Choice of 24" monitor

Hello Folks,
I'm going to upgrade from a 22" Samsung 226BW to a 24" monitor. I've been looking at the Samsung SM 2493HM and the T240.
The 2493HM has got pretty good reviews but I can't seem to find any on the T240.
Do people think it's a better panel or is it just the rose red surround that's attracting attention?
Any advice would be welcome, best wishes, John:D

I just bought a ViewSonic 24" and have no complaints.

This actually came recommended to me

http://uk.insight.com/apps/productp...arge format monitors-_-VS VSMQVX2435&src=prg1

I bought the Samsung 2232 ages ago and all the reviews raved about it - It was the worst piece of **** I have ever used. Some reviewer get carried away with the style and won't notice it's short falls because they are seduced by design and branding. Nothing on this planet will convince me that sub £500 Samsungs are a worthy purchase.

If you are going to upgrade make sure the screen is not a crappy TN panel. With a 24ins screen you will need all the viewing angle you can get and the TN's don't make the grade. If you have a colour shift, vertical or Horizontal, it will drive you nuts - trust me.....but, you've probably noticed this on your 226bw.

VIEW before you buy...

or get an Eizo.......$$$$ but they have perfect image quality.

Just bought an Acer 24" X243W, display model £139,

What a difference from 19"

do like me and get your self a 32" LG LCD TV with DVI connection

...do you lose resolution with LCD TV's? - my 30" monitor is 2560 x 1600. You'd be lucky to have half that on a TV. But, I suppose, I guess it depends on what you want to do with it.

I bought SAMSUNG 245BW Black 24" 5ms Widescreen from costco about 3 weeks ago for $375. I think it was a good buy. And I love this monitor considering I was using my XPS M1710 17" monitor before I bought this.

wysiwyg said:

Just bought an Acer 24" X243W, display model £139,

What a difference from 19"

Click to expand...

I bought 2 of its little brothers, the x213W, and I have to say I love them as well. For their price, especially, as both of them together cost me around $375 USD (thanks to a local retailer not knowing what they had on their hands and my diligent searching for coupons).

Ryuho said:

I bought SAMSUNG 245BW Black 24" 5ms Widescreen from costco about 3 weeks ago for $375. I think it was a good buy. And I love this monitor considering I was using my XPS M1710 17" monitor before I bought this.

Click to expand...

I bet it is - I was using 19" CRTs (dual screens) for the longest time, but decided it was tie to upgrade- but these 22" wide screens seem a bit small lol.

I am spoiled - I want dual screens but also want SLI but also want much larger screens. I think I'd be happy with around 26" viewable wide screens. Maybe 30". ;P

the screen is so bright.. it's awesome

I'm glad I got to keep my 1920x1200 resolution too. (My XPS laptop had the same resolution and was dreading knocking down the resolution when switching to a new desktop)

I have 2-22" HP w2207's, excellent monitors actually.
The BrightView screen technology and with Digital Vibrance using Nvidia CPL (175.19), they simple sparkle with color and 1920 x 1080 res is awesome.

I know Samsung panels are the most prized in an LCD TV on the high end HDTV forums. When LCD panels were hard to come by 2 years back and many makers were subject to panel lottery's to get their panels, the HDTV forums erupted when the usual makers that used Samsung LCD panels had to use others instead, they pretty much all were lauding Samsung panels as the #1.
HP monitors also use/used Samsung panels but I have one with Samsung and one other brand that I can't recall. There is a very tiny difference with them side by side and the same image on them but it's hardly noticable and doesn't bother me in the least.
Although the LCD panel is not the only factor in how well a certain monitor will look, it's a pretty good bet that if the HDTV community is si hung up on Samsung panels, it shouldn't hurt to have one. Remenber tho, not all monitor makers make panels so many brands may have Samsung panels but it's their other technology and processes that can make a big difference also.

I'm so tempted to buy a second 24" and have two.. But I always wonder how that plays out when I'm playing a PC game. (Plays lots of PC games). When I have full screen on, would the other screen just be black? if so, then that's not really appealing for me to do dual screen.

Not when I play - I see either the desktop shoved over (for games that don't support 1680 x 1050) or else I see just whatever is on the other desktop normally (when they do support 1680 x 1050).

However, to not tax the video card I usually turn off the second monitor in my properties so I get full benefit from the card in the game.

Actually, I used to turn it off manually in display properties - I now use Ultramon - for the price it is a must have for me. I have set up profiles to allow me to quickly switch from single to dual monitor view, and it also allows me to use different wallpapers on different monitors.

It has a whole slew of other features as well, including desktop (background) profiles, Monitor profiles, shortcuts to allow easy moving of apps from one window to another, too many things to think of.

