Tom's Holiday Buyer's Guide 2008, Part 1

[Guest]

Welcome to the first installment in our six-part Tom's Holiday Buyer's Guide. In Part 1, two beautiful models help showcase some of our favorite no-hassle hardware gifts for 2008.

Tom's Holiday Buyer's Guide 2008, Part 1 : Read more

 

[ravenware]

Dell 3008WFP Ultrasharp 30"

, we can’t think of any computer user who wouldn’t be thrilled to get one.

Gamers. The 8ms response time is a little on the slow side.

 

[Portall]

Nope. You won't see difference between 8 and 4ms

 

[V3NOM]

well you can... CRT vs LCD is quite clear.

 

[cangelini]

I play on the prior year's model (3007) all the time without any problems. Don't pass up gaming on a 30" display without at least trying it for yourself!

 

[Guest]

Dual-link DVI does NOT need two seperate cables. HDMI's video component IS DVI. I'm amazed this slipped through and into the article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

 

[radnor]

Well, you will actually. If you ever seen them side by side you will notice the difference. 5ms seems to be the sweet spot.

 

[LazyGarfield]

Interesting article! I´m still looking for the two beautiful women but cant find them 😛

 

[Guest]

Just a word of warning to anyone purchasing this monitor and wanting to watch Blu-Ray titles on it. If you use DVI as your input it can not display Blu-Ray titles above 1920 x 1080. Now I know this is the native res on the monitor. But HDCP will fail if the monitor's resolution is set any higher than this. This is due to a design flaw in the monitor's chipset. This wouldn't be a problem if all it meant was you had to reset the resolution when you want to watch a movie, but the problem is, 1920 x 1080 is not the same aspect ratio as 2560 x 1600. So your picture is vertically stretched. I know this because I bought one and spent hours in forums and on the phone with Dell before finding this out. I returned the monitor, because at $2000, there's no excuse for buggy HDCP support over DVI.

 

[Guest]

what happened to the really cute girl you guys had last year ?

 

[xsamitt]

I think I'd take the 30 inch dell if it was free......Guess I won't be having one now for sure.lol.
8 mills is just to slow.And Leigon thanks for the heads up.

I do hope the new items to come are more interesting than this first round.

 

[Guest]

What happened to the great girl from last year? The blond on here looks strung out and or too gothy for a Christmas ad.

 

[Guest]

Ugly girls...

 

[zak_mckraken]

Ugly girls...

Oh really? Come on pal, let's see some pictures of your wife/girlfriend so we can compare. Well, assuming you have one of course.

 

[jameshan2k]

I usually don't go for blondes, but the blonde is quite nice....

 

[zak_mckraken]

About the response time, 8ms does seem a tad high but we have to be careful here. Most manufacturers will advertise their monitors as having a 2ms or 5ms response time. However, when you look at the charts, most of the time this response time is the maximum the monitor can reach during a dark scene or a low action gaming sequence. This is often not representative of an average use and the so-called 5ms monitor will most likely be around 6ms-7ms in everyday situations. Same thing applies for contrast since every manufacturer uses their own chart for measuring it. The best way to know how your monitor will perform in real life is to look at comparative charts made by neutral parties, like Tom's, who uses the same methods to compare response time, contrast and color fidelity with all monitors.

As for this particular Dell 3008WFP Ultrasharp 30", I have really no idea if it's suitable for movies and gaming or not. However, is Chris says it is, it's usually enough for me! Unfortunately, I just bought a Samsung T220 and it pleases me enough. Anyway, I do not have 2 grand to put on a monitor... yet.

 

[crockdaddy]

Both ladies are quite lovely. If I recall correctly wasn't it Tamara whom graced the last two years as the xmas model?

 

[xsamitt]

How do you find The Samsung T220 picture wise and lag?

 

[zak_mckraken]

How do you find The Samsung T220 picture wise and lag?

While not the "perfect" monitor, it's definitely one of the best (if not the best) 22 inches monitor around. The colors are rich and true, the contrast is sharp and I haven't notice any lag at all, although I only play World of Warcraft and watch some Divx. Still, the difference was amazing when I switched my old Philips 19" with it! I'm pretty sure the same quality would apply on a fast-paced FPS or a Blu-Ray HD movie. However, I would recommend the T240 if you intend to use your monitor to watch full HD content. Samsung also offer the same models with HD at the end (T220HD) which has a integrated tuner, if you're into that stuff.

 

[cruiseoveride]

blond++;

Santa Baby, a 30" Samsung TFT too, dark grey with a blond elf. I've been an awfully good girl.

 

[KITH]

I recently purchased the samsung t260hd it along with the t240hd are a couple of the only ways to get an hdtv with that small of a screen still with 1080p support.

 

[deadliest]

The blonde is ok but my god Alicia is WOW !!!
Cangelini you lucky bastard hehehehe

 

[pochacco007]

i liked last years model, and i'm not referring to the tech. btw, don't tell any of models that, it may turn them down.

 

[deadliest]

hahaaha

 

[rambo117]

Hey baby those "tv's" are nice you can come down my chimmney any time you want wink wink 😉