[H]ot? Warm? Samsung G8 OLED 175hz 34" UW $899

[NattyKathy]

Amazon Link

I haven't been following street prices on these so I'm not sure how good this deal actually is, but 40% off MSRP seems like a lot

 

[StoleMyOwnCar]

I think you've got a nonfunctioning link. Here:
Amazon Link

But you can also get it cheaper at BH Photo Video. Here's a list of monitors on PCPartpicker, btw, filtered down to curved OLED screens that are at least 120Hz (I have this ready because I've been staring at it most of the day).
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#C=1&D=120000,540000&sort=price&P=7,9
Some stuff is also a bit cheaper like the Alienware monitor, but I'm sure this one has some advantages over it; looks like a different panel, maybe.

Edit: Here's the BH link fwiw:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1731457-REG/samsung_ls34bg850snxza_odyssey_oled_g8_34.html

 

[NattyKathy]

I think you've got a nonfunctioning link. Here:
Amazon Link

Thanks for the heads-up! Fixed the link.

But you can also get it cheaper at BH Photo Video. Here's a list of monitors on PCPartpicker, btw, filtered down to curved OLED screens that are at least 120Hz (I have this ready because I've been staring at it most of the day).
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#C=1&D=120000,540000&sort=price&P=7,9
Some stuff is also a bit cheaper like the Alienware monitor, but I'm sure this one has some advantages over it; looks like a different panel, maybe.

Edit: Here's the BH link fwiw:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1731457-REG/samsung_ls34bg850snxza_odyssey_oled_g8_34.html

I'm pretty sure I read that the G8 and the Alienware AW3423 have the same panel, but ofc that doesn't mean their images will be the same.

The consensus from reviewers seems to be that the G8 and AW3423 (both the "DW" G-Sync and "DWF" Freesync versions) are basically tied for "best 34 inch OLED Ultrawide". Tom's and RTings didn't really pick a clear winner between the two while Tim at HW Unboxed / Monitors Unboxed gave a slight edge to the Samsung in his most recent Monitor Roundup.

I've done a bit research, here's what I've gathered re: Alienware vs Samsung 34" UW OLED

- Samsung has more reports of firmware issues and bugs than Alienware but ppl have had issues with both
- Samsung has user-upgradable firmware, Alienware requires RMA for firmware updates
- Alienware has a fan (maybe only in the G-Sync version? Not sure) while Samsung is passive
- Samsung has slightly better HDR image
- Samsung has better support for simultaneous high color depth + high refresh rate
- Alienware has full-size ports while Samsung only has miniDP / miniHDMI for some reason
- Samsung has Type-C Alt-Mode inputs with Power Delivery, Alienware does not
- Alienware has a Type-A USB hub, Samsung does not
- Alienware is a regular monitor while Samsung has Wireless Display and "Smart TV" features including integrated Game Pass (Samsung login is needed for the "Smart" features though, common Sammy L)
- Alienware stand has more adjustability
- Samsung stand takes up less desk space

 

[StoleMyOwnCar]

- Alienware has a fan (maybe only in the G-Sync version? Not sure) while Samsung is passive

I wouldn't be surprised if it was only for the G-Sync version. afaik unless this has changed, G-Sync still requires a dedicated FPGA module to support it. This (also afaik) still gives it some distinct advantages over Freesync, but it's a bit more complicated. So you hear of all sorts of firmware issues and crap on G-Sync monitors occasionally because they're running weird custom implementations (or something, idk I've been out of the monitor game for a long time now). For what it's worth, I would prefer a good G-Sync implementation over Freesync since I primarily go Nvidia these days. Not much point in paying the same price for even slightly less functionality. But my current monitors are Freesync.

On the other hand I've read some reports of the monitors with fans being extremely loud.

- Samsung has user-upgradable firmware, Alienware requires RMA for firmware updates

I've read some conflicting reports about this. Namely, some people say that firmware updates can break these monitors. They seem to be kind of forced(?) and only happen once every half year, which means if a firmware update breaks the monitor you're screwed for quite a while. I might be thinking of another Samsung, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. My S23 Ultra has recently gotten an update that seems to have made things slightly worse...

