Toss that clunky CRT!
Written: Mar 15 '02
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Pros: Bright, clean, and crisp images. Space-saving and very efficient. 3-yr Warranty.
Cons: Price; pixel and smudge defect problems. Contrast also sometimes an issue.
The Bottom Line: A couple small defects aside, I highly recommend the 570TFT series. I have been very happy with its crisp, bright images, slim profile, and performance.
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| dsmeyer's Full Review: Samsung SyncMaster 570 VTFT 15 inch LCD Monitor |
Being a college student, sometimes I have a tough time finding space for anything in my already-cramped dormitory room. So when my 15" Sony Trinitron monitor one day decided to go out, I rushed to Best Buy to seek out a new replacement monitor. Having had 2 traditional CRT monitors go out on me in the past year, I decided I have had enough problems with big bulky monitors and immediately sprang for the Samsung 570vTFT 15" flat-panel LCD. Also being on a tight budget, this was also a conscious decision that I was making quite an investment. I simply could not spend more than $400 on a monitor. So that's the short tale of my monitor experience.
The first thing that attracted me to the Samsung LCD of course was the relatively low price ($370 after a $30 rebate was much cheaper than months before), costing a little more than the highest-end 17" CRT monitors. These LCD monitors are actually sold by their viewable image size, so when you buy a 15" LCD you actually get 15" of viewing space, where with a 17" CRT you might only get a comparable actual viewable image space. The second thing that charmed me about the Samsung LCD was its relatively tiny footprint. Instead of taking up one entire half of my desktop space like my 15" monitor, the Samsung freed up more than a square foot of desktop real estate. This was especially attractive and sleek to me. When people see my computer system the first thing they notice is that I don't have a big clunky CRT monitor taking up my whole desk.
Price and aesthetics aside, the Samsung 570vTFT exceeded my expectations in the performance department. I'm no graphics editor or anything, but the image quality of this monitor beat my old CRT monitors by a long shot. The best thing is that LCD monitors like this one have no flicker, because there are no phosphors to scan 75 times per second...pixels are comprised of a liquidy material and backlit by bright bulbs. The resolution of this monitor is 1024x768, which my Sony 15" Trinitron could barely make look readable. It produces a very sharp, crisp image at that setting...when you move to lower resolutions the monitor will smooth out the picture to fill the entire screen which sometimes makes text look blurry.
This monitor doesn't come with a big slew of inputs or anything like that. It offers a 15-pin analog VGA connector (with separable cord, which is another good thing) and DC power input. There are no digital inputs. The power transformer is not built into the monitor, so that will lead to extra power cables behind your desk...better than making the monitor bulky, I guess.
When I first took it out of the box and hooked it up to my VGA port, I thought the picture looked pretty blurry. Well, indeed it was. No problem -- a few seconds after I pressed the "Auto" button, the monitor re-calibrated the input signal to make it look like a perfectly clear picture. Auto adjustment is recommended whenever you connect the monitor to a different PC because no two video cards produce the very same output signal. Note: The optimal settings as I mentioned above are 1024x768. You should set Windows' screen refresh rate to 75hz as well to enjoy the best possible quality. Always use the Auto button when you switch to a new resolution, so the monitor can calibrate itself.
Color replication seems lifelike and pretty accurate. I have had many CRT monitors where you could adjust their "temperatures" time and again and not find a perfect setting for brightness, but the 570vTFT seemed to need no adjustment other than brightness when I initially set it up. One should note that LCD monitors do not look the same from all angles, and that includes this model. When viewing it from the side angles, the image turns slightly yellow and washed out. Contrast sometimes becomes an issue depending on how the panel is tilted...I will go into that in a bit.
I'm not a huge gamer, but there were previously rumors that LCD monitors sucked for gaming. I occasionally play CounterStrike or Half-Life and I can honestly say that playing first-person shooter games on this LCD monitor are no different to me than on a conventional CRT. Images don't blur nearly as bad as I suspected they would, during periods of heavy screen movement. Movies are also very easy to watch as well...no blurry artifacts there! However, I did notice that contrast does get affected depending on what angle the panel is tilted. If the panel is tilted all the way forward so that it is flat, it is definitely easier to tell the difference between dark and light...this is another minor quibble but it's easily solved by tilting it forward all the way when playing games or watching movies so you can get a complete advantage out of the contrast ratio.
After several months of flaw-free performance however, I noticed a couple problems. I had just taken my monitor to a LAN game gathering (another good thing--this monitor is effortlessly portable relative to CRT's) and I don't know if it's because I banged the panel on the corner of a surface or something, but later that night I noticed two fingerprint-sized smudges near one corner of the LCD. These smudges are ever so slightly dimmer than the rest of the LCD itself, and no one else would really be able to notice them unless I pointed them out to them. It's not a huge problem but it does look strange on the Windows solid-blue color backgrounds and stuff.
Along with those two smudges, I also had one pixel go bad recently. It's on the far right center of the screen, a lone blue pixel. I gently rolled my finger over the area, and the pixel will seem to toggle itself on and off just from my touching it. So, apparently their manufacturing process has not yet yielded completely fault-tolerant LCD's. This monitor carries a 3-year warranty, so I will see if I can get Samsung to fix the problems or send me a replacement. So if you buy an LCD, don't throw the box or packaging away because you might just need it one day.
Aside from those two small flaws I have been very happy with the 570TFT. It has cleared off a ton of desktop real-estate, produces far less heat, consumes a fraction of the energy, and gives the most crisp, sharp and bright pictures than I have ever gotten from any of my CRT's. I recommend the monitor to anyone who has vision problems or gets headaches from traditional CRT screens, as I no longer have to take occasional breaks from my computer after being on it for hours at a time.
You can't go wrong purchasing an LCD, especially a Samsung 570TFT series. You might want to wait for the price to come down, but right now considering you get a 3-year warranty you can tell the higher price is worth the extra protection you will get for your investment. I know I won't be going back to a CRT any time soon.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 399
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
dsmeyer
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Member: Doug Meyer
Location: Austin TX
Reviews written: 39
Trusted by: 13 members
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