Guys, which of the following is recommended? I'm looking for something around RM500 - RM600, so obviously AOC Angelo is out of the equation

Acer X233H
AOC 2236VW
BenQ G2200HD
Dell S2209W
Dell S2309W
Fujitsu FA-215WB-MP
Samsung 2236SW

Out of all the models, AOC 2236VW seems to have better specs with a DCR of 60,000:1, USB ports and touch keys... I was told they provide on-site warranty service/support like Dell, is this true? What about Fujitsu? Doesn't look like anyone is using this brand though

The Acer is 23", but I'm a lil worried with their lackluster after sales service/support. Any comments on the Samsung?

Kinda confused on which one to get since they are priced closely I watch movies and surf the web most of the time (My aging HD 3850 can't handle gaming @ 1080P anyway )

A big thanks in advance!

This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Jul 14 2009, 09:46 PM

Angelo is around RM700++ in Penang mar... Everything is more expensive in Penang except Dell

Since I'll be watching movies most of the time, should I consider DCR? Does it significantly increase image quality? I've been reading through this thread and sometimes people suggest to turn DCR off, now I'm confused ady The Dells only have a static contrast ratio of 1000:1, no DCR

Angelo = 2434Pw, and it comes with HDMI connectivity

I have finally bought my LCD after much consideration. Thanks for all your previous feedback guys. By the way, these monitors were on my list in case you are wondering:
1) Dell S2209W
2) Dell S2309W
3) Samsung 2233SW
4) Samsung 2333SW
5) AOC 2434Pw
6) Acer H233H

I finally picked the AOC because of its price, design, features (touchie keys , tilt, swivel, height adjustment) and HDMI. The Acer is a fine choice, but it was 0.6" smaller

Numbers like the 60,000:1 DCR and 2ms GTG response time mean nothing to me. Why? I think DCR is annoying, and since different manufacturers test DCR under different conditions, this number can ONLY be compared to models from the SAME manufacturer. 2ms GTG response time would most probably equal to a typical 5ms for black-to-white response anyway.

Pics pics pics...

The box.


Shiny sticker


The LCD itself.


Overall view.

The viewing angle is rather good imho, unless you're watching from the bottom (but who the heck who look from below ), at least its better than the current Dell I own.




I initially some trouble getting the unit set up, my ATI card just wasn't able to display 1920x1080 properly, it would show black bars on the top/bottom/left/right, fonts were blurry and the entire screen looks distorted I tried setting overscan to 0% without ticking the "force" option at first, no black bars but image quality is quite bad. Thankfully I was able to solve this issue by forcing overscan to 0% and resetting the resolution.

All I can say now is that this is really a worthy buy, great performance at great price

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Added on August 3, 2009, 1:27 amOh ya, the unit has a grey back, not white. It was the last unit at Digital Bay, so I bought it immediately as I understand many many shops in Penang ady ran out of stock for this baby.

This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Aug 3 2009, 01:27 AM

I can play some samples but I'm not what good it'll do as my N78 can't capture that much details

RM699, Digital Bay @ Jusco BM, the Digital Bay @ Queensbay Mall no stock liao hikari85 is selling at RM685, but also no stock. Gadget Zone no stock... A lot of shops no stock, while some do not carry this model...

They all point to the same thing, dynamic contrast. AOC/Samsung/most manufacturers call it Dynamic Contrast Ratio (DCR), Acer calls it ACM, LG calls it DFC, etc.

imho, it's pointless comparing DCRs between different brands for reasons I stated previously. GTG is the pixel's response time from grey-to-grey, but a more accurate means for measurement is black-to-white pixel response, which is typically 5ms.

This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Aug 4 2009, 06:11 PM

Hmm... My Dell bleeds more than the AOC though, at least with my unit la. Will take some pics in the night for comparison, now too bright ady

HDMI = DVI with sound. So image quality wise, they should look alike.

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Added on August 6, 2009, 11:41 amBy the way, for you guys in Penang (mainland side ) who plans to buy a monitor and wanna compare them side by side, Digital Bay @ Jusco has the most variety of models on display imo, from AOC to Samsung to Acer to HP to blah blah blah, I bought mine from them. Digital Bay @ Queensbay not as much. Their price is ok ok lo, but for some brands, shops in Penang Island might be a lil bit cheaper though.

