Samsung SyncMaster™ 245BW 24 inch LCD Monitor

I know Samsung makes some of the best displays in the business as I have had a couple of their CRT monitors and I know quite a few people with their HDTV and they are absolutely awesome. The 245bw is a pretty basic monitor which keeps the price very reasonable. I grabbed one at Circuit City for $475 as it was $100 off of retail PLUS there was a $120 rebate. So with price and taxes my total outlay was about $357…great price for a 24 inch LCD. This is a basic monitor and the price of admission is for real estate only. If you're a videophile, then you should look elsewhere. I will try to base my epinion on that as it really isn't fair to compare this one with a unit that is 2,3 or possibly 4x the cost.

My grandfather always said…you get what you pay for. As much as a cliche that is, its true. I recently went mobile with my workstation and unloaded my desktop computer and Monitor (Dell 2405wfp) and figured I could use the laptop for all of my freelance work as well as just general goofing around and surfing the internet. Well, at my advanced age of 43 and knowing that I need glasses, the 17 inch screen on my laptop just was not working out. Since I have it set up to just grab and go ahhla a docking station with a full size keyboard in front of it, the screen sits further back on my desk than normal distance when using a laptop. That's just too far and I needed to get another monitor.

I use a Viewsonic VP2330 at my full time position for 10 hours a day. It is a beautiful monitor and it is reflected in the $1100 price my IT guy paid for it. I myself purchased the DELL for home at the same time as I got the one in work. I paid a little more than half of what the Viewsonic was and it had better features. I would have loved to have gotten one of those again, but it was not in the budget with Xmas fast approaching. Although the DELL is about the same full retail price as the Samsung, the rebate is what lead me towards this model.

The unit came assembled in the box and all I had to do was plug it in. I didn't load any of the software for fine tuning colors that came with it as I am not into CG or DCC so precise color is not a priority. I do use it for my MCAD work so the edges of objects need to be sharp though. Once I got set up and turned it on, I was not disappointed at all in the brightness, contrast or the colors. Even when used in a well lit room by the sun, the colors are bright and easy to see as there is no noticeable glare on the screen.

This monitor has a 3000:1 contrast ratio vs. the 1000:1 for the DELL and Viewsonic mentioned above. If I set my desktop to an all black background and compare the Samsung side-by-side against the laptop display, there is a noticeable difference in that the laptop screen seems to have a grayish tint to it. I have taken my laptop into work and compared that with the Viewsonic, and they pretty much look the same. Any monitor viewed as a stand alone with this setting will look "black", but when viewed side-by-side, the contrast difference in the Samsung is definitely noticeable and the 'black' is closer to actual black.

The picture is bright and crisp but some of the small text on screen is not as sharp as a high priced monitor with a finer dot-pitch so don't expect it. The view does suffer a good amount when not viewed from directly on. I would say no more than 10 degrees either side-to- side or up-to-down is the viewing angle to stay within. That makes it in my epinion not useful for watching movies or gaming unless your by yourself and able to sit right in front. Remember, this is a $350 monitor that is not even in the same ballpark as an $1100 one so you are going to give away a few things and that needs to be considered when buying and critiquing.

Controls on the 245BW are straight-forward and easy to use and really are pretty much like all the others…if you used one, you've used them all. There is a button for (R to L): Power, Exit, Up, Down and Menu and they are intuitive. No complaints.

Connections are bare-bone minimum here. There is an on-off switch (not to be confused with the power button on front) an AC plug, a DVI, analog port and a 3.5mm audio-out jack on the back….that's it. A lot of the higher priced models will give you 1 or more USB slots in the back or side which I really like, but for the price…..

Like a lot of their LCD TV's, this Samsung has a high gloss front bezel that is kind of distracting when using the monitor in a well lit room. It is highly reflective and you can notice features or movement in the room behind you if the room is bright enough, like during the day when you have the windows open to allow in the sun. At night, with just over heads or a lamp on, this problem almost disappears completely.

That is really about it as it is a basic unit and suites my needs very well. Well worth the money I spent on it and I am extremely happy with the value that I got. I would have paid an extra $100 for it if that was the cheapest I could have found it for at the time. I would like to have a USB or two on the unit, preferably on the side as they are so much easier to use the the ones on the back..