I recently purchased the Samsung B2230 to replace an old 19 inch Samsung monitor. I thought the older monitor looked great but this one is fantastic. The colors are more vibrant and it is a 16:9 aspect ratio compared to the older 16:10. This means that most widescreen movies no longer have the black bars on the top and bottom.
The controls are touch sensitive and took a while for me to get used to but are easy to get used to. The older model I had to reach underneath to hit the buttons and for the B2230 I have to use my finger on the labeled menu itself right below the Samsung logo. The monitor is gorgeous with its all black design with 1 blue light to show that its on. The monitor can reach full 1080p with a 1920 x 1080 native resolution. It does lack a HDMI input and only has a DVI and VGA input but for $170.00 this 21.5" monitor is a steal I am very happy with this purchase. Samsung B2230 22-Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black
I bought this monitor to replace my failing Acer LCD monitor.
What I don't like:
1) Glossy black bezel... why is everything glossy black nowadays?
2) No height adjustment.
3) Driver disk insists on using IE instead of Firefox... to install a driver?
What I like:
1) Ooo la la, nice price!
2) Easy to assemble and use.
3) Most important: *Gorgeous image quality*! The image quality is absolutely superb. I don't know if I was just lucky or what, but I had no bad pixels. PLUS the colors are rich, and text is nice and clear.
4) If you don't mind the glossy black, and the "no height adjustment possible".... it's a very nice looking monitor. Very stylish. One oval foot. It has one very discreet blue light in front that is dim and not annoying. Generally it is modern and modest looking.
5) SAMSUNG. They have a very high, very good reputation, both for quality and for customer support.
6) The screen itself is matte, and no-glare.
7) Has both DVI and VGA ~ports AND connectors~.
8) Energy-efficent
9) Lightweight (in a good way)
Over all, a very good value.
EDIT: Some other reviewers warned about using this monitor with Nvidia cards, but I have an Nvidia GTS 250, and had no problems or issues whatsoever.
This is my third Samsung PC LCD, owning both a 22" 1680x1050 226BW for over three years and a 25.5" 1920x1200 T260 for a year (had a bad 22" and got it replaced - the 226BW reviewed here January 19, 2008). Anyway, I bought the B2230 for a 3-LCD gaming rig setup. If it could be done over, I'd have bought another monitor, specifically the P2250, which I'll buy for the 3rd LCD to complete the setup.
First, the pixel pitch on this monitor is about the same as the 22" and 25.5" (.28xxx mm - the P2250 has .24xxx pixel density - more pixel density = better display quality). I was hoping for a little sharper clarity for a 1920x1080 resolution monitor in this size, especially considering the 25.5" shares nearly the same pixel density over 4" more of screen real estate. The 25.5" is as clear as the 21.5" in website text and the holy grail of display quality for me: cockpit instrument readability in Microsoft Flight Simulator X. There is of course a sharpness option on the menu, but it just doesn't help much for what I was expecting.
With that said, it's still an okay monitor for the average user. It's a few pounds lighter than the 22" and runs very cool. The touch menu options and feel are pretty standard for Samsung. People new to Samsung's PC LCDs may find the front bezel touch "buttons" awkward and hard to work with, but it sure beats trying to deal with Samsung's buttons on the side and bottom of my other two monitors blindly. Similarly, the gloss bezel may be a put-off to some and definitely is a dust and fingerprint magnet. But I like the gloss - it appears to be the norm these days from manufacturers and matches everything else in the house TV/monitor wise. No red "touch of color" here to match the gorgeous T260, but it still looks good on the desk. The mount does allow for tilt, but as so typical in this price range, no height adjustment.
Finally, the brightness of this monitor needs to be toned way down out of the box, to less than 60%. You will be spending some time calibrating this to your liking. All in all for those who want a run-of-the-mill 21.5" LCD that's 1080p capable, this is an acceptable monitor, but as mentioned, not recommended for those who appreciate higher pixel density output. Think of this LCD as the Enterprise rental Buick of 1080p Samsung monitors: it serves the purpose and grandpa thinks it's awesome, but not something to brag about to friends.
I bought this for my 80yo father as a gift - replacing his tiny 15" monitor. It was a radical difference and he is very thankful for the extra room. He really likes the ability to have 2 windows open side-by-side with the ability to see them both at the same time. The picture is very crisp and clear, and the setup was a snap. I have an Acer in the same size, and the Samsung actually seemed a little sharper. Definitely recommend!
This monitor looks great, and is a nice size, the color is pretty good, not great. The set-up was easy, so that's a definite plus. On the downside, it creates more heat than I bargained for. My office is a decent size and if it's on for a while (several hours) the room actually gets warmer. So, I make sure to turn the monitor off if I'm leaving the room for a while. The other downside is that I get vertical shadow lines which run all the way through the screen whenever there is a pop-up box on my screen. Initially I thought it was just associated with my web browser, but then it occurred while I was using the control panel too. That's a bit disappointing, but I can live with it.
Overall, I like the monitor, it was a great price for the size and the two issues are relatively small ones.'
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