22" LCD Display advice

I'm probably going to finally leave the CRT realm and reclaim my desk space this weekend by purchasing a 22" LCD.
I've done as much homework as I can on the existing displays in my price range and I've narrowed it down to the HP w2207 and the Samsung 226bw. I've read a bunch of rave one sided reviews about the HP with the only complaint being about the glossy screen and I've read a bunch of shady reviews about Samsung and their panel lottery ( A, S, C, or whatever the sn's).
Is the HP so good that it's only fault is the glossy screen?
Are the Samsung panels that bad or is it just knee jerk internet hype?
Reason I ask this here is because I am unable to find any credible websites that has done a in-depth review on the displays.
I use my mac mainly for adobe products, movies, and the internet of course. Any suggestions on which would be the better choice or a link to an in-depth comparison. I'm leaning towards the HP but I'd feel really weird seeing a HP logo next to my mac lol.

HP
CNET review - with 16 user reviews
Amazon - 7 user reviews

Samsung
Newegg - 478 user reviews with 80% giving it 5 stars and 93% 4 or 5 - that is pretty compelling in itself

If you have read the reviews, never had an LCD, and have narrowed the field down to these 2 monitors - And assuming you don't bring home a dud (which does happen), I believe you will be extremely happy with either one of them at this price. Basically same specs, same connections, same price. At this point it really boils down to which one will look nicer sitting on your desk.

One point to note - when you go to the store - you can not compare the picture of the 2 of them in the store. The adjustments on one, the other, or both could be totally out of whack.

The Samsung reviews you noted - if from professional reviewers - most of them expect exemplary products from Samsung, and when they put one out that doesn't measure up to Samsungs normally high standards, then it gets shunned. But, this is after all a 22" monitor trying to compete in the under $400 price range, so when there are enough of them, definitely look at consumer reviews first and foremost.

Thanks for the good advice.
While I'm sure any LCD would look great on my desk rather than my huge CRT , I'd still like to make the best decision since I don't plan on buying a new LCD for a while. Both of these displays have things that scare me (Samsungs panels, HP's 1 year warranty) but I'm probably going to make a purchase tomorrow when the Sunday ads come out...maybe

Find it hard to give a personal recommendaton between these two.
The HP I had at this price range had really bad colors compared to the Dell it was sitting next to. Got rid of it after 3 months.
Samsung: I have a bad taste in my mouth for them and swore they would never get any of my money again.

In general though, Samsung has a much better reputation when it comes to monitors and TV's than HP, and it shows in the warranty. If I had to choose between these 2, think I would have to go with the Samsung due to the 93% of user ratings at 4-5 stars at newegg, especially from that many buyers. That really is an exceptional rating for anything.

If you're shopping locally, another you might consider if available is NEC. They have a new model just out in May.

Yeah I've actually read good things about NEC displays, even people comparing them to Apple displays in quality. Unfortunately and surprisingly I can't find any of them locally to check out.

curious, what made you feel that way about Samsung

Samsung was making the DVR's for DirecTV. Two options based on hard drive size - one at $500 and one at $1000 - Went for the $1000 one - the board died 10 months later, under warranty. No complaint with the people that took my calls, they did their job "adequately". At the time there were no replacement machines, nor parts to repair them. My options were to wait, or take the $500 as a replacement. And no, they would not reimburse me the difference. Said they should have new stock "any day". I waited...... for 4 and 1/2 months I waited, 3 of those months patiently..... and finally took the lower priced machine. Decided if that's what happens to customers that purchase their top of the line equipment, they could have no more money of mine.

While this was going on, I was in the market for a HDTV. Samsung was at the top of my list. The same week I finally accepted their "offer", spent my $3k on a Sony instead.

NEC has been making exceptional displays for a long time - especially their CRT's. Have owned a couple. Had one that was blowing everyone else's specs out of the water after 6 years. Gave it away with one of my hand-me-down homebuilt rigs when I made the move to LCD's. It is still running strong, and about 11-12 years old now. I think NEC has changed their marketing strategy and now are competing with the main stream. It really looks like the Sony XBR's have taken the place where NEC use to position themselves. And while I haven't purchased an NEC for awhile, my experience's with their equipment always makes me check them out first.

Yeah, I'd pretty much boycott Samsung for the rest of my life if they did that to me too lol. You'd think that it wouldn't be a problem for a billion dollar company to cut a cheque for the difference or the whole amount if the customer sent the box back in good shape untampered ( or even offer to send out 2, 500 dollar models to replace the 1000 if the customer agree'd ).

I think Samsung is maybe trying to not go through that same mess with their 226bw LCD's by out sourcing their panels to 2 manufactures with a third on the way. According to behardware.com the quality has dropped with each manufacture they board ship with, but.. here's my experience for anyone thinking about a 226bw.

I first went to Office Depot and checked the display models sn. and it was a C panel. Since the display was a C panel it's a pretty safe bet that they got their shipment of lcds later than other shops and that the rest of their stock are C's, so I left for CompUSA. At CUSA the display panel was an S model so I decide to take a chance and buy one. When I got home I decided that I'm going to be as objective as possible and not look at the panel type before testing it. Out of the box it looked terrible of course (I expected this) so I took steps to calibrate it within the OS and the OSD. After calibration it still looked inaccurate and over saturated and I noticed some slight banding. The screen also had 1 dead pixel and a slight light bleed through at the top and bottom of the screen. After a few hours of tweaking and trying suggested settings found on the internet to no avail, I had enough and decided to return it even though it didn't look too shabby ( I had nothing better to do that day and I know the kids brother who works at the return desk, so what the heck I thought, Let's spin the wheel again). Before returning it I checked the sn from the OSD and sticker, it was an A Panel. To be short, the next panel I got looks amazing after calibration with the only cons being 1 dead pixel and a very slight light bleed on the top portion of the display. After a days use and scrutiny I finally decided to see which panel I have and...it's a C panel...and I'm keeping it. So, maybe I got lucky? maybe the first panel was an inferior A panel? maybe it's personal taste?.. a lot of maybes but the only one thing that I'm sure about is that I'm very pleased with my C Panel purchase.

Sounds like it was worth the time invested. Glad you found one you like. And, nice review.

ive got the HP w2207.

love it, 300$ at CC

nice monitor. i did see a few with slightly better LCDs in them, but this HP has a very nice stand, and USB on the side (all of which i wanted, and all of which limited what i could get)