[In the interests of time I cut and pasted this from my post to the tech-Report's own very fine Christmas recommendation list--so if you've seen it before, pardon me, please, but I haven't been this pumped about a monitor in since-I cannot-remember-when...
]
Even if you aren't in the market for a monitor--and especially if you are--if you've got an extra $600 you can part with this Xmas then you do *not* want to avoid looking at this:
HannsG - 27.5" Widescreen Flat-Panel TFT-LCD Monitor
Model: HG-281DJB --$599 at Best Buys (no I'm not partial to BB's--it's just that it's the only place I've seen them in my neck of the woods...)
I originally bought the monitor off the shelf at BB because of the convenient no-questions-asked return policy sans restocking fee--I simply couldn't believe that a 27.5" viewable area TFT active matrix with a genuine 3ms response time, a .309 dot pitch with HDMI capability capable of 1900x1200 could possibly sell for only $599, so I had my doubts when I brought it home and was taking no chances on a hassle-free return. Forget that! Wow. It blew me away and I've run through a lot of monitors in 22 years. The Samsung 226BW it replaced is going with me to the office where it will be suitably retired for spread sheets and word processing...
The output of this thing is simply drop-dead gorgeous--not one dead pixel, and the color fidelity is simply the deepest and fullest I've ever seen on a flat-screen LCD. I really do *believe* the 3ms claim, btw. Honestly, I now see what I've been missing in terms of the old eye balls. Whew. I really, really did not know 3d games could look like this. Talk about immersive, for me this monitor has completely revised my future expectations in this department. IE, if they aren't this good they won't measure up from now on.
I'm guessing, but I think that some of this goodness may stem from the fact that the monitor doesn't provide the standard DVI input we're used to. Instead, all you get digitally is an HDMI input---*but*....this monitor ships with its own DVI-to-HDMI adaptor cord that plugs right into the DVI on my HD3870 and into the HDMI connector on the monitor (the HD3870 ships with a DVI-to-HDMI adapter, which I'd imagine would work just as well with a quality HDMI cable, but since this custom cable is included with the monitor and the IQ is spectacular I've seen no reason to try that approach.) Of course, there's an obligatory VGA connector input provided as well, and a couple of other adapters included with the monitor, but I think you'd be missing a lot by using them with this monitor. The DVI-to HDMI cable provided works wonderfully well, and I think the extra bandwidth supported by the cabling scheme must be what makes at least *some* of the difference between this monitor's output and my 226bw's DVI-to_DVI connection.
It's kind of strange, on paper the monitor's specs don't look as good as some smaller, more expense monitors look on paper-- the HG's contrast is 800:1, but the candle power is very good. I had to lower the brightness to 40 (out of 100) and lower the contrast to 70 (out of 100) but the resulting image is quite simply the best I have ever seen bar none. Not only is this monitor a keeper, it's the best buy for the money I've seen this year. If I was giving out a "monitor of the year" award this baby would get it, hands down, pretty much regardless of what the competition costs, I might add--which is *a lot* more in some cases.
If you're in the market for a monitor this year then please do yourself a favor and check it out. Merry Christmas!...
] Even if you aren't in the market for a monitor--and especially if you are--if you've got an extra $600 you can part with this Xmas then you do *not* want to avoid looking at this:
HannsG - 27.5" Widescreen Flat-Panel TFT-LCD Monitor
Model: HG-281DJB --$599 at Best Buys (no I'm not partial to BB's--it's just that it's the only place I've seen them in my neck of the woods...
)I originally bought the monitor off the shelf at BB because of the convenient no-questions-asked return policy sans restocking fee--I simply couldn't believe that a 27.5" viewable area TFT active matrix with a genuine 3ms response time, a .309 dot pitch with HDMI capability capable of 1900x1200 could possibly sell for only $599, so I had my doubts when I brought it home and was taking no chances on a hassle-free return. Forget that! Wow. It blew me away and I've run through a lot of monitors in 22 years. The Samsung 226BW it replaced is going with me to the office where it will be suitably retired for spread sheets and word processing...
The output of this thing is simply drop-dead gorgeous--not one dead pixel, and the color fidelity is simply the deepest and fullest I've ever seen on a flat-screen LCD. I really do *believe* the 3ms claim, btw. Honestly, I now see what I've been missing in terms of the old eye balls. Whew. I really, really did not know 3d games could look like this. Talk about immersive, for me this monitor has completely revised my future expectations in this department. IE, if they aren't this good they won't measure up from now on.
I'm guessing, but I think that some of this goodness may stem from the fact that the monitor doesn't provide the standard DVI input we're used to. Instead, all you get digitally is an HDMI input---*but*....this monitor ships with its own DVI-to-HDMI adaptor cord that plugs right into the DVI on my HD3870 and into the HDMI connector on the monitor (the HD3870 ships with a DVI-to-HDMI adapter, which I'd imagine would work just as well with a quality HDMI cable, but since this custom cable is included with the monitor and the IQ is spectacular I've seen no reason to try that approach.) Of course, there's an obligatory VGA connector input provided as well, and a couple of other adapters included with the monitor, but I think you'd be missing a lot by using them with this monitor. The DVI-to HDMI cable provided works wonderfully well, and I think the extra bandwidth supported by the cabling scheme must be what makes at least *some* of the difference between this monitor's output and my 226bw's DVI-to_DVI connection.
It's kind of strange, on paper the monitor's specs don't look as good as some smaller, more expense monitors look on paper-- the HG's contrast is 800:1, but the candle power is very good. I had to lower the brightness to 40 (out of 100) and lower the contrast to 70 (out of 100) but the resulting image is quite simply the best I have ever seen bar none. Not only is this monitor a keeper, it's the best buy for the money I've seen this year. If I was giving out a "monitor of the year" award this baby would get it, hands down, pretty much regardless of what the competition costs, I might add--which is *a lot* more in some cases.
If you're in the market for a monitor this year then please do yourself a favor and check it out. Merry Christmas!...
