Review for Samsung 22" Widescreen SyncMaster 226BW

On taking the Samsung SyncMaster out of the box, there is some assembly required. The instructions took a little time to attach the monitor to the base, but all in all it didn't take too long. The most confusing part is that there are several versions of the same monitor and you have to search for the letter that tells you which one you have.

Once together the monitor tends to sit with the top at a slightly backwards angle. This is slightly irritating. The only way to fix this would be to prop the back part of the stand up, and this is difficult since the stand isn't extremely stable to begin with. If the monitor is bumped it can rock quite a bit, but doesn't easily tip over.

The monitor appearance is very modern. It features a shiny black frame with a silver stripe along the bottom. Some people may find the power button, which is in the lower right hand corner, too bright. It constantly shines a bright blue color around it.

Some of the monitor controls are located under the monitor frame on the right hand side. In order to press them one needs to reach slightly under its frame and press up to activate the buttons. If someone likes to adjust his or her monitor a lot this may become a problem.

On first power up the colors and everything looked pretty good, but did require some calibration. Some people have found it necessary with certain models of this monitor to use color profiles, which can be downloaded off the internet. This monitor was tested on Windows XP Professional and a special application had to be downloaded to add color into the control panel so profiles could be used. The testing monitor had more issues after a color profile had been applied, but it hadn't been set to default settings before the profiles were applied. There were no dead pixels.

Once the monitor is applied it provides a sharp, crisp picture with good color. This particular monitor features a 2ms response time as well as a 3000:1 dynamic contrast. There didn't seem to be any problems with the white or the black.

The overall large size of the 22" monitor was nice, since it allowed for an easier conversion from a 21" CRT monitor to a 22" where the user was worried about losing the vertical space. This hasn't seemed to be a problem being the ample room both horizontally and vertically that the monitor provides. Even though the monitor is very wide, there was still a lot of extra desktop space compared to the CRT monitor it replaced. In addition the monitor is light enough to easily tip left and right to store some things behind it.

Overall, this monitor would be recommended for almost anyone. Its fast response time, color dynamics, brightness and contrast are excellent.