bit-tech Shopping: Samsung SyncMaster 245BW Black 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor

• Video - 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA)
• Video - 24 pin DVI-D

• Adjustable Height
• HDCP
• Swivel Screen
• Wallmount

Rating: 2

Time with product: 8 Months

Strengths: Nice looking screen, good enough refresh rate for FPSs

Weaknesses: It broke after less than a year

Summary: It's great monitor when it works. Nice fast refresh rate, I never had probems with it playing fast paced FPS games. Videos were crisp and contrast was fine. However after a week I noticed when the monitor would wake up from sleep mode some of the pixels that should have been black were replaced with bright blue pixels. More and more blue pixels would replace the black ones till the monitor would blink on and off till it fixed itself and the screen turned back to normal. This didn't happen often but it was annoying. Also I could "fix" the blue pixels by turning the monitor off then on, monitor worked fine if it started from on off state (not sleep mode). This problem was just an annoyance but it would fix itself, not a big deal, then one day in the middle of playing a game it flashed a white screen and didn't turn on again. I tried it with different computers and different video cables (DVI and analog) I sent it off to Samsung and they repaired it within a week (no complaints there). Right now i'm using it it works fine, but the annoying blue pixels are still there when the monitor wakes from sleep mode.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1 Days

Strengths: HUGE, bright, beautiful LCD. No ghosting even during a very extended gaming session. 1920 x 1200 resolution really shows off this masterpiece's strength.

Weaknesses: Strenghts Continued:I can see no major issues with viewing angle; but I'm not using it for anything other than general and gaming. NO DEAD PIXELS ! WOOT ! Samsung rocks.

Summary: Had to turn the brightness down to 40% because it was giving me a full frontal sunburn. I think my contacts were melted to my eyes before I realized what happened. ONSALE.com was awesome with delivery and price. $50 rebate from Samsung sealed the deal; now to see if I can actually get the rebate back from Samsung.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 2 Days

Strengths: Clean, adjustable, includes DVI and VGA cables and cleaning cloth, 24 inch, wall mountable

Weaknesses: Viewing angles are awful, but it doesn't matter because I sit in front of my monitor

Summary: Overall, a great purchase if your on a budget. I only hope it continues to impress...Samsung is a name you can trust, and evidently this is no exception. I hooked it up to my iMac (which the screen has gotten worse over time) and it makes it look like garbage. I use my 20-inch iMac for windows I won't be looking at and I use this screen for games, movies, and websites.5MS response time is great, but I would have liked the 2MS response time that was included with the 22-inch version. But this is a higher resolution.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: Superb contrast and brightness, precise color, clean look, excellent response rate, easy to adjust (tilt and height)

Weaknesses: No easy way to turn monitor vertical or mount on a wall. (I do not use this feature)

Summary: The primary use for my monitor is home. It has been a great asset for working at home on spreadsheets. The characters are sharp and contrast/brightness settings make it quick to change between preprogrammed and customs settings. Over the 3 months have been using the monitor I have been very pleased. I also do some gaming playing World of Warcraft BC. It is always a disappointment when I have to play on any other monitor. You wont find a better monitor that provides this much value.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1

Strengths: nice constructiongood resolutiongood speed

Weaknesses: not great on vertical viewing angleno USB or audio ports

Summary: Nice "basic" 24" monitor. Picture is excellent with very good response time and wide horizontal viewing angle. Vertical viewing angle not as great -- colors get washed out more than 60 or 90 degrees out.