I'm not a reviewer, but . . .
Written: Jan 22 '05 (Updated Feb 02 '05)
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Pros: Everything all the other reviewers said about it, particularly Puppies, Butterflies, etc.
Cons: Unlike some others, I think you can have too much of a good thing.
The Bottom Line: If you're into high end equipment and willing to pay for it, this is an excellent buy.
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| witling's Full Review: Samsung SyncMaster 213 T (Silver) 21.3" LCD Monito... |
For the actual physical details about the monitor, several reviewers have already reflected my opinions. I just got my monitor a couple of days ago, but I'm pleased.
This monitor is like UPS: It delivers. It's crisp and large. Great luminosity. It's everything I expected in a high bucks monitor.
This was plug and play. I presume that anyone who is buying this kind of monitor knows that your video card must have DVI output to take advantage of this.
I'm a codger and I didn't like the native 1600 x 1200 resolution so I moved down to the next 4 x 3 ratio, i.e., 1360 x 1024 (OK, so it's not expressed as a perfect 4:3). The monitor is incredibly crisp (bear in mind I don't have a lot of experience with other monitors)at several different non-native resolutions. Because screen pages tend to not fill up the available real estate, I use a setting of 120% magnification on my Opera browser.
My biggest concerns were, (1) Was I going to have a defective pixel rate that made me crazy but was not bad enough for an exchange (Check the monitor maker for their bad pixel policy.) (2) Was this monitor worth it.
Defective Pixels: I don't see any but I haven't run diagnostic programs either. Because it's subjectively beautiful, I don't want to know anymore. I do note, however, that most monitors larger than 19" (as of 1/22/05) have to be returned to the manufacturer if there's a pixel problem. The retailer doesn't handle it at these large monitor levels.
Is it worth it? Well, as my con comment implied, I think I would have been happy with a 19" monitor. I'm happy with this one but I'm not sure I'd have paid the extra $$$ if I'd tried a 19" monitor. I really don't know. I moved up from a 17" Princeton LCD, with which I was quite happy.
AFTER THE DANCE: I've owned this monitor for a couple of weeks now. I found it more satisfactory to use the monitor's native resolution (1600 x 1200) and use Windows desktop controls to make Windows and Windows fonts larger.
This monitor pivots only one way, i.e., clockwise and, if it's in portrait orientation, everything on initial startup is sideways until Windows loads the pivoting program. This isn't a big deal for me but it's something I didn't know about when I bought the monitor. The program that allows pivoting the monitor is Pivot Pro, it comes with the monitor. There's a free on-line upgrade to the latest version. Unfortunately, this program does not play well with Windows. When Windows 2000 is shut down, it has to wrestle with Pivot Pro and you get the dialogue box that says "Ending program" and it takes about 15 seconds.
Back to size. In landscape mode on the Internet, most sites do not take advantage of the available space. Surprisingly, the NY Times is particularly bad. Others, like the Christian Science Monitor do well. When the monitor is in portrait mode, the top of the screen is 20+ inches above the desktop. This is a mild pain if you wear bifocals.
MY BOTTOM LINE: This is a great monitor if you do something like spreadsheets or use a program with a lot of pallets. It's overkill for the Web. I'd stick with a 19" monitor unless you have a constructive use for the screen real estate.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 878-100
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
witling
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Reviews written: 4
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