Samsung SyncMaster 213T-Black 21'' LCD Monitor

Rating:
Summary: beautiful, but dead pixels
Review: A beautiful monitor, but mine came with some dead pixels. Must use DVI inputs for best picture quality.

Rating:
Summary: Awsome
Review: I just got this monitor a day ago--bought it online.
It is absolutely beautiful to look at. Not a single dead pixel.
I bought it to use with my Powermac G4 and didn't have to do anything but unpack it and plug it in. I turned it on and there's this huge and absolutely beautiful picture. I can't understand why some people think it's not bright enough; Mine is plenty bright and I have it set at only 80% brightness.

The thin matt black bezel simply disappears when the monitor is on and the screen space is enormous.

By the way I was making my purchase decision between this and the Apple 23". I've come to the conclusion that a difference of 1.7 inches is not worth an extra thousand dollars.

The Syncmaster 213t is one of the best investments I've made in a long time.
Cheers to Samsung Electronics!!!

Rating:
Summary: Wow I love it !
Review: Strengths:
Crystal clear images. Excellent contrast and brightness, Portrait Mode

Weaknesses:
Pivot software seems to cause an IE error every time I tilt it. Sometimes have to reboot but comes back ok.

I researched this and other review sites for months before jumping in. Local stores Circuit City, Best Buy etc only had the silver model and I much prefer the black beauty. I had been using a 21" Sony Trinitron CRT (actually Dell's version) for many years so I was use to large monitor but wanted the brightness and easy to move LCD instead of my old beast that takes so much space.

Easy to set up once I realized had to also push the button on the front to turn on, not just the rocker switch in back .. dah...... Quite good manual on the CD vs very short install instruction book in zillions of languages. I upped the contrast and brightness to 90+ but wasn't that bad at default settings.

I was hesitant to use my NVidia GeForce2 MX 32mb with no DVI but wow, I was shocked at how clear and nice the video is even using analog.

I LOVE, absolutely LOVE Portrait mode and will probably almost always use it. Websites so nice to see so much of vertically and never have to scroll horizontally. A bit small at 1900x1200 (I was use to 1280/something) but not bad and I can easily hit Ctl-+ and increase size in increments (use Maxthon browser not IE). Word documents great and my e-mails....I see long messages so much easier with all the length of the screen and never been a problem too narrow at 1900/1200 portrait.

I liked the 213T so much I immediately ordered a second. Too bad the $100 rebate doesn't apply to the 2nd monitor per the disclosure.

[...]This is my first night using the 213T and it has met or exceeded all my expectations. Other than the IE has to stop error I have gotten every time I've pivoted with Pivot Pro, have had no problems, just wonderful monitor to use.

Its now 4:30 am and I am enjoying it too much to go home and go to bed :(

Rating:
Summary: Big LCD Monitor at a Good Price
Review: The Samsung 213t is significantly cheaper than other 21.3" monitors, although it should be noted that you'll spend a lot less on a 20" monitor. So if you're looking at this one, you'd better value that extra inch. Should you? This depends on whether you like high pixel density or low pixel density. The 21.3" monitor yields about 94 dpi (dots per inch); a 20" monitor is more like 100 dpi. Some of the smaller 1600x1280 displays (especially for laptops) go above 120 and even 130 dpi, and some people prefer the high density, even though the text gets smaller. WinXP has a setting to increase font and dialog box sizes based upon the local dpi, but this is imperfect, since graphics, unlike fonts, are not resized. We can argue theory forever, but the essential question is, what do you find easiest on your eyes? For me, the lowest dpi is most comfortable, because it draws larger characters, but I know of people who prefer the high numbers. If you're like me and you want low dpi and a lot of screen real estate, this is your monitor, at least in 2004. (There's a wider model, the 243t (24"), but it costs about twice as much.) The 213t price has been dropping over the year (with periodic rebates!) and may drop farther, and this model may well be replaced before long.

With any modern LCD monitor, be sure to use the digital connection to a DVI video card. The digital connection assures that the monitor will display *exactly* what the PC intends. If you use the VGA analog connection, you'll be open for some smearing and ghosting.

The 213t has no frills (no speakers, no USB). Its response time (25 ms) isn't as fast as some other monitors, so it's not the optimal choice for gaming or video. But it's a sharp, clear, large display. For the market niche it fills, it's the best monitor at the best price.


Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: This monitor is just incredible. If you want high resolution (1600x1200), lots of real estate and a large screen size then this is the monitor for you. Its images are clear, crisp, and incredibly bright. It also has one of the widest viewing angles of any LCD monitor that I have come across--almost 180 degrees. After moving from a 20" CRT, I would never, ever go back.

The 213T is not really suited for high-fps gaming due to it's response rate, but it is an ideal fit for office and workstation use thanks to it's sharp text low pixel density (the extra inch makes a huge difference here). Text can be read clearly from about two feet away without straining or resorting to excessive font scaling. In CAD and design applications, lines are crisp and very visible.

The overall picture quality is just phenominal. Samsung has a real winner here and its well worth the money spent. I wish I could afford two.