Samsung SyncMaster XL2370 user reviews

Pros 1. The whites look very 'clean' and the colors (when viewed straight on) looked good.
2. It isn't a glossy screen.

Cons 1. Wobbly base
2. Reflective lip and deep screen inset.
3. Touch buttons not very responsive.
4. Reflective/transparent border leads to distracting glowing.
5. Very limited tilt/swivel features.
6. Viewing angle is a show stopper.

Summary Apparently monitors are being rated on a 'curve' since I can not see how the poor viewing angles provided by TN technology LCDs could attain a ranking of 4+ stars.

Here are the sub-optimal points:

1. Wobbly base. As mentioned in other reviews, the base is wobbly. The desk which the monitor sat on is fairly stable, but even typing on the keyboard with this monitor on top of the desk resulted in it wobbling. It wouldn't have been so bad, but it takes a second or two to stop wobbling. The monitor which this one was supposed to replace had no issues with this and I guess I didn't realize how stable the previous one is.

2. Reflective lip and deep screen inset. The reflection of the task bar and icons on it along the bottom edge is extremely distracting. The top edge also reflects what ever is on the desktop as well, but my background was somewhat dark and this wasn't as much of a distraction.

3. Touch buttons not very responsive. It took some effort to get used to making the touch buttons work with any predictability. Even after using them for awhile, they still seemed very unresponsive and far inferior to 'real' buttons.

4. Reflective/transparent border leads to distracting glowing. I do not know why companies are making TVs and computer monitors with reflective material surrounding the screen. It looks 'new and shiny' for about an hour before dust clings to it ruining the 'look'. The frame should not be noticeable when watching what is on the screen. This model has a transparent plastic surrounding it which creates areas that glow with reflected light from lights in the next room.

5. Very limited tilt/swivel features. The monitor stand does not tilt downward and doesn't swivel at all. This wouldn't be that big of a deal if #6 below weren't such an issue.

6. Viewing angle is a show stopper. When viewing from below (about the height a child would be viewing the screen at) the screen has a large dark bar that makes it difficult to make out what is on the screen. When viewed from above, there is a white bar that equally obscures the screen. Left and right of the screen the color is off and is overall much darker. This is by far the largest issue with this and seemingly 90% of the other LCD monitors made today. This is what led me to do more investigation. Apparently the industry has gone to a much cheaper technology called 'TN'. I found my previous LCD is 'IPS' which has nearly a 180 degree viewing angle - nearly twice as much as today's monitors. IPS monitors are still available to buy online, but the mainstream has switched to the TN type pushing all IPS monitors out of brick and mortar shops (like BestBuy) and causing them to be all the more expensive.

I've never written a review this long about anything, but I feel we as consumers have been led to believe this new 'cheap' technology is better than the old. It simply isn't true and until we realize that there is more to a monitor than 'how big' and 'how much', the industry will continue to produce low quality products in fancy packages.

There are two good things I can say about this monitor.
1. The whites look very 'clean' and the colors (when viewed straight on) looked good.
2. It isn't a glossy screen. It is a nice matte screen which hold back the reflections fairly well - unfortunately the shiny border around the screen brought it back down a couple notches with distracting reflections of its own.

Well, that is it...thank goodness for an easy return process through BestBuy - I only wish I could have saved them the trouble by noticing some of these issues in the store before buying. Since BestBuy does not carry any IPS-based monitors, I decided to go to eBay to get another monitor just like what I have. The price vs performance is much better going the used route when comparing a 20" monitor produced in 2005 to the new mainstream 23+" of today.

Pros LED backlight
digital audio out
only HDMI and DVI connector, but still providing a cable to convert D-SUB to DVI
Price/Picture Quality

Cons touch sensitive buttons can be annoying to touch at times

Summary I was lucky that Best Buy was selling a day earlier than they were suppose to, or I would have never seen this beauty. Gaming and HD movies/shows look amazing. For the price, this is the best monitor to get.

Updated on Dec 9, 2009

Since I got an ATI HD5850 this monitor is even more awesome. I don't need a sound card for my PC. Just one HDMI cable running from the 5850 to the monitor and then my desktop speakers plugged into the 3.5 jack and an optical cable running from the monitor to my surround sound. I'm glad they went this route for audio output instead of adding more weight for crappy speakers.

Pros Thin
Light
Looks great
Amazingly bright
Very sharp picture
Above average color reproduction

Cons 6 frames of lag (1/10th second or 100ms) over HDMI
9-10 frames of lag (150-166ms) over DVI-A

That means playing single-player or local multiplayer games is like online, and online is just that much more laggy.

Summary As fighting game players know, 6 frames of lag makes some moves guaranteed and many others almost impossible to see before they hit. As FPS players know, 1/10th of a second is a LOT of time to be missing.

If you're not in a very competitive category in either of those two games, you probably won't notice it. If you're playing any other type of game, doing office work, media work, or just surfing the web, this monitor is perfect.

I wish CNET did in-depth input lag tests rather than just by "feel." It's about time that a major review site started releasing test numbers on input lag to put manufacturers in their place.

There are two ways to test input lag that I know of, both require a camera with 60 fps video recording or faster.

What I did was played a fighting game (SF IV) with known attack speeds in frames. In this case, Ryu's close LP is 3 frames. You setup the camera such that you can see the screen and your keyboard. Hit the attack key as quickly as possible, leaving your finger down. You count the frames it takes from your finger pressing the key until the attack connects, then subtract the known speed of the attack - 3 frames. I counted 9 over HDMI and 12-13 over DVI-A. Thus, 6 and 9-10 frames of lag respectively.

The best test, however, requires a splitter for your output. You run a stopwatch on your computer with miliseconds displayed, then split the output, one to a CRT and one to the test monitor. CRTs (not HD TVs) via VGA have zero input lag generally, but use the previous method to test them first. Then use a camera with a high shutter speed (with both the control and test monitor in frame) and basically take a series of pictures and average the difference you see in the stopwatch on both screens. That'll give you a much more accurate input lag reading, but in general, frames are enough... a frame being 1/60th of a second, or the speed at which PS3/360 games run and the max refresh rate of most LCDs.

Updated on Oct 21, 2009

Upon further testing it seems I jumped to a conclusion. The monitor only lags over DVI-A, not HDMI. It seems Street Fighter IV is culprit here, it lags 6 frames consistently over all systems and televisions I've tested in the last 24 hours. It's strange that no one has found this before.

I'd give this monitor a 4.5 star rating now; it still doesn't show your bios and other startup information when connected through hdmi or dvi-a.

Pros LED looks spectacular.
16:9 aspect ratio makes it perfect for home entertainment (ps3, digital receivers, movie players etc.).
1080p
Sleek design, very thin and light.

Cons Included instructions are very basic and dont explain any of features such as why there are different "Response Time" settings on the monitor.
Touch sensitive controls
As others have stated no mounting screw holes.
Only 25 degree tilt.

Summary Its a monitor, and the best monitor i've ever owned. Period. If you don't have room for a big screen HDTV or want something for competitive gaming with great picture quality, this is the deal. The new LED technology is a huge difference. Amazing picture quality and great response time(2ms).
There are obviously some cons, the biggest one has to be the lack of mounting screws, but a trip to home depot can get you a makeshift apparatus for that problem.

Overall if your looking to spend <$500 on a good LCD this is the one to get hands down. It's not a T.V. but if you have a digital receiver you can input it through DVI/HDMI/Component cables and use it as one. LG's 24" LED is a close competitor but the 16:9 aspect ratio makes this monitor much more versatile for console gaming and Hi-Def content.