I am happy to announce that after almost of year of saying, "I want to buy a new monitor," that I have finally pulled the trigger and actually purchased a new monitor. I thought I would share my research for people that are looking to buy a new monitor.
The research process basically boiled down to 2 monitors, Samsung's T240HD and Dell's U2410 Ultrasharp. Both are 24" Monitors with a 1920x1200 native resolution. The Samsung retails for $360, but was on special for $295 on Newegg.com. The Dell retails for $600, but thanks to a coupon on slickdeals.net, was discounted down to $479.
I read a lot of reviews and when matched head-to-head the Dell outperformed the Samsung (see
http://reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors...-33192334.html). Basically, it was brighter, had a better contrast ratio, had a better viewing angle, and displayed colors better than the Samsung monitor. The Samsung performance was "lackluster" in games, whereas the Dell performed splindly. Another major advantage of the Dell was the stand -- while the Samsung stand offered only slight vertical repositioning, the Dell stand is both height adjustable and swivals any which way you want. See the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tOklG4KNTQ
The Samsung had a couple features the Dell lacked -- namely a built-in TV tuner and speakers. However, I didn't think I'd use the TV-tuner, and the reviews all said the speakers were very close to horrible. So I didn't consider those additional features important.
So at the end of the day, the Dell was a better monitor, both in performance and ergonomic design. The main attraction to the Samsung was the value -- a 24" monitor for under $300 is an amazing deal. Reviewers said the performance of the Samsung was adaqate for most users, but noted that gamers would be more pleased with a monitor with greater performance. However, for my part, was the additional performance of the Dell worth the $185? I finally decided on yes. However, as I went to buy the monitor, Dell slapped me with $35 in taxes! Now it was $220 more! WHY!?!?? So I stepped back, read a few more reviews, and finally decided I was willing to pay the extra $35. So I purchased the Dell U2410 Ultrasharp at a final checkout price of $515. Certainly a heftier price tag than the Samsung, but I think the extra performance, the great ergonomic stand, and the added futureproofing (the Dell has a DisplayPort which the Samsung does not) justified the purchase.
For somebody looking to buy a 24" monitor, I think both these monitors are great. If you don't play games, then I would save the $220 and get the Samsung. If you play games, then you have a very tight decision. It depends on how important the extra performance and swivel stand is to you.
Lastly, for anybody looking to buy one of these monitors, both the specials I found end Sunday 9/13/2009. If you want to buy the Samsung, head to newegg.com and use coupon code EMCLXLW37. If you want to buy the Dell, use the following link and on checkout enter coupon code ?D1GJGKRQK0NFP
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...0fp24333c0s558
Hope this information helps somebody.
-Kazlic
P.S. I should add that the Dell monitor I bought is "IPS" and was just released in August. The Samsung monitor is at least 18 months old.
