Samsung SyncMaster 216BW 21.6-inch LCD Monitor Review

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(More customer reviews)A lot of desktop real estate at an incredibly affordable price and it looks classy too.
This is not a technical review of the product (incidentally there is very little of it at present on the internet) but wanted to share some thoughts.
I am sure like many who are considering an upgrade to their current monitor(s) will quickly find that the 22" LCD widescreen product class currently represents the best value for money. Going to a 24"+ the prices double and the smaller 19 or 20" seem to be around the same price point. Simply from that it is a no brainer that my options will be in this range. On that basis I have been researching various 22" monitors for a couple of months. I initially narrowed it down to the Acer AL2223WD (since I have an Acer already and has been completely reliable). In doing more research the Samsung SyncMaster 226BW came on top for 2 reasons. There appears to be a general consensus that the Samsung monitors are well regarded and secondly I preferred the styling of the monitor, although it came at a 25% premium over the Acer. So I have been in a holding pattern for the past couple of months to see if there would be significant movement (down) in price until I spotted the Samsung SyncMaster 216BW (released in early June 2007). At the same price point as the Acer, and only 0.4" (1 cm) smaller than the 226BW whilst still the same resolution of 1680 x 1050 the choice became clear. So I took the plunge.
As background, I was upgrading from a 17" widescreen ACER LCD (2003) and an aging SONY 15" LCD (2001), powered by a Radeon 9550. For most part the monitors were used for office work, internet browsing and watching movies. I am not a gamer so the emphasis on the response time wasn't a real concern for me. I unpacked and installed the monitor with relative ease. It really does dwarf my old monitors. I can now easily fit 2 Letter or A4 documents (full size) side by side. The monitor stand that comes with it doesn't look particularly flexible, thought I don't really have a view as I have attached the monitor to my Ergotron LX Desk Arm.
It comes with a thin manual, CD, analogue cable, DVI cable and a power cord. The power cord plugs straight into the monitor as oppose to an external box. Power input range from 100-240V, 50/60Hz, 1.0A.
When I first powered it on it was incredibly bright (Brightness on full setting of 100). With the MagicBright options I quickly changed it to the "Internet" setting which made it much easier on the eyes. There are no "dead pixels" from what I can tell which is a great relief (an irrational fear of mine with buying LCDs).
Some other points you may want to note when you do your own research.
- The 5ms response time is a Grey to Grey rating rather than a Black to Black. The 226BW quote a 2ms G-to-G.
- Also appears under the model number of SyncMaster 223BW as far as I can tell (see the Samsumg User Guide download)
- It is just a classy monitor without the other frills like speakers or USB ports
- An additional remark regarding viewing angles (having used it for a few weeks now). The Horizontal (left right) viewing angles is nothing to write home about but is completely acceptable for a computer monitor. However the Vertical (up down) viewing angle is quite poor. Not normally an issue unless you plan to use the monitor in PORTRAIT mode (i.e. rotated by 90 degrees.) If you do so then plan to use the screen dead on, otherwise its not particularly good.
Overall I am very satisfied with the monitor and hope to get many years to viewing pleasure. No issues with recommending it to anyone else who is considering one.
Update: Having used it daily for a month now, still maintain my recommendations above.
Update (Sept 07): In regards to the DVI vs Analogue cable question. Technically the DVI connection should be better, and maybe psychologically as well. Personally I have two side by side (one with DVI, other Analogue cable) which I use every day and frankly I cannot see the difference at all on every day use applications.

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Syncmaster 216bw monitor 23.9 x 6.2 x 19.2 21.6 3000:1 5ms 300 cd/m2 black high.

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