I have two PC displays that I've used with my Mac, in addition to my 27" Thunderbolt display. When I got my Mini, I setup my Samsung 24" E2420L display alongside it on a pivoting arm (Monoprice.com -- cheap). I noticed right away that it looked like absolute crap compared to the Apple display, which is to be expected to a point. 
After much mucking with the controls, and calibrating it several times, it started looking pretty decent. So I stuck with it. But this morning, I grew annoyed at the pixel density difference between the two displays. Even though the Samsung is 1920x1080, the pixels were much larger compared to the 27" display. I decided to swap it out with my older Dell 21.5" display, which is the same resolution.
Upon powering it on, I immediately saw a huge quality difference. The Dell, despite being a very inexpensive monitor (I think I paid $120 for it three years ago), looked much better than the Samsung. Once it warmed up, I calibrated it, and now it looks easily 10x better than the Samsung, and almost as good as the Apple display. The details are much better, the gray levels and qualities are better, etc. It was so good that I did a manual calibration on the 27" that improved it slightly.
I have to admit I have a beef with Samsung these days, what with their patent trolling crap going on against Apple, and their blatant copying of Apple products. I wish I had never bought a Samsung TV (which I did before the legal mess started)... I don't much like it. It takes too long to power on, and insists on playing a funny little tune when powered on or off. Picture quality isn't as good as the Toshiba I had before it.
So anyway... the point is that if you're looking for an expensive second display, consider Dell before Samsung.
Rob
After much mucking with the controls, and calibrating it several times, it started looking pretty decent. So I stuck with it. But this morning, I grew annoyed at the pixel density difference between the two displays. Even though the Samsung is 1920x1080, the pixels were much larger compared to the 27" display. I decided to swap it out with my older Dell 21.5" display, which is the same resolution.
Upon powering it on, I immediately saw a huge quality difference. The Dell, despite being a very inexpensive monitor (I think I paid $120 for it three years ago), looked much better than the Samsung. Once it warmed up, I calibrated it, and now it looks easily 10x better than the Samsung, and almost as good as the Apple display. The details are much better, the gray levels and qualities are better, etc. It was so good that I did a manual calibration on the 27" that improved it slightly.
I have to admit I have a beef with Samsung these days, what with their patent trolling crap going on against Apple, and their blatant copying of Apple products. I wish I had never bought a Samsung TV (which I did before the legal mess started)... I don't much like it. It takes too long to power on, and insists on playing a funny little tune when powered on or off. Picture quality isn't as good as the Toshiba I had before it.
So anyway... the point is that if you're looking for an expensive second display, consider Dell before Samsung.
Rob
