Had one.....took it back, got the ACD 23". Here are some of my thoughts:
- The Samsung has a native resolution of 1680x1050
- The 23" ACD has a native resolution of 1920x1200
Basically the Apple has much more screen real estate. This also depends on what you are used to. For example, I was moving from a Samsung 20" non wide screen display that had a resolution of 1600x1200. I didn't like losing that vertical resolution.
- The Samsung, being 22 inches, has a less sharp picture. Physically the pixels are bigger on the screen.
I'm mainly comparing this to my Samsung 20" again. Adding that extra 2 inches, and only 80 more pixels wide, text and icons didn't look at crisp and sharp to me.
- The Samsung uses the lower-end TN Panel type.
- The Apple uses the higher-end S-IPS Panel (Super IPS)
The TN panels are what you find in the lower end monitors. They offer better response times to appeal to gamers. The S-IPS panels offer much better color and clarity. You can do some searches to learn more about them.
- The Samsung's 3000:1 contrast is only when it's using it's Dynamic Contrast mode.
You have to specifically put the display in this dynamic contrast mode to get the 3000:1. Otherwise it defaults down to 1000:1.
Again, these are just what I have found out while trying to get the best display. I ended up with the 23" ACD.
Now many people like the Dell 24" 2407WFP which you can get for around $600 now. I still chose the Apple mainly because I didn't want to have to have the Dell shipped (if I didn't like it), and I bought my ACD at Best Buy because I had gift cards. The Dell's use the same panel as the Apple's, although you should search on the "dell panel lottery" where there is much debate on Dell's practice of shipping monitors with cheaper panels.
Hope this helps. In the end, try to pick up something at a retailer that has a good return policy if you don't like it.
-Kevin
