Product Description

Imagine having a monitor that's easy on the eyes. And the neck. And the shoulders. The Samsung 740BX monitor offers a fast 5 ms response time, 1000: 1 contrast ratio and exclusive Magic technologies, whicih all work together to give you a bright, sharp picture you could look at all day. And the height-adjustable stand that also tilts and pivots makes sure you're comfortable all day. Whether you're editing web content, designing a presentation graphic or creating in a CAD/CAM program, you'll be comfortable. With the Samsung 740BX monitor, it's not hard to imagine.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #766 in Personal Computers
• Brand: Samsung
• Model: 740BX-BLACK
• Dimensions: 11.85" h x 14.41" w x 2.37" l, 16.00 pounds
• Native resolution: 17
• Display size: 17

Features

• Device Type - LCD
• Dimensions - 14.4 x 7.9 x 15.4 inches
• Weight - 10.3 lbs

From the manufacturer
Imagine having a monitor that's easy on the eyes. And the neck. And the shoulders. The Samsung 740BX monitor offers a fast 5 ms response time, 1000:1 contrast ratio and exclusive Magic technologies, which all work together to give you a bright, sharp picture you could look at all day. And the height-adjustable stand that also tilts and pivots makes sure you're comfortable all day. Whether you're editing web content, designing a presentation graphic or creating in a CAD/CAM program, you'll be comfortable. With the Samsung 740BX monitor, it's not hard to imagine.

Customer Reviews

I wanted to like this monitor...
It was highly rated by a consumer magazine and elsewhere on the Web. But Samsung's customer (non-)service ruined it for me.

At first glance, the monitor looked great -- vivid colors, good contrast, and excellent controls, both on-screen and through the included calibration software. But soon I noticed a pattern of faint waves rolling down the screen. It was only visible on certain mid-toned backgrounds, but was distracting enough that it would have driven me nuts. Rather than try to return the monitor right away, I contacted Samsung's tech support via e-mail. Wrong move. It took them almost two weeks to reply with a cryptic message that the monitor might need service and that I should call to speak with someone. (Gee, thanks.)

During the two weeks I was waiting for the e-mail reply, I thoroughly reviewed the manual and researched the problem on the Internet, but found no solutions. After wading through the usual automated phone menus, I spoke with Samsung tech reps at two different levels, neither of whom had any suggestions that I hadn't already tried. They agreed to replace the monitor under warranty and told me I would get a call in about a week from a predetermined UPS location when the new monitor was ready for exchange.

Two weeks went by, still no call. I called customer service to inquire about my replacement monitor and was told - surprise - your monitor isn't covered by a warranty after all because it was a refurbished unit. It wasn't, I told them, it was brand-new and in factory packaging. And what made them think it was a refurb? Was the serial number in some kind of a database? No, the Samsung manager told me, she had gone to the Web site of the seller and it appeared that the seller only carried refurbished items. Huh? (They were wrong about that.) And when I asked whether they were ever going to call back and tell me that I was out of luck, all she offered was a lame apology about how backed up they were.

We argued a little more before she finally agreed to reconsider providing a replacement -- IF I could get the seller to provide documentation that the item was in fact new. Nice. By that time I was sick of Samsung, so I decided to try a different tack. I called the seller - TECH FOR LESS in Colorado Springs - and explained my dilemma. They were very understanding and immediately agreed to refund my money - even though by that time I was well past the normal 30-day return window. They even agreed to pay return shipping! I sent it off the next day.

It took TECH FOR LESS a while (11 days) to process the refund after they received the monitor, but I can't complain since they were under no obligation to do anything for me. Many props to this Amazon seller.

In the meantime, I bought a 19-inch Dell E198FP that worked perfectly right out of the box.

Lesson learned? Samsung may make decent products, but if you ever need service I hope you have better luck than I did.

Great except for one little problem...
After about a million years with a standard CRT-tube NEC multi-sync, I had to get a new monitor as mine finally died. I loved the old one because color was much better than anything out there and I work with retouching and art images all day long.

I'm a little skeptical about LCD, but am dealing with this new tech. The only problem is my graphics card only supports up to 1024 x 768, but if you run this monitor at 70hz, it cleans up some of the fuzziness at that resolution.

Because of the ratio diff. however, (this LCD monitor wants 1280 x 1024) my pixels are a little too tall. Overall this isn't a problem, but when making circles or squares, I'm going to have to get used to a bit taller ovals and rectangles instead of perfect shapes. I wish there were a better solution for me, but until I upgrade my graphics card, this is what I'll be dealing with.

740BX is Sharp and Bright
I got the 740BX for my wife's Macintosh iBook. I plugged into the VGA output with Apple's adaptor; after pressing the "Mode" button, it began working immediately. I had previously applied the "Screen Spanning Doctor" patch for the iBook to permit the 740BX to operate at its native 1280x1024 resolution; see http://www.rutemoeller.com/mp/ibook/ibook_e.html. If your computer doesn't (or can't be patched to) support 1280x1024, I don't recommend this monitor; it will be fuzzy.

The screen is bright, contrasty, and crisp, and the colors appear to be OK (I'm no color expert). The software that comes with the monitor is not Mac-compatible, so some features (like portrait mode) don't work. We have an occasional problem with sync after waking from system sleep; the image is offset horizontally on the screen about 1.5". Pushing the Mode button twice to switching to Digital Mode, then back to Analog mode, resyncs the monitor.

I'm glad we got a monitor that was a little better (if a little more pricey) than the bottom of the market.