Foreword
I purchased my first LCD monitor in July of 2005. It was the Dell 2005fpw and cost a whopping $415. Keep in mind that this was a random Dell sale. I couldn’t wait any longer. I had decided I wanted one right then and, for the time, it was an amazing price.
Fast forward to 2008 and I’m still using the same monitor. It’s a truly great monitor, yet I see news online for the brand new Samsung 2343BWX. I was quite intrigued by the size-to-pixel ratio. I thought to myself: I have to buy that.
Fast forward again to November 2008 where I bought it on Costco’s website for a reasonable price of $292 (shipped + tax). I’ve now had the monitor for about two months. So, after sufficient use, I bring you another impromptu review.
Specifications
I’ll keep this one easy and pull the specs right from Costco’s website. Why not Samsung’s website? Well even after all this time, I could not find a webpage for this monitor.
Display:
• Viewable Image Size: 23"
• Optimal Preset Resolution: 2048 x 1152
• Brightness: 300 cd/m2 (typical)
• Contrast Ratio: 1,000:1 (typical) - 20,000:1 (dynamic)
• Viewing Angle: 170 H, 160 V
• Response time: 5ms (typical)
Input Connection:
• Digital DVI-D with HDCP
• Analog RGB
General:
• VESA 100mm wall mountable
• High glossy black Chassis
• Warranty: 3-Year Limited Warranty
So this monitor has an outstanding resolution and a pretty average response time. Keep in mind, however, that my Dell 2005fpw had a response time of 16ms and a resolution of 1680x1050.
Packaging
The monitor was delivered to me in its original packaging. There was no supplementary box. I was quite surprised by this, but the box is packed well enough to be a moot point.
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The monitor comes wrapped in its own protective bag, like any other monitor, and is sandwiched between two lovely pieces of Styrofoam. It’s a very snug fit!
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In the box you’ll find standard DVI and VGA cables, the manual, a power cord and the base + stand.
Speaking of base + stand, this was the most difficult stand I’ve ever attached to a monitor. The amount of shaking, tweaking and pure brute force needed makes me realize that I’ll never dismantle it.
Appearance
The monitor has a sleek, glossy black finish. It is very minimalistic. The monitor’s buttons are all touch-sensitive and are not embossed at all. Unlike my 2005fpw, this monitor has no extra ports at all. There is simply power, DVI and VGA. On top of this, the monitor does not rotate and has no height-adjustable stand. I really liked both of the features in my 2005.
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Now, the reason I really bought this monitor: the screen resolution. This monitor’s resolution is 2048x1152. It’s simply amazing. It’s never an issue to run multiple apps side-by-side. Games look amazing; movies look incredible. Any HD movie will fit with room to spare. For someone who uses spreadsheets often – run out and buy this immediately. By default, this monitor displays rows A through AE in Microsoft Excel 2007.
The monitor contains no dead pixels or backlight bleeding. This quickly leads me to the next section…
Performance and OSD
The image quality is uniform on every part of the screen. This is a first for me! My 2005fpw had bleeding in every corner.
Unfortunately, viewing angles suffer. While adequate for most, PQ suffers when viewing from the extreme angles of top, left or right.
I have the Xbox HD DVD drive hooked up to my computer. HD movies look incredible, and still have a bit of room to spare since this monitor is above “Full HD.” Naturally, these days, all new monitors have HDCP, including this one.
When gaming, I have experienced zero ghosting. A 5ms response time is more than enough these days. Hell, even my 16ms 2005fpw had no issue in games.
The On-Screen-Display is more-or-less like any other monitor I’ve used, but with a few enhancements. The Samsung has a couple of interesting features: MagicBright and MagicColor. These are simply preset, dynamic modes for either brightness or color.
The former, MagicBright, allows the screen to dynamically adjust brightness based on what’s on the screen. If you’re typing, like I am, the screen will be very bright. If the screen contains dark content, the screen will dim accordingly. I’ve been using this setting for several weeks now and I like it. Sometimes, however, a website will have a black background, and I’ll find it very hard to read subtle text. On the flip-side, I’ll try to type an email on a white background and will nearly be blinded by the shear whiteness.
The latter, MagicColor, will attempt to dynamically adjust the color. Simply put, this is not for me. I find the setting to be the opposite of dynamic, but more dramatic. It simply tries too hard. I prefer to set the colors manually. That brings me to my next point. Out-of-the-box, the 2343’s colors are drab. I did spent weeks trying to fine-tune the colors to my liking.
In the end, out-of-the-box, the Samsung has amazing brightness and color. One can tweak their heart out to their liking. That being said, let’s wrap it up.
Thoughts and Conclusions
This is a worthy upgrade for most people. If you’re like me, you’re looking for a respectable upgrade for a minimal price. I was not in the market for some gigantic 30” monitor or another 20” monitor. 30” is too big, 20” is, well, the same as my 2005, and anything in between offered the standard 1920x1080 or 1920x1200. The Samsung 2343BWX combined the best of both size and resolution. I now have a 23” monitor with a high resolution. At the end of the day, I had a new monitor for under $300USD which is a much-welcomed upgrade to my 3.5yr old Dell.
By the way, Costco’s website shows this monitor for $260USD. Jump on it!
Pluses
• Amazing resolution!! – 2048x1152
• Zero dead pixels or backlight bleeding
• Response time – 5ms
• Zero ghosting
Minuses
• No add-ons: usb, card reader, Firewire
• Does not rotate 90 degrees
• No height-adjustable stand
• Viewing angles could be better
Update: More Pics!
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