Dell 2209WA or Samsung SM2443BW

Credo · 7 Oct 2009 at 11:52

OK, I don't believe in fate particularly, but when I saw the 2209WA on This Week Only, that was it, order placed! What a daft amount of money for what is clearly the best monitor in it's class...

Excited and relieved now! Thanks to all who have helped me in my indecision, I'll post my thoughts tomorrow.

What would be very nice is if someone has calibrated theirs and could post the settings? Just so I can get it looking ace as soon as possible (and therefore justify my frivolous purchase to my wife).

Retromatic · 7 Oct 2009 at 12:33

I've been following this thread closely. I had wittled down my choice of new monitor to the 2209WA and a few of the similar 24" Samsung models, after reading reviews all over the place I was going round and round in circles and then read that great review of the Dell that someone posted in this thread.

I was a bit worreid about losing the full HD res by going over to the 22" but I'm pretty sure I'll be ordering one this week or next now

Thanks to Credo and everyone who helped him, youve also helped me decide!

Maximum Triceratops · 7 Oct 2009 at 12:54

Ok, after reading this thread, it helped me decide on the Dell.
It arrived yesterday morning and I quickly got it set up, took about 5 minutes to plug everything in etc. So my initial thoughts after testing it with games etc.....

Very good monitor, everything is so nice and clear and games look a treat, I have experienced no negatives with ghosting, response times, bleed etc.

Overall I would give it 9/10 as it dosent look quite as attractive as some other models like the samsung range for example. But who cares it still looks great and performs spot on. I highly recommend this monitor.

*EDIT* - Calibrating it to my liking was a breeze too and took about 10 minutes of faffing before I was happy.

Plec · 7 Oct 2009 at 13:01

Credo said:
OK, I don't believe in fate particularly, but when I saw the 2209WA on This Week Only, that was it, order placed! What a daft amount of money for what is clearly the best monitor in it's class...

Damn, i was intrigued as to what your last request would be.

I don't think you'll have any regrets with your decision as, personally, i thik it's the best choice by a large margin - that's probably killed 2 pixels.

You may feel that you've been 'team tagged' by cmndr_andi and I but it's not been without good reason. It's very rare i go out on a limb in recommending a peice of hardware so definitively, especially something so subjective as a monitior, but the 2209WA really is a class act and cmndr_andi's simple statemnet...

cmndr_andi said:
but simply looking at it when you turn on the computer gives you a warm feeling inside, knowing you have the best possible monitor you could get.

...pretty much sums up all our thoughts on this screen - that last bit probably smashed it in transit and caused DELL to go into liquidation.

A solid and informed choice - i hope it lives up to our perceived expectations.

cmndr_andi said:
I gotta say, Plec, your analysis is dead on. Next time I need to chose a car, I'm coming to you

Hehe, you really wouldn’t – I buy my cars on their ability to restrain and entertain 2 small children in relative comfort and yet is still able to give me the space and luxuries that I still feel I need in what is essentially a car/tank/cinema/holding pen.

Credo said:
What would be very nice is if someone has calibrated theirs and could post the settings? Just so I can get it looking ace as soon as possible (and therefore justify my frivolous purchase to my wife).

EDIT: I'll dig out my settings for you - i'm on my laptop at the moment eating lunch while losing papers...

Plec · 7 Oct 2009 at 13:17

Credo said:
What would be very nice is if someone has calibrated theirs and could post the settings?

Brightness 10

Contrast 70

Sharpness ~45

The first 2 settings are pretty standard and suit the majority of users - within about 10% of the values given. Sharpness i still muck about with but i never go below 40 and not above 50.

Credo · 7 Oct 2009 at 13:56

Glad my public decision crisis has helped others in the same boat!

Leviathon - I'd grab one now as it's cheap and may go out of stock after everyone's read this thread!

Plec,

My last request would possibly be too rude to list here, but as it's a monitor forum, a 30" Dell would be high on the list!

I do feel I've been team tagged, but that helped, as your strong recommendation stuck in my head and gently pushed me in the direction of the 2209WA.

I hear you on the dead pixels and van crash - sod's law!

Thanks for your settings - pardon my asking, but are there no colour settings to tweak or is that it?

Oddly, yesterday I went on to a calibration website from work and had a go on my 19" Dell 1908 TN panel, and found myself bobbing my head around in order to see the colour charts properly. I stopped and thought "what the hell am I considering a TN panel for?". I then thought, if the 2209WA is on This Week Only then I'm buying...

And here we are!

ScHwONG · 7 Oct 2009 at 17:56

Sorry to slightly derail the thread but does anyone have any high quality shots of this monitor connected to a PS3? Is there anything wrong with the picture when playing PS3?
I'm probably going to get one, as it seems to be the best option as a person who works with Photoshop and the like almost every day but I just want to see how a PS3 looks on it.

Thanks.

Plec · 8 Oct 2009 at 01:14

Credo said:
Thanks for your settings - pardon my asking, but are there no colour settings to tweak or is that it?

Don't worry there are plenty of sub categories to fiddle with under 'colour settings'.

I tend to switch between the defaults and one of the presets: warm, cool, game, multimedia, standard and of course custom. I occasionally have a play with a custom set up but i'm fairly content with the standard mode coupled with the brightness, contrast and sharpness settings i use.

