Samsung T260HD Monitor/HDTV

[magick_man]

I just sold my old 20" apple monitor and am looking to upgrade.
I am trying to avoid having a TV in addition to my monitor in my room.
And from what I can see this samsung looks like a pretty good choice.
The only downside i have seen is the stand kind of sucks and hdcp is kind of hit or miss.

I would love to hear from someone that has this monitor or even the t240hd

The other option is the 27.5" hannspree from best buy which is on sale for $499 at the moment.(the t260hd is 599)
And take the 100 and buy a tuner card.

But I like the idea of having a pair of hdmi inputs on the monitor to hook up my 360 and something else.


So I guess what I am asking is, does anyone have a reason I shouldn't get this screen?
any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Joseph K.

[aznkc730]

i just got this monitor about a week ago. It is great for all-around use. Here's my take on it:

Color reproduction in dynamic mode is pretty amazing for watching TV and samsung's programming is pretty good as well. After plugging in your cable/antenna, it scans all the channels available and removes the scrambled ones. The remote is intuitive to use, with good button placement and a variety of convenient buttons, such as closed captioning, picture size, and other stuff.

For use as a monitor, i think the size is perfect. Gamut is pretty accurate, I would peg it at mid 80s. I have had no ghosting or lag issues as the t260hd is a TN 5ms panel. However, one downside is that it is a TN panel. Having had a Samsung 215TW (S-PVA), the viewing angle differences are noticeable. Horizontally, it's not that bad, but the small vertical viewing angle is definitely noticeable. Colors look different from me standing up versus me laying in bed.

Also, HDCP is not an issue. I've tested blu-ray from a ps3 on both dvi and hdmi connections and they work fine. If you read slashgear, they have contacted Samsung's engineering department, which confirms hdcp compliance of the t260hd.

Finally, here's what I would consider if I were you. Are you 100% sure that whichever monitor you get, you will always have a computer with a TV card hooked up to it? Because one of the benefits of the T260HD is the built in tuner, meaning it can serve as a great bedroom/den TV if you don't need it as a computer monitor anymore. It's also the only 26" monitor/tv that can do 1080p. Secondly, what do you spend most of your time doing with the monitor? If you only occasionally watch TV, then the T260HD is a waste of money. If you're a graphic designer, the gamut and viewing angles just aren't gonna cut it.

[magick_man]

Thanks for the indepth answer.
From the little reviews I have seen and what you have said I went ahead and picked it up.
I must say, I am pretty happy with this monitor so far.
And for the $539 I paid it is great.
I am considering a 32" sceptre that I just saw.
We will see, I am going to check that out at costco in the next couple days.