Has anyone seen a Samsung 204B in a Brick-and-Mortar store?

[deadken]

I had another thread in regards to what would be a good LCD monitor for me to get. After much consideration, I am seriously leaning towards a Samsung 204B.

My problem is that since I am going from a CRT to an LCD I really want to see it in person before buying it (quite possible right from that store). I haven't been able to locate one at: Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, etc... Does anyone know of a retailer that has these? I live on Long Island in NY, so it would have to be a chain that has locations here (no Fry's, etc...).

Thanks in advance for any help, and please feel free to comment how you like yours if you own one.

-Ken

 

[NeezyDeezy]

I've seen one and all is good, except maybe viewing angle, but who cares right.

 

[deadken]

At a store? Or a friends, etc... The entire purpose of this thread was to locate a retailer near me that has them.

BTW: The link to locate a retailer on the Samsung website isn't working.

 

[Aries64]

Originally posted by: deadken
I had another thread in regards to what would be a good LCD monitor for me to get. After much consideration, I am seriously leaning towards a Samsung 204B.

My problem is that since I am going from a CRT to an LCD I really want to see it in person before buying it (quite possible right from that store). I haven't been able to locate one at: Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, etc... Does anyone know of a retailer that has these? I live on Long Island in NY, so it would have to be a chain that has locations here (no Fry's, etc...).

Thanks in advance for any help, and please feel free to comment how you like yours if you own one.

-Ken

Hey Ken,

I'm in Los Angeles, so I can't help you with a local retailer in NY, but I have a Silver 204B (Matches my Silver Lian Li V1000!) that I bought last week as an upgrade from my 172X. Great monitor. Clean design with very thin (approximately 9/16") bezel all around. Small round unobtrusive front panel controls. No dead/stuck pixels (this is my third Samsung LCD and I've never had any issues), good physical adjustability (height is adjustable 4", and screen pivots for vertical viewing). Very bright with excellent contrast.

Front panel controls make it very easy and fast to adjust monitor color/contrast through the MagicTune 3.6 software. This is very handy - there are settings for Custom, Text, Internet, and Game. In terms of preset brightness levels they go from least bright to brightest in this order: Text, Internet, Game. Obviously, the Custom setting is adjustable to your preference; it also has two suboptions for Movie and Sport, the Movie option being really bright (100 percent by default). Hope this helps.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that color reproduction is very excellent - about as good as I've seen on high-end CRTs'. Viewed photos are very sharp and have excellent contrast even in shadows.

Note: Lots of places are selling the 204B for $529.99 (before a $30.00 Mail-In Rebate).

 

[deadken]

Thanks for the info. I haven't seen any websites with it for less then $550 shipped. Please let me know where you have seen it for less ($500 after MIR sounds GREAT!). I might have to just take the leap and order it from somewhere, but I really feel more comfortable seeing it in person first.

-Ken

EDIT: Are you talking about the 204t? Those I have seen cheaper then the 204b, all over. But the response time is significantly less then the 204b (16ms Vs. 5ms).

 

[Aries64]

Originally posted by: deadken
Thanks for the info. I haven't seen any websites with it for less then $550 shipped. Please let me know where you have seen it for less ($500 after MIR sounds GREAT!). I might have to just take the leap and order it from somewhere, but I really feel more comfortable seeing it in person first.

-Ken

EDIT: Are you talking about the 204t? Those I have seen cheaper then the 204b, all over. But the response time is significantly less then the 204b (16ms Vs. 5ms).

Hmmm....Well in California you can find it in several retail locations for $500-$550 after rebate, but that doesn't help you.

The cheapest I've seen it online is at Outpost.com ($529.99 before $30.00 Mail-In Rebate). The 204B is available in Silver abd Black from Outpost.com (Fry's Electronics online store). Here's the link to the Outpost.com page on the 204B:

http://shop1.outpost.com/search?search_...ring=204B&cat=&submit.x=21&submit.y=13

Here is a link to PriceGrabber.com:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getp...romo_id=1/masterid=16158389/promo_id=1

 

[deadken]

Ahhh.... That is why I couldn't find it, it is a OUTPOST rebate, not valid anywhere else. I get the weekly sales e-mailed to me from Outpost/Fry's and that monitor wasn't listed.

Anyway, I ordered it! I can't go wrong for what will work out to be $50 cheaper then others. Yes, I paid $12 in S+H, but it still will be $37 cheaper then NewEgg, which is where I was gonna order it from if I couldn't find it local.

The rebate ends tomorrow, so I had to act a little faster then I would have liked. I have ordered from Frys/Outpost.com already, and I didn't have any problems, so I didn't hestiate to order again.

Thanks for the info. I didn't get to 'see' it in person, but I did save almost $50 and got it from a site that I have already dealt with. I feel good about everything so far. I will post back and let everyone know when I get it/test it!