This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Aug 6 2009, 11:41 AM

Ambient room lighting? (I find it hard to read text on the screen in a dark room) Anyway, I like to keep the contrast and brightness levels on both of my LCDs on moderate level, usually 50/40 for contrast/brightness. If the screen is too dark, hard to view in a bright room, if the screen too bright, hard to view in a dark room If your monitor has dynamic contrast (Acer calls this ACM), turn it off. Dynamic contrast is only useful if you watch movies or play games, other than that, it renders the screen too bright when surfing the net or working with documents.

This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Aug 6 2009, 12:07 PM

@BulletsStorm
The monitor looks like a recolored X-series to me, design wise it's more or less alike. Doesn't cut it for me though Prefer the looks of their P-series and H-series...

@Faint
Here are the "bleeding" pics I took, AOC 2434Pw aka Angelo vs my 19" Dell. I was surprised how the results came out as I initially thought my Dell has more "bleeding" when observed with the naked eye Shots at night were taken with my digicam's "Night" scene mode, and daylight shots taken using "Auto".

Day
AOC 2434Pw @ 50% Brightness | Dell @50% Brightness

AOC 2423Pw @ 100% Brightness | Dell @ 100% Brightness


Night
AOC 2434Pw @ 50% Brightness | Dell @50% Brightness

AOC 2434Pw @ 100% Brightness | Dell @ 100% Brightness


The AOC is brighter then the Dell, so I guess its one of the reasons why "bleeding" is more visible. But thankfully for typical use, it is not noticable... It's not like you actually look at a totally black screen most of the time

This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Aug 8 2009, 12:42 PM

Read up here:
http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/backlight-bleeding.php

This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Aug 8 2009, 12:52 AM

Actually, for normal use it's not noticeable, definitely not annoying... Maybe my digicam's ISO is set too low or something and it turned out like that

If I am not mistaken, someone did mention before that AOC Angelo 2434Pw, Samsung 2494HS, and ViewSonic VX2433wm share the SAME film/panel, which is M236H1-L01 by Chi Mei. You can do a search on TFT Central if you want.

So what's the deal here? Because AOC is a not so famous brand then the picture quality is inferior?

Anyway, I own a 2434Pw and so far so good. My only complain is the lack of a DVI port and relatively slow start up time (The point where I "touch" the power button to the point where an image shows up, my Dell is faster).

The brightness is adjustable so big deal, I have it set to 30% only. As long as you leave the useless DCR off, I think you'll be fine. As for the pinkish thingy, I haven't played fast action games for quite some time, I use the AOC mainly for web browsing, movie and anime watching.

2ms is GTG (grey-to-grey), GTG is generally faster than the typical measurement of black-to-white or white-to-black transition. So I guess the typical response time is 5ms lo, I'm really not an expert in this matter

Thanks for the correction I've always thought it's just black-to-white or the other way around

The Dell ST2310 is new, so I guess you'll need to wait a while before reviews will start to pop out. As for the 50,000:1 dynamic contrast, you most probably won't be using it. In fact, I doubt anyone in this thread even bothers with DCR, think of it as an added bonus, that's all The ST2310 has lower max brightness, but then again, who sets brightness to 100%

One of the reason I didn't but a Dell S2309W back then is the lack of a HDMI port (Thinking of buying a console this year end, but didn't feel like hooking it up in the living room), so I went for the AOC instead.

This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Sep 6 2009, 04:25 PM

0%... Less heat and save electricity

I think 1 HDMI is enough ady, considering the cost of expensive LCDs with multitudes of ports. HDMI to PS3, and DVI to PC. But my Angelo does not come with a DVI port, so I might need to get a HDMI splitter or something, perhaps just settle with D-SUB for my PC. One of the disadvantage with cheap 24 incher

Haven't even bought my console yet la bro, so fast buy splitter meh? Anyway, thanks for the link... Hopefully there will also be discounts during the Christmas season

The AOC 2436Vw also does not have a height adjustable stand, and no support for swivel... Iianm, it's also priced at RM699 here in Penang, same price with 2434Pw but less features

Hmm... Really? I always thought the unit is tilt-able, and that's all.

I'm on the Mainland, it's one of the shop around Prai Megamall (Pacific). But I bought my 2434Pw from a shop in Jusco Seberang Prai City, they have all sorts of models on display, I didn't bother with their reso... Only compared the colours between LCDs there

This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Sep 7 2009, 08:50 PM