Before turning this screen on I was very impressed with the design of it! It has a stunning look and is very stylish! The screen is glossy black and the finishing touch is the silver on the bottom of it.

The Samsung logo and model name are placed at the bottom centre and top left respectively, but I don’t see the need to have specifications such as ‘2ms’, and ‘3000:1 Dynamic Contrast’ permanently etched on as well. After all, if you’ve bought the monitor there’s no need to keep advertising the specs to you forever.

The stand is not adjustable in height, but I don’t care as it is perfect at my desk right now but it should be adjustable in height though! Samsung has the rear ports completely covered by a plastic cover, which ensures that even with everything plugged in, it looks clean and elegant even from the rear.

The technology used in the panel is not revealed. The headline figure is the 2ms grey-to-grey response time, which normally infers that the panel is a basic 6-bit TN. However, the quoted figure for the amount of colours configurable is 16.7m, which is only possible from an 8-bit panel. Either way, the viewing angles are less than that available from IPS panels – just 160 degrees both horizontally and vertically. However, in reality that’s enough for most users and good enough so that people don’t have to be right in front of it. However, you still can’t view from too far above or below.

This screen is a good one and I would buy it if I needed one and didn’t get this one

The Compaq Presario V600 is to my own experience a good laptop with styling and design that is pleasing the eye. It is very well put together and very solid. With its 3 kg it is not the lightest laptop that you can find, but its not heavy either! Just a good weight and it can have a knock or two.

When opening the laptop you will see a smooth 15.4” widescreen. Before this laptop I didn’t use a widescreen before, but this is really looking smooth. The keyboard is just perfect, nothing to complain about.

A good thing of the Compaq is that its ports are sensibly located and clearly labeled. At the front of the laptop you find the microphone and headphone sockets, which is the perfect way to have them if you need to plug in a headset. You also have a switch for turning the wireless on and off. One negative thing is that bluetooth is absent, this is something I use quite often, bummer!

On the left hand side you’ll find starting from the front, a 5-in-1 card reader, which can handle the usual suspects - SD, MMC, MS, and xD. Next is a mini-Firewire port, two USB 2.0 ports, a modem socket and a Gigabit Ethernet socket. Along from this is an HP Expansion port, which provides access to HP docking bays. Moving along you’ll also find a VGA output and an S-Video output, which is good news for presenting and entertainment.