed.
Fry's has:
- LG 1960TR, but then I'll have to give up on design (its triangulblargh stand looks disgusting), and my minor preference for 20" W over its 19" 4:3.
- Samsung 206BW - I can live with the lottery and having to calibrate default color settings EXCEPT Image Tearing. If it shows the same tearing I saw at J&R it's going to be returned. It's RTC has some errors 15% average with 50% max, but can be turned off (making it just like a nonRTC 5ms B2B monitor)
- HP w2007 - big issue with glossy screen, no RTC option so some response lag, and minor gripes with exterior design
- LG 206WTQ-BF - according to XBitLabs the bigger 226WTQ has sub par color setup, worse then Samsung, and I have no other reliable in-depth reviews to go by so far. I also remember high RTC errors being mentioned, which is unacceptable, and likely affecting the 20" panel too. The new firmware supposedly reduced the RTC errors, but no new review to indicate to what extent. People report it's not noticeable, so I guess it's good. I can't be sure about color accuracy being good or bad - HP's w2007 is better then w2207, so perhaps the same situation applies here.
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From reading XBitLabs reviews, there's also the ASUS MW201u that has good color accuracy for a TN panel, decent RTC setup, and slick design.
If Fry's had it I would have ordered it without a second thought. Except it's not sold by them or any other merchant I know. I'm trying to find it right now =(
I'll probably go with the LG 206WTQ from Fry's and get a calibration tool to ensure the accuracy is good.
I can also roll the dice with a Samsung and hope for one of the better panels ... or Fry's being honest about their 30 day guarantee.
The 2007 20" LCD monitor market and return policies are making me sad. >_>