Drool | Samsung SyncMaster 305T 30" LCD Monitor

9/10 for the Samsung 305t Plus | Samsung SyncMaster 305T 30" LCD Monitor

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	• Samsung SyncMaster 305T 30" LCD Monitor Samsung Samsung average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Vibrant large display that's easy on the eyes

I'd been shopping for a good 30" display for my computer system for the past three months. I'd read the reviews on various tech sites, including the reviews on Amazon. My criterion were the following:

-warranty - had to be greater than 1 year
-price - can't be more than $1300
-functionality - had to be bright, vibrant, and easily adjustable for the type of digital illustration work I do
-good reviews based on reputed tech websites / magazines

My choices were between Apple, Dell and Samsung. Despite its good looks, Apple was off the list due to its expensive price tag and its puny 1 year warranty.

Dell was also considered - as it had a 3 year warranty and fit most of my other parameters - but reviews on the web were mixed - and I've certainly read my share of horror stories about Dell's customer support (or lack thereof).

By process of elimination, and based on my research - the Samsung 305T was the best monitor for me. I'm running this monitor on a early 2008 model Mac Pro, with usage primarily between Photoshop and Painter.

The 30" real-estate affords me a nice, large workspace - replacing my 19" and 20" dual monitor set-up. It was definitely a step-up. Build quality was excellent - this monitor feels solid and stable on my desk.

Colors and brightness on the display were uniform and sharp. Two front mounted buttons can be used to adjust brightness. Out of the box, it was really bright.

There is one DVI port in the back, and several USB ports to hook into. My only quibble about the Samsung is that getting to those ports is a little difficult. However, once the cables are in, they're presumably not going to be removed - so it's a minor quibble.

Shipping was incredibly fast from Amazon. The box arrived in good condition (always a good sign, especially when dealing with UPS). Set-up, outside of angling around to plug in the cables, was easy. The display can be adjusted vertically, and locked into position with a single pin in the back of the unit. It would have been nice to have the pin somehow tethered to the display.

All in all, this is a great monitor. I waited for a few weeks before writing my review, because I wanted to spend some time 'living' with it. I'm very satisfied with my purchase and would recommend this monitor to anyone seeking a large display that's easy on the eyes.

Highly recommended.

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Drool

One word.......AWESOME!!!!!!!!
Really don't need to say anything else but I will....
I've had this for about 6 months now....games look amazing!!!!Crisp, good response time, makes all the other pc users in the house drool on my shoulder as they watch me play FEAR,BF2, HL2 and all the high end games. Heck, even the old games look better on this! Wish I could get two more and hook em together! Muwahaha!

9/10 for the Samsung 305t Plus

I was on the verge of purchasing the Apple Cinema Display 30" for the photography work that I do.
However, as of June 2008, the ACD is already considered old and overpriced especially for the currect specs.
I started to take a look around and was interested in the 30" Dell LCDs however there were issues with oversaturation on the red hues. I know how that is since Ive had previous Dell LCDs.
I luckily found reviews on the Samsung 30" 305t and quickly became interested. However there were few reviews but the ones out there were great.
I finally pulled pulled the trigger and purchased it and got it a few days later.
I must say, the reviews out there say that the LCD is pretty well calibrated out of the box. I am currently running a Macbook Pro (Feb 2008) and when i hooked it up, the colors looked very hyper saturated. Reds, Greens and Blues.
I have a Gregtag Macbeth i1 display 2 for screen calibration. Without the OSD on the Samsung, I was not able to manually adjust the RGB color levels and the LCD was not giving me what I wanted.
I calibrated over 5 times with different light settings and it was still the same.
I called eye-one for assistance and they told me that the RGB controls werent that great and it was better to let the i1 adjust it. For some strange reason after that, I ran it again in advanced mode (which I did prior) and after a couple of resets, The colors in CS3 (PS & Bridge) were giving me accurate colors. Some icons and programs still had "hyper" colors but as long as the photos looked good, I was ok with it.
The other main issue I had was colors on Firefox looked super oversaturated. I soon found out that Firefox 2.x did not load color profile whereas Safari did (althoug Safari was close but it was still slightly less colorful). My solution to this was downloading Firefox 3.0 beta and installing a color management add-on. Solved the problem. Next week, Firefox 3.0 will be out and I wont have to use the beta anymore.
So overall, after 5 days with it, love it! Everything looks great. Don't hesitate for a moment.

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The one to get! Outstanding!

I use a Dell 24 inch at work and thought of automatically just going for the 30 inch model. We have had no reliability problems with the Dell and they show fine. Actually, at first I was using a 2405FP and then a 2407FP. (That's the one with the 'High Color'.) When I switched to the 2407 the first thing I noticed was that the colors were over-saturated. Images on the screen had a cartoony look to them. (Like those modern, slick, glossy Comic books.) I was not impressed, and I realized that the monitor was moreso calibrated for the Games market in which the users will just say the colors are vibrant and jump out at you.

