A Thought on Monitors

With my current slight obsession with upgrading my monitor setup, I've of course been looking around at various options. There's a 27" 1080p 120hz monitor for around $700, and a 23" version for $400. Who wants a 27" 1080p monitor? The image quality is nowhere near a nice, dense 23" model. And yet, it's very tough to find high res monitors - and impossible to get them high res AND 120hz.

There's a nice 27" 2560x1440 monitor I'm quite interested in - but it's on sale for $800. That's as much as I paid for my 40" HDTV a while back, and I know they're even cheaper now.

What I want to know is why it's so tough to find displays over 1920x1080? And why aren't there more 120hz monitors? I realize it's not common for people to purchase them, but look at the prices! It's prohibitively expensive for most people. I mean, a Dell Ultrasharp is over $1000!

I'd like to see an influx of 25"+ 2560x1440 monitors, with 120hz as an available option. And for $800 or less. Generally speaking, they just need to be able to ship more to bring the costs down. I read recently that there's a new tablet coming out with 2560x1440 - on a 7 inch display. That kind of pixel density is amazing! Never need to use anti aliasing again, that's for sure!

Samsung S23A300B Woes

As I mentioned in the previous post, I decided to delve into Eyefinity. I've been tossing the idea around for a while, either Eyefinity or 3D. I figure 3D needs more time to mature, though. Plus, boxing day sales meant the Samsung 23" 1080p monitor was $65 off, so $135 each. 

As usual with technology, you get what you pay for.

I've been using a Samsung 2494SW for the last year and a half, and I think it's a great monitor. Reviews were pretty good on this 23" model, the price was right, and it has rather small bezels. I thought going with another Samsung was a good choice.

Upon first setting them up, right away I noticed a stuck pixel on the left screen. Great. I got it exchanged rather painlessly, which is nice, however just today I now found a new stuck pixel on the right screen. 2/3 bad monitors is not a good sign.

I have another grievance as well - these monitors have absolutely no way to be repositioned. No tilt, no swivel, no height. Generally that isn't so bad, except that they come stock with a very slight tilt back, which means they don't line up exactly flush. Well, again, no big deal - ideally I'd get a triple monitor stand anyway. Except here's the big kicker - these monitors have no rear mounting brackets at all.

All in all, the only thing these monitors really have going for them is the price. I have until Jan 2 to return them, so we'll see about that. They perform well in game, though. Is the very low cost worth the small hassles?