Samsung SyncMaster 940BF 19" LCD

Reviews: Multimedia

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Anthony Fiti
Anthony
Samsung
Jul. 4, 2006

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Conclusion

The Samsung SyncMaster 940BF is somewhat lacking in terms of features. Other monitors that have been released lately have USB ports and other add-ons that add value to the proposition of buying an LCD monitor. Samsung provides just the monitor. And they do a very fine job, but when you go to the store looking for a display, there are so many name brand and off-brand monitors to choose from, it can be tough to pick a monitor that lacks the extra features like USB ports, TV-In or speakers.

The price of the unit is a mixed bag. Internet resellers currently list the monitor at about $285 to $300, which is about the non-sale same price as many other name brand quality 19" displays. However, at the time of this writing (until June 30, 2006), Samsung is offering a $55 mail-in-rebate on the Samsung SyncMaster 940BF, bringing the price down to around a more reasonable $230 (plus shipping and tax, if applicable). This makes the monitor an excellent value if you're willing to wait 10-12 weeks (per the rebate form) for the check to show up.

If you don't need tons of extra features and just want a 19" LCD display to provide excellent image quality you can put the Samsung SyncMaster 940BF on your list, especially while it's on sale for under $250. This would also make an excellent second monitor for those who already have a 19"+ LCD as a primary display.

Pros

Excellent image quality
Easy setup
Price (after mail-in-rebate)

Cons

No Portrait Mode
Wires still visible from the bottom of the monitor
No extra features like USB ports, TV-in, speakers

Samsung SyncMaster 940BF 19" LCD

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Looks
Page 3: Setup & Testing
Page 4: Conclusion

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3 User Comments

1 - Posted by twenty3sky on February 2, 2007 - 11:24 pm

I love the cons of this article. In other words it doesn't have a lot of extra crap. As a product designer, one of the first things we are taught in school is make your product do one thing and do it well. That is exact;y what this monitor does. 2000:1 contrast 2ms response time... what else can you ask for... Oh yeah 269 at bestBuy...

2 - Posted by Brian on February 3, 2007 - 12:04 pm

I know where you're coming from twenty3sky. If you need a monitor to just do its main job of displaying a picture from one input, then hey, that's great. My previous monitor was like that. I bought it a couple years ago and it was awesome, and all it had was a VGA input. That's all I really needed too.

Recently, I got a Dell 2007wfp so now I have some of these extra doodads like multiple inputs and USB connections... and I am really happy with the monitor. Not only does it do its job well, but the multiple inputs is great for connecting my desktop and my laptop without having to switch cables around, plus a TV-in would be great if using your computer as a media center PC (assuming you didn't have a TV tuner in your computer). The USB ports on the side of my monitor are awesome too. I can quickly connect my portable devices without bending down to reach my computer or behind it. It really depends on what you need it for, and in the author's opinion, that 'extra crap' can be quite handy.

What you're saying works sometimes, but not all the time. Let's use cars for example: If cars were only made to do their job, to get you from one place to another, they wouldn't have all this extra crap like airbags, air conditioning, stereos, etc. I don't know about you, but I like to be comfortable while I'm going from point A to point B.

3 - Posted by Kurtis on February 4, 2007 - 1:53 am

I'd like to pick up where Brian left off, regarding special features and cars... what I really like is how on my Camaro there is this "spin-out-into-a-ditch-from-th e-highway-in-the-rain" mode, which as it turns out isn't something you can really disable. Though installing new tires has gone a long way to supress this annoying feature.

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