Samsung Touch of Color T260HD 26-Inch LCD HDTV Monitor

I am very pleased with Samsung model T260HD . It is the best Monitor/HDTV that I have had yet . The only games that I play on this monitor is Flight Simulator X and it is not really a game but a learning tool . I find the picture quality is very good and very fast which is needed for this software . As for watching HDTV it could not be any better . This HDTV only has a Digital Tuner but that will be all that is needed in the future . I do have a DVD player/Tuner hooked up to this HDTV as well but choose not to watch TV in analog .

Pros: This monitor arrived with no dead pixels, the ToC red is actually a very nice touch, the built in DTV tuner is worth the extra cost because it will find extra channels. The picture quality in 1080p on the PS3 is wonderful especially watching blue ray movies! Using it as a desktop monitor the picture is perfect. Gaming with this is great because you can see the camper from a looooong distance away! I did a dual view with this monitor vs my 19 inch and man oh man what a difference!!! A guys head would be the size of a dime on the 19' and about the size of a quarter/ nickel on this monitor. Helps a lot getting head shots and shooting long distances. In maps, playing America's Army, I can stand on the opposite side of the map and see the enemy clear as day, take my time and shoot when I'm ready... Chances are, you're going to be called a hacker! Also playing at 1920x1200 you will notice a lot more detail and games will look a lot better. No need to have your webpage's maximized!!

Cons: -I find the stand to be great for moving the monitor from side to side, but if you bang the table, the monitor will rock.... It is very stable though, so no worries there.
-There is some lag switching inputs, but nothing too serious.
-The speakers are not Bose nor did I expect a professional type sound, but they do a great job for watching TV such as NBA games, Sports Center etc.
-No PnP, this is what would have made this the ultimate monitor!
-Viewing angles could be better, but I only say that looking for a con. I'm always right in front of my monitor and I can see the picture just fine!
-I wish this was the ToC Blue version :(

I really have to think deep for cons, and that's the best I can do, this monitor is really great!

Other Thoughts: To summarize:
-Great gaming monitor, very accurate color, I had to do a small fine tune to get the brightness and such perfect, but everything is looking how I expect it to look!
-Very low heat!
-TV quality on cable is the same as my 51 inch Sony.
-1080p on this monitor ROCKS!
-THIS IS HDCP compliant!
-Wonderful for browsing the internet and general document viewing since you don't have to have everything maximized!
-Enough inputs! I can finally say, I'm satisfied in that area.

I highly recommend this monitor, both of my neighbors have ordered one after they have seen mine. It is a great all around Monitor/TV for a very respectable price! Amazon has amazingly fast processing, after I ordered it, the very same day it had shipped and was at my house in two days! The box it came in was in very bad shape, but the monitor itself and everything else was in perfect shape. Lowest price online as well... Thanks Amazon!

This TV was totally affordable and well-worth the price. The picture quality is excellent and the set-up is very sleek and appealing.

I bought this monitor on Friday and I received it today (Monday). I used the free shipping option so I have no idea how it got here so fast but I am delighted!

The monitor itself is great so far, no problems yet. You will most likely want to spend some time on calibration, as I found that the factory settings did not show off the capabilities of the screen. I can't wait to hook up a HD antennae to check out how good the TV looks on it, but so far I am quite pleased. Thanks Amazon!

There seems to be plenty of info out there about the Samsung T260HD, but curiously no buzz. Pros: This is a terrific TV/Monitor, easy to set up, terrific TV color/sharpness/minimal latency, lots of connection options and customized settings for its price. Cons: No PIP (you could use a 3rd party tuner stick in PC), sound is thin from built-in speakers (connect to outside speaker unit), no wall mount (some say one is available, not my complaint, CNCL ;-)). However, this monitor cannot be easily color calibrated for Mac/PC color accuracy. The internal controls, ICC profile generation are inadequate to the task. You will not be able to use this monitor for color critical work. Medium colors lack black and yellow, and no amount of adjustment compensates enough.
Still, it's great for the money, looks fantastic and at a street price of $499 is a great buy!

I bought this display mainly to use as a computer display, and it works great for that. I have read some reviews on this display where people were not happy with the color when used as a computer monitor; however, with the lighting in my room, everything looks more lifelike with the bluer hue. That being said, it means when I use the display as a TV, the picture was too red for me with the default settings. I have managed to get the picture to an acceptable level, but it's quite "perfect" for me. With my setup though, I'll being using it as a computer monitor, because I record most shows I watch in Media Center.

