I'm in the market for a new LCD monitor to replace my aging secondhand CRT monitor that I currently own. I went hunting and found a nice looking LG monitor called the L226WTQ but the catch is that there is no warranty information regarding dead/stuck/unlit pixels and only Harvey Norman sells it and at a Harvey Norman price(WA). I was also looking at Samsung's offering, the Syncmaster 226BW, but at the moment it is in short supply and there are some issues regarding inferior panels being used instead of Samsung's own. The original panels were Samsung and had an "S" on the back of them. They were replaced with "A" panels which when calibrated performed just as well as the "S" panels. Samsung then released the "C" panel variant which proved to be quite inferior to the other panels. Now they have dropped the naming scheme so the tech savvy buyer cannot distinguish between them. I also was considering purchasing the Philips 220WS8FB but as far as I know they are not sold here in WA.

 

EDIT: It appears that Trinix has the monitor on their website.

 

My questions. Does anyone know what sort of warranty the LG monitor has? Has anyone seen the new, unmarked Samsung monitor and compared it to other monitors? Is there any other monitors I should be looking at?

Chimei make a pretty good 22" WS LCD.

 

Viewsonic and Benq also make some okay ones. I have a 19" LG LCD and it's nothing special...

I read a interesting article the other day although its about 19" monitors but you might find something interesting in there as well http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/19inch-6.html theres also a 17" http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/response-9.html though I don't think theres a 22" yet.

http://www.dealsdirect.com.au/p/chimei-monitor-22-lcd-widesceen-black-1680x1050-5ms-8001-contrast/

 

$399.00 for a Chimei Monitor 22'' LCD Widesceen.

That is pretty expensive for a Chimei. Lowest price on staticice is $328

I've got the 226BW (S panel), if you can find it is the dawgs nurts.

Any 22" monitor in production currently uses a chi mei made panel. So all your really paying for with other brands is there inhouse electronics (which can make a difference) and a maybe better warranty. For gaming the chi mai is the best price/performance. Just depends who you buy from and there dead pixel policy HN are the worst at least for lcd tvs.

Also something to think about is you can (i did ) pick up a decent 32"lcd tv with vga and dvi (via hdmi plug) inputs for around the $1000 mark.

Bit exy but sooooooo big. :lol:

Any 22" monitor in production currently uses a chi mei made panel. So all your really paying for with other brands is there inhouse electronics (which can make a difference) and a maybe better warranty. For gaming the chi mai is the best price/performance. Just depends who you buy from and there dead pixel policy HN are the worst at least for lcd tvs.

Also something to think about is you can (i did ) pick up a decent 32"lcd tv with vga and dvi (via hdmi plug) inputs for around the $1000 mark.

Bit exy but sooooooo big. :lol:

 

Incorrect. The biggest LCD panel manufacturer is LG. They actually make the panels and ship them to second sellers with their logo's like chi mei. You could be getting anything, but chances are it will be an LG.

 

Keep and eye out at like officewhores..I mean Officeworks when their mid year sale is on. You will probably get a really good deal.

Mostly right kindros. (does it make me retarded that i havent figured out how to quote yet?)

LG are about the biggest panel maker and yes most monitors are actually one of three big panel makers.

Except 22" , there is only one factory that makes 22" lcd panels at the mo which is chi mei (or there parent company not sure exactly but point stands). 8)

Mostly right kindros. (does it make me retarded that i havent figured out how to quote yet?)

LG are about the biggest panel maker and yes most monitors are actually one of three big panel makers.

Except 22" , there is only one factory that makes 22" lcd panels at the mo which is chi mei (or there parent company not sure exactly but point stands). 8)

 

You could click the quote button?

So that would be a yes then

Nedlands:

 

1) http://www.austin.net.au in Osborne Park have plenty of the 226BW panels in stock - I got mine 3 weeks ago and paid about $470 for it, probably get it cheaper if you show them an online price though...

 

2) The S panels are history so forget them. The one I have is not an S panel and you know what? It doesn't matter - the panel is absolutely stunning and I am 100% happy with it.

 

3) The Samsung warranty and support is #1 and Austin are consistently fantastic to deal with - even if you can buy it online for $10 less having the support of the local dealer makes all the sense.

 

Answer? 22BW = FTW!

 

I'm in Floreat if you want to drop over one night and see PR on the 226BW....

 

Bammo

Yeah it appears that the unmarked Samsung 226BW models are not Samsung's own panels as the supply of "S" panels have been sent to the States and other big countries. This probably means that they are "C" panels and have some color issues out of the box. What I am looking for in a monitor is a good pixel warranty with a fairly consistent reproduction of colors. The 226BW "C" panel has had some horror stories related to it and also some good responses and the Philips seems like a solid choice but under-reviewed and low in stock.

 

There is a site which has both a set of manual adjustments and ICC color profiles for the "C" panel version of the 226BW. Bammo could you try this out for me and see if this yields a marked improvement if you haven't done so already? Also, do you run BF2 stretched natively with the special command line thing or have you configured your video card to run in 1280 x 1024 with the black bars, retaining the 5:4 aspect ratio?

Out of the box the Samsung is stunning and I wouldn't mess with it one iota.

 

I run a standard in-game resolution (1184x864 or something similar?) and use the add ons in the shortcut properties.

 

Honestly - all the who-har on Whingepool and other websites about C panels versus S panels is such a crock of shite. I read and read them until my eyes bled and in typical internet fashion, 99% of the "my opinion is..." posters had never actually seen both panels!

 

I saw one, bought it and am stoked with the result - leaves my Dell for dead. QFT

Well I finally went out and got myself a 226BW for $475 at Austin Computers and I am very pleased with it. I opted to run BF2/PR with the command line tweak, ""C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\BF2.exe" +modPath mods/pr +menu 1 +widescreen 1 +szx 1680 +szy 1050" instead of getting my graphics card to run it @ 1280 x 1024 while maintaining the aspect ratio. Screenshots:

5:4 (with black bars)

http://www.imagehosting.com/out.php/i838723_screen150.jpg

 

Command Line'd

http://www.imagehosting.com/out.php/i838724_screen151.jpg

Hard to say whether it is better viewing. 22" just isn't enough