Apr 21, 2004 02:04 PM
11885 Views
(Updated Jul 06, 2004 05:43 PM)
My old 14'' analog monitor had served faithfully for 7 years. The monitor began to lose its sharpness and a capacitor or IC began to give away. The normal colours turned flashy pink. It was time for me to change. I looked upon the different monitors available in the market. For the price conscious user, a 15'' one is still a good bet (available for below 5000 bucks). I needed something different and something very good. My eyes settled on the 17'' CRTs (LCDs are still out of my range, costing upwards of Rs. 15000). Among the 17'' monitors, I narrowed down to Samsung, LG, & Benq. The prices were quite competitive.
The LG 700S Studioworks was priced at an affordable Rs.6750; The Benq G774 at Rs. 7500; Samsung Syncmaster 753DX at Rs. 7000 as so on. I had almost decided on one among these, when I saw some Flat Screens. The Samsung Syncmaster 763MB & LG Studioworks E700S were among the best I saw. They also offered good value for money at Rs.8800 & Rs. 8500 respectively.
I finally decided to go for the Samsung 763MB 17'' Flat monitor, for its sleek looking silver-black design & 4 preset colour modes. Moreover, Samsung are the world leaders in display. Weighing at a heavy 16Kgs, the Samsung Syncmaster 736MB (MB is for MagicBright) is a 17'' F&FST monitor.
The F&FST (Full & Flat Picture Tube) has a dot pitch of 0.2mm thereby providing for some sharp pictures. The monitor has the preset modes button right on the front. The modes are Text, Internet, Game & Entertainment with increasing levels of brightness. The rest of the standard buttons are provided as a 4-way key. It has all the normal functions of adjusting size, zoom, position, geometry and degauss, The antiglare coating is easy on the eyes.
There is no distortion of images at the edges of the screen. The max resolution is a whooping 1280x1024 at 60Hz refresh rate. With such high resolutions too there is no distortion of text or icons. The vertical scan rates are between 50 & 160 KHz, while the horizontal scan rated range between 50 & 160 Hz. The package contains a power cable, a quick start guide, the monitor base & the driver CD. Installation of the drivers (on Windows OS) is a breeze.
Along comes a software called Natural Color. This software guides you in adjusting the right amount of brightness & contrast. Overall, this is a very good monitor for its price and a comfortable 3yrs onsite warranty. The 17'' size and the flat screen makes gaming & watching movies a real pleasure.
It cost me Rs.8800 while my old one fetched me Rs.800 only in exchange. The Samsung website quotes the price at Rs.9500 (see http://www.samsungindia.com). Prices may vary from cities to vendors too.
Overall I feel that even at Rs.8800 this beauty is worth a bargain. If you are deciding to buy a new PC then gives this one a long, hard and good look.
