Samsung SyncMaster 213T: The Glass Ceiling for Enthusiast LCD
by Kristopher Kubicki on February 20, 2004 4:24 AM EST- Posted in
- Displays
Introduction
Several months ago, we took a first look at an LCD that brought 1600x1200 resolutions down to an affordable level. The Dell 2001FP gave us a whole new look at what an LCD should do, without sacrificing design or performance.
This week we have a monitor that has been around for a while, the Samsung 213T. However, just because it was available last year does not make it any less potent for consumer use. In some ways, now that the 213T has been on hand for some time, it may be more competitive in our cost analysis. Samsung has a strong history of delivering solid monitors; in less than 18 months we have seen 2 19" LCDs, various CRTs and several 17" units. The 213T is the ultra high end unit in this product lineup, targetted specifically for workstation and high end users.
Earlier this year, we had several requests to follow up our 2001FP analysis with Samsung's similarly sized 213T. Originally, we heard mixed results concerning the first few units to hit the streets; bad red color replication and problems with screen uniformity. We undertook this review with particular attention to those two problems to see if our sample had those same imperfections.
Click to enlarge.
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araczynski - Friday, February 20, 2004 - link
so the bottom line is that for the serious gamer there's still no reason to get an LCD.PrinceGaz - Friday, February 20, 2004 - link
Do you have any CRT monitor reviews coming up or only LCD ones?damage75 - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
I have been running two 213T monitors continuously for 7 years. Both displays, including the CCFL's are working perfectly. Zero dead or stuck pixels. If there is a diminished brightness, which there has to be, it is not causally visible.I think I am tempting fate by posting this ;-)
The only negative items are these:
1) I bought them when very first available - $1600.00 each.
2) After about 5 years one monitor became unable to hold it's weight. It would slump. Even after disassembly and reassembly it would not hold it's position. This "can" be corrected, but frankly at this point I can live with it.
In 2004 I blew away my colleagues with two amazing 21.3" PVA monitors (powered by a 9800XT). Here we are in 2011 and they are still running perfectly. I know I am "lucky", but it is worthwhile to post that they are still in use and still excellent monitors. I would like to thank Anand and Samsung for this outstanding purchase. Even at that very high cost, they have amortized themselves into nearly free service. The points made by Anand are true - slow response and the black level is not optimum. That has not affected my pleasure/perforamnce with using them.