Just got my Samsung 181T LCD... (1 Viewer)

[Rob Speicher]

This is my first LCD. Before this one, on this computer, I had two Dell P991 CRTs (19") hooked up to the Ti4400. I swapped one out to put the 181T on the digital port.

I've been using it for a few minutes and I have two questions. This is supposed to be better for my eyes, right? Maybe I'm just adjusting to the 75Hz refresh rate stepping down from 85, but it's not that pleasing. It'll get better, right?

Also, since I use my computer about 50/50 between games and general stuff, I chose this LCD because it had some of the best reviews in terms of gaming. Weird thing though, I've noticed some slowdown while playing games. It seems like the video card slows down to accomodate the LCD. Even simple things like menus in Warcraft 3 dropping down and pulling up, it lags. Is there some setting I'm missing?

All my games play in the native resolution of 1280x1024, as is my desktop.

 

[Rob Speicher]

Both issues seemed to resolved themselves.

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

Try 60hz refresh. The vast majority of LCD panels work the best at this refresh rate, and most tend to look better at this rate. Also, try turning vert sync off as well, unless you experience tearing.

 

[Ted Lee]

rob -

i also have a ti4400 card and am considering a LCD.

would you mind giving your impressions of the "overall experience" so far? likes, dislikes, suggestions, etc?

also, any particular reason you chose the samsung vs. any other model?

i guess i'm just looking for 'real world' testimonies.

thx,

ted

 

[Rob Speicher]

So far it's been great, once I got used to the lower refresh rate (which, admittedly, hurt my eyes for an hour or two).

I started looking at it when someone on this forum said it was "So pretty it hurt." So I checked out some reviews.

Don't really notice a difference in general stuff like Web and e-mail, but turning on ClearType in Windows XP made a lot of difference in how everything looked.

DVDs look fantastic, the monitor has perfect blacks.

As far as gaming, I'm really happy. I don't notice any negative differences between this and my old P991. I just played Quake3 for 2+ hours and my eyes didn't hurt afterwards, that's a first I think.

If it's in your price range I'd definitely recommend it. And if you can spare $150 or so more, you can get its big brother the 191T which reviews seem to say is just as good.

Got it for $813 shipped at buy.com (~$806 retail - $10.00 off $150 coupon + $17 shipping).

 

[Ted Lee]

I started looking at it when someone on this forum said it was "So pretty it hurt."

lol - i think that was from a thread that i posted. that's why i was interested to see someone else had also purchased it. i'm going to have to definitely put this on my short-list.
it sounds like it's working well for games - that's cool. i'm not a big gamer, but i do play on occasion and i want to be sure the monitor handles. heck, if it handles quake, it should handle anything!
thanks for your thoughts...looks like you just cost me a grand!