Samsung SyncMaster 2693HM 25.5-inch LCD Monitor

by Samsung

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 23.5 x 18 inches ; 21.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 27 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0012TVEOO
• Item model number: 2693HM
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,922 in Computers & Accessories (See Top 100 in Computers & Accessories)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

SAMSUNG 2693HM BLACK 26INCH LCD 1000:1, 3000:1 3YEAR WARRANTY

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Believe those who actually own and have tested this product!, April 22, 2008

By 

Joel Bullock "blackframz" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samsung SyncMaster 2693HM 25.5-inch LCD Monitor (Electronics)

To address the previous "reviewer's" comments on this monitor. I, within the last few days, purchased the Samsung 2693HM 25.5 in. monitor, and can attest to the fact that not only are Blu-ray movies allowed to play on this monitor, they look great! Using an HDMI chord I was able to play "I Am Legend"(Blu-ray disc), through my Playstation 3, with no problem at all. Pausing the movie on Will Smith I was able to see every detail of his face, something only an HD equipped display can do with such clarity. I know also that with a little tweaking of the factory settings, I can customize it to suit my needs.
The one real gripe that I have is one that I do share with the other reviewers, concerning the menu buttons in the lower right corner of the frame. Although I do appreciate the esthetic quality of the all black frame, trying to operate, much less see the menu "buttons" is pretty frustrating. I suppose like anything though, given time one can get the hang of their operation. I just wish they were illuminated, at least while I was operating them. The good far outweighs the bad here, and I feel I made a good choice.

Aside from the ability to play Blu-ray Movies, and Playstation 3 games, I was thrilled to have this great monitor for my creative endeavors. being an artist, and a Mac person, I can really appreciate the real estate that I have to work with, with this size monitor (especially when working in Photshop, or iMovie). I originally was looking at the Apple cinema displays, but was encouraged to look into the Samsung's for getting more bang for your buck. With HDMI, and more flexibility in making adjustments to suit your needs, it seemed the clear choice. Not to mention the price.

Do yourself a favor and always trust reviews of people who have actually tried the product out or ran it through its paces. Research is key, as are more than one, or a few reviewers opinions.

Hope this helps!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Samsung Syncmaster 2693hm, April 12, 2008

By 

Damon N. Paoli "Damon" (Wake Forest, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samsung SyncMaster 2693HM 25.5-inch LCD Monitor (Electronics)

I have to say that I whole-heartedly disagree with the past few reviews of this product. I own it and have been very satisfied with both the build quality, color reproduction, and screen resolution of this monitor. A higher resolution than 1920 x 1200 on a monitor this size would display text that is borderline unreadable. I am not old, either. I am in my 20s and I work in front of a computer for over 40 hours a week as a graphic designer. My eyes are very well trained and well adjusted to reading text on a computer display. The resolution is perfect for a display this size. I actually upgraded from a 24 inch display (same make and model with the exact same resolution) because the text was very small in many applications at the display's native resolution. That is, unless you sit 2 feet away from your monitor. When viewing a display this size, though, it is best to sit around 4 feet away.

This display is an excellent product, and I have very few gripes. Yes, the touch-sensitive method that Samsung chose for the buttons is nearly impossible to see without a flashlight...but damn is it sexy! I do wish that they had included a backlit remote with the display so that I wouldn't have to strain my eyes and trigger the wrong menus all the time because I can't see what option I'm touching.

Also, when a PS3 or Xbox 360 is connected via HDMI (and YES, you can connect a console to this display! The other reviewer is wrong), there are no options on the display to tinker with the screen size. With my PS3 set to output 1080p, the image is stretched to fill the screen, and I would prefer to view the image unstretched. I have not been able to find an option that will allow this.

Other than those two small gripes, the display is fantastic. Oh, and don't be put off by the fact that this is a TN panel. The technology has improved greatly and the viewing angles on this display are more than adequate for a computer monitor.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, Wide Display with decent dot pitch 0.2865mm, May 10, 2008

By 

Victor "Bluetooth Rocks" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samsung SyncMaster 2693HM 25.5-inch LCD Monitor (Electronics)

I did not have a good luck with 20",22",24" monitors, mostly due to the very small pixel size 0.25 - 0.27mm. I only feel comfortable with 4:3 19" monitors with pixel size 0.291mm. Anything smaller would usually put more stress on my/your eyes. It could be improved a little with enabling "Clear View" option in windows, but it makes small fonts excessively fuzzy. Also, some monitors luck a deep black level. This one is as close as it gets to be perfect and very easy on eyes. I dropped brightness to 50%. This was the only adjustment I had to make to get my test color charts to provide very good color gradation and rendition. No stuck or dead pixels. It is almost impossible to find inexpensive monitors with angels of view more than 160 degrees this days and even with 160 you may get big color variation even with in specs. I did not experience any color inconsistency with-in normal working position angles of view or across the screen. At extreme angles colors will either wash out (looking from the top) or darken (looking from the bottom) as expected.

Of course, the display controls are hard to manage and even to see. You will need a flash light during adjustment process, so you would touch correct touch sensitive spots on the bezel. I never change settings once it is done, so it is not an issue for me.

About HDCP: This monitor does support HDCP, but on DVI input only. HDMI input does not have this feature. If you are in desperate need to connect HDMI equipment required HDCP, you can always use HDMI-to-DVI cable or converter. There will be no loss of quality.

I do not use built-in speakers, so I could not comment.

If you want reasonably priced monitor, easy on your eyes and 97% of color gamut (makes it acceptable for pro: photo/video editing)- this monitor is a bargain.