Samsung 204BW

[40sTheme]

Is this a good bang/buck monitor? I just want an LCD, and I don't care about size. I have heard that TN Panel is good, so I figured 'Hey, this is TN Panel', but I figured i'd ask the experts around here. I'm not very in the scene when it comes to monitors, sooo... will I be satisfied? A little ghosting and stuff doesn't bother me; just want to go LCD.

 

[evenmore1]

I've got a similar model. The Samsung 205BW. I got it for cheap on Black Friday, but the quality is so good I'd pay the full price for it! There is no ghosting when I play games and it is great for movies as well. There are a LOT more pixels on the screen compared to my 17" CRT I had. The brightness is good and the colors are crisp. The menu options are nifty if not very useful. There are a few settings for different occasions: Game, Internet, Text, Sport, Movie and custom mode. They aren't all that useful for the advanced user, but for most people it is enough. LCDs are great and I love them!

How much are you going to get it for? What is your budget?

 

[40sTheme]

It's up for $278 USD on Newegg. Are the black/contrast levels nice?

 

[evenmore1]

To me as an average guy, yeah it is nice for me. The contrast ratio is 700:100 I believe. The monitor is good enough for me

 

[40sTheme]

Cool. The price will probably go down; i'm getting for my birthday on March 22nd, so hopefully it will drop (it's partially coming out of my pocket as well).

 

[evenmore1]

You should probably wait for a second opinion, and you might find a better deal in the same price range. Just a thought...

 

[40sTheme]

Yeah; i'm going to be watching what pops up, of course. I was just making sure this was a good option first; so I know what to look for.

 

[40sTheme]

Do you have any problems with adjusting the monitor base level? I read a couple of the newegg reviews on it, and they said that the base is poor quality and that sometimes it won't even adjust.

 

[CurseTheSky]

204B's have MAJOR problems with the DVI connection. Any of the newer monitors will constantly flash to a black screen (for a split second) once every minute or so, which is extremely annoying. The older versions of this monitor (manufactured before a certain month... September maybe?) don't seem to have this problem.

My family and I have three of these monitors between all of us. One has a manufacturing date of July, and the other two are October. Luckily the other two people that use the monitors only use VGA, so I was able to take the July for myself.

The one that works correctly is a great monitor, but I would suggest staying away to avoid the hassle.