20inch+ Monitor TV?

[Valiant]

I need a new monitor for my Mac/PC in the new workshop, it'll only be for surfing the web + watching DVDs/gaming etc or occasionally Photoshop and video editing work. I want something that looks pretty with a great picture for the price and a load of inputs and prefferably built in Freeview TV. Screen size wise, the bigger the better. Budget is under £200.

Current candidate is the Samsung T200 with 22", 1680 x 1050 (WSXGA+), 20,000:1 contrast, freeview and very beautiful at £180ish.

Trouble is I don't need anything as pretty, so what's out there?

[rae]

Does that have freeview built in?   I'm vaguely looking for a new small TV and something that doubles as a monitor would be good. 

[Valiant]

Aye it does

[Valiant]

So I've narrowed it down to two.

Samsung SM225MW - £169 Delivered
# Screen Size: 22"
# Screen Resolution: 1680x1050
# Response Time: 5ms
# Brightness: 300cd/m2
# Contrast: 700:1
# Analogue TV Tuner
# Interface: VGA D-sub, DVI-D, HDMI CVBS, S-Video, SCART Component, Composite, S-Video, PIP/PBP. Supporting 1080P Input


Samsung T200HD - £199 Delivered
# Screen Size: 20"
# Screen Resolution: 1680x1050
# Response Time: 2ms
# Brightness: 300cd/m2
# Contrast: 20,000:1 (Dynamic) (1000:1 Typical)
# HDTV Freeview TV Tuner
# Interface: VGA D-SUB, DVI-D with HDCP, 2 x HDMI, SCART, Component, Optical out, CI slot.

So it’s pretty close, the SM225MW is £30 cheaper and two inches bigger, it also has more inputs. The brightness and resolution of both is the same, but the T200 has a 3ms faster response time, higher contrast ratio, and a HDTV tuner.

But the question is how much difference does the response time and contrast ratio make in the world?. Undoubtedly with T200HD is prettier but maybe the size of the SM225MW makes it the better deal, but then you do get a HDTV Freeview built in.

Which would you go for?

vs
Samsung SM225MW vs Samsung T200HD

[TimO]

Um, how can it have a HD Freeview tuner?  I didn't think HD on Freeview existed (other than as a test a couple of years back).  The likelihood of it actually becoming mainsteam in the near future seems unlikely, and I doubt they've frozen the standard yet.

[geraldc]

I've got the Samsung SyncMaster T240D, it's great, plus it's the cheapest way of displaying 1080P. That was on sale for around 270, slightly out of your budget, but it has every connection known to man... I've got a Mac connected to it by DVI, PS3 by HDMI and hi def satellite through component cables. SyncMaster T240 24” DVI/HDMI Rose Black - Micro Anvika UK

You could look at this SyncMaster T220 22” DVI Rose Black - Micro Anvika UK

It doesn't have HDMI, but it does have DVI with copy protection, so a HDMI DVI convertor should work. You only need HDMI for PS3, Xbox 360 should be happy with VGA.

[Valiant]

I dunno how but that's taken off the Samsung site. The T220 is quite a bit more!

[andrewc]

http://www.trustedreviews.com/displays/review/2008/10/16/Samsung-SyncMaster-T220HD-22in-LCD-TV-Monitor/p1

A review of the T220HD

[Valiant]

Trouble is it's outside budget and you're paying +£70 for 2inches.

[geraldc]

I think there's a T220 and  T220 HD, the one microanvika is flogging has no HDMI and no freeview tuner, hence it being only £180.

[Valiant]

Aye the HD signifies the TV capability. I've now found a T220HD for £200 Delivered. Is the extra 2" and full HD capability worth it?

[geraldc]

The 220 doesn't have full HD capability. The 220 has 1050 lines, the 240 has full HD as it has 1200 lines,  If you're going to use it as a monitor the extra 150 lines is very useful. For HD viewing however, there's little difference between 1080i and 1080p at this screen size.

I wouldn't rely on an inbuilt tuner, get a stand alone digibox with a HDD recorder.

[andrewc]

Trouble is it's outside budget and you're paying +£70 for 2inches.

I get lots of emails offering me extra inches,  £70 for 2 seems like a bargain 

[Valiant]

The 220 doesn't have full HD capability. The 220 has 1050 lines, the 240 has full HD as it has 1200 lines,  If you're going to use it as a monitor the extra 150 lines is very useful. For HD viewing however, there's little difference between 1080i and 1080p at this screen size.

I wouldn't rely on an inbuilt tuner, get a stand alone digibox with a HDD recorder.

If it was a main TV I'd be inclined to agree but as it's a monitor for the office I doubt it makes much difference.