Samsung 245BW 24" - questions!

[Kylt]

Good morning all,

My old 21" Sony Trinitron CRT died on Friday so I had to make an emergency monitor purchase (with a 2 week return policy). I picked up a Samsung 245BW Syncmaster LCD display at Future Shop for $399.99 (CA).

I have some questions though, hoping you could help me answer them. On this board I've seen some references to Samsung having two different manufacturing sites - one being TN and lower quality?

How exactly can I tell if my monitor is TN or not? Would it be on the label on the back?

Given that I have a return policy would there be a better 24" widescreen for gaming than this one? This one seems OK but it's my first LCD. I play alot of WOW and I've noticed some screen tearing, fixable by turning on vsync but then my FPS goes from like 180 to 61 :x (boo!).

Any help would be appreciated as always.

Kylt

[nightelph]

Thats what vsync does, syncs everything at 60. Not worth the trade off, imo. The 245BW is most definitely a TN panel. However that particular Sammy is a great value. If you can live with the viewing angles, then by all means do so. If you want a 24" thats not a TN, the price shoots up to ~$600 for a quality monitor (note my thread a little further down). To get to the 'hidden' menu to see the actual panel model number (to see if samsung made it), do this: Set contrast and brightness to [0]. Exit the menu. Re- enter the menu and hold the source button for five seconds. A new window pops up. I've owned four lcds, three of the sammys, including the 226bw, the little brother of the 245bw. I think you'll enjoy it. :)