Excellent after more than 2 years
Written: Jun 01 '05
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Pros: Screen Size and Quality Intuitive Controls Dual Inputs Auto Adjustments
Cons: Source control for dual input easily gets confused with 2 computers
The Bottom Line: Excellent monitor has stood the test of time; works like a champ. Sells for less than half the original price. A large screen will change your life.
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| dcascioppo's Full Review: Samsung SyncMaster 213 T (Silver) 21.3" LCD Monito... |
The 213T is an excellent monitor to Samsungs credit. Over the last several years I have seen the quality and technology improve from this company. We purchased this monitor, nearly 3 years ago. It has been on daily for that time, mostly left on 24/7 at the office and now at home for nearly 3 years!
When discussing monitors I am totally subjective so the manufacturers specs. are just for geeks. The rest of us rely on our eyeballs as it should be.
The color is perfect. None of my other monitors stand up to its depth and clarity (I have 10 or more). I agree that high end game play can be less than satisfying. Most of us however use our computers for work and hate to waste time on them after work, let’s be real. Can you imagine spending 8 hours in front of a screen and then coming home to play games?
The response is good in our wide range of uses. Here is a description of some popular applications, and my opinion of how it works for us. There are no stuck pixels on this monitor.
Adobe Photoshop – A dream to work on. Vibrant colors and incredible speed and compositions. Try using two of these monitors with Photoshop and stretch your work out on the landscape. Using this monitor will decrease eyestrain and improve productivity with its large size and accurate rendering. Try loaning this monitor to someone and then getting it back. They will want to keep it.
Adobe Illustrator – Like all Adobe high end memory sucking applications, it works awesome for design work, logos and other graphics work.
Word – Being able to rotate the monitor for full page mode is a significant improvement over normal screens. Flawless.
DVD – Excellent!
Web Browsing – A large screen adds a new dimension.
Negatives – The auto sensing input (DVI or VGA) easily gets confused with two inputs. The monitor works best with a single input. When driving two computers regularly, I got the hang of it. That little defect was annoying but did not interfere with enjoyment of the product. Also because of the weight of the screen you must be careful rotating it. The screen has a very heavy frame to protect it.
We prefer using high end video cards with a minimum of 128 megs RAM. With a screen this size, you will notice degraded performance with an older VGA card. There are very good VGA cards out there for about $50 with dual inputs, Nvidia chipsets, and 128 megs RAM or more! I suggest you get a card without a fan from a reputable manufacturer, or at least a brand you recognize, e.g., MSI, ATI etc. Watch out for inferior no name video cards that have name brand chips. Spend $100 on a decent card and you will be happy. If you have to buy a card with a fan, make certain that the fan is a standard size and replaceable. A typical fan lasts only about 2 years. Then they quit and burn up the video card or degrade performance. Stay away from video cards with fans.
With normal care and respect this monitor should give at least 3 years of good service, if not more. It is as fragile as any flat panel monitor, save the nice shipping box it comes in for moving, it will come in handy and provides perfect protection for the device. A broken screen is not covered by warranty unless you received it that way.
We paid nearly $1200 for this monitor when it first came out, and they are still making them with only cosmetic changes. That is a sign of a good product.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1200
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
dcascioppo
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Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
I am a avid web user with a lot of interests
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