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"I'm one of the unlucky ones who has the A panel..." on by Coldmiser
Pros: Good design, colours are correct from the beginning imo
Cons: Lottery with two versions of the same model - "A" panels are inferior to "S" ones, A panel I bought has dithering, banding and some noticeable backlight problems
Summary: It's my fault really. I knew Samsung was selling two panels with the same model number and I decided to risk it. A panel is the bad one - if you can manage to open the box (only way who can know if it's the A or S)and see it's the A DO NOT BUY IT. 226BW was an excellent monitor when Samsung was selling only the S panel. I guess they got greedy and wanted to cut back costs or something...
"A" panel also has annoying noise problems with every video I've tried. -
"Got an A, giving an F" on by bethlowg
Pros: Nice design, good size, good price.
Cons: Got the "A" version. Yes, this is bad.
Summary: I got this monitor at a good price but with no return possible. I'm kicking myself now because I didn't do enough research ahead of time. Had I known about the A vs S problems I would not have risked it. I use this monitor for graphic design.
The bad: It has a green halo around black text on white background. Can't get the colors adjusted right. Out of the box the color was blown out (everything was way too bright and over-saturated).
Also disappointed with the viewing angle - there is too much color variation up and down. No height adjustment possible on this monitor and sitting still is just not comfortable. (yeah, we can all stack books underneath, but that doesn't count). The tilt is pretty stiff too.
I will buy a different monitor and sacrifice this to someone who could care less about accurate color and halos. -
"Awesome features and design" on by mustu316
Pros: Great picture quality, brigthness and contrast
Cons: Cannot tilt it further down than 90 degrees
Summary: Got this monitor from Circuit City, Its a plug and play monitor with some amzing features for a price of $379 (I had a $40 off Coupon though
). Saw two movies on it and played Quake 3, it was just amazing. DVI connection is plus point. Go for it wont regret it.. -
"Excelent quality on my 226BW "C" panel. Bright and accurate colours." on by Mystro
Pros: Bright and crisp with accurate colours. Easy and quick menu.
Cons: Height adjustment would have been nice but not necessity.
Summary: After looking at several 22" monitors, I found the Samsung 226BW to be the standout. It is bright and the colours are beautiful. I had to do some minor adjustments and found the "Custom" mode with the "MagicColor" turned off looked best for me. I do like the "Dynamic Contrast" for movies in a bright room.
I recieved a "C" panel (build date March 2007)and performance is the same as the "S" panel models from my observations. I believe most of the "S" "A" and "C" panel comparison is Techno-Geek paranoia. I am sure it is posible to get a bad monitor regarless where it is made. I could'nt be happier with my Samsung. With a Samsung $20.00 rebate and a sale from Dell, I paid around $250 plus shipping. I gave it a "10 Rating because... Nothing twice or three times that amount of $$$ comes close to the performance of 2ms 3000:1 Dynamic contrast of the Samsung 226BW. -
"The monitor is average and their customer service has to be the worst in the world, literally" on by mlpayes
Pros: None that I can think of.
Cons: Viewing angles terrible. Colors change laterally with head and or eye orientation. In my opinion their service is wretched. No ergonomics at all. I have books under the monitor to raise it.
Summary: If you ever need service, forget it. I purchased a defective P970 monitor last year. Samsung replaced it with a "refurbished" P971. This died in six months and they replaced it with a defective "refurbished" 226BW showing a halo at the bottom of the monitor on dark screens. In my opinion, their menu driven customer service people are worthless. After 17 plus phone calls, escalations and some letters I received a new "A" stock 226BW yesterday. Who knows whether the letters helped or not or whether they were even read. They probably just got tired of my persistence. Never again.
Samsung SyncMaster 226BW user reviews (LCD monitor - 22")
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