The fact that I do use Media Center, solves the second minor problem I have: the speakers are terrible. I actually slightly prefer the speakers on my Sylvania SRT2119 CRT television I received for Christmas back in 2001. And those speakers may only be monophonic audio, it's not mentioned if they are stereo or mono anywhere on the TV or in the owner's manual, so I don't know. The speakers aren't tolerable for watching the news or other non-action intensive shows, but you won't enjoy the sound with most action shows or movies. Luckily, I have the Logitech x-530 speakers from when I built my computer. They are a vast improvement over the built-in speakers on the TV. I don't really recommend those speakers; I was trying to keep cost down when I chose them. It was $40 for a 2.1 speaker set or $60 for 5.1. I still don't regret the decision, but I will likely upgrade to a true surround sound system soon.

My only other complaint is the lack of composite input. But it's not like I didn't know that it wasn't there before I bought this display. It just would have been nice to be able to connect older devices or my Wii without having to buy another cable.

Over all, I am thoroughly enjoying this display.

I was excited that my new 26' Samsung TOC arrived to me FAST, even with the Super Saver as a option. I am very proud of my investment and glad to have purchased through Amazon.

I bought the Samsung 24" monitor about a year ago.........my wife has wanted it...wanted it...wanted it, so I gave it up. The Samsung T260HD is a multi-purpose monitor, and works well in all aspects....yes, it's a tad strange to run 480 comcast tv thru it.....it doesn't look all that well. But as a monitor it is all anyone could ask for. Beautiful colors, easy to use....just like all the other Samsung products. I loved Sony, but they got the 'Big Head' and have overpriced their products. Samsung smokes 'em! Thank you, Amazon! The price was about the same for both Samsungs, and I have the price guarantee!!!

I would have given this a 5 if i had known it was a computer monitor when i bought it. I can not hook up my curent dvd player due to the lack of inputs..also the remote does not light up.
other than that that the price was great nd the picture quality is awesome!

This is an excellent product. I mainly wanted it to use as a reference monitor for HD content I'm editing, however, the HDTV capabilities are awesome. I've found that with my cable box the channels look their best when using the component inputs instead of the HDMI input. Also, if you are using it with a computer, make sure you have a beefy video card. (I've seen other reviews that mention soft video when used with a computer)
If you are buying it to use for TV viewing, it won't disappoint, however, it is a monitor first and made for viewing straight on, unlike TVs that are made for wider viewing angles.

Great TV picture, I hooked this Samsung up to my self-built computer with the Video card's DVI connector, which also gives the computer a super-sharp picture. Sound is OK, but will be better with a 5-channel speaker system I have here. This unit is for my bedroom, and is just what I was looking for in a monitor-TV combination.

Works good, looks good, good price, good warranty. Fully functional - mainly used as a monitor for my laptop but the quality as a television is great also. There was only one negative excerpt I read when researching this item, it was someone remarking that the picture quality was superb as a television but that the colors weren't brilliant (especially black) when used as a monitor. Mine is used as a monitor and my wife and I both observe the bright sharp colors displayed. It is just one cord to plug monitor to laptop and you are ready to go! I have already recommended this dual function LCD to everyone who mentions buying a 26" television.

I use this as a HDTV. The picture is absolutely fantastic. The screen is 25.5 inches almost a 26 incher, but the case is significantly smaller than 26 inch sets. I needed it in the kitchen and thought I would have to go with a 22 inch set because of space limitations but this fit because of the streamlined case. I have it hooked to the cable box with a HDMI cable and could not be more satisfied. I got it for a great price and a $30 mail in rebate. The clincher was the 36 month parts/labor warranty because it also is a monitor which Samsung warrants for 3 years. If space is a problem but you want as big a screen as possible, nothing else beats this.

This looked like the monitor and tv of our dreams, but poor us and poor Amazon, they only use UPS up here in Maine, and the driver as he got off the truck with it said "this looks pretty beat up!" The box looked like they had tried to fold it in the middle, and had been patched up with tape. Expensive tinkling sounds emanated from within.

Naturally we refused the poor thing, and asked Amazon for a refund which being Amazon they did no problem.

Lesson: 1) DON'T buy larger fragile items from Amazon, as they seem to only use UPS. 2) If a box from UPS or any other carrier looks roughed up, you have every right to refuse it IF YOU HAVE NOT ACCEPTED OR OPENED IT. 3) Take photos wherever possible, in case someone has a short memory and tries to charge you anyway.

We really hope Amazon changes to FEDEX, as stuff from them gets up here in pristine condition. We know that LL Bean dropped UPS, where they're known as Buster Brown. Try to avoid UPS shipped goods!