-Ken

 

[Balex99]

Just found it at Bestbuy. I know its a little late. I am the same way. Wanted to see it and be able to take it back if not happy. Mine looks great. no dead pixels so far. BB had it for $529 so cant complain.

 

[deadken]

UGHH... They must have just gotten them in. I had looked there before I bought it online (just before I made this thread). Well, I didn't have a bad experience with Outpost.com, but I would have rather seen it/bought it locally. Ahhh... Who knows, when it came time to pay the $45 sales tax (530x8.5) I might have left it in the store and bought it online anyway.... Then, again, If I get the $30 MIR, I will have saved about $63 over buying it a BestBuy ($75 - $12 S+H).

Thanks for the info. Now I can direct friends where to get this SWEET monitor.

-Ken

 

[Aries64]

Originally posted by: deadken
UGHH... They must have just gotten them in. I had looked there before I bought it online (just before I made this thread). Well, I didn't have a bad experience with Outpost.com, but I would have rather seen it/bought it locally. Ahhh... Who knows, when it came time to pay the $45 sales tax (530x8.5) I might have left it in the store and bought it online anyway.... Then, again, If I get the $30 MIR, I will have saved about $63 over buying it a BestBuy ($75 - $12 S+H).

Thanks for the info. Now I can direct friends where to get this SWEET monitor.

-Ken

Glad you like your new 204B Ken. I am just getting my PC back up and running after trying to cheat in my switch-over from an (MSI) K8N Neo2 PE to a K8N Neo4 PE in order to run my new VisionTek X1900XT-X. I tried to keep my Windows 2000 Pro on my system so I would have to format and re-install, but I had so many programs that weren't compatable with the "new" mobo I finally decided to bite the bullet and low-level format all my drives and go XP Pro.

The good news is that I can finally install (and use) my X-Fi Extreme Music card I bought months ago. I still don't have the XT-X running yet - I haven't even been able to get a video signal from with the XT-X in the new mobo, so I had to pop-in an old 32-bit PCI 16MB Matrox Millenium II card in order to get video and start re-installing everything. Hopefully, after I update the mobo BIOS and Windows XP I can get the mobo to recognize the XT-X in the PCIe slot. I want my Halo at 1600x1200 already!

 

[BluePhaze]

So is the 204b better than the 214T? The 214T is 21.3 inch, 8ms response and 1600x1200 native. I can find it for about 689. Just trying to get some good input on wich one to buy. I have about 7-800 to spend on it.

 

[deadken]

Originally posted by: Aries64
..... I am just getting my PC back up and running after trying to cheat in my switch-over from an (MSI) K8N Neo2 PE to a K8N Neo4 PE in order to run my new VisionTek X1900XT-X..... I finally decided to bite the bullet and low-level format all my drives and go XP Pro.

The good news is that I can finally install (and use) my X-Fi Extreme Music card..... I still don't have the XT-X running yet ...... Hopefully, after I update the mobo BIOS and Windows XP I can get the mobo to recognize the XT-X in the PCIe slot. I want my Halo at 1600x1200 already!

Wow, I wish you the best of luck. I had a few 'glitches' (I still hate EA), but have mostly overcome them all. Quite possibly that BEST news is that the 'dead' pixel I had must have just been 'stuck' on black. Because now it is completly gone, the monitor seems PERFECT! I am still looking for a free program to determine if I have any stuck/dead pixels, but for now, it certainly doesn't seem so! (wordpad is fine to look for any dead pixels, and paint can help spot a stuck one).

Originally posted by: BluePhaze
So is the 204b better than the 214T? The 214T is 21.3 inch, 8ms response and 1600x1200 native. I can find it for about 689. Just trying to get some good input on wich one to buy. I have about 7-800 to spend on it.

YHPM. In a nutshell, I can't say which is better because I haven't seen/used the 214T, but I will say to consider the fact that with the same resolution (1600x1200) for both monitors, that the 21" has the pixels spaced out more. If you want a larger picture, that is fine, if you think it will have the same clarity or detail, I would think you need to see them both for yourself. I considered getting a 19" LCD, but after finding out that they have the same resolution as a 17" and hearing some say that upon close viewing it looks like you are looking through a 'screen door', I moved up to the 20". I do realize that stretching a 17" to 19 inches will require bigger spacing then stretching a 20" to 21 inches. So please look at both yourself.

 

[n7]

I'd take the 204B over the 214T anyday.

You're not gaining anything but larger pixels on the 214T, & a higher price tag.


BTW, i use the 204B at werk...it's very nice, & better than my current 204T is, for much less too.

 

[WicKeD]

204b for 529.99 at Best Buy in Middletown NY... I am sure they are at a Best Buy near you!

 

[Cobalt]

Download Dead Pixel Buddy to search for dead/stuck pixels.