Yeah, I first tried a $238 Acer 20". Didn't see much backlight bleed if any, picture was OK (16.7 depth), 5ms, good brighness. Only problem was viewing angle, even though it was just 20" (as opposed to 22" ), the far sides would wash out even with eyes a couple+ feet away.

Then I tried a 22" Proview for $278. Has all the specs you would expect for this price, a little backlight bleed but not like I've seen on pics of many other LCD's, that didn't bother me. Maybe 4 or 5 dead pixels, didn't bother me. Picture was great, color was just OK. A very good monitor and I was almost sure I would keep it.
However, after a couple days I noticed that no matter high high or low my eyes were on the screen (or centered), the bottom half of the screen was always lighter looking than the top half. Didn't bother me at first, but after a couple days of it I was starting to get anal. I don't know if there is a program or even my 8800GTS driver could fix it, but I thought I could do better with an LCD.

Both of those monitors were just bought at a local walmart. I caved in and decided to check out newegg. I damn near got the Samsung 226bw with the 2ms response time. Although it was a pretty good deal right now and only one other place had a better deal, it was still $320 ($300 after rebate) plus $15 shipping. And I heard the panels on it are no longer as good as they were, I heard some good things about it still, but one thing people did say was that the viewing angle isn't great.

Then I saw my monitor. The 216bw. I'm guessing similar in quality to the 226bw from what I hear. It has the 170h viewing angle, size is 21.6" (might as well be a 22" ). Better viewing angle and better pixel pitch. The rest of the specs I think matched the 226bw except for the response time. But I have no problem with 5ms response given that it seems good enough for fast gaming plus I'm getting better pixel pitch and viewing angle.
This 216bw was getting as good reviews as its 226bw big brother. But what sold me was the price. The 226bw was, with shipping, over $335. The 216bw was $256 total! A difference of $81! So the 216bw ends up being just as much as I paid total for the 20" acer, and $22 less than I paid for the 22" proview.
And I'm assuming from what everybody says that I am not only getting a great deal but certainly will be the best monitor of the 3 I tried.

I knew if I was going to order from a place like newegg (with their no refund and only 30 day return policy on LCD) I couldn't gamble and had to choose a top name brand. Since they don't sell Dell, I happily settled for the samsung. Sounds wierd saying that, I've been spending the last few years trying to get rid of anything that has the name dell on it!
At least they apparently do one thing right, if only they made their other stuff with the same quality as their monitors.

My reasons for posting this are 1) because I'm wondering if that bottom half fade thing is normal, like I explained above. No matter how high or low I would adjust my chair, bottom was always lighter than top half. I don't recall the Acer doing that but I only had it for a couple days. I don't hear many complaints about that in particular. Is this a normal thing with all LCD's?
In any case, another reason I wanted the 216bw was that it came with this supposedly really good color calibration program, magicolor or something like that. It also comes with the DVI cable, I guess I can sell the one I just bought from newegg.

Other reason for posting this is because I simply want to know if anybody else either has this monitor (216bw) or has seen it in action. If so, is it worth the price I'm paying? I'm hoping yes. It hasn't shipped yet, so if anybody has it and has any major issues with it, please let me know why I shouldn't get it.
Also, does it have the couple problems that I mentioned above that I had with my other couple monitors?

Thanks!

Unfortunately I can't really help you with your search other than to say that I've read good reviews for the 216bw. I was actually trying to find if anyone had had any experience with the Samsung 206BW. Its about the same price as the 216BW, but the computer desk I have won't accommodate anything larger than a 20" widescreen based on the dimensions I've seen for the 206BW and 216BW (the 216BW is a tad too wide) Plus, although I'm sure that neither achieves its advertised pixel response time, the 206BW *should* be faster since its rated at 2ms gtg instead of 5ms. I'm open to any other suggestions for a 20" widescreen. I'm not looking for anything too high end, although I'm somewhat anal about LCDs shortcomings... which is why I've only used CRTs to this point. In fact, if I could somehow get my hands on one of the 22" Samsung 1200NF Flat CRTs from my old job I'd rather take that. Enough on that tangent.

Any input would be appreciated!
-mcg

No idea if it's a good monitor or not, but after I saw the price on it when it first came to newegg, I was really wishing I had waited two weeks to buy a monitor..