- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 28 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Gamers rejoice! This LCD is beautiful"
Pros: Cheap $$$, it's huge, colors are nice, it's perfect for games!
Cons: No lock to adjust position.
Summary: The price is definatly what attracted me to this baby. My price range was $400 to $500 canadian, and when I went to the Computer store to find out 22" Widescreen was available for that price range, I went for it right away!
But let's also talk about games. The first thing I was worried about was: "Will World of Warcraft look good on this monitor?" Because that's all I play these days, World of Warcraft! The store clerk was able to show me a demo of Quake 4 on this LCD, and it was awesome! No ghosting, the image was crisp clear and most importantly the game was being played in a widescreen resolution and space you had was huge (I used 4:3 CRT monitors for the past 13 years, so I was impressed.) So I bought it and brought it home.
First test was World of Warcraft, duh. Playing this game in widescreen is a dream! It's not the first time I played it in widescreen though, since I own a HP Laptop with a 15" widescreen monitor. So I already had an idea what the GUI would look like. But playing WoW on a 22" is crazy! All your mod windows, your chat window, your toolbars are all on the sides, leaving you so much viewing room in the middle of the screen!
I'm playing the game at 1680x1050 resolution with a nVidia Geforce FX 6800 GS using the DVI connection. And this game is smooth! I only have an AMD 2600+ processor, so with all graphical settings at max, I get a steady 30 FPS in busy areas and can go up to 40-50 FPS in less busy areas.
My main "test" was PVPing in Battlegrounds! You simply cannot play with a monitor if it has any ghosting effects or type of lag or else it will hinder your performance! This monitor doesn't! I play as a rogue, so I always have to move around a lot, so my camera will be turning 180 degrees all the time. There's a very tiny ghosting effect if there's a lot of players on screen or the landscape is complex, but I barely notice it. In the heat of the action, I don't notice it at all. But if nothing is going on, and I pay attention to everything, I will see it a bit. But for $400, I won't complain.
The only thing I noticed after buying the monitor was the position adjustment for the LCD. This is my first one, but I did see other monitors with a sort of "lock" system, so you can position it how you want, turn a lever and it can't be moved. This monitor doesn't have one. There's a little pin that can be removed so you can raise the LCD's position, but after that, the pin is useless. There isn't any other holes to insert the pin into so it will stay at that height. I'm not saying once you raise it, it goes down because of the weight. But I'm picky like this, because in a few years from now, when those contacts become used and old, who knows, maybe it will start going down and I'll never be able to keep it high anymore. But that's it. I just wanted to add a "Cons" to this review because other than that, it's perfect.
And last but not least, no burnt pixels. I used to work for a computer store, and we had so many customers come back with their LCD monitors because it had 1 to 3 burnt pixels and that must of been really anoying for them. I guess it's a gamble, or maybe Samsung is a good company and the risk of getting a LCD with a burnt pixel is lower with them compare to another cheaper or less known company. But all I can say is: "Thank you Samsung, I love this monitor!"
Where to buy
Samsung SyncMaster 225BW-Black - LCD display - TFT - 22":
$140.00
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
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Tech For Less, Inc.
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$140.00 | Yes |
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