Samsung SyncMaster 226BW > Reviews > I'm Samsold

Author's product rating:   

Picture quality	Excellent
Colour sensitivity	Excellent
Design	Excellent
Ease of use	Easy
Value For Money	Good

Advantages:	The best 22" monitor in the price/quality ratio
Disadvantages:	It'll make everything else on your desk look so crappy

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The trouble is, when you upgrade your computer, there is a tendancy to keep the same monitor. After all, its a piece of equipment that does its job equally well no matter what computer you connect to it. You could have a £300 or a £1300 computer connected to it and the display quality will not improve.

When I decided to treat myself to a new computer, I decided to invest all the money into a new tower. It was a self build project and is still a powerfull little machne a year and a half later. But after spending over a thousand pounds on the machine, connecting it to the old, albeit large, CRT monitor felt like a bit of an anti-climax after all that time researching the components and building it. 3D applications (oh, alright, GAMES!) run very nicely, but I don't play them that often. And then my monitor broke. What a terrible shame...

After doing a little research on the interweb I happened across this one. The technical specifications read excellently (see the above specification for that) and seemed to be the best for the price range, the reviews spoke quite highly of it (on Amazon.co.uk at least) and I am a keen fan of Samsung, having been very happy with their little mp3 players and mobile phones. So I clicked the "Take my £230" button (yes, I know, £230) and the day after next I had the monitor delivered to me in perfect condition at work. I have never driven home from work so slowly in all my life. £230.

First impressions were that I was looking at and holding something very expensive. The monitor is only about 5 CD cases thick at its thickest and 2 at its thinnest. It has a 22" widescreen that displays at a 16:10 ratio and has a dual input, one for the modern DVI graphics cards and a D-SUB connector for those older graphics cards. The monitor itself is mostly all screen. That is to say that borders around the screen are kept to a minimum, giving it a minimalist feel. It is finished in an expensive looking shiny black finished that looks so black it seems to suck in light. The minimalism continues with a stylish power button with a shiny blue halo, and under the power buttons are the main controls. They are nicely hidden away and give the monitor a very stylish feel. It sits on a round, stable stand that seems to befit the overall style of the monitor. There are no jagged angles here.

When you first get the monitor in-situ, you notice several things. One is how old it makes everything else look on your desk. I haven't really cared about having much matching furniture until now, and as soon as I set it up I had to go to Homebase to buy a modern desk lamp. Ah, thats better. The second thing is that the moment you take it out of the box, it seems to be sending out VIP invites to all the dust in the room. God forbid you should use any deoderant near it. Fortunately Samsung have wisely provided you with a cleaning cloth, so thats alright. The third thing is that it just looks so good switched off. It sits there on your desk vey discreetly, even though its quite large. It doesn't dominate a room like some televisions and it seems to enhance the look of everything around it. It's as much a style object as an expensive coffee table.

Now the switch on. I use the DVI port, so I cannot vouch for the quality of the D-SUB port, but my lord in heaven, what a picture. If your graphics card allows it, make sure you set the resolution to 1680 by 1050 for the best viewing picture. I have used a number of flat panel monitors including Dell, Acer, Compaq and HP, but this one takes the biscuit. The picture is so sharp you will see detail in pictures you never saw before. If you are a gamer, the graphics are so rich that you will spend most of your time looking at the scenery. The response time was a factor of buying this monitor and it truly does deliver on its promises. There is absolutely no blurring of games or video on this monitor. I am also yet to hear a report about dead pixels, but I don't have a single one.

The light emitted from the monitor is very gentle, so if you spend a lot of time staring at a screen, this monitor is excellent. The brightness can be adjusted quite low and you will not notice a loss of clarity, so it is comfortable to work with in dark surroundings. It is also an advantage being able to open two documents and have them open side by side, which saves fiddly alt-tabbing. The surface is in a matt finish and just seems to eat up all the glare and reflections, which is very good for your eyesight. The picture is almost surreal in this way. It seems as if you are looking at a well lit picture in a frame than a monitor, it's that clear. In fact, the vainer amongst us may see this as a disadvantage. If you thought you had bad spots in a photo when viewed on your old monitor, i think it would be best just to delete it. It shows up almost every imperfection.

Now the negatives. The stand is too low. Unless your desk is at the perfect height, it is hard to achieve a comfortable viewing angle, so I recommend an adjustable bracket for tilt and height. Problem solved, but it's getting even more expensive. Secondly, the viewing angle is quite sensitive. If you aren't looking at it at exactly the right angle, whites become yellows and greys can become blues. But buy the bracket and its problem solved. Thirdly, if a video picture is too dark, it can be very hard to see some detail. Another thing I noticed was when the monitor is displaying black, there are quite a few light inconsistencies within it, but it completely disappears once a picture appears on screen. Finally, I'm not sure how energy efficient it is. When its running I can hear a high pitched electronic whine coming from it. Its not noticeable when the computer is running, but I wonder if it is any more energy effcient than my old CRT.

In case this interview has whetted your appetite, there are a few tips for ownership. Only clean with the Samsung cloth or a cleaning cloth for a pair of glasses. This minimizes scratching. Secondly, keep the box. How do you go about transporting something like this if you don't have it? Finally, do not use screen wipes on it. Just a slightly damp, clean cloth will do, but don't press too hard. And keep the apple away from the monitor.

To sum up, yes its expensive, yes it is a luxury, and after all, It is a monitor doing the same basic job as any other. But somehow I found that £230 from somewhere and I have to say it was worth it. Its a piece of equipment that you will always have and will give you so much viewing pleasure, you just wont miss it.