Samsung SyncMaster 245BW

We found a very high degree of competence in reviews of the Samsung SyncMaster 245BW, so much so that Consumer Reports magazine's' coverage ranks just fourth on our list, behind reviews by niche sources like TFTCentral.com, XbitLabs.com and BenchmarkReviews.com. The user reviews at Amazon.com about the Samsung SyncMaster 245BW are helpful as well.

Among 24-inch LCD monitors, the Samsung SyncMaster 245BW is well rated in reviews, but other 24-inch monitors cost less. Reviews say the SyncMaster 245BW handles text and graphics well, but there are a couple of drawbacks to consider. First, your viewing angles are a bit limited, which could be an issue if you're not sitting directly in front of the monitor. User reviews at Amazon.com are more balanced than we usually see -- several owners there said that while they were disappointed with the Samsung SyncMaster 245BW for work, they highly recommend it for casual home use. If you're working with photos and graphics a lot and need to finely tune color settings, reviews suggest the Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP (*est. $690) is a 24-incher better designed for such tasks. But if you need a monitor for general home use, the Samsung SyncMaster 2443BWX (*est. $390) also gets good reviews and costs a lot less.