First I think I should start by saying that i use a tv for one thing only, tv. If you want to use this for your computer monitor or something then refer to a different review. I give it 4 stars b/c it looks great, the color seems good (contrary to what others have said) and I really love the noise it makes when you turn it on and off. It's my first flat screen and I love it. I have a time warner cablebox which means the TV schedule is built into the tv for DVR purposes and changing channels of course, but if you have regular old cable and like to surf channels you should be aware that there is a slight delay when going from one channel to the next. Of course, if you have a cable box this isn't a problem bc you don't channel surf, you just use the built in TV guide. i find that all flat screens have that problem of channel delay, but this one is far better than others i've seen.

It's a FullHD TV display (720p and 1080i). It's a high res computer monitor (1920x1200). It's a complete over-the-air tuner; digital (ATSC (720p and 1080i)) and analog (obsolete NTSC). It's a cable settop box eliminator (but see below). All this while delivering a gorgeous image.

Be aware of these limitations though. If you are using it as a computer monitor, best quality requires output of it's native resolution of 1920x1200. As a cable settop box, it can tune in any analog channels but only unencrypted digital channels (clear QAM). Your cable provider may or may not have a satisfying selection of clear QAM channels. Each cable provider is different and their lineup often changes. To get encrypted digital channels you'll need a settop box. The sound quality is passable.

Not much to add to other reviews other than there IS a wall mount option for this TV. According to Samsung the WMB2400T "Wall Mount Bracket 24-25.5" will work with this TV/Monitor. It's pretty cheap too.

I will admit up front that it is entirely possible I'm missing something and I'm open to any suggestions. Because I read that T260HD would perform well as a television in the kitchen or bedroom, I purchased it with the explicit intent of replacing the smaller 19" set in my bedroom. What a mistake!! I was expecting similar or improved picture quality from the basic Sharp unit I had become used to. What I got was a nice 25.5" TOC case that surrounded a screen which presents absolutely horrible picture quality and marginal sound quality. I halfway expected the minimal sound quality but the real issue is the miserable picture quality. I have it connected to DISH Satellite. All the colors are washed out, I don't think I've even seen a color I keep looking for a protective film that MUST be covering the screen. It looks like I'm watching it in a smoky or cloudy room. I've tried all combinations of adjustment and nothing has worked. Needless to say, I am very disappointed! I have an older 46" Samsung DLP downstairs that performs just fine. I'm not sure what the deal is with this unit. Am I missing something??

To the average user / gamer thinking about ordering this monitor: Do it!

I was VERY hesitant about ordering this monitor because of the negative reviews about "drab color" and such, but I notice no such thing. Granted, I am used to using a 21" CRT and 24" CRT, so I have never owned an LCD monitor before this...but I can say, I'm very pleased that I do.


The professional graphics / photo editors would probably want to take some other professional's advice, but so far, i have no regrets about this purchase. $499 for 26" HDTV Monitor....where is the downside?

If you are like me and just like to watch movies, play games, etc. Order, I'd order two of these if they could fit on my desk and i could afford it :)

Arrived DOA but exchanged for another and am very happy with my new TV. Excellent picture,good sound,great value.Easy to set up and many useful features.

I've only had this tv for a little while, but it seems to be somewhat poor with motion. Other than that, it is great as a monitor for a pc. It is perhaps too large of a monitor, i found myself moving it away from myself a little bit for my eyes, even after only having the monitor for a few hours. make sure you know how big a 26 inch monitor is before you get this. other than that, the color quality is great, and I spent my first couple hours trying to find a wallpaper good enough for this pc.

For watching normal channels, like the news, sitcoms, etc this tv is great. I was watching the simpsons movie, and the picture was terrific at 1080p, but when it came to the credits, there was a noticeable stepping of the picture, and the credits rolling up the screen does not feel like true motion, and even hurt my eyes a little. i was sitting too close to the tv though, less than three feet away.

The sound is certainly adequate, although I have not yet tried to attach external speakers. It doesn't give you the movie theater sound, but most HDTV's i've seen would benefit significantly from external speakers.

So I got this a week ago and have been using it. Primarily as a computer monitor, secondarily for video games, and then TV/whatever as tertiary uses.

All in all, the picture is fantastic. It's big and bright, and mine came with zero defects.

The built-in speakers are very tinny at low volume. Strangely, when I crank the volume high, there's no distortion, and it sounds a lot better.

It suffers some viewing angle color shifts like most inexpensive LCD monitors, but they're only noticeable on the primary color tests. This site has the tests, and they're basically just pictures with explanations about what you should and shouldn't see.
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

Even with an analog VGA connection to my notebook, using the skinny VGA cable that came in the box, 1920x1200 is sharp-looking down to the pixel. Playing video games on an XBOX 360 at 1080i resolution through the analog connections, I have not noticed any ghosting or other artifacts. 1080i mode is full-screen, not letterboxed, so there is scaling, but you'd have to be picking over the picture with a microscope to make out the difference.

