Samsung SyncMaster 305T 30" LCD Monitor Review

Monitor Impressions & Layout

I don’t like flashy-looking monitors since I believe any good industrial designer will realize that the design of a monitor should blend seamlessly into its background. Sure, there are some screens on the market that are a design tour-de-force but I personally like looking at what’s on the screen and not what is around it. That being said, Samsung has equipped this monitor with a very slim bezel which defies its overall dimensions and insures that you focus on the screen. Indeed, even though the picture above doesn’t show it; a 30” monitor is massive no matter which way you look at it and even though it is quite large, at around 12kg (26lbs) the 305T is a lightweight.

The front bezel also holds the power button (which glows a dark blue when the monitor is turned on) as well as Up and Down arrows which control the brightness. Since this monitor is pre-calibrated from the factory, Samsung doesn’t provide any user-controlled options outside of the aforementioned brightness control.


The back of the 305T holds the mounting bracket which is uses the VESA standard 200x 100 pattern for all of you who want to install this monitor on a wall but just remember how much it weighs since you will have to find a suitable heavy-duty wall mount. Here we can also see the stand which is circular in shape but even though it looks like it is height-adjustable, it isn’t. However, the base does allow the whole monitor to swivel in place and there is a screen tilt feature as well that is definitely convenient for those of you using it in an office environment.


Looking a bit closer we see that there are various indicators of which connectors are placed where so you will not have to search around endlessly to find where your connectors are located once the monitor is set up.


The connectors used on the 305T are straightforward and quite basic with four downstream USB ports and one upstream port along with a single DVI connector. Unfortunately, we have now come to the largest knock against this monitor: there is no HDMI or Display Port connector and thus no HDCP support. This means we have all this wonderful screen real-estate and don’t even have the option to play content-protected high definition Blu-ray movies.

Unlike many other monitors on the market which have a plug it and forget it attitude for the AC power input, the 305T has an on / off switch in addition to the power button on the front. So, just don’t forget to turn this on or you will think there is something seriously wrong with your brand new $1400 monitor.


The bottom of the base holds a quartet of rubber feet which are unfortunately only glued onto the unit. In our testing we didn’t have any of them pop off but if you are one who likes moving their monitor around a lot, you might want to keep an eye on these little guys.