Samsung 173T 17" LCD Flat Panel Display

Company: Samsung
Product: 173T Black
Street Price: $495 USD
Date Reviewed: October 9, 2003
Reviewed By: Rob Parks

Conclusions:

The Samsung 173T 17" LCD display is a very nice monitor. The controls are great and the quality is fantastic. Samsung is known for creating an excellent flat panel LCD display and the 173T is no exception. While sporting a huge 17" viewable area and only needing five inches of depth the Samsung 173T comes up huge in the space saver category. There is no comparing the Samsung 173T to a CRT in terms of clarity. Text is crisp, colors are rich and bold, and black is black, not grey or washed out faded black. All and all an excellent product by Samsung.

The main issues with consumers is going to be price and understanding how the LCD monitors are sized. Many will look and think, "I can buy a cheap 19" CRT for X dollars or a 17" LCD for twice as much." While the actual viewable display size is very close, the LCD display is much easier on the eyes, consumes far less power and should last twice as long as a CRT. A LCD display is also perfectly flat and square.

For users who are into extreme gaming or gaming at very high resolutions, a CRT display may be a better choice. With a maximum resolution of 1280x1024 and ghosting in first person shooter style games, this monitor may not be the best choice.

The Good:
 - Excellent colors
 - Adjustable height and orientation
 - VGA and DVI connectors
 - 3 year warranty
 - Front digital controls

The Bad:
 - $495
 - Some tearing and ghosting in some games

Overall: 9.0/10