The color controls are TV-like, but most newer video cards have deluxe color controls to tinker with color curves and whatnot until you go cross-eyed, so I don't miss it on the monitor.

I don't have any HDMI/DHCP devices, nor a DVI device to connect to at the moment and evaluate the digital image. The analog performance was honestly the worrying part, and it looks plenty good enough. Way better than my ancient Samsung SyncMaster 240T monitor, which works OK for my dad, now. Technology has progressed, and these cheaper, newer and bigger monitors are better in every way.

I bought this TV a few days ago on AMAZON. Amazon offered a great price and a very fast delivery. The TV looks great and delivers a wonderful picture. The sound is the worst of any TV I owned. The speakers point downward and sound as though they were pulled off a $10 clock radio. I am disappointed enough with the lacking sound quality that I wil return the TV to AMAZON.

I am a very satisfied customer. I purchased the Samsung t260HD on Thursday of last week and had it delivered the next day with next day shipping. I must say that i'm not very easily impressed and i expect quality (functionality and style). For $500 i was expecting to have something that is worth the price and will do exactly what it is suppose to do.

Upon receiving this product i was blown away by the beauty of it when i opened the box and finished unwrapping everything. The entire monitor/tv is beautifully made and the face is absolutely astounding. The bezel is made out of glass and the touch of color is blended in perfectly. I am a college student. The monitor function is perfect. 1920 x 1200 looks great. For those wondering about the use with apple computers, you have nothing to worry about. I have a 15.5" macbook pro and setting up the monitor was easy. It is plug and play, as stated. The drivers automatically install and you can use the full features. When plugged in to my DVI connection i see no bad quality or nothing that would disappoint me. Did i mention how big the screen actually is? Yes, the screen is ample size. It provides more than enough room for you to work with. It will constantly impress you with its beauty and size. Personally, i enjoy the many functions that the monitor has such as the preset equalizer settings for watching movies and listening to music etc.. and also the preset brightness adjustments for entertainment and internet.
The HDTV function is also great. Like i said, i'm a college student and this tv is perfect for dorm usage. It made me realize that the university has a cable hdtv package (well, the tv picks it up). It automatically finds the channels and asks you to auto program when you use it for the first time.
I would like to write more but this review is getting a bit lengthy..

Oh yea, Amazon's shipping time was impressive. They handled it with care and had it here in the morning on the next day.

I am a happy customer and would definitely recommend this item.

This monitor/HDTV has many great features but the available color adjustments are as bad as I have ever seen. LCD screens are never true black and usually are somewhat bluish. The blackest black available on this screen was navy blue. Not acceptable under any conditions. Most colors appear washed out.

These are my thoughts on this Samsung HDTV / Monitor (25.5 in not 26 as Amazon states) . I read literally dozens of reviews and spent many hours checking stats etc on one type and brand vs another. I chose this monitor based on several factors. I don't have a dedicated media room, so I wanted a tv that would fit in my entertainment center in the front room. I would have liked to have the 32 in model but it wouldn't fit. This was the largest that would fit of the major brands. It is also the only one that was 1080p not 720p. This is important to me for playing Blu Ray discs. We went to the local Sam's, Best Buy etc and checked out many tvs and agreed that the samsungs just looked stellar. Now on to address the strong points and the bad.



The good-----



1. I really like the look of the tv. It is very slick without being garish. I think some of the Sony's can be over the top with the big clear bezel around the tv. This just looks good.



2. I think the contrast is very good. I have no problem seeing it in a sunlight filled room.



3. I like that it doesn't have glare on the screen, I was worried about this, but shouldn't have been. It doesn't have any of that trouble as the old Magnavox crt it replaces does.



4. I think the picture is very good on Standard definition, Excellent on High def.



I want to preface the next section with a little background. It seems many buy this for the bedroom or kitchen, they already have a bigger one as the main tv of the house. I bought this for the main tv of our house, it used to be a 29 in screen was a "big" tv. Times change. I have seen High def and sd on a 46 in Mitsubishi Diamond and an 50in Sony xbr 5 For many hours at friends houses, this is what got me in the market, the Mitsu does Stellar on standard deff, better than the Sony. They both blow you away on high def. Football is amazing!! So I guess I am saying that although This is my first lcd I have a fair amount of experience with them.





The bad----



1. I am amazed at the flaws of lcd in general. People have been going on about these tvs for a long time and I just can't help but list what my 12 year old crt does better that this tv and even the much bigger and better mitsu and sony referenced above.



