Samsung SyncMaster 193p 19" LCD Monitor

Rating:
Summary: A 19" LCD Winner
Review: After reading many reviews of 19" LCD monitors I finally settled on the Samsung 193P as the best overall value/performance/quality choice. It has been up and running since December 30th and I couldn't be happier. I am using it as an external monitor for my Toshiba laptop and it was a snap to get setup, even for a novice like me. I love the brightness, resolution and color rendition as well as the slimline profile. I would recommend reading the reviews on www.anandtech.com/displays/ if you really want to get some indepth details and comparisons. I got the unit from CompUSA for $699.99 but there were 2 $50 rebates so my met was $599 (plus tax).

It's a winner!

Rating:
Summary: Wow! Great Color and Sharpness
Review: I bought this to use as a secondary monitor since I have a 21" CRT (originally paid $1,600 for the CRT) as my main monitor. I am a graphic designer that gets brochure, flyers and other materials printed by an offset printing press, color are critical. I work extensively in Photoshop and Illustrator. Clarity and ability to rotate to portrait were my main concerns.

I originally did not consider this as a main monitor because; everything that I have read about LCD's says that the color is not as good as a CRT for design. This LCD may be the exception.

Positive structural- Most LCD's I looked at had the connections attached to the LCD panel the 193P has them attach to the base. A great feature since you don't have to worry about stretching the cables tight and loosening the connections. The base is solid and the whole thing seems constructed well.

Negatives - Software driven LCD adjustments.

I have used my 193P now for several weeks and all I can say is WOW! After adjustments to my video card settings and through the Magic Tune software I have dialed in color that is amazingly accurate for photos.

What I see in Photoshop is within 2-5% of the final printed piece from a printing press. This is very important to me, much more so than web or my ink jet. It's more accurate than my CRT. Blues have never looked accurate on my CRT nor do they on this. You have to know what CMYK values will make blue and not purple. In Illustrator Pantone colors are not accurate but that's why I have a printed PMS color book.

The 193P is now my main monitor. It's clearer than my CRT, the colors are more accurate and my eye strain has been minimized. This is a great choice for me, I will be ordering another real soon.


Rating:
Summary: A truly great monitor
Review: I've been using the monitor for over 3 weeks now, and I must say, it's the best I've ever used. Note: I am not a graphics designer nor am I a gamer. I use my computer primarily for word processing, internet, and media applications, like realone and wma.

Set-Up:
No dead pixels on arrival. The unit is solidly and beautifully crafted (this thing oozes quality, even when off). Set up is a cinch, as the box contains all of the hardware and software you need. No need to go to Staples to buy more cables. It even includes an optional wall-mount hardware. The setup took about 30 minutes, as you need to install magic tune, natural color, and pivot pro, each of which controls the brightness/geometry/contrast, color, and pivot respectively.

Weakness:

Let's first get the weakness out of the way, of which there is only one: the integration of the three provided software. By far the best designed is the magic tune, which I really love. However, magic tune and natural color contain repetitive controls (like color and brightness), which leads to some confusion. By far the worst is Pivot pro, which has given me headaches, but this is no fault of the monitor itself. Customer service for pivot pro has been decent (not great), and am still trying to work out remaining issues with it.

Output:
The color reproduction, at least to my untrained eyes, look great. The text, which is very important to me, is sharp and clear. It puts my work NEC Mulisync LCD at work to shame. (I have been putting in more work hours at home... can it be because of the monitor??? Heh heh). As I said, it support either analog or DVI, but because of my old graphics card, I've been usin the analog output. It looks great in analog, and can't wait to upgrade my card to see what a DVI signal would look like on this monitor.

Conclusion/pricing/future plans for the monitor:
Apart from the sometimes-glitchy software, I see no reason to choose any other 19" LCD out there. Samsung is clearly the leader in LCD, both in market share (controls more than 30% of the market)and quality. And if they keep pumping out products like this, they'll stay there for a long time.

(...)

Rating:
Summary: The best of the best!!
Review: New monitor come this Tuesday. Worked great right out of box. No any setting needed to worry about. Everything automated adjust the picture contrast and brightness. Since it's bottomless design. Whole screen panel looks like one fine piece of Art work. Very fashion and modern can be fit into home office or living room. The best design ever I see in current market. special it's adjustable arm... wow, no one can make this so beautiful but Samsung. It's the way should be for LCD monitor not like those chunky monitor stand.
I always looking at the monitor stand design to be my next LCD monitor decision making. Looking for over 2 years. Finally find one and the only one I am truly love.