I wanted more ‘desktop real estate’ (not my term) and decided I would make a monitor upgrade from my old Acer 19” wide-screen. The trouble with a 19 inch wide-screen (resolution 1440x900) is that although plenty wide the height of the picture was restrictive for web-browsing and working with documents. I figured that the native 1920x1200 resolution of the 24 inch monitors on the market would give me back my height and let my scrolling finger relax.

I spent some time blundering around the review sites and settled on the Samsung SyncMaster 245B for no better reason than that it had 42 very positive reviews on Ebuyer and that it has DVI with HDCP support (god knows what that is but I hear it’s a good thing). Price £288.49 inc vat and with free delivery. They were gonna charge me £10 for next day delivery but I went with the free Super Saver option and it magically came next day anyway!

The first thing that hits you is that this monitor is big! You wouldn’t think that just 5 more diagonal screen inches would make such a big impact on your desk but the overall size increase of the device does.

The picture is bright and clear as you would expect from a modern display. This model has a high 3000:1 contrast ratio. Compared to my old monitor blacks on this screen are really black and not a dark grey. I found that the default setting was a bit too bright for my eyes and I quickly turned it down to 60 using the OSD.

The SyncMaster is mounted on a fully adjustable base that allows for swivel, pan and tilt as well as vertical adjustment. I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to rotate to provide a portrait monitor but mine just wont let me turn it that way. When you take it out of the box their is a locking pin that you should hold on to if you ever plan on transporting this monitor. The weight is pretty heavy but that’s probably mainly in the base which can only be removed with a screwdriver… I guess to reveal the vesa mounting.

Round the back you have VGA and DVI inputs and both types of cable are provided in the box. As I mentioned the DVI input has HDCP support but I’m confused as to what this means. The power is a standard kettle lead but there is also a socket labelled ‘Audio Power’ which seems quite odd as there are no speakers. Usually you will also find a second power switch on the back that overrides the standby button on the front.

Overall, I have two issues with this monitor and they are that the base is really very chunky and deep meaning that when you push it up against a wall the panel is still 20cm from the wall. You’ll need a pretty big desk to pull this off. Secondly I think that the spring-loaded height adjusting base is quite sticky and clunky compared to other monitors I’ve man handled. You have to grab the SyncMaster with two hands and when it does move up and down it feels very clumsy. Besides that, the build quality is fairly good and the bezel is pretty tidy although I would have preferred the model name not to have been tattooed across the front.

Creative Inspire T3100 2.1 Speakers

When I put in my order at Ebuyer I also picked up some new desktop speakers, a set of Creative Inspire T3100 2.1 speakers to be precise. I ordered the OEM package for £25.08 but I think I got the boxed retail version not that it really makes a big difference.

I had been using a Creative 5.1 system I’d owned since 2003 but since I moved to this bedroom I hadn’t been able to use the rear speakers leaving me with the less than useful 3.1 speakers. I wanted a reasonable 2.1 system for watching telly and videos and playing the occasional mp3 that would look nice next to my new monitor.

The sound quality from these little devils is deceptively good and clear. The sub is punchy and led me to turn it down for my housemate’s benefit. Volume/power and head-phone out can be found on the left speaker and there is bright (and frankly pointless) blue LED that matches the blue power switch of my monitor and the lights on the front of my PC. Overall good value for money and would recommend.

My next purchase will have to be a cordless keyboard and mouse combo to tidy up my desk and bring all my devices in to colour coordination. Have been considering a Microsoft set but I’m reluctant to loose a full set of media keys as I use these for controlling Media Center.