2. The bleeding through of the back light during dark scenes, or when you change channels. The blacks of the crt are much much better. The Sony and Mitsu are better in this area than the Samsung.



3. The loss of detail in the dark areas of a movie, I watched "Iron Man" in Blu Ray (Check the cave sequence) on the Sony and "Signs" ( Check the basement sequence) in sd on the Samsung. Both of them lost almost all detail in the shadows. Again the 12 year old crt beats them all by a large margin.



4. The slight smearing of the Samsung during fast action on the Wii. not noticeable on regular tv viewing.



5. This is specific to this Samsung. The speakers are not up to par with any other tv I have ever seen or heard. I read the other reviews panning the sound and thought, I am used to a twelve year old Magnavox this is bound to have better sound than that.

The 46 in Mitsu was panned for its sound also and it really isn't that bad, so I thought this wouldn't be an issue with this either. I was wrong. I think the speakers firing straight down has a lot to do with it. This brings me to another problem.



The only audio outs are Optical, or a headphone jack on the side. I thought well they sell thousands of these, there has to be some cheap speakers that will plug right into the optical just to add some more sound. Wrong. You could just use the mini jack on the side but as another review noted it sticks out and is not a long term solution. I found a couple of speakers (German made Studio Monitors to be exact) That would take the optical feed but they were too big for my needs. I ended up finding an optical to mini jack adapter, right here on Amazon. I am hoping this Creative Labs Speaker I-Trigue 3000 2.1
and the adapter will fit the bill. They seem to match the finish somewhat.



I realize that you could also buy a cheap RCA receiver from wally world that would take the optical but I am not trying to build a full fledged Media room/ theater just replace an old CRT in the front room. I am sure that plenty of folks are looking for the same thing with this size of screen, and I think Samsung should have put another plug on the back.



6. Viewing angle, once again the twelve year old crt blows away the new HDTV lcd. The viewing angle on the Mitsu and Sony are great. I know this is in large part to the much bigger size. The viewing angle on this Samsung is OK side to side no problem. The angle down is much worse. If you sit more than 10 -15 degrees below straight on to it, it shifts darker very noticeably. If you were to hang this up on a wall I think it would be a real problem. My screen sit about 24 in up from the floor in its cabinet.



7. Color, The color on the Sony and Mitsu were much better than on this Particular Samsung. The color on the twelve year old Magnavox is better than all of them.





Final thoughts----



You might think after reading all of this that I don't like the Samsung. I do like it. It isn't really fair to compare this $500 dollar 25.5 in Samsung to the $3000 plus 46 and 50 in Mitsu and Sony. I was speaking more to the differences of CRT and LCD. I think this tv is what a lot of people who have old crt's will be looking at and wanted to highlight what they are getting if comparison to what they have. The big advantage LCD has on CRT is resolution. That is what killed the CRT in my opinion.



I think compared to the Tv's in the same size range and price range you can't get a better lcd tv on any count with the exception of the speakers. This tv is very strong when compared apples to apples. This tv look amazing on high def, when viewed next to the competition (even the Sony's) in this size it is the best in my opinion. That is why I bought it. I can't wait for Dish to come out and hook me up this week.

I read all the other reviews about this product and that along with the great price persuaded me to try this LCD. I've only had it one day but I can say that the picture quality is incredible. The resolution is beyond belief. I also own a Vizio 32 inch LCD and this Samsung has better picture quality. Documentation is adequate and it more than meets my needs. Samsung has a superior product. I'm glad I decided to purchase this.

I evaluate technology, including monitors and lately I've been using either 19" CRT, dual 19" LCD or a high end 24" Sun LCD, with a variety of cards and onboard video.

I wanted something nice for home and after looking around this sounded great for the price and features. IMO, 1080P is about all you really need unless you do engineering or CAD work. I produce digital photography, video and documents and this is fantastic for those jobs, having a photo or videoconference window side by side with a text document window all in large size makes my work a lot easier.

When I first got it I was amazed at the brightness and screen size, and although I don't watch a lot of TV (stream video from a well known vendor and play DVD's mostly), when I hooked up the TV and let it find channels it turns out I'm getting a lot of 720i and 1080i from my location that is coming in fine when the analog signal off the antenna on the old tv was pretty bad. So that is nice and the picture is amazing if you are used to the old analog TV broadcast (ok, I'm an outlier here, no cable).

In any case, the picture is nice, very bright, and setting it up is easy, turning off the running lights and startup/shutdown sounds was easy and the custom video setting (brightness, contrast) was good for me at night as they seem to want you to run it bright in most settings.

