SyncMaster 215TW

Every display has its place, but on a budget it’s always good to have one that can multitask well, which is exactly what Samsung’s 21-inch 215TW promises to do. Its strength lies in its ability to flick between a variety of different input sources quickly, which makes it a good choice for general use in a busy setting.

The 215TW arrives amid a strong trend towards 20-inch displays, and in that context the extra inch is a welcome find. You also get adjustable height and 360-degree rotation on its base, both features that you don’t often see on displays of this size. Again, in its favour are a large number of connection options, especially the HDCP compliant DVI port, which goes some way towards future-proofing its usefulness. Resolution, aspect and particularly colour rendering are very good.

The in-built speakers, headphone jack and MagicBright driver, for switching between preset display settings, all come across as an afterthought, and therefore add little value. The speakers are weak, and we’re not sure why anyone would need to flick to different contrast and colour ratios to view the internet or text. Samsung would have been better off dropping the gimmicks and offering the 215TW as a simple decent-quality display at a lower price.

Some would say the 8ms grey-to-grey speed is on the slow side, but the impact of that speed varies widely depending more on your choice of graphics card than anything else. We ran the demo of Quake 4, rendered 3D animation and watched film footage with no discernable problems. This is a useful display, but you could find better for the money.