Anyway, after a visit to an Apple store and seeing their 30-inch model live (that was in October 2006) I reckoned that it didn't show as good as the Dell 2405 I was using at the time, and ruled it out... both for image quality and its higher price.

I did more research and considered the HP and the Samsung. The HP seemed to have the edge in multiple inputs/versatility but I seemed to find more evidence/testimonials/reviews that the Samsung had the better image quality. It cost more, but I spend a high percentage of my life in front of a computer screen and I don't wear glasses even after 20+ years in the business. (Sometimes people ask me how come I don't wear glasses... I tell them I pay particular attention to monitors/screens.)

Anyway I took the plunge. Easy unpacking and setup. I am using the monitor with a MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz, with 128MB Video Card. I connected everything and turned it on. Visited some websites. WOW! Everything looks so AUTHENTIC. The colours are way more accurate. Skin tones are natural. Hec, even better than many people's TVs.

It's just perfect: Accurate colours, you don't see any graininess, the brightness and colour are uniform throughout the screen. There are no dead pixels on mine. It's not made as a games monitor, but I have no trouble watching sports or action DVDs on this screen.

I've had it for 4 months now. The screen is still bright... maybe just lost a tad of brightness, white is still white (on some screens it becomes off-white or yellowish over time) There is no hum or buzzing.

I never needed to re-calibrate the monitor. The screen tilts up/down and can be swung left and right. It can also move vertically (though the range is not very high... it doesn't need to be given the sheer size of the monitor.)

All in all I am quite satisfied with my purchase.

Important Tip: Never clean an LCD screen with something like Windex or any alcohol or ammonia-based cleaner. It will make your screen go yellow. Use special LCD cleaning pads e.g. those by Fellowes. Or use paper towel and water only (use moist towel on screen... do not spray any liquid onto the screen.)

Finally, I am more productive on this screen rather than constantly having to hunt and peck for the correct minimized Window. Also, I don't waste a lot of time scrolling windows. I can re-size Windows to see as much as I need to see.

Other tip: I use EyeTV 250 to watch TV on this as well. Works great. (If you make the TV Window too large the display will not be sharp because of the magnification.)

So, having considered 4 models (Apple, Dell, HP, Samsung), for me the Samsung is the one to get. Absolutely no regrets.

** 2008-04-07 UPDATE **

One more thing: This monitor is important if you are trying to read documents on-screen or go near-paperless. The common issue is that when you have something to read on-screen, it is too small or cumbersome with all the scrolling to see the length of the page. When we are reading we like/prefer to see the entire page properly. So, people often print to read: manuals, e-books etc. But, with this monitor the key thing is the vertical resolution of 1600 which allows you to see the length of TWO pages side-by-side entirely. You CAN read on-screen with this screen.

Now, the next item for going paperless: Fujitsu ScanSnap S510M (for Mac) and dig this... it comes with Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional! Next, perhaps a Wacom Bamboo Tablet for marking up documents in a truly natural way. (I haven't gotten this yet, I'll make another update in the future.)

There are people who say they prefer TWO 19" screens. Note though that the VERTICAL RESOLUTION in that case is still at 1024 (or 1280 if you rotate). [1280Hx1024V] That is fine for some people, and pertains to the applications they use and their way/style of working. There is no right or wrong there... just a matter of personal preference.

Nonetheless, I just wanted to make this point about reading documents on-screen, and/or going paperless... a two-screen setup with 19" or 20" or 24" (1920x1200) monitors simply does NOT have the same effect.

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Just one input?

Ya gotta be kidding me JUST ONE INPUT? Is this 1990? Check out the cost of a DUAL Link KVM switch before you spend for this.

Now that you can cross this beast off your candidate list, I'll advise you to beware of other multiple input monitors with USB hubs. Most of them only have one upstream USB input so you'll still need a USB K(V)M switch to run two computers.

It is as if the designers never actually use their products. Such obvious deal breaking feature omissions...

Designed for the commercial market, the 305T combines a 16:10 wide-screen design and high, 2560x1600 resolution, making it ideal for a variety of professional applications, including medical, engineering, control rooms, CAD, graphics and design, and desktop publishing.In addition to its specifications, the 305T is equipped with a number of features geared towards the professional user. This includes an 80mm height adjustable stand with flexible tilt and swivel capabilities, USB 2.0 ports and a wide viewing area that can support multi-window applications, helping to create improved work efficiency and reducing the need for two monitors. It also has wall-mounting brackets for space savings.To aid in reduced power consumption, the 305T employs Samsung's Digital Power Management Signaling (DPMS) mode to automatically assess whether the monitor is in use and switches it to stand-by mode, which uses less than two watts of power.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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