There is an issue for me with viewable angle in the vertical plane that may affect your viewing experience. I do a lot of work in a zero gravity chair with the monitor on a hospital stand (because this monitor has no standard VESA mounting as has been noted before), and because of this I noticed that the viewing angle is such that your eye level should be higher than the unit for best brightness and clarity across the height of the screen. It says so in the manual - "Look at the screen from a slightly higher location than the height of the screen."

I look at the monitor from about even with the bottom of the screen as it is above my knees when the chair is tilted back and this really detracts and darkens the top of the screen a lot. The base will let the screen tilt up but not down so I will need to fabricate something to tilt it down a little (add a VESA mount guys!)

The monitor developed a bright green vertical line along the right side after a few hours of use, across vga-analog/dvi/tv inputs and it only went away for a short time if you power cycled it. It became apparent this was not the left-right or whatever adjustment and the monitor was defective. Amazon was really amazing with a replacement arriving the next day with no hassle and they picked up the broken unit the day after. Great job Amazon, this was my first return and I was really impressed.

The replacement monitor shows even more loss at the same low viewing level, such that watching video is annoying. I was expecting it to be about the same.

This is a great monitor. I'd buy it again.

It would be nice if:

It had a USB port multiplier, I just ordered a separate one.

It needs a VESA mount, I saw a review that said they make a mount for it but if you look closely, it seems to be a VESA mount so I think that is wrong.

The connecting wires could face down instead of out, but that doesn't bother me much.

If the viewing angle was little wider in the vertical plane.

All in all this is great for the price

while the color is a bit washed out and gamma levels has to be fixed, the features that come with the monitor more than make up for its shortcomings.

I just want to address a few things. For viewing television, the picture is amazingly good. Playstation 3 looks awesome... literally the best that I've seen.
When used as a monitor... The color profile for any PC monitor is always controlled by the graphics card, so you have to go into the settings of your graphics card and tweak everything to make it look right... once you take the time to do that, it looks great.

The 'auto tune' feature for adding channels takes a long time and doesn't work that great, but any channel that you punch in will automatically be saved, so it's not a big deal. Analog signals take a couple seconds to tune in, but digital signals are quicker. Sometimes analog signals won't tune in on the first try, but not often.

There are no standard A/V inputs (RCA yellow,red,white). The verticle viewing angle could be better. There is really no way to mount it (although it has an Ex-Link port for hooking up to a motorized mount...???).
Another reviewer said there is only an optical audio output, but there is a standard 3.5mm audio output on the side, it's just not on the back.
The built in speakers would be considered good for a monitor but not great for a TV
Aspect ratio choices are: full wide 16:10, wide 16:9, 4:3, wide zoom 1, and wide zoom 2.
Buy it.

I have very few complaints about this product. When used as a monitor the color and text are awesome- very bright and perfect. I see no problems that a previous reviewer had noted.

There are only a couple of issues regarding the TV- the sound is very poor and only has a digital optical TOSLink output for connection to speakers. I had to buy a converter to analog RCA (made by Gefen) to hook it up to my stereo.

On the remote control you can only go in one direction when scanning your favorites- this is extremely inconvenient. If you have cable this of course isn't an issue, but I'm using an antenna.

Othewise I think the case looks great, the colors/screen is very bright and I highly recommend it if you want a dual TV/Monitor!

I'd get this.

I got this a couple days ago at BestBuy, which allowed me to look at it in person before buying.

One thing many people seem to forget is that first and foremost, it's a computer monitor. I got it because my Dad has poor vision and he needed the 25.5" screen size to see anything. As a monitor, it's fantastic. He's currently using the VGA port in the back to input video and his Intel Integrated Graphics processor is more than up for the task.

I've played PS3 games on it, watched DVDs, used it as a monitor for my laptop and my Dad's desktop, and it's basically perfect. I even did lag tests using a timer that outputted up to 1/1000th of a second (the monitor only refreshes at 60 Hz so it'd only see 1/100th of a second changes). There's no lag. Playing games will not cause lag on this HDTV, unlike many other LCD HDTVs.

The only thing that's not perfect about this is that it doesn't look good from the back (cables stick straight out and there's no cover), and there's no VESA mounts. But as it's going to sit on my desk with the back to the wall, I love it.

I am extremely disappointed with this monitor. I chose it partly because of features, but also because the case was styled well and I thought would look good on a desk that is seen by anyone who enters our home. Unfortunately nothing seems to note that in the HD versions of the T260 and the T240, there is no cover for the cables in the back. And worse yet, they stick straight out the back, not down like just about every other monitor.

It seems that other than Apple's monitors which haven't been refreshed in years, no one even tries to make something that looks good 360 degrees around!

