samsung 205bw

[ep3w]

I am currently contemplating my first build and I need a monitor for it. I have a 17" dell 1707fp that came with my notebook, but after using 1680x1050 on my notebook all the time, I don't want to go down to that low of res. I am on a bit of a budget and a friend offered to sell me his Samsung 205bw for $180. Its almost brand new, he bought it for dual monitors but just preferred the single one. Is it worth it or am I better off with something else? I want something that runs 1680x1050 native res. How will that samsung compare to my 1707fp?

 

[farfromhome]

Not sure how it compares to a Dell 1707FP, but I have a 205BW. Ironically, I paid pretty much that amount for it (brand new, after rebate) during holiday sales a year and a half ago, so to me that sounds like a somewhat high price, even only slightly used. Overall, it's a nice enough monitor. Much better than the old 17" CMV CT-726D I had before it. Text is very sharp, and there are no obvious defects. My only real complaint is that I could never calibrate the colors to where I was happy with it.

Well, other than that I was never really happy with the fact that a 20" widescreen doesn't really gain you any vertical space over a 17" non-widescreen (I would go with a non-widescreen 20" if I were to do it again), but if you're already happy with that resolution and the price, then go for it. It's always nice to help a friend offload old gear. If you care about color accuracy and viewing angles though, and don't mind refurbished, you might want to think about a NEC 20WMGX2 instead.

 

[j0j081]

20 inch ws do look really nice due to the high density of pixels but they are a bit lacking height wise. If you don't think you care about that though I'd go for it. I used to own a 206BW a slightly newer model than the one you are looking at and it was great for gaming. Only thing is $180 does sound a bit much for an couple year old model now. Maybe ask him if he would consider lowering it a bit otherwise you should be able to find one for a little mroe than that price online depending on where you like to shop.

 

[ep3w]

Thanks for the input. I did kind of find it odd that, at least as far as I can tell, the model is discontinued. He bought it probably within the past couple of months and I am pretty sure it was new. I am going to as if he can go a bit lower. I am not too worried about size, although my roommate has a 20" wide screen so I am going to see if I can use that for a couple hours and see how I like it size wise. I guess my only worry is that I have actually been very impressed with my dell panel and am hoping it will be similar as far as clarity of text. I am not too picky with things like colors but I can hardly use my girlfriends dell notebook for more than 15 minutes the screen is so terrible. Does $140 sound reasonable for it? A lower price for that would definitely help convince me to get it instead of spending a bit extra and getting something new.

 

[j0j081]

$140 sounds better if it is in really good condition like you said. Also, if the text size is too small and you are using Vista you can increase the DPI.