We've already examined many of the Samsung 173P+'s features, so let's take a quick walk around the display itself before moving to the screen evaluations.

The front of the 17" Samsung 173P+ LCD display. Note the clean lines of the front aluminum bezel, single power button and small blue LED. The LCD panel itself is a little over 20mm thick, and the back is covered with a glossy white plastic casing.

The side and rear of the Samsung 173P+ display. The LCD panel adjusts up and down about 7cm, care of the two joints in the support arm. With the screen brought all the way down, it completely obscures the base. The LCD panel tilts forward a little under 5 degrees, and backwards a little over 120 degrees. The base has enough weight to it that when adjusting the screen in any direction, it doesn't lift up or slide all over the place.

On the rear of the panel, to the right of the armature is the small rectangular hole for a Kensington lock.

Included on the Samsung installation CD is a program called PivotPro. Users who install PivotPro software will be able to take full advantage of the Samsung 173P+ display's entire LCD screen to rotate 180 degrees to the right for portrait viewing.

Viewing the LCD screen on its side can enhance web surfing as the full length of most web pages is displayed. Unfortunately, in our testes the PivotPro software had difficulty working correctly on a WindowsXP with Service Pack 2 operating system.

With the LCD screen in a portrait orientation, it works much better for users who are predominantly working on text documents, or surfing the web. Full pages of text display better since the screen is better formatted for the layout of a standard 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper.

The stand has a swivel built into the base so left or right adjustments won't scratch the desk surface. The 173P+ LCD panel and stand are one piece, and cannot be separated.