Samsung or Viewsonic 22" monitor

[Spino]

Stay away from the current batch of Viewsonic 22" LCDs. For some reason Viewsonic has sacrificed its reputation for quality this round in order to cash in on the massive profit margins that typify LCDs made using a TN screen. I bought a Viewsonic 22" VX2235 late last year and regretted the purchase after a few weeks. Sure it sported a 22" widescreen format and blazing response times but the stand sucked, it had lousy backlight bleeding, default colors were way off (talk about a blue shift!), the brightness and contrast levels were really hard to tweak properly and to add insult to injury, the anti-glare coating had these tiny holes in it that made the screen seem like it had dried spittle or liquid on it. A few months later I returned my Viewsonic to Costco when the HP W2207 hit the market. The W2207 runs circles around my old VX2235 and just about every other 22" LCD on the market right now. Brilliant colors, excellent default brightness/contrast settings, minimal backlight bleed (like night and day compared to the Viewsonic), fast response time, fully adjustable and 180 degree rotating capable stand, two USB ports, glossy screen. It's a no brainer.

If you're not keen on the HP W2207 then consider the Samsung 226BW. But most people I know of who were intent on getting a 226BW that took a good look at the W2207 opted for the latter. I was certainly one of them.

[Proletariat]

I got that same monitor a month or so ago, Beirut. Love it so far, even for watching movies and so on. I have older hardware than you (7950gt, +3000 amd, 1gig ram) and it's been fine, but then again, I haven't bothered pushing it with any cutting edge games or anything.

[Beirut]

So far the screen is looking very good. Except for what looks like two dead pixels at the extreme right of the screen, dead center. I can live with that.

Flying is great at 1920x1200. The immersion factor really jumps up when the runways look almost life size. Need to play with the res a bit on different sims but that's part of the joys of technology I guess, fiddling around. Not taking much of a hit on the FPS at high res. Things are still flowing smoothly. And brightly, the default screen brightness is startling.

Almost all web pages stretch out to the res and look fine. They just look... wider.

So far, with about four hours on the screen, I like it.

[Papewaio]

So far the screen is looking very good. Except for what looks like two dead pixels at the extreme right of the screen, dead center. I can live with that.

Does it have a dead pixel replacement policy? If so use it.

The Samsung 19" monitors we use at work (11 monitors between four of us) all have the dead pixel replacement policy...

Still I'm green, I'd love to get a widescreen LCD for watching widescreen movies...

[sapi]

Definitely take advantage of the dead pixel replacement policy if possible

[Beirut]

I think they're dead pixels. As I mentioned, they are at the extreme right of the screen, on the very last line.

I wonder if it's worth returning it. It's only noticeable because I noticed it initially (and if that isn't the stupidest thing you've ever read) but It doesn't bother me when I'm using the screen. Also, I don't want to return the screen, which is a sixty-mile round trip, and then bring home another screen that has a dead pixel dead center. That would drive me nuts.

As someone once wrote in a tech magazine, with millions of pixels on a screen (2,300,000 on this one), odds are there's going to be at least one that gives up the ghost. Honestly, I'm not sure if that's reasonble or not. In any case, I have another 28 days to return the screen. If I get another dead pixel anywhere else, I will certianly return it, but for now I'm very happy with it.

[Spino]

I think they're dead pixels. As I mentioned, they are at the extreme right of the screen, on the very last line.

I wonder if it's worth returning it. It's only noticeable because I noticed it initially (and if that isn't the stupidest thing you've ever read) but It doesn't bother me when I'm using the screen. Also, I don't want to return the screen, which is a sixty-mile round trip, and then bring home another screen that has a dead pixel dead center. That would drive me nuts.

As someone once wrote in a tech magazine, with millions of pixels on a screen (2,300,000 on this one), odds are there's going to be at least one that gives up the ghost. Honestly, I'm not sure if that's reasonble or not. In any case, I have another 28 days to return the screen. If I get another dead pixel anywhere else, I will certianly return it, but for now I'm very happy with it.

Dead pixels, even at the extreme edges of the screen, would drive me nuts. My vote would be to return that monitor for a defect free one. Would you settle for a Ferrari with a hairline crack in the windshield? Don't cheat yourself out of a pixel free gaming experience.