FP241VW - BenQ store has a refurb

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Perini

n00b
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Jul 5, 2008
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So, a refurbished FP241VW for $445 in the Clearance Shop. I always wish I knew what they mean by "refurbished" - anyhow, that's a pretty damn good price for that monitor from what I gather.

The new ones are backordered at the moment with no available date listed.

I guess I'd like some advice. What would most of you do? Wait for the new ones or save $50 on a refurb.
 
Actually I saw Perini's post on the "good, bad, ugly" of the DS, so I believe he returned it due to some strange quality-related issues (weird stripe up the left side of the screen).

Perini, I can't comment on what refurb means other than the monitor was returned to BenQ somehow or for some reason and they either fixed the issue, or the monitor was ok and they simply repackaged and re-certified it as operational to their "refurb" specs.

If there is a satisfaction guarantee where you can return the monitor with no questions asked for a period of time I would potentially do it, as long as you get the full warranty. If the full 3 year warranty is not intact, the $50.00 savings could potentially turn into $500.00 spending for a new monitor, and you are back to square one.

My only issue would be that the build date is post June 2007 so that you get the latest and best firmware in that unit.

Mine is December 2007 and it is pretty much as good as it gets as a multi-functional monitor (for PC, PS3, cable box, Xbox 360, etc...) with HD and PC devices, with my only reservations being color calibration over DVI and a slow OSD. It does not support full range HDMI like the V2400W, but it is still great with consoles and cable boxes, and input lag is very low over DVI (as you may see in Snowdog's "Input Lag measurement thread" here:

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1032785502&postcount=21

BenQ's policies are strange to me. I see the "brand new" FP241W on back order for $669.00 and the FP241VW refurb for $449.00 in the same list. The Canadian site has everything differently with the FP241W at $599.00 also listed as "brand new" in the "new" section.

Good luck.

Jonathan said:
I'd wait, but I thought you got the DoubleSight? ;)
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Thanks, 10e, as always.

It does not support full range HDMI like the V2400W...
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What do you mean by that? That seems kinda important because one of the functions of this display, for me, is to be hooked up to my HD-DVD player (for upscaling standard def DVDs).

Yeah, Jonathan, I had the Doublesight and loved it for the 2 hours it worked. When I called their technical support, not surprisingly they were unable to diagnose the problem.

I think I just got a bad one. Honestly, I'm tempted to wait for their new 26" to come out in August, which I might do. The only bad thing about the Doublesight, other than it being defective of course, was the friggin' size! I love how big it was but it was almost too much of a good thing. If I go with a 26" display, I'll need to get a keyboard tray so I can sit back about a foot or two farther than where I currently sit at my desk. :D
 
Sorry sometimes I don't fully explain stuff.

Full range HDMI is when a display can set, and display a color range of 0,0,0 to 255,255,255 vs. "normal" or limited range HDMI of 16,16,16, to 255,255,255 (ie. black to white). Most new TVs advertise the "full range" capability as HDMI deep color I believe.

I don't know about HD DVD or even BluRay players, but for example, the PS3 has a control for full or limited range HDMI. So with the FP241VW I set the PS3 to limited range and blacks on BluRay disks come out as proper black, and dark colors are mapped properly (with proper depth and no black crush). If the PS3 is set to Full Range HDMI then colors at the low end of the scale are compressed leading to loss of dark details or "crushed blacks".

DVI is full range on the FP241VW, but HDMI is not. You may want to look at your HD-DVD player and see what controls it has for this.

If you are doing this through an Xbox 360 you set it to "standard blacks" in the display section.

If not, let me know which player you have and I can check the manual to see if this is an issue for ya Perini.

In contrast, the V2400W has full range capabilities over HDMI and DVI.

Perini said:
Thanks, 10e, as always.



What do you mean by that? That seems kinda important because one of the functions of this display, for me, is to be hooked up to my HD-DVD player (for upscaling standard def DVDs).

Yeah, Jonathan, I had the Doublesight and loved it for the 2 hours it worked. When I called their technical support, not surprisingly they were unable to diagnose the problem.

I think I just got a bad one. Honestly, I'm tempted to wait for their new 26" to come out in August, which I might do. The only bad thing about the Doublesight, other than it being defective of course, was the friggin' size! I love how big it was but it was almost too much of a good thing. If I go with a 26" display, I'll need to get a keyboard tray so I can sit back about a foot or two farther than where I currently sit at my desk. :D
Click to expand...
 
I wish you the best of luck in finding what you like. You returned the V2400W before the DoubleSight right?
 
Yep. Bear in mind, I would have kept the Doublesight had it not been fucked up.

I'm still thinking about holding out for the new one. But the price of the FP241VW sounds just right. I also fully suspect the FP241 monitors are better for what I'm looking for than virtually *any* TN, including the V2400.
 
Considering that the FP241VW doesn't suffer from the one major issue with most MVA/PVA based monitors > input lag I can honestly say that I prefer it to any TN monitor that I have used to this point. There is horizontal gamma shift (most apparent with HardForums grey background) but it's fairly subtle and not too bothersome.

The G2400W/V2400W have been my favorite TNs because they are two of the few monitors that can display 1080p over HDMI with zero overscan and properly size 720p and 1080p with the right aspect ratio.

In this regard the FP241VW (ie. mine built December 2007) is better in the following ways:

1) Sizes 480p correctly over HDMI and component (V2400W/G2400W do not over HDMI)
2) Sizes Xbox 360 over VGA at 1920x1080 properly (V2400W/G2400W do not not over HDMI)
3) Displays 1080i better too (no hitching)

Realistically it is quite apparent this is a mature and refined product that probably doesn't get it's due because of issues attributed to older firmware/build dates (input lag, blackouts)

No monitor is perfect, but compared to the alternatives (Samsung 245T, Dell 2408WFP) it has fewer caveats and connectivity is up there with the best.

Perini said:
Yep. Bear in mind, I would have kept the Doublesight had it not been fucked up.

I'm still thinking about holding out for the new one. But the price of the FP241VW sounds just right. I also fully suspect the FP241 monitors are better for what I'm looking for than virtually *any* TN, including the V2400.
Click to expand...
 
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