Product Review -- Samsung 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor (B2330)

When Black Friday came around last year, I began to peruse the online sales for a new monitor. My old monitor was a generic 19" flat screen whose lackluster colors and lack of workspace were getting on my nerves. I was itching for an upgrade and boy, did I find one!

I ended up purchasing the Samsung 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor (Samsung #B2330) and I couldn't be happier with the purchase.

What's included in the box:

- The monitor safely encased in plastic and foam bumper
- Drivers and directions
- Power cord
- VGA cord
- DVI cord

Set-up:

This was the simplest piece of computer equipment I've ever set-up. The moment I plugged it in, my computer (Windows XP) immediately recognized it and populated the "Display Properties" with all of the new resolutions. I think I spent more time adjusting the brightness and contrast on the monitor than actually installing it.

One note here: this monitor does have both VGA or DVI (digital) hookups. I tried both and finally settled on DVI. On VGA, the picture looked muted, washed out, and slightly blurry while on DVI it was clear and crisp. So, I wouldn't buy this monitor if you only have a VGA hook-up on your video card.

Size:

Upgrading from a 19", it took me a while to get used to the sheer acreage available on this 23" monitor. I can have two windows open at one time, allowing me to have my research open on one side of the monitor while typing into my word processing program on the other.

The 16:9 ratio widescreen is perfect for watching online streaming videos. With my resolution set at 1920x1080, youtube at "full screen" does not pixilate even at the lowest bandwidth setting. Netflix Streaming Service looks perfect on this monitor - most times you wouldn't know that you were watching a movie on your computer.

Image Quality:

Image quality on the Samsung 23" LCD monitor is outstanding when using the DVI hookup. Colors are bright and crisp with excellent color saturation across the whole screen. Video games look so different on this monitor - everything looks so lifelike!

Extras:

Samsung included a few of their best features in this monitor including:

MagicAngle - allows you to stand anywhere in the room and still be able to see the monitor with excellent clarity.

MagicBright - settings that can automatically adjust your screen settings for 6 different tasks: Text, Internet, Game, Sports, Movie, and Custom).

MagicReturn - automatically manages your display when you are using a dual-monitor setup.

MagicEco - allows you to work at 50%, 75%, or 100% brightness, saving you in energy costs.

I haven't had much need for these extras except for MagicAngle - it is neat to be able to work in the kitchen (which is at a 30% angle from the monitor) and be able to watch my Netflix movie with little or no distortion or color or image.

Cons:

Though I love my new monitor, there are a few things that bothered me about it:

One, you can't adjust the angle of the monitor - the stand has no "tilt" to it. I wish I could tilt it up just a little bit to make it feel more "natural" to me.

Two, after a day of using the monitor, I started getting major eye fatigue and headaches. After some internet searches and experimenting with the monitor's settings, I found that if I turned down the brightness and contrast, the headaches and eye strain almost immediately disappeared.

Three, the button on the front of the monitor that you use to adjust these settings are hard to use. The buttons are "soft touch" buttons that are activated by your hand passing over the smooth surface of the monitor. Without some sort of physical button or at least a bump to show you were the button is at, it's almost impossible to adjust the monitor's settings. I usually end up focusing my desk lamp on the buttons and stumbling my way through the menus, cursing the whole time.

Overall Rating:

I would give the Samsung B2330 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor an 8 out 10. Between its affordable price, quality picture, and ease of setup, I can't help but recommend it to anyone and everyone I meet.