Review: Samsung Central Station

Samsung's Central Station can be described as a souped-up monitor. This is because it has a sleek design that will complement an executive office, and it comes with enough inputs to make even the most fervent entertainment junkie giddy. Unfortunately, gamers might feel a bit let down when it comes to graphics.

The device delivers on performance, too. Moreover, it is user friendly and comes with easy-to-use driver installation CDs.

The Samsung Central Station is black and shiny, giving it an elegant and professional look. The glass framing is a nice touch, and more pleasing than the plastic edges that frame most monitor screens.

Despite its slim design, the monitor sits securely on its stand. The stand has a curved design, giving the monitor a modern look suited to an office environment. This is definitely not a device I would want in my home, however.

Inputs and outputs are cleverly located on the sides of the monitor, providing easy access. At the same time, these are flush with the surface so as not to compromise the slick design. The power point is at the back of the device, which prevents cables from cluttering the user's workspace.

Another great feature is that the screen can be tilted more than 90 degrees. This allows users to set the monitor up at a vertical or horizontal plane and even tilt it past these points. This gives the monitor a wide range of movement and height.

The driver installation CDs also come with some ICC colour profiles that are specially designed for the best default response out of the monitor. They're a great way to ensure users get the same picture quality when using two or more of the same monitor.

That being said, there are no Apple PC drivers for the hub, but one can use the CDs' colour profiles using Apple's Colorsync Utility.

The hub comes with four USB ports (two of which are USB 3.0), an SD card slot and a networking cable. These inputs allow users to manage a variety of content from different source devices - Samsung's selling point for this device.

In addition to these inputs, the hub has an audio output. However, audio will not play if the hub is connected to a computer using a D-SUB or HDMI-DVI cable, but users can connect wirelessly or using the USB cable provided.

The screen is 23 inches wide - larger than a standard computer monitor, but smaller than the latest wide-screen TVs. It also has a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Moreover, the monitor is capable of playing out HD footage.

I found the resolution and size allowed for excellent viewing. Colours are bright with great levels of contrast, even in a brightly lit room. Both HD movies and Blu-ray files looked really good.

The 1920 x 1080 pixel limit might be a bit of a letdown for avid gamers, as most games now come with potential resolutions of up to 2048 x 1600 pixels. I tested it on Projekt Red's Witcher 2, which looked great.

Unfortunately, the monitor did experience some lag with higher frame rates. However, users should not experience any issues with lag because most applications and movies do not go above 25 to 30 frames per second, which the monitor handled fine.

I would wager that gamers will be prepared to shell out some more cash for a device with a higher resolution, given that they are pretty devout, in my experience.

However, while gamers might snub the Central Station at a retail price of R2 499, most users should find it affordable. In my opinion, the Central Station is a stylish device. While I wouldn't use it for home entertainment, I wouldn't be averse to having the slick monitor on my desk at work.