David Shapshak
Samsung SyncMaster 151s. This Samsung flat panel monitor reminds me of Ally McBeal. It’s thin and sexy. The only difference is nobody seems to hate it like they hate the TV show.
It’s not a good comparison though. The monitor has no neurosis it worked perfectly from the moment I plugged it in.
When I picked up the box, it was so light that I thought it was empty.
For the two weeks I had this graceful screen on my (now) uncluttered desk, I felt like a proud parent with a newborn. All my guests traipsed into my office to see it, uhmed and ahed, and complimented me on it.
“So why does anyone care how thin their computer monitor is?” Time magazine wrote in 1998.
“Subliminally, at least, the advent of flat screens suits today’s Internet computing it underscores the immateriality of cyberspace. A flat panel is a looking glass, conjuring another world practically out of thin air. The aim is to end bodily exertion and involvement. Thin-to-disappearing screens and phones and speakers cater to our illusion that we have access to the virtual world without needing any implement at all.”
It’s been several years since I reviewed a flat panel monitor and the advances are noticeable. This 15-inch Samsung SyncMaster 151s measured almost the same diagonally as my current 17-inch CRT monitor but took up less space.
Appearances aside, which is all our Ally McBeal is really, the monitor performed superbly. It was super clear and the images were crisp. I especially liked the way it powered itself up almost instantly when I returned to my desk when the screensaver had powered it down. This was much faster than my CRT monitor and the major bugbear of using it instead of my notebook’s own monitor, which also powers up quickly but is much smaller.
My only complaint is that I struggled with Samsung’s colour until I loaded some bundled software that helped sharpen the colours. The text also had a blurred edge when I was working in my word processing package.
The monitor scored an impressive nine out of 10 from authoritative technology site Cnet, which praised almost every aspect of it: “The Samsung ranks in the upper quality range for all the LCDs we’ve evaluated regardless of price.”
This is no faint praise. Cnet’s only grievance was that the base was a bit wobbly, but I never noticed that.