Actually quality of the picture is so for me. Very washed out and not that sharp. Was expecting to be wowed when I looked at it, but unfortunately I'm not. Debating whether to return it at this point and eat the shipping.

This monitor is very pretty...primarily the reason I decided to buy it. Technically (contrast, brightness, etc.), its okay...only slightly above average. I found the dynamic contrast feature to be useless and the channel management for the TV function to be clumsy.

I originally bought the 22", but decided that I must get the 1080p and a swiveling base.

My biggest gripe is that the monitor does not have a VESA mount. I would have much preferred to attach it to a desktop mount.

The Samsung T260HD is the best monitor I've ever owned. I was using dual 19 inchers (Samsung 940BX and Samsung 971P) and this blows both of them away. I'm an amateur photographer and my photos look amazing on this monitor -- big screen, high resolution, clear bright colors. The images are very sharp and detailed. There is so much detail in the images, it's almost like being there. Photos have more detail in both the highlights and shadows than any other monitor I have used. I love this monitor.

With the default settings, the monitor was a little too bright, so I turned the brightness down to 50 and then profiled the monitor with my Monico Optix XR color puck. Now the monitor produces less bright and more natural colors. The photos show more detail in both highlight and shadow areas than any previous monitor. The built-in 1080P HDTV works great too. It automatically found all of my DTV stations without a cable box -- in fact it found even more than my cable box shows. Standard DVDs look very good on it too. The monitor was easy to setup and use both as a monitor and as a TV. The remote is just the right size, with all the essential buttons and enough space between them for even my large fingers. The remote lets you switch between TV mode and monitor mode with a single button push.

Initially I couldn't play Blu-ray movies on this monitor and the Cyberlink Blu-ray advisor reported a digital connection that didn't support HDCP. The problem turned out to be lack on HDCP support in the GeForce 7600GT video card. I upgraded the video card to a GeForce 9800GT and now Blu-ray movies play just fine. Blu-ray movies have a little more detail, but standard DVDs look great too.

The screen seems to have an anti-glare feature -- light coming in my window that used to cause glare on my other monitors, is not a problem on this monitor. I haven't verified this in the specs, but it just seems to have less of a glare problem than other monitors.

Now that I have this large widescreen monitor, I've started watching DVDs and instant Netflix movies on it. Both look great. With a high speed connection, the instant view movies look almost as good as DVDs.

I still have a 19inch monitor to the side of this one for games that don't display well at this resolution. It also adds as an overflow monitor when I get lots of stuff running.

This monitor is a little slow to wake up after being asleep (Windows power management). I discovered that it wakes up better when detecting a mouse click than just moving the mouse.

I tried using the monitor from both the HDMI and DVI connectors and found no noticeable difference in display quality.

The sound quality from the built-in speakers is okay for watching standard TV, but I normally use my Logitech THX-certified Z-2300 speakers which are much better. When using the T260HD as a TV I let the sound come out of its own speakers, but when using it as a monitor, the sound routes through the Logitech Z-2300 speakers. They have excellent sound for both movies and gaming and are only $83 on Amazon.

If you are thinking of getting one of these monitors, just do it. You will love it.

I have a Samsung LN52A750 LCD television which is an awesome set for use either as an HDTV or as a computer monitor. I really like the style it has with the TOC (touch of color) and the crystalline bezel design. When the T260HD was announced it seemed like a great idea to upgrade my 22" monitor with this 26" and gain HDTV functions while matching the style of the larger set.

What a disappointment! When used as a PC monitor the text could not be sharper, but the colors are all washed out and blacks are a hazy shade of gray. This performance isn't nearly as good as the cheap 22" ACER it replaces! Since the 52" Samsung performs flawlessly as a monitor I figured this 26" just needed calibration. After adjusting the configuration of the video card AND using the supplied Samsung "Natural Color Pro" software, only very slight improvement could be made.

I then replaced the HDMI cable with a DVI cable to see if that was causing the poor performance... no luck. The images were identical. The DVI cable and video card were the same ones that worked fine with the Acer, so those components could be ruled out as causes.

I even used the menu to rename the port to "PC" in the hopes that would automatically modify the port configuration as it does with the 52", but that didn't help either.

Now here's the really strange part: When used as an HDTV (plugged into Comcast cable) the images simply cannot be better. Even without any adjustments the black levels and color saturation is as perfect as anything I have ever seen. When used as an HDTV this set will not disappoint anyone - no matter how "picky" they are. At least this performance shows there may be some hope in someday finding some hidden method to improve its performance when used as a monitor.