I hope you get a good'n - I will be keen to read your initial impressions. Also, keep in mind, if you're unimpressed, it's all andi's fault!

cmndr_andi · 8 Oct 2009 at 01:26

Plec said:
Also, keep in mind, if you're unimpressed, it's all andi's fault!

Quite right, i'll send you my mailing address for any flaming bags of poop.

Plec · 8 Oct 2009 at 01:32

ScHwONG said:
Sorry to slightly derail the thread but does anyone have any high quality shots of this monitor connected to a PS3? Is there anything wrong with the picture when playing PS3?
I'm probably going to get one, as it seems to be the best option as a person who works with Photoshop and the like almost every day but I just want to see how a PS3 looks on it.

Thanks.

I can't supply you with a pic as i don't own a ps3 - but i would have thought it would look great other than the fact that the pictrue would be slightly streched as it's a 16:10 monitor and it doesn't have aspect scaling.

Although you can get 16:9 monitors at 22" they tend to be TN panels and as a person that works with photoshop i wouldn't let 'slight picture stretch' when using the ps3 stop you from getting the best all round monitor for your needs.

You may want to consider creating your own thread as you'll probably get far more pertinent responses from members that have used this screen with the ps3.

ScHwONG · 8 Oct 2009 at 01:44

Yeah thanks for the reply, It doesn't really impact me at all I guess as Ill be mainly using the monitor for work stuff.

Definitely picking one up though, feedback on it just seems good throughout so I hope its as good as everyone says (moving from a CRT so it better be good

)

Plec · 8 Oct 2009 at 01:49

cmndr_andi said:
Quite right, i'll send you my mailing address for any flaming bags of poop.

Hehe.

I should clarify, if i do get apportioned some blame, despite my best efforts to put it all on my friend the commander, i would rather have a disgruntled post outlining your disappointments as opposed to hand delivered, burning parcels of faeces!

(why am i still awake?)

Plec · 8 Oct 2009 at 02:02

ScHwONG said:
Yeah thanks for the reply, It doesn't really impact me at all I guess as Ill be mainly using the monitor for work stuff.

Np, I hope it does itself justice.

ScHwONG said:
(moving from a CRT so it better be good )

It's a superb monitor but remember you're coming from a totally different beast so be a little forgiving (if required) when comparing it to your CRT.

But, not to worry, if it doesn't meet expectation; form an orderly line, with your bag of flaming ****, outside andi's house and leave your disgruntled post here for me

Maximum Triceratops · 8 Oct 2009 at 09:23

Plec said:
Np, I hope it does itself justice.

It's a superb monitor but remember you're coming from a totally different beast so be a little forgiving (if required) when comparing it to your CRT.

But, not to worry, if it doesn't meet expectation; form an orderly line, with your bag of flaming ****, outside andi's house and leave your disgruntled post here for me

I moved from a CRT (Iyama Visionmaster Pro) and I was still blown away

I am also an avid FPS gamer and it surpassed all my expectations, it realy is a great monitor.

Credo · 8 Oct 2009 at 13:36

22B said:
I moved from a CRT (Iyama Visionmaster Pro) and I was still blown away I am also an avid FPS gamer and it surpassed all my expectations, it realy is a great monitor.

Good to hear!

I've taken delivery of my new baby at work, and tried it on my (rather crap) works laptop. It won't pick up the correct resolution, and therefore looks a bit rubbish - soft and stretched, so no ability to test at all apart from how nicely built it is - 100% agree on all the positive comments in this regard.

The default brightness didn't strike me as terrible, I have lowered to 10 as per Plec's post, but again no test on a duff resolution. I'll see what my 4870 makes of it later!

One other point - Plec suggested sharpness at 45, but I can only select 40 or 50?

Plec · 8 Oct 2009 at 13:51

Credo said:
One other point - Plec suggested sharpness at 45, but I can only select 40 or 50?

Yes, sorry re-reading my post it is a bit ambiguos. My use of the ~ 'roughly similar' symbol was a little confusing.

I meant that i use either 40 or 50 setting and don't go above or below these values - i'm using 40.

Have you done a pixel test?

Credo · 8 Oct 2009 at 13:59

Packed it back away in the box for now due to cack laptop. Couldn't see any obvious dead pixels - is there a more formal way of testing?

Plec · 8 Oct 2009 at 14:16

I used this - link - it rotates screens of different solid blocks of colour (or you could use differing solid blocks of colour as a desktop background - but the d/l tool is far quicker.)

I think it has a tool to help remove stuck pixels too...

EDIT: There's also a free app called 'dead pixel buddy' - i've never used it but i suspect it does more or less the same as the above app.

Credo · 8 Oct 2009 at 15:08

Minor update. I've plugged it in to a slightly less cack Dell desktop, and that picked up the resolution fine. Wow! What a lot of space, I'm actually surprised how much real estate over my 19" work monitor this screen has. Only connected through VGA, but lovely display, no dead pixels (using pure blue screen to test) and very uniform so far. I guess I've not tested well for stuck pixels (at least blue ones -if indeed one does have blue pixels?).

More pleased now, the 4870 awaits!

Sycho · 8 Oct 2009 at 15:18

I am glad you picked that monitor as IPS panels sure are damn good even for gaming....i just played Assassin's Creed on mine and the picture is flawless.

I suggest trying some vibrant coloured games like Mirror's Edge for example will produce results of what these panels are capable of.