The SyncMaster 180T comes with a basic set of accessories for an LCD monitor: a user's manual--which was very-well written and with lots of detail--, a analog VGA cable, a power adapter and, something that is seldom seen bundled with a monitor, a software CD. Of course, the actual SyncMaster 180T TFT LCD monitor was included in the package.

The moment I took out the SyncMaster 180T out of the box, I was very impressed by the grey-silver color combination that it boasts. While I was awed at how the Radius RAD-7 gave a futuristic look to the desktop, I'm equally impressed with how the SyncMaster 180T gives the desktop an elegant feeling instead. The attention to detail that Samsung had contributed to designing this monitor was very obvious, since they even jazzed up the part of the casing that was under the OSD controls on the front of the monitor by making curvy finger placements. Finally, the dark-grey stand along with the dark-grey buttons and labels adds great contrast to the overall look of the monitor. Plus, the triangular shaping of the bottom stand further contrasts very nicely with the curvy finger placements to enhance the stylishness of the this monitor even more.

The base can also be unscrewed, which allows the SyncMaster 180T to be mounted onto a wall using any set of 100mm x 100mm VESA-compliant mounts.

The SyncMaster 180T has both analog and digital DVI connectors to ensure that this monitor will be compatible with any video adapter one can use it with. This is a trend that I have seen many manufacturers follow, and I really like the idea of including both DVI and D-Sub connectors to ensure compatibility. These connectors, as well as a DC-in plug for the AC adapter, are hidden at the rear of the monitor and placed in a row. I like how Samsung tried to hide these connectors to complement the overall aesthetics of the monitor when looking at if from both the front and back.

My only gripe about the actual physical package itself is that Samsung chose not to include a digital DVI cable as well. Users who wish, or need to use the DVI connector feature of the monitor will have to go out and purchase it separately. Because of this reason, I was unable to test the quality of the display when running with the digital connector. Fortunately, though, I do know that the difference between the two is so negligible now that it is hardly ever noticeable.

Powering Up
Before I move on to assess the quality of the display itself, I must comment on the included software. As mentioned before, Samsung included not only a driver disc, but also a piece of software called Colorific as well. This particular piece of software, which I had initially found to be very useful but later found to be total a waste of hard disk and memory space, allows the user to calibrate their monitor's color level on a software-level. After calibrating the color level, it will create multiple pre-set settings for the color-levels that the user can switch to with a click of a button. A few examples are for "Desktop Publishing" and "Business" use. I don't find these very useful, and, frankly, I find that none of the built-in settings will ever suit my liking--I prefer the default setting of the SyncMaster 180T.

Colorific, also helps the user to adjust the viewing angle of the monitor, which I found to be the only useful feature of this piece of software since the viewing angle of a TFT LCD monitor--not so much with a larger model such as the 180T, but more important for smaller models such as 15" TFT LCD's--is very hard to calibrate properly.

On to: The Tests