- Alienware stand has more adjustability

- Samsung stand takes up less desk space

I wouldn't worry about this. I think both of them should have mount holes for monitor arms on the back, and they can be had quite cheap:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=monitor+arm
Even the 20$ ones would work just fine if aiming to save space. I would get one of the ones with the poles for height adjustment. If you can afford one of these, you can certainly afford $20-40 for a cheap monitor arm. I'm using several of these cheap ones and they work just fine. One interesting setup is getting a long pole with dual mounts and putting one monitor above the other.

Anyway, I saw one of these in person though (I think it was the Dell) at Best Buy earlier, and I don't know if it's the pixel matrix, but I couldn't really stand the text on it. Might be the burn in prevention mechanism combined with the pixel matrix. It's unfortunate. I also think I just want a larger display than 34" to upgrade to honestly, since my current inexpensive ultrawides are 35". I like big screens, but I want a curve and I don't want something TV-size without a curve. Also OLED since idc to upgrade from LED to another LED.

 

[StoleMyOwnCar]

For anyone heavily considering this monitor, here's something interesting:

View: https://youtu.be/Fa7V_OOu6B8?si=7J_fvtXiTPBwFw-h&t=667
Looks like Samsung released a firmware update for this that reduced brightness? Anyway, the whole video is interesting to me, though.

I didn't realize that burn in would be that noticeable on these over time, even with their correction cycles. I think I'm gonna just stay away from OLED monitors a bit longer. Granted, they're using max brightness. I actually use most of my monitors at relatively low brightness, so I wonder how it compares over time, for say, 25-50% brightness.

 

[NattyKathy]

For anyone heavily considering this monitor, here's something interesting:

View: https://youtu.be/Fa7V_OOu6B8?si=7J_fvtXiTPBwFw-h&t=667
Looks like Samsung released a firmware update for this that reduced brightness? Anyway, the whole video is interesting to me, though.

I didn't realize that burn in would be that noticeable on these over time, even with their correction cycles. I think I'm gonna just stay away from OLED monitors a bit longer. Granted, they're using max brightness. I actually use most of my monitors at relatively low brightness, so I wonder how it compares over time, for say, 25-50% brightness.

Yeah, the burn-in is definitely a concern in general. This is not the monitor to get for general desktop use, it's a gaming panel through and through.

I'm personally not too worried about burn-in because my setup is suited for the limitations:



Black desktop background with Taskbar auto-hide and icons, Explorer windows, and web browsing on the secondary (IPS) panel, plus game UI disabled, is pretty much best case scenario for an OLED and I've already been running that way for years.

The G8 arrived yesterday evening and so far, WOW. Stunning image and motion quality in games. Absolutely smokes the cheap VA ultrawide I'd been using (that one was embarrassingly bad) and easily surpasses the 4K60 IPS on the left that was my main panel for a couple years.

 

[Captain Newmackwa]

The G8 arrived yesterday evening and so far, WOW. Stunning image and motion quality in games. Absolutely smokes the cheap VA ultrawide I'd been using (that one was embarrassingly bad) and easily surpasses the 4K60 IPS on the left that was my main panel for a couple years.

Does your OLED G8 wake up from stand-by properly?

In my case, I find it annoying that I have to always remember to press the home button on the remote every time to manually wake up my G8. In very rare occasions, after exiting a game in full screen exclusive mode, the monitor loses connection with the display port and I have to press the ctrl + shift + win + b for the monitor to reconnect.

 

[NattyKathy]

Does your OLED G8 wake up from stand-by properly?

In my case, I find it annoying that I have to always remember to press the home button on the remote every time to manually wake up my G8. In very rare occasions, after exiting a game in full screen exclusive mode, the monitor loses connection with the display port and I have to press the ctrl + shift + win + b for the monitor to reconnect.

I haven't experienced the "wake-from-standby" issue, at least not yet. I have it set to auto-detect input and when I turn the PC on or switch resolution it picks it up right away. Using the miniDP-DP cable that came with the panel on Radeon 7900XT and Arc A770- haven't tried it on my 3090Ti yet, dunno if GPU makes a difference. Mine came with Firmware 1520 installed and I haven't tried updating and haven't connected the wifi since I'm not sure I care about the "smart" features.