Samsung SyncMaster SM170MP LCD

A good-looking flat-screen monitor that can act as a TV while your PC is turned off.

Cards that let you watch TV on your PC are cheap and readily available, so you might question the point of paying a premium for an LCD panel with a built-in TV tuner. There's a lot of point, if you are talking about Samsung's SyncMaster SM170MP LCD monitor.

It looks good, with a steel-grey case and a well-designed base that swivels to double as a handle - useful if you need to tote the display around for presentations. Bolt-holes at the back provide for wall or arm mounting. The 17in screen, equivalent in viewing area to a 19in cathode-ray tube, offers a crisp display with a wide angle of view at resolutions up to 1280 x 1024.

You can use it as a TV while your PC is turned off, which you cannot do with a PC Card, and two extra video inputs let you connect a video or DVD recorder, or surveillance cameras.

Each of these sources may be viewed full screen or in a resizable window that you can move around your desktop while you work. The display comes with S-Video, Scart and RCA cables and adapters, and a TV-style remote control. For those who routinely lose remote controls, you can also control the display using unobtrusive front-panel buttons. A pass-through port enables the PC and TV audio to use the same speakers or headphones.

Setup, via an on-screen menu, is painless, although the device we saw seemed reluctant to reduce its brightness - desktop LCDs going at full blast can be wearing on the eyes.

The 170MP is likely to find a ready market among finance workers and executives who need a news feed at their desktops, as well as video editors and home workers who need to keep a camera eye on the kids or front door.

It does not come cheap, but there is a 15in version for the less well off, costing £1137 inc VAT. For those who can afford the 17in version, which costs £2137 inc VAT, it is an ingenious piece of kit.

Contact Samsung 0800 521 652