Best 22" monitor?

Im looking at getting a 20" monitor for around the £200 mark but have yet to find one id class as perfect for me. iv heard good things about the Samsung 22" line (link below), but heard they have a few problems with who makes the panels, how much of an issue would this be? or is it just an arugement between being good and very good for example?


cheers guys.


Samsung SM226BW 22" Widescreen TFT Monitor 1680x1050 3000:1 300cd/m2 2ms VGA/DVI Black 3 Years Warranty Award Winning Monitor - Ebuyer



edit: having another look on ebuyer i found 2 variants of the samsung, one with a 3000:1 (700:1) contrast and a 2ms response time and another with a contrast of 3000:1 (1000:1) and a response time of 5ms. There is also a £7 price difference.

Is there any real difference between the 2 aside from the 3ms response & 300 contrast difference, also why are ebuyer selling the 2 near-identical variants? Is one just a 'face lifted' model and they are waiting for the stocks of the orginal to just run out?

Samsung SM226BW 22" Widescreen TFT Monitor 1680x1050 3000:1 300cd/m2 2ms VGA/DVI Black 3 Years Warranty Award Winning Monitor - Ebuyer
Samsung SM223BW 22"TFT Monitor Widescreen 1680x1050 3000:1 300 cd/m2 5ms VGA/DVI-D Glossy black 3 Years Warranty - Ebuyer

Can't go wrong with EIZO, but you might have to pay a bit more.

Theres no problems if you go for the 226CW which is guaranteed to be made by Samsung, basically its the same as 226 BW but with a slightly upgraded screen.

Got mine from Komplett.co.uk

226CW is out of my price bracklet a little, and +£40-£50 just for a guarenteed samsung screen seems a bit excessive?

What im more curious/concerned about is the higher conrtrast but lower response time, or higher response time & better contrast? Which is the better one to go for?

2ms or 5ms
700:1 or 1000:1


Also how can they both state the dynamic contrast (3000:1) to be the same, yet the alternative figure (700/1000) to be different?


edit: Thinking of the CW, is it worth the extra money?

I would go for higher contrast over response. 5ms won't ghost in games if it's half decent game and you will get a better picture with the higher contrast ratio.. unless it's just a naff cheapy monitor then specs tend to lie.

I go for dell monitors these days. Never been let down by one. Samsung are always a bit over priced but you do get a good monitor.

LG are the other brand i will use if I'm on a tighter budget.
With a bit of fiddling with colours etc.. this can look very nice
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

This dell seems to get pretty good review.
Dell E228WFP 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black

I've got the LG one staffsMike has linked to and it's ok. I purchased this instead of the Samsung 226BW because of the Samsung panel lottery.

If I were to buy today, I would consider the Samsung (only if it had a Samsung panel) and an AG Neovo (they didn't do 22" screens when I bought the LG IIRC).

I've got the Samsung 20" version (206BW 2ms 3000:1) and its a cracking monitor, would recommend Samsung to anyone, had no issues at all and looks stunning.

I've got an Acer P221w 22" widescreen LCD and I'm very pleased with it so far.

My suggestion is to pop down to PC World and have a look at these. Whilst they might not have a specific monitor available, they've got a fairly good selection for you to browse through and it gives you an idea of the differences between the monitors.

Personally, I have a 20" Samsung 2032bw, the colours took a little bit of fiddling with to get right, but once that's done it's all good.

Without wishing to restart the flame wars, isn't the problem with 22" monitors that they all use 6 bit panels?

I have 2 dell 20 inch monitors 2005fpw panels and love them to bits. Although I havent got around to getting the colours balanced on them so they match.

I always thought that the 22 inch monitors ran the same resolution as the 20 inch panels only stretched a bit?

Anyway I can highly reccomend dell monitors they are top quality panels and i` ve never had an issue with them

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kopite

I always thought that the 22 inch monitors ran the same resolution as the 20 inch panels only stretched a bit?

Anyway I can highly reccomend dell monitors they are top quality panels and i` ve never had an issue with them

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I can agree with Kopite, up until recently I've had a Dell monitor and it was probably the best TFT i have seen to date.

Also 20" seems to be the sweet spot for resolution and sharpness of image, the 20" monitors normally have a smaller (hence sharper looking) pixel size whereas the 22" has the same resolution and larger pixels (hence not as sharp) IMHO.

Peace :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by donkiddik

I've got the Samsung 20" version (206BW 2ms 3000:1) and its a cracking monitor, would recommend Samsung to anyone, had no issues at all and looks stunning.

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Forgot to say also the monitor donkiddik Has got is also now on the Custom PC mag's top hardware choice of monitor in the 20"-22" sector, the Samsung 206BW, its also only about £169 as well.

Peace :thumbsup:

:) I got something right then!:rockon2:

Happy New Year folks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by donkiddik

:) I got something right then!:rockon2:

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LOL :laugh:

It doesnt happen too often does it!? (well not with me anyway) heehee


Peace

Same with me , see my post (Help needed, built new pc but will not run), but have found out it's my psu. Gotta wait now for Scan to deliver me a new one.:mexican:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by donkiddik

Same with me , see my post (Help needed, built new pc but will not run), but have found out it's my psu. Gotta wait now for Scan to deliver me a new one.:mexican:

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Sorry to hear that, I know how it feels, i've recently gone through 4 mobos as all damaged at factory, so gotta order my fifth and hopefully final mobo today!

Hope it all goes well.

Peace :)

What mobo is it?, not an Asus P5KE-WiFi I hope as that's the one I've just got :surprised:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by donkiddik

What mobo is it?, not an Asus P5KE-WiFi I hope as that's the one I've just got :surprised:

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How did you know?

No not really just kidding :)

They were 2x Abit IX38 Quad Gt's and 2x Gigabyte X38-DQ6's! Just searching around now to see what I want, still not 100% sure what i'll be getting.

Peace

:surprised: I want to see this year out!, don't shock me like that, started to think I may be unlucky and have a mobo prob as well, fingers crossed I haven't.:)

Useless bit of info - my GP has a Samsung 2232BW :)

It looks like a very nice monitor when looking at the back of the monitor :)

He said he opted for it (over a 17" screen) because of the large text (same reason I opted for an LG 22" instead of a 20" monitor). I found text on a 20" monitor too small.