Samsung's 27" PLS - worth the extended wait?

C

Cyane

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
143
Hi There,

Ok, so I've skimmed through the few threads regarding monitor, and most have turned into arguments on the AG coating and the supposed terrible backlight bleed. Anyone have info regarding the release date for US and Canada? Is all the hype worth the wait? I've been patiently waiting since the official announcement of this monitor and I'm pretty tired of waiting. I've been stuck with this old 17", 4:3 NEC for so long now and my patience is running very thin. Is it worth waiting for this lengthy delay or is there another monitor similar in specs and price point?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers!
 
what delay are u talking about, the 27" PLS monitor have been available and instock for months in the usa:D
 
thead said:
what delay are u talking about, the 27" PLS monitor have been available and instock for months in the usa:D
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Forgot to mention, I'm actually in Canada and I haven't seen 1 retailer that carries this monitor. Still would like to know if it lives up to the hype and if it is worth it... and if there is anything better around the same price point.

Also, can you list these retailers because my search comes up empty.

Cheers!
 
That's the only retailer found by pricebat.ca, Shopbot.ca finds 2 more but they charge more.

The QC seems terrible so I would wait for some real reviews to show up to see if it will be worth getting later/playing the exchange game for a good unit once some local retailers like Best Buy or NC1X with decent exchange/return policies.
 
What I don't understand is - if this monitor is already out and people have them, why aren't there any decent reviews yet? You'd think sites like tftcentral would have had a review up in the same week. As for Best Buy, if the price is already around $820 for PCCanada, I don't even want to imagine what the price would be at Best Buy the way their prices are.

The wait is taking a toll, need to finally move on from this 17", 4:3 aspect panel, lol.

Cheers!
 
820$ isn't expensive compared the the Dell U2711 which sells for 900$ and uses the terrible AG coating.

NClX will price match any one, I would wait until they get them and pay for their 30 Express Coverage which lets you exchange it for any reason.
 
Cyane said:
Thanks NCX, is that the only Canadian retailer you're aware of or? Also, your thoughts about the monitor itself?

Thanks again.

Cheers!
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They're actually a good retailer. They used to have a nice retail location in south west Toronto, but they closed it up and went all on-line.

Here's another one (also OOS)

http://www.1c2c.com/ecuisp/~1c2c/lec/plugin/index/framePage.jsp?location=../product/Hardware+Monitor-Display+LCD-17in-Samsung-LS27A850DS-ZA-27IN-DUAL-MODE-WS-LCD-2560X1440-1000:1-S27A850D-5MS/productDetail.jsp?productId=996274&vendorname=Samsung&vendorpartno=LS27A850DS-ZA&productname=27IN-DUAL-MODE-WS-LCD-2560X1440-1000:1-S27A850D-5MS

And another (OOS)
http://www.greytech.com/
 
Yeah I think I'll wait for stores like NC1X to get it in stock so I can return it if I don't like it. My only issue with NC1X is, they take a long time to get products that are new in stock, at least, from my experience, but it could just have been that particular item. Never tried their Express Coverage option though.

I'm also curious about the 24" version, mainly the price and how it compares to the 27" version. The 27" would have to upscale things like Blu-Ray movies to the native 2560x1440 resolution. Wouldn't that make things a tad blurry?

Thanks.

Cheers!
 
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If I'm not mistaken, most higher-end video cards can perform 1:1 scaling regardless of the monitor used - and you'd need such an upscale card to drive this monitor properly anyway.

Tak Ne said:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/samsung-s27a850d-sa850-27in_Monitor_review

Review of the 27" version
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Wow, that's the most positive review of the monitor I've seen yet, especially as regards the backlighting issue. I'm not sure I totally believe their take on it, but at least this is one more source suggesting it's a minimal problem at worst.
 
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Topaz said:
If I'm not mistaken, most higher-end video cards can perform 1:1 scaling regardless of the monitor used - and you'd need such an upscale card to drive this monitor properly anyway.



Wow, that's the most positive review of the monitor I've seen yet, especially as regards the backlighting issue. I'm not sure I totally believe their take on it, but at least this is one more source suggesting it's a minimal problem at worst.
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Yes, you can set GPU scaling with both nVidia and ATI cards, and since the monitor is already 16:9, if someone wants to hook up a console or player to it, there should be no issue with improper aspect ratio.

The review is nearly all subjective with zero objective information. I will take their word for it that they do absolutely like the screen, but I'd wait for a more experienced site to give us their take on it before I would wholeheartedly recommend it.

It looks as though they did get a good unit, which bodes well.
 
I just posted my initial impressions of the 24" model that I received today to the S24A850DW thread.

I'll test the backlight later when I don't have light streaming through the blinds.
 
NM156 said:
I'll test the backlight later when I don't have light streaming through the blinds.
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If you have the time and patience could you please test the backlight at a few contrast settings? The article suggests its a contrast issue people might be having. I thought testing at different settings might help.
 
Adjusting the contrast had no effect on the backlight bleed.

I think the reviewer was measuring contrast in a bright spot on the screen (caused by backlight uniformity issues), which is why his value was so low.
 
Hi all.

Been lurking a while now, checking out info on this monitor. I decided to order it and got it today, so I thought I should give my impressions. FWIW as I'm in no way an expert with fancy ways of calibrating such a beast.

My biggest fear was the backlight bleeding and, although I have to wait until it gets dark, it seems to a non issue. I can barely see two small blobs to the left and right of the menu buttons.

Still playing around with it but so far I'm down to just 35 in brightness and it seems fine but it might change. Not had a chance to figure out any issues with colours yet.
 
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