Sony SDM-HS95P/B - Any better 19" for less?

[tluxon]

My wife says she wants a 19" LCD monitor to replace her trusty ol' 17" Sony Triniton CRT (CDP-G200, I believe).

So last night the whole family went down to Fry's Electronics and spent over an hour looking at LCD monitors. Nothing really impressed us all that much except for the new Sony SDM-HS95P/B (<A HREF="http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=SDMHS95P/B&CategoryName=cpu_Displays_FlatPanelLCDs_18"&DCMP=CNET_DF&HQS=MT_SDMHS95P/B" target="_new">http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=SDMHS95P/B&CategoryName=cpu_Displays_FlatPanelLCDs_18"&DCMP=CNET_DF&HQS=MT_SDMHS95P/B</A>). It was bright and fast and photos and game video looked great, but most importantly my wife really liked the readability of text. She says it was much easier on her eyes than what she has now.

Well, I don't like to buy anything cheap especially when it comes to monitors, but this beauty was $699 and since it's so new there's not much competition to pull the price down.

I'm not sure how much you guys might know about this new monitor, but are there other comparable or better monitors out there for less than $699?

I like Viewsonic's dead pixel policy better than Sony's - do they have anything that compares favorably?

Much Thanks!

Tim

 

[palmerg]

Tom's just finished a review of 3 new 19's although only 2 are available here in the USA. Check:
<A HREF="http://graphics.tomshardware.com/display/20050215/index.html" target="_new">http://graphics.tomshardware.com/display/20050215/index.html</A>
Also a review of another pretty good 19" can be found right <A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/ce/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=20289#20289" target="_new">here</A> in this forum. The Hyundai goes for about $380.00. There might be others as well maybe a search would be in order

 

[tluxon]

I apologize, but I think my question was too vague to get the kind of feedback I'm looking for. I've read the reviews and looked through the thread on the Hyundai and I've searched the forum. Most of the analysis seems to be in relationship to playing games without motion artifacts, and my wife doesn't really care about that. I'll try to clarify what it is we're looking for in a monitor.

Specifically, my wife claims LCD monitors are easier on her eyes and I want to lower her screen to desktop level (it's currently at eye level) without taking away all her desktop space. I want to get her the largest monitor she has space for, but the limit seems to be right at about 19"-20". She does a lot of photo analysis and needs to read a lot of text of virtually every font and size. I guess I would equate what she does to desktop publishing. There may be an occasional game the kids will play when they hijack her computer, but that's not the primary need.

I'd rather buy more monitor for more money than less monitor for less, because I believe I generally get what I pay for, and I'd rather not be shopping for a new monitor in a short 2 or 3 years because of saving a few bucks now.

We really liked the brightness and glass-like appearance of the HS95's surface. Surprisingly enough, even in the brightly lit store there was no problem with glare. The kids were playing a full resolution fast moving game and it looked every bit as fast as on a CRT. Photos looked great and my wife commented on how easy text was to read.

I don't think these new Sonys have been out long enough to get many user reviews, but I was hoping to get feedback on other monitors that others felt were some of the best-looking once out there.

I hope this added background will generate more of the kind of response I was looking for.

Thanks,

Tim

 

[palmerg]

Well Ive seen the Sony's yes the new models and they are very nice.
1. I found the glare more than annoying in the Sony store I was in but that may be me or the placement of the panel
2. The Sony's are lower to the desktop than most. Which seems to be a criteria for you. I own a Hyundai and it will only get you within 6" of the desk.
3. I didn't find the colors more vibrant or the text rendering any more exceptional than the Hyundai or the viewsonic VP201 (20" at about $699.00) I looked at personally.
4. I wasn't aware that the Sony pivioted which may be a nice addition for one who uses the monitor for DTP. The viewsonic and Hyundai do have that feature but I beleive the Viewsonic came out on top.
5. Build quality on all, IMO, is quite good
6. Viewsonic may appear a bit "softer" colorwise. As you may have read the Hyundai uses a Samsung TN (Twisted Neumonic) panel which displays 16.2 (as does the Sony) rather than a more "normal" 16.7 million colors. Althought it has no effect for my use it may present some differences to your wife in her photo analysis.
Bottom line is that you would no doubt be better off really looking at an array of monitors and making your choice that way. My opinions are just that....

Good luck!

 

[tluxon]

I don't think the Sony pivots, but I'm not sure how important that is to my wife.

We saw the VP201 and thought it was perfect, but it was taller than our available space would allow. I've since found several monitors that we liked a lot, but all seem to have a shortcoming that scores it lower for us than the VP201. I'm planning to make a few changes that should permit the VP201 to work for us, so we're planning to pick one up at Costco today.

I'll report back after we've tried it in place.

Thanks,

Tim

 

[palmerg]

Just in case you ever need the pivot feature (allowing the viewer to see whole pages of documents and more web page viewing) whatever mods you are making might want to accomodate the hight of the monitor when fully pivoted.
Wasn't sure but I thought the costco sold a repackaged VP201 as a VX2000 (no speakers and USB).
Good luck. Look forward to hearing your report.

 

[tluxon]

Yes, Costco re-labels the VP201s as a VX2000, but when I went in they had raised the price from $699 to $749, which was just enough to make me double-check other options. So then we ran down to Fry's Electronics.

When we took another good look at the VP201 next to the Samsung 193P, we came away thinking the Samsung looked a little better built. They had the 193P for $600 after $50 rebate which seems very good compared to the price at Newegg.

