14 DAY TRIAL // We all know that Samsung is one of the major trend-setters of today?s IT&C world, constantly improving on manufacturing processes or introducing revolutionary technologies that are quickly adopted worldwide. Praises and admiration for all that, but are we end users getting the respect we deserve from such an IT&C giant?
Are Samsung's products really that good? All the reviews out there seem to point to a positive conclusion. However, the end users know better! It looks like all those reviews represent mere marketing propaganda strategies and, on top of that, the reviewers don't even know what they are doing for Samsung's reputation. For the sake of Samsung, I hope the following issues won't be transformed into annoying habits.
You may have heard that Samsung LCDs end up incorporating foreign panels which don't perform as they should. Now, I intend to buy a relatively cheap 22" LCD monitor from Samsung (the 226BW model), but I did some research on a couple of forums just to see if this model is really the best TN panel among 22" displays, as the reviews claim. At the beginning of the forum threads all people were exalted and excited about the performance of this monitor. Gradually, the spirits cooled and as I reached the middle of the threads, some nasty realities began to emerge.
It seems that, 4 months ago, Samsung released an outstanding 226BW display just to catch up with LG, who released the L226WT-SF 22" monitor ahead of their rivals. But Samsung did not have the possibilities to meet the market demand for the new display model, and contracted AU Optronics (second world LCD manufacturer? how come I didn't know that?) to deal with the ever growing demand. So a couple of moths after the initial launch, people encounter some awkward displays with a series of issues that did not come with the initial 226BW models. End users immediately identified the problem: the initial Samsung displays are "A++" rated panels and have the 226BW [R] S serial number, while the later introduced panels from AU Optronics are "A" rated panels and feature the 226BW [R] A serial number. Supposedly, the reviewers got to try only the initial "S" panels.
The forum guys from hardocp.com and computergames.ro helped me quite a lot in understanding Samsung's marketing schemes. Apparently, the "S" panels were scheduled for the first quarter of 2007 and after that there will only be "A" panels. Everybody is complaining about the "A" panels: more backlight bleeding, saturated colors, color banding, reduced viewable angles, just to mention the most annoying issues. Oh, and the "A" panels come at the same price as the "S" ones! Good job Samsung!
I have already ordered a 226BW and I'm curious to see if I get an "A" or "S" panel. In case of an "A" there will be a quick and remorseless return on my behalf. Maybe I'll wait for the 226CW model. I hope Samsung won't be pulling some new hoax with those models as well.