Samsung SyncMaster 172X 17" LCD Monitor (Silver)

[Archived in $400 - $500, 17-Inch, 17-Inch LCD Monitors, Products, Samsung Optical]

Manufacturer: Samsung Optical
Price at amazon.com: $465.44
Usually ships in 1 to 2 days

New from $483.58

List price $719.99



Product Features:

• 1,280 x 1,024 resolution, 0.264 mm dot pitch
• Analog and digital DVI-D inputs
• 160-degree horizontal viewing angle
• Ultra-fast 12 ms response time
• 500:1 contrast ratio; 3-year warranty

Product Description:

Brand New & Factory Sealed! We only buy direct from Samsung or an Authorized distributor. Products usually ship out the same or next day an order is placed! Email amazon@tekgalaxy.com if you have any additional questions.

Average Customer Rating:

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Comment: The 'x' stands for extraordinary, and expensive Rating:
I just fired up this monitor three days ago and I don't want to leave my office. I am a regular windows user and semi-technical person. Not a certifiable geek. This review is from the perspective of a 39 yo guy who loves using computers but wouldn't build his own and isn't an overclocker.

There are many reviews that you can read on the net that cover this monitor from a gaming perspective. Initially these reviews panned the Samsung 172x for ghosting and blurring during game play.

Don't pay too much attention to these reviews. Apparently that was due to Samsung shipping models that had a 25ms response time. The version that you will receive has a 12 or 13ms response time. That means it is practically as good as any CRT you can buy. Color saturation and crispness is incredible. This the case whether you hook this up with the VGA cord or, if you are equipped with an advanced video card, DVI. Both are supported and you can switch between them. There are no hookups for S-video, cable or component video. Do not plan to put this in your kitchen to watch tv. This is meant to be hooked up to a computer.

This is the most beautiful consumer product that I have bought in some time. The thin bezel, the slim, narrow dimensions, the way the cords can be hidden so they don't clutter up your desk. This is one beautiful monitor.

If you want to buy a great LCD monitor for your office and are willing to pay $600 More than the typical 17" LCD by at least $100), buy this thing. You will not be disappointed.

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Comment: It's not that special Rating:
Although Samsung claims a revolutionary 12ms response time the overall gaming experience was no better than a 2 year old 15" TN+film Samsung Syncmaster 151S. I'm not using the bogus PVA-based sample either, this review is based on a retail version purchased in Taiwan.

What IS most disturbing about this display is that out of the box: 1. whites are WAY too blue (probably 10,000K) and 2. the internal gamma circuitry is set way too high. You can fix problem 1 only in analog mode because the color temperautre controls are completely disabled in DVI, and problem 2 can only be remedied if your video card drivers support gamma correction. On my system I had to lower the gamma to around 0.65 to produce a similar image to the old 151S.

If you video card drivers don't support gamma correction, don't get this display, because everything will be permanently washed out. If your video card drivers don't support indenpdent RGB color correction, and you want to use DVI, don't get this display, because your display will be permanently blue.

Other than that, it's a great display... bright, vivid, decent blacks, and to my eyes, extremely minimal ghosting.

Posted at October 11, 2003 07:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)