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

• Audio - Line Out
• Component Video
• USB - Universal Serial Bus
• Video - 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA)
• Video - 24 pin DVI-D
• Video - 4 pin mini-DIN (S-Video)
• Video - HDMI
• Video - RCA Composite Video

• Adjustable Height
• HDCP
• Picture-in-Picture (PIP)
• Rotating Screen
• Swivel Screen
• Wallmount

• Monitor Stand
• USB Hub

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2 Weeks

Strengths: Ease of use.Glorious image quality.HDMI connection.

Weaknesses: Doesn't seem to have a "sleep" mode.

Summary: Sometimes I just sit and stare at this monitor -- the image quality is STUNNING! I can walk across the room from it and still clearly read 10pt fonts. Photographs and DVD movies are beautiful at the monitor's native HD resolution and I love being able to use an HDMI cable (rather than the heavier. less flexible DVI cable), especially when rotating the monitor from landscape to portrait mode. My computer is EnergyStar rated and shuts down various and sundry parts of itself to save power. When it kills the video card, the monitor runs a kind of "No Signal Found" screen saver -- I'd much rather it went into "sleep" mode but I've been unable to activate that option, if it exists. My concern, in moving from a 19" standard monitor to a 24" widescreen monitor was that it would overwhelm my desk. I'm happy to state that it does not. Although twice the physical size of my previous monitor this unit seems, somehow, unobtrusive. So the picture is overwhelmingly beautiful while the monitor, itself, is not overwhelming in the least!

Rating: 6

Time with product: 15

Strengths: Sturdy screen stand -- pivots, tilts and height adjusts.MagicTune and pivot software make possible lots of color adjustments and pivot screen editing. Sturdy. Attractive

Weaknesses: Cannot display deep blacks and contrasting colors for movies. Manual is pdf downloadable-- no paper copy.

Summary: The 245T model pivots and the matte finish has less glare than HP screens, and the MagicTune software has lots of adjustments but no paper manual. I chose to not print the PDF manual, but rather to play with the buttons on the screen The manual adjustments were somewhat more extensive than the software adjustments. However, the 245T with 1000:1 contrast ratio will not display really deep blacks and the colors are nothing to brag about for watching movies. The MPA adjustment for movie motion is sometimes good, sometimes bad. The Samsung 2493 has 10000:1 contrast ratio (deeper blacks?) and a larger color gamut and is $100 cheaper; but it does not pivot.

Rating: 4

Time with product: 2 Months

Strengths: Good picture.

Weaknesses: Buzzing sound.

Summary: The 245T emits a constant buzzing sound from the upper back part of the screen. In a silent room, you can definitely hear it. Turning on MPA helps, but MPA makes the screen seem to vibrate.I returned the original 245T that I bought to Samsung under warranty. They sent another one that had the *same exact problem*. I returned that one, and they sent another. *Same exact problem.*That's 3 brand new Samsung 245T's with the same issue. This is obviously a flaw in the monitor that Samsung won't admit to, and can't do anything about.Otherwise, the picture and performance of the monitor is great.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 7 Days

Strengths: Vivid colors, large 24" size, thin bezel, full range of inputs and USB ports, fully adjustable height & tilt.

Weaknesses: Color adjustment and screen rotation software (either on included CD or at Samsung site) is not available for the Vista 64 OS.

Summary: I purchased this 245T from TheNerds for a delivered price after incentives and discounts of just under $604 USD. It arrived in a sealed, factory box in perfect condition. This unit was manufactured on 2/27/08 so I'm reasonably sure it's the most current version. It has no stuck pixels or other flaws I can detect which is fortunate since TheNerds has a "no return" policy for this model; any problems would have to be addressed with Samsung under the terms of their 3 year warranty. Visually it is superb. Rich, distinctive colors, pure whites and blacks. Lighting is uniform across the entire display regardless of the color being shown. I can detect no ghosting or other image defects while playing games or DVDs. Applications as varied as Photoshop and Excel display with discrete contrast and precision. The display has a matte finish which is easy on the eyes compared to the glossy screens used by HP and other makes. FYI, it's being powered by a desktop running a E8400 CPU, 4 GIG of RAM and a 512 mb Nvidia Geforce 8800GT GPU. The one drawback of note is that the picture adjustment and "tilt" software is not yet available for 64 bit Vista. This monitor should not be mistaken for the 24" Syncmaster 245 "B" model which sells for around $400. The "B" unit has a lower quality LCD with a markedly reduced viewing angle, reduced image quality, fewer inputs, etc. I tend to buy high quality tech but use it for many years. For me, this hi-def capable monitor with high-end specs and performance was worth the price. My suggestion would be go see the 245T in person and compare it to Dell, Viewsonic, HP and the others before you buy. I'm glad I did.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1 Days

Strengths: Very good color and clarity. Screen can rotate to view pages in vertical. Lots of screen input types.

Weaknesses: Is large but acceptable considering the screen size.

Summary: The price seemed to be pretty reasonable considering all the features and the overall quality. Won't be able to fit the screen in quite the confined spaces that you can fit a typical size LCD screen. It's depth is about half that of a smaller CRT screen to account for the larger support arm and rotating mechanism. I would definitely recommend this product for anyone desiring high quality video images (including movies)made for this screen size. You will need an appropriate video card to handle the additional data load.