Initially it was a huge improvement on my old monitor
Disadvantages:
Very poor and slow manufacturer support
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
I upgraded my desktop PC (early 2006) and picked up a new one at PCWorld for about $1100 all in, which included a desktop hard drive, keyboard, mouse and monitor. The monitor included was the Samsung SyncMaster 713BM which I'm reviewing here.
This was the first time I'd owned a TFT/LCD monitor at home (although I had used several at work before then) and I was quite excited about having a monitor which took up less space on my PC workstation, having previously had a Belinea 17 inch "tank" of a monitor which I really shouldn't berate as it gave me good service for a good 5 years or so.
MY OPINION
My old monitor flickered quite a bit in the last year or so of use and I found this quite disturbing. Thankfully this hasn't been an issue with my Samsung!
The monitor has easy to access controls at the front just below the screen itself. When you press Menu you can choose between Brightness and Contrast, Colour Tone, Colour Control and Gamma, Coarse, Fine, Sharpness, H-Position, V-Position, Language, Transparency, Display Time, Auto Sources, Image Reset and Colour Reset. There's a volume control button, source button (which gave me a scare when I pressed it as my screen went blank, but came back on 3 seconds later after flashing "digital" then "analog"), an Auto Adjustment button which automatically adjusts your screen to what it feels is the best resolution, brightness, etc. And last but not least is an on/off button.
The stand on which the monitor rests is quite sturdy and I don't worry about it snapping or not holding the weight of the monitor. The monitor is sleek and modern looking. I've watched DVD's on my new monitor and found the picture to be clear and sharp. I use MS Publisher for newsletter designing and upload photos from my digital camera and have found the picture quality on screen to be above reproach. No dead pixels evident so far.
Samsung, to me, has always been a brand name I feel I can trust, mostly through recommendations from others. But having experienced some problems with their level of customer service in late 2007 I have had to rethink my opinion of them in general.
NOW FOR THE PROBLEMS…
In November 2007 my monitor started playing up. I wasn't sure if the settings had somehow changed but whilst using my computer the screen would suddenly go blank and I'd get a floating box in the middle of the screen saying that it wasn't the optimum resolution. The only way it would work again would be to turn off the screen completely for an hour or so and switch it back on and it would seem fine again for maybe half an hour or so before reverting to the annoying message again. I took the monitor into work and borrowed a spare one from there. I asked my colleague to check the monitor on his machine (I work in a software development company) and the colleague I asked is a very experienced IT technician. He said the monitor was dead and luckily it was a Samsung as they had 3 year warranty periods.
I was very relieved. I didn't fancy spending a $300 or more or a new monitor at this time as I'm off on holiday soon and when you consider you can get a whole new computer for around $1000 with lots of bits thrown in as well as a monitor, I didn't want to waste money on just buying a new monitor. I called up Samsung and was told by a very nice chap that someone would definitely call me back within 4 hours. 27 hours later I called back, slightly annoyed that no one had bothered to call me. This time I was asked to read out the serial number (after I told them the monitor had been manufactured in October 2005) - after I gave them the serial number they confirmed that it was manufactured when I said it had been (as if I was making it up) and I was eventually told that yes, it was definitely still under warranty and they would arrange for the old monitor to be collected and deliver a new one. I asked if they would repair and return and they said no, it would just be an exchange. I was advised to keep the cables as the monitor would just be delivered as is, with no cables and it would be up to me to check that the monitor was working when it was delivered. I was told it would be exchanged within 5 working days. 6 working days later I called them up and again and quoted the reference number I had been given. The rather inept person who answered the phone asked for the reference number and then asked me if I was calling about a printer! I was stunned! I said that THEY had given me the reference number so they should know what the issue was. He mumbled something about it being on a different screen and apologized. I was advised someone would call me back later that day (Friday). No one did.
I called back on the Monday (not bothering to try them on the weekend as I presumed they wouldn't be around to answer my call). This time I was told there was no call back that was supposed to have happened BUT someone had tried to call me on the Saturday but I'd hung up on them! Imagine that?! I was promised a call back yet again on the same day and was given the number of the company who was supposed to deliver and collect the monitors. I felt like I was being given the run around. When I called the company (Index Solutions) they claimed not to have any record of the reference number or of the post code from where they were supposed to collect or deliver to. I don't expect to buy a monitor for $400 (whether or not I got it free with my PC is beside the point - the retail price is around $400) and for it to last less than 2 years is really not acceptable!
After having had to chase them several more times I was advised that the monitor was not in stock, they have deliveries every day (is it such a popular model that it gets sold so quickly they can't get a replacement one out to me or is it that so many of them are faulty that they have a backlog of monitors needing replacing like mine?) but they cannot guarantee delivery at that time but anytime up to 28 days. I had to leave my office address and arrange for my colleagues to take delivery and hand over my faulty monitor as I was due to go off on holiday for 3 weeks. In the meantime my opinion of Samsung Customer Services dropped down to 1 out of 10!
Not once did they call back when they said they would and I've wasted time and money having to call them up - whenever you call you have to listen to a lot of spiel about them sharing your details with other companies and then you can press 1 for mobile phone queries or 2 for any other queries. Even after that the agent who answers the call start babbling on about them sharing your details with other companies, I've interrupted every time and told them categorically that I do NOT want my details shared with other companies!
I had my monitor delivered to my office whilst I was away for 3 weeks. Lo and behold, I find out from hubby that they attempted to deliver the monitor (well actually 2 monitors) to our home address and tried to collect 2 monitors (!!!!???!) at the same time. He said he was sure I had organized for the delivery and collection from my work address and when he refused to take a monitor from them they tried to make him sign that he was rejecting the delivery, he refused to sign as he categorically knew that I had asked for them to deliver to my office address! The delivery company then miraculously turned up where they were supposed to at my work address and arranged a swap over there of just ONE monitor. I have been using the new monitor now for 7 months and it seems ok so far, but watch this space. I just hope I don't have call to call Samsung's customer services again.
TECHNICAL INFO
The technical stuff doesn't mean a lot to me as I'm not really a very technical person (especially when it comes to monitors), but it might mean something to a potential buyer, so hopefully this will help you in your choice…
The Samsung SyncMaster 713BM is a 17 inch TFT LCD monitor which can be wall mounted if required. It weighs about 10lbs (or just over 4 kilos) and offers a native screen resolution of 1280x1024. It has a typical 700:1 high contrast ratio and 300cd/m2 brightness. With a typical 8ms response time the monitor has both analog and digital inputs and also has integrated stereo speakers. It's compatible with Windows, Macintosh and Sun Microsystems and has a built in power supply. Oh yes, I'd add here that it weighs about 4.5 kilos.
The front is silver and the back and stand are black and it's emission standard is TCO '99. The power consumption is 34 Watts (max), < 1 Watt (DPMS Mode).
More details
Picture Quality
Good quality
Ease of Use
Very easy
Design & Look
Good
Value for Money
Expensive
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