However, looking at other's prices on the net I saw that J&R has it for only $500 after a $100 rebate (<A HREF="http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3967280" target="_new">http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3967280</A>). I wonder how they can do it for so much less than everyone else? Should I be concerned that these might be second=tier units? Ones more likely to have dead pixels?

For that price, it would be hard to pass up the 193P even with a slower 20ms response time. Isn't there another Samsung monitor that has similar visual quality but a faster response time?

Thanks,

Tim

 

[palmerg]

You might try one of these other review sites for LCDs . They may help to narrow your selection criteria:
<A HREF="http://www.lcd-monitor-reviews.com/" target="_new">http://www.lcd-monitor-reviews.com/</A>
<A HREF="http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1738,1409036,00.asp" target="_new">http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1738,1409036,00.asp</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newbie.net/computer_monitors/" target="_new">http://www.newbie.net/computer_monitors/</A>
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/" target="_new">http://www.anandtech.com/</A>

 

[asgallant]

Part of the reason J&R sells them for less is because they have a terrible return policy (IIRC, you can't return the monitor at all once it has been taken out of the box, no matter what the reason). I almost bought my Samsung 173P from them for ~$375, until I uncovered their return policy, at which point I opted to buy from <A HREF="http://shop.upgradesource.com" target="_new">Upgrade Source</A>. They charge a bit more (and it can be a pain to find stuff on their website sometimes) but you can return anything you buy for just about any reason whatsoever (and they have free shipping on everything they sell). They carry the <A HREF="http://shop.upgradesource.com/product_info.php?cPath=226_227&products_id=599" target="_new">193P </A> for $638. Or you could go with the absolutely gorgeous <A HREF="http://shop.upgradesource.com/product_info.php?cPath=226_227&products_id=573" target="_new">213T</A> for $856. Neither of these monitors will disappoint a user who is more concerned with image quality than speed, and doesn't mind paying for it.

 

[tluxon]

Thanks, that was exactly my concern about J&R.

There's a CompUSA within a mile or so of my house that should pricematch Fry's price for the 193P of $600 after rebate, so I think I'll try that first. They have an extended replacement guarantee with a zero bad pixel policy and even if I didn't buy the extended policy I can still bring it back in for full refund within 21 days.

So the 213T really looks that good? Is the 25ms response time very painful on moving windows and objects?

Thanks,

Tim

 

[palmerg]

With 25ms you won't have any problems with operations in windows at all. Only frame rates from the most demanding games will cause you problems. No problems with movie playback either. Of course your video adapter is a factor there as well, but since games isn't a concern in your analysis this will not be a problem.

 

[tluxon]

Thanks to the link you provided for AnandTech, I found the review they had on the Dell UltraSharp 1905FP. Not only does it have the same panel as the Samsung 193P, but it has hardware adjustment of the display settings, which I think I'll prefer.

Through xpbargains, I found a couple coupon codes that brought the price down to $368 (<A HREF="http://www.xpbargains.com/index.php/send_deal/32500" target="_new">http://www.xpbargains.com/index.php/send_deal/32500</A> for $529 - 20% off coupon - $55 coupon = $368 w/ free shipping), so I've already ordered it.

Now that I got that for my wife for such a bargain, I'm tempted to add another order for the Dell UltraSharp 2005FP (similar savings) for myself!

Thanks for the tips!

Tim

 

[palmerg]

Wow Great Deal! Thanks for the link to Xbargins.
Hope you and your wife enjoy!

 

[linewizardiam]

I have not seen any professional reviews of this monitor it is a Sony SDM-HS95P February 05 build. I have been using a 19" Viewsonic CRT for the last five years and it was starting to show its' age. So for about the last year I have been testing LCD's I have come away dissapointed from every 19" LCD monitor I have tried regardless of price. I went to Best Buy the other day to look at a new Samsung 8ms 19" lcd that had great reviews and the specs looked great on paper. When I got to the store I saw this new monitor it is unbeliveable my only concern was it has a 12 ms response time. I have had it for two days now and can not speak highly enough about it excellent brightness, contrast, blacks, and picture detail it is a joy to look at. I play some games NFSU2, HL2, UT, Quake, MOH, I am running this monitor in its' native resolution 1280/1024 on a high end pc with a gforce 6800gt hooked up dvi-d and I have seen no ghosting or motion blur which was the reason I took all of the other monitors back within 48 hours of purchase. Again I would really like to see a proffessional review on this monitor but regardless it has passed my test and I am keeping it. If you get a chance to look at one do youself a favor and do so. Best Buy and most merchants that carry it are selling it for $699.00 and there is also a $100.00 mail in rebate.
Good Luck To All Searching For A Great LCD To Replace Your CRT I know it is not easy to do especially if you like games.

Linewizard

 

[Lonewolf19]

Get the Sony, trust me. Just recently went thru the pains of researching and buying a 19" LCD. I'm a huge fan of sony displays. Own a sony viao which I believe has the best looking LCD on a laptop. The sony LCD I got for my desktop is impeccable. Everyone who comes over and sees it is impressed. I have not found any problems with the sony LCD written about elsewhere on this forum. I play tons of high quality graphic games (doom3, HL2, etc.) and its great.

 

[palmerg]

You obviously really like the Sony. That's fine but you should read the thread. The poster bought his LCD in late Feb.