Widescreen Gaming Forum

Well, after two years, my Samsung 204B died with a nice flashing power button like many with that monitor have experienced. So, I just went through the warranty replacement program and got a refurb Samsung 2243BWX.

I got the 2243BWX a few days ago, plugged it in, and noticed something odd: when I went to set a widescreen resolution, the result was always a virtual desktop. So, I used MonInfo to retrieve the EDID data from the monitor. Low and behold, the EDID information is generic and completely incorrect. It listed the monitor's maximum resolution as 1280x1024. So, that was the source of the problem.

So, I called tech support to try and find the correct EDID information. Only problem is, their useless tech support - even the highest tier - didn't even know what EDID is. The highest level tech insisted that it could not possibly be the monitor, since the monitor was passive and stored no information. He then went on to decide it must be the drivers. When told I had installed the latest drivers, the next point of blame was the video card itself, of course I have another widescreen monitor which the exact same video card drives without issue. When told this, the high tier tech support guy decided to blame it on the cable, and said that I must need a dual link DVI cable instead of a single link DVI cable. But of course, single link DVI supports up to 1920 x 1080 while the 2243BWX has a native resolution of 1680x1050, so that obviously could not be the problem. After that, the tech support guy was less than happy with me and basically started going through the chain of blame all over again, saying he'd been working on monitors for 10 years and had never heard of EDID. So ended that conversation.

Having gone through that nonsense, I decided to see if I couldn't just simply exchange the monitor for another. Apparently, Samsung does not allow you to exchange a warranty replacement for another if you find it defective or incapable of meeting your needs, so pretty much if they send you a defective warranty replacement, you're shit out of luck.

After spending 3 hours on the phone with Samsung's script monkeys, just for kicks, I found a Samsung 215TW's EDID and wrote that to my monitor. Suprise! It now works, even though EDID apparently doesn't exist according to Samsung and could never, ever cause the issue. If you're considering a monitor purchase, do yourself a favor and avoid Samsung and their incompetence. You'll save yourself a lot of aggravation.

Oh, and if anyone out there has a 2243BWX, I'd still like to get my hands on the correct EDID information. If you could please post it, I would very much appreciate it. You can get the information using MonInfo, a free utility, which you can download at http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm . Just copy and paste the information from the report.

Horrible experience!

I have a Samsung monitor, 19" that I bought in 2005, but I stopped using it about a year ago when it's stand broke and decided to buy a new monitor instead of buying a new stand (I used to have some money then). The monitor was fine and never had any problems so that I call the support, but I guess I am glad I didn't.

The only time I had to call support was for my malfunctioning LG monitor few weeks ago, they replaced it the same day I called them! Unfortunately the replacement was buggy as hell, so I had to wait another 3-4 days for another replacement, sure it was refurbished as well, but nothing wrong with it that I can tell yet. Excellent support from them. At least here in Greece. The fact they would just replace the monitor and just wanted a cause to write down was amazing.

I will have to be careful if I ever consider buying another Samsung monitor, thanks.

Wow, this is a very discouraging testimonial indeed, and not what most might expect from such a brand that's built it's reputation on a selection of pretty good products. It does go to show however that many manufacturers that reach very high sales figures can slide quite a bit in the CS department. They also tend to have their good products and bad the bigger they get. I've also found with some businesses it can make a difference what time of day and what day of the week you call for tech support sometimes.

It's kind of odd that you can go from extremely good reviews to extremely bad ones even in reputable brand names, yet the other day I heard a neighbor talk about a pretty good CS experience he had even with his cheap 32" Dynex HDTV he bought at Best Buy for $600. The thing was going haywire about a week past BB's 30 day exchange policy.

He called Dynex and they called BB and BB agreed to send out someone for in home service within a couple days even though he didn't even by an extended warranty. I assume Dynex said they'd pay for it. The tech quickly set about taking out the TV's mainboard, replaced it, and he hasn't had a problem since. In fact I can't believe how good this set looks playing x264 compressed Blu-ray movies. Very nice color quality too. My friend said there were 130 customer reviews for it on BB averaging 4.5 out of 5 stars, which is why he bought it.

I've told others that Ive been a bit skeptical about Samsung monitors ever since they've been cranking out a lot of inexpensive TN panel 24" models and such claiming super high contrast ratios that often result in very poor color accuracy when it's engaged. Seems like they're jumping on the gimmick bandwagon a lot. The good thing is that this is opening the door for more obscure brand names like Doublesight and making the market more competetive, which is always a good thing for consumers.

Well this is obviously experiences you had...but I've had three Samsung monitors and I also own a 37" Samsung LCD TV and I have LOVED each one of them. They are top of the line in quality and price. I think its good when you share your experiences...but to say people should never buy a Samsung because you have bad luck...well....ummm....k!

never had any real issues with Samsung monitors or their TVs. I've had to RMA a monitor (not because of technical issues...but because of that whole 226bw panel deal)...and it was the least painful experience ever.

This is a problem. As I have 3.

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EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SC ACX 2.0 3.5GB | 3 X LG Flatron 24EA53VQ in Nvidia Surround | Optoma HD20

The tech support guy had never heard of EDID. LOL!