There were four other disappointments prospective purchasers should be aware of:

1) I had already downloaded and read the User Guide from the Samsung website a couple of weeks before anyone began selling this model. Upon unpacking the set I noticed the remote control did not match what was listed in the manual - it was a completely different shape and was missing 7 buttons. This seemed strange because some of those missing functions were very useful. I borrowed the remote from my 52" Samsung which was equipped with those buttons (and many more as well). That remote was able to control everything, including the functions that were missing on the supplied remote! I called Samsung support and found that they have recently updated their online user guide and downgraded the supplied remote to the one I received. While you can still access the missing functions by navigating through their menu system, it makes using the remote a frustrating experience. This is a relatively minor complaint since I can use my other remote or buy an expensive third-party remote to get those functions back.

2) Perhaps a bigger disappointment with this unit is its total lack of VESA wall mounting holes. There is no way to wall mount this set unless you use one of those old fashioned shelves they've used for years for CRT sets. This is a pity because the 1080p performance of this set is unequalled by any other HDTV in its' size or cost range. Even if you don't need it as a PC monitor at all, it can be completely justified for purchase solely for its HDTV performance.... but this function almost REQUIRES a capability to be wall mounted, which cannot easily be done wth this set.

3) The speakers on this monitor are average for a typical HDTV - in other words - pretty poor. My first inclination was to connect a simple set of 2.1 computer speakers because even the inexpensive ones provide a huge audio improvement. It is difficult to justify a full-blown receiver and 5.1 or 7.1 sound system for a TV this small. Unfortunately, the only audio out connection on the back is an optical Toslink connector which no computer speaker system I know of is equipped with. I can't even find an adapter to convert the Toslink to any analog type of connector.

I was successful in connecting to the audio-in jack on my computer's sound card via the earphone plug located on the side of the monitor, but it looks pretty cheap to have the wire stick out like that. That appearance is not compatible with one of my main reasons for selecting this item: it's beautiful appearance. Even with a right-angle jack adapter the cable remains visible and the monitor's side door covering the connections must remain open.

EDIT: 7-28-08
Just installed a Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speaker system. It solved the problem, but at a steep $250 cost. At least it handles optical inputs, as well as digital coaxial and 5.1 channel analog. It now provides the sound system for this TV as well as the computer and an upconverting DVD player. This is a pretty good sound system that has significantly improved my viewing and computing experience. It is not as good as the sound system in use with my 52" TV, but it is a vast improvement over the 2.1 computer speaker system that I previously thought was quite good.

4) The biggest disappointment is the lack of "picture-in-picture" (PIP) capability. What could be a more natural use for this set than to be able to use it as a computer monitor while having the nightly news running in a window? The remote shown in the original manual has a button for PIP, even though the manual stated PIP is not available. The remote actually provided does not have a PIP button. I've used my other remote (which does have a PIP button) to confirm, and the set just states "function not available". I feel this is a major design flaw for a set of this type.


Now for the good news:

I really like the crystalline (clear plastic) bezel design and the TOC which matches my 52" Samsung. Just as with the larger TV, the red TOC is actually so subtle that it appears black unless directly illuminated by bright sunlight, when it still appears more of a very dark reddish-brown. The 52" set has a design feature which allows subtle screen illuminations to be reflected off the outer edges of the bezel (dubbed as the "halo effect"). I like that feature and am a bit dissapointed this set has not yet exhibited this effect. (If it does, it must be even more subtle than on its bigger brother).

The on/off button on the bezel is not really a button at all. It's an invisible sensor that activates when you touch a certain spot - just as it does with the 52". Unlike its' larger brother the other contol functions for channel and volume are physical buttons hidden behind the right edge of the bezel. The power indicator light is very cool - instead of a small point of light, it is a faint red glow of a sizeable portion of the corner of the frame - perhaps a 2" crescent region.

I was greatly surprised (and pleased) to discover that after allowing the set to automatically locate and program cable channels that it found perhaps several hundred of them. It picked up lots of HDTV stations without the need for a set-top-box. The best surprise is that it shows standard definition (SD) broadcasts nearly as clearly as the HDTV broadcasts. I have to hit the "Info" key to verify the resolution of many channels because they all look so good. The SD display even surpasses the very good performance from its' 52" big brother! SD stations that are of nearly unwatchable quality on my other HDTVs look great on the T260HD, perhaps even better than they did on my old SD televisions (which I no longer have for comparisons).

Performance on HD material is quite good, but not quite as good as that of the larger Samsung.

SUMMARY:
I cannot recommend this unit for use as a computer monitor. If I ever discover a solution for its washed out appearance I'll edit that info into this review later.

The display performance as an HDTV is much better than it's performance as a computer monitor with deep blacks and saturated colors.

No PIP functionality greatly reduces this set's usefulness.