But it isn't free - $40 USD a pop.

Hi people,
Well I made my choice and I've ordered a Samsung 2493HM which should arrive tomorrow so I'll post again when I've had a chance to test it.
I went to my local branch of a pc superstore and saw the T240 in the flesh and the "Rose Red/Black" finish looked a bit cheap and tacky imo. As expected they did not know anything about it ( not even the tech guys). As I say the panel surround did not look as subtle as the pictures and the stand, whilst very slick looking, had hardly any adjustment to it just a few degrees of tilt.
According to the specs the only differences between this and the 2493 is a dynamic contrast of 20,000, as against a mere 10,000, and an extra millisecond on the refresh time.
I suspect it's the same panel tweaked for the extra DC which I can't see making any difference in the real world.
Hope I'm not proved wrong by rave reviews for the T240. Patience was never one of my virtues.
The 2493HM has a splendid adjustable stand and looks pretty much like the 226BW I currently have and that's ok with me.
We'll see and I'll let you know, thanks for your input, John

ya the red and black finish was STUPID. I just tonight got myself a second 22 inch LCD.. another Samsung since they are just such nice panels.

and I was going between the Samsung 2253BW or the T220. and the T220 has the new WIC world in color thing. and "claim" 20,000:1 ratio. but realistically it's about 10,000 or 8,000 just like every other monitor. thats there own number they came up with. and the red on the bottom looked like a light or a glow, and it's not. but the bad thing is you cannot turn it off, cuz it's not a light. It's part of the frame. I couldn't handle that as I'd see it while I game or when it's dark in room while on the PC, and thats very often. I now have Dual 22 Inch Widescreen Samsung LCD's and I'm lovin it. I posted a picture in Show us ur righ.. go check it out.

Let us know how that 24 works out, how it looks. and the backlight bleed. This new 2253BW has very very little bleed. and is better than the King. the 226BW. so I'm happy to have to two better panels for gaming

I recommend the Acer P243wAid becuase I prefer the glossy screen. It's got great response time (cause i play games) and the colors seem very accurate, I think. I have both my Vista64 system and Apple Mac Pro hooked up to it.

Best of all, it's darn cheap. No bells and whistles, like USB hub. Oh, and very annoying is the button sequence you have to press to switch between computers, takes like four button selections to switch, makes no sense. But I'll deal with it.

damocles said:

...do you lose resolution with LCD TV's? - my 30" monitor is 2560 x 1600. You'd be lucky to have half that on a TV. But, I suppose, I guess it depends on what you want to do with it.

Click to expand...

It really depends on what TV you get and its connection types.... my TV is 720p and i get a resolution of 1360x 768 threw DVI and i believe 1080p get a res of 1920x1080 ok thats less than 2560 x 1600 but again it depends on the TV its self and the connection you make
and the screen size

Well I got my Samsung 2493HM today. Out of the box it looks and feels impressively well made and quite handsome in a restrained sort of way.
Tried setting up with the disc and installing Magictune etc but either I'm not doing it right or it doesn't work with 64 bit Vista.
I tried Auto tune and it wouldn't work, saying it was not available and I could not affect any of the sliders on the various calibration menus.
Whatever. It looked great anyway so I carried on trying it out and I was really pleased with it. But then I started looking at some of my photographs.
It's so big that it took me a little while, and some dark images to realize there was a strange light area on the top upper right hand of the screen.
This turns out to be a greenish point of light about a quarter of an inch across. From this 4 fan like lights radiate (like a lighthouse). Vertically they are a bluish colour and horizontally orange.
This produces a Maltese cross of light nearly three inches across bleeding into the right hand screen edge.
Is this the dread "stuck pixel" I've read about? Surely it's too big to be one pixel thats stuck.
Another thing is that I have Firefox 3 with the Aquatint Black Gloss skin and the black gloss effect is moving towards dark brown.
I've obviously got a duff screen and will have to RMA it.
All very disappointing and a bit ****e really, John

I wouldnt imagine it was a stuck pixel as normally on a dark surface you wil see a minute red or white dot where the pixel is dead or stuck

what you have sounds a lot worse and i would be tempted to send it back without hesitation

Sounds like backlight bleed.....You will get this on most LCD's.

Turn down the brightness and see if it is reduced....

Thanks for your input. I thought it was too big for a single pixel problem, and yes it does look like a backlight bleed at the screen edge but the maltese cross effect is large and very noticeable. I can see it now on the pale blue side area on this forum webpage.
It is not a sharp point and against the pale blue looks to be a blurred blob of green quite a bit more than a quarter inch across with these fans sticking out vertically and horizontally for over an inch.
It'll have to go back which is such a hassle but I'm happy with the screen in general terms so will take a replacement.
Good night from here, John