Quantcast
Subscribe to magazine

PCW Shop & Compare

Samsung SyncMaster 730B Black 17" LCD Monitor

SyncMaster 730B Black 17

Compare Prices

* Total cost includes estimated tax and shipping in the continental US. Prices and availability are subject to change by merchant without notice. Sales taxes and shipping costs are only estimates. Please check with merchant for details.

SIMILAR PRODUCTS
Most recent User Reviews for

Samsung SyncMaster 730B Black 17" LCD Monitor

  • Reviewed by: glwinc

    03-08-06

    Duration of ownership: 3 Months

    Strengths: EXCELLENT contrast and brightness. bright whites, and pretty deep blacks (at least for an LCD). included gamma-setting program. no dead pixels. gives a GREAT picture with a DVI cconntection.

    Weaknesses:awkward, hard-to-read controls, difficult picture tuning, limited physical adjustments. no dvi cable.

    Overall Evaluation: ***Update***I just bought a DVI cable, and it made all the difference in the world as far as color accuracy. I have modified my review to reflect this.---------------------------------overall imperfect, but it has some impressive qualities.- the first thing i noticed when i took it out of the box was its lack of adjustments: tilt is the only one, unless of course you mount it with something other than its stand. - the biggest chunk of the bezel around the screen is a matte black, but going around the outer edge is a shiny, black plastic piece. it looks very nice. - when i first turned it on, i immediately noticed the difference from my laptop's cheap screen in contrast & brightness. (i would estimate my laptop's specs are 250 & 250, whereas this one is 600 & 300.) it sure is nice to be able to work at a crisp, orderly 1280x1024. - once i got booted up and installed, the first thing i did was to check out the auto-tuning features and get everything calibrated. well let me tell ya, it's kinda difficult. it has 2 programs - one for color settings and one for gamma settings, and the gamma is much easier to set than the color tuning. i would not recommend this monitor for someone who needs very precise colors (such as a graphic designer or something) UNLESS YOU GET A DVI CABLE. i am a web designer, and i notice very small nuances in colors. the analog/VGA connection is hard to calibrate accurately, whereas DVI will give you correct colors from the get-go. dunno why that is, but it is. - even though this monitor has a much better viewing angle than my laptop, it's not perfect (LCDs just won't be). this can and does make a difference when i'm making web pages - sometimes very light colors may be too close to white if i'm not at the proper angle. but it's probably all in the adjustment, of which i am no expert on figuring out. - the 8ms response time looks excellent on paper, but it's not as perfect as a CRT. there is still a slight amount of ghosting (although it's not a problem for gaming). here's a way to test for ghosting: make an image in Paint consisting of alternating black and white pixels; a 50x50 size block should be big enough. then, make sure the window is small enough to be easily repositioned, and make sure the setting to "show the contents of windows while dragging" is enabled (it's in Folder Options). then, drag the window around a little, and if there's any ghosting, you'll know it: the black/white pattern may seem to flicker or blink while you drag it. and with this monitor, it does. again, i'm not using dvi, so that may have a slight bearing on the results.- the controls are not designed very well. first of all, i think it's a little odd to have the buttons on the underside of the panel - it's not as easy to use. second of all, the markings are hard to read - you'd pretty much need direct light to distinguish them easily. and their positions combined with the nature of the GUI doesn't make for easy usability. you just have to think harder about what you're doing - the whole interface isn't as natural as it could be.bottom line: you should get this. and get a DVI cable (a 2m M-M DVI-D should do the trick).

  • Reviewed by: batsbatsbats

    08-24-05

    Duration of ownership: 1 Days

    Strengths: Fast response, bright backlight, DVI support

    Weaknesses:Unacceptable color response, backlight bleeding

    Overall Evaluation: Purchased this monitor as a replacement for my 20" CRT, for use with my Powerbook. Returned it the next day - even after messing with monitor calibration (on both the Mac and the monitor) for over an hour, I was unable to adjust the color to acceptable standards - without adjustment, the image was heavily "washed out", and, even after calibration, everything had a significant green cast. By comparison, I am able to do the same to the previous CRT or the computer's internal LCD within a few minutes. Furthermore, when displaying a black test screen, I noticed extremely large "arcs" of backlight bleeding (brighter regions) extending almost an inch outward from the top and bottom of the display.

  • Reviewed by: bzeyman

    08-04-05

    Duration of ownership: 5 Weeks

    Strengths: 1. The fastest response time in market 8 ms.2. Crisp, Brightness, Sharpness are so Perfect.3. Dual input sources (Analog, DVI)4. MagicTune Mode is useful to adjust color scheme.

    Weaknesses:1. No DVI in the box.2. Height cannot be adjusted.3. No swivel.4. Control Button on screen is so difficult to read.5. Without rebate involved, the price is a way too high.

    Overall Evaluation: This is a great monitor indeed. But I'm not quite sure about an issue of backlight Bleeding!! When I changed my screen into any dark colors especially black, it is very noticeable to see extra backlight around the top and right edges of the panel which is very very annoying in those color scheme so I do have to set another pictures which is not too dark on the top and right edge as a wallpaper. Beside this thing annoying issue the color is so vivid and crisp. Without adjustable height, it makes things a little more difficult to me compared to previous models that I had which it can be adjusted. Also, is it just me that is very unlucky or something.. I got a dead pixel on mine and this is not the first LCD that I got dead pixel. This is my fourth samsung LCD, and believe it or not I got 1 dead pixel on 3 out of 4 LCD monitor I have ever owned on Samsung. But this one is not very noticeable for me, however I still know that it's there!!!! Good luck to anyone who didn't get a dead pixel. Hopefully, next one I will not get any dead pixel LCD again.

  • Reviewed by: cligo

    07-15-05

    Duration of ownership: 2 Months

    Strengths: fast response, no dead pixels, bright images, texts are sharp and vivid

    Weaknesses:no DVI cable included, height not adjustable

    Overall Evaluation: This is my first LCD monitor, and so far I like it very much. This LCD monitor has a great response time. No ghosting at all, great for watching movies and playing games. This monitor is also very easy to set up and the images are sharp and vivid. However, no DVI calbe included, so have to spend extra money on that. I would love this monitor more if the height can be adjusted; but compare to its display, I'm very satisfied with this monitor. Definitely recommend this great monitor.

  • Reviewed by: bigerwin

    07-14-05

    Duration of ownership: 10 Days

    Strengths: Great color, picture, refresh rate.

    Weaknesses:None

    Overall Evaluation: The monitor comes out of the box needing only a small amount of assembly. All that is needed is to mount the base of the stand to the monitor, which is a very simple task. My is made in Mexico. The monitor has great color and refresh rate. I can't wait to get some games for my new pc and really test this thing out.

See more user reviews »

Shop & Compare Sections