Are the refurbished 2405's worth it from Dell?

[digitalduck]

Washoe..yeha, ive heard that before, but I always appreciate an honest answer, thats what im looking for Im one for going the extra mile research wise. Question, I noticed in your sig youre using a 6800 with the 2405? What are your settings? Im just curious since I have a 7600GT, are you scaling? Do you also know you have to "invest" extra when you took the plunge? but since you have a card such as the 6800, its nice to know you still have the 2405 as well

 

[Washoe]

Originally posted by: digitalduck
Washoe..yeha, ive heard that before, but I always appreciate an honest answer, thats what im looking for Im one for going the extra mile research wise. Question, I noticed in your sig youre using a 6800 with the 2405? What are your settings? Im just curious since I have a 7600GT, are you scaling? Do you also know you have to "invest" extra when you took the plunge? but since you have a card such as the 6800, its nice to know you still have the 2405 as well

I was aware of the issue but I didn't pay it as much consideration before purchasing as now.

I was able to unlock my 6800 card - it's only the 128mb version, but luckily I could unlock to get 16 pipelines instead of the default 12. This helped alot but the latest games are not running very well at all. Quake 4 for example is barely playable even at medium settings. F.E.A.R. actually runs pretty decent but I have to drop to 1680X1050 res. There's still a tremendous amount of tweaking to get just the right balance between making games playable and having them look half decent too.

I recently decided I was sick of 10-15 FPS in the latest games and went all out, ordering a Sapphire X1900XTX card ($500). I loved my 6800 for awhile - I was able to play HL2 at decent settings (no AA or AF though), and Doom3 I could get running ok too. It is time to move on. I'm now paying the price for going 2405 (still no regrets though)

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Crusader

Originally posted by: Matthias99
For games, you can also run 1600x1200 1:1 with bars on the sides. That's not much more demanding than 1680x1050 is --

I'm going to have to disagree here. 1600x1200 is almost a million more pixels. Even though widescreen renders more.. thats quite the difference. If you have a major review site that has done 1680x1050 to 1600x1200 comparisons I've love to see it (honestly).

Um... you might want to polish up those math skills a bit.

1920x1200 = 2,304,000 pixels
1600x1200 = 1,920,000 pixels
1680x1050 = 1,764,000 pixels
1280x1024 = 1,310,720 pixels

About 9% more pixels per frame going from 1680x1050 to 1600x1200. The performance differences there are not going to be enormous. I'll see if I can find some benchmarks.

Originally posted by: Matthias99
Gaming, IMO, would be fine at a lower resolution, but LCD scaling doesn't bother me that much.

I still prefer native res if at all possible.

Without a doubt.

But I would find it unlikely that you would have a game that runs well at 1680x1050 but not at 1600x1200 (which is 1:1 and thus not blurry on a 2405FPW -- albeit non-widescreen). If you can't hack 1680x1050, you'll be running a non-native resolution on either a 20" or 24" widescreen.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Matthias is completely right on this... Don't argue with math. A 9% difference, in most cases, will directly translate to a 9% performance degredation. There are exceptions to that rule, but that is pretty much across the board.

 

[Ronin]

Without reading the whole thread:

I have 6 Refurb 2405's (the ones that were purchased when Dell screwed up on the refurb site and sold them for $428 per), and none have had a single issue. No dead pixels, no bleeding, no backlight problems, nothing, and I've had them for almost a year now.

 

[Crescent13]

go to costco.com and get a brand new one for $800.

 

[zephyrprime]

I'm guessing the refurbs have a lot of dead pixels.

 

[abaez]

FYI the warranty is not transferrable at all if you buy used.

 

[song414]

theres a coupon for the refurb one's. I want to jump on it because if you apply this coupon code on it 2PXBZQVR2Z2?VF it comes out to 593.30. I was waiting for the 2407fpw but at this price i might jump on this. Im just worried about dead pixels and problems on refurb. Does dell have a warranty on refurbs? Is it only 90 days?

 

[A5]

Well, the warranty length shouldn't matter much, since you can usually find dead pixels or backlght issues as soon as you turn it on.

For that price I'd give it a shot - if you don't like it, send it back.

 

[song414]

Originally posted by: A5
Well, the warranty length shouldn't matter much, since you can usually find dead pixels or backlght issues as soon as you turn it on.

For that price I'd give it a shot - if you don't like it, send it back.

i called a rep. They said its a 14 day return policy and 90 warranty. So instead of 21 day return policy and 3 yr warranty on the new.

I can get it for 629$ shipped to my house including tax. I dont know though... If they pay for return shipping and if i dont like it they take it back I might do it. I have until tonight to decide.

 

[song414]

Ok I purchased it.


Woot got a 2405fpw for only 628$ tax and shipping included. Nice...

I was originally waiting for the 2407fpw. I love to watch movies on my pc but i think hdcp wont be mainstream until at least 2008 so i have time to have fun then ebay it and move over to SED.

 

[Ronin]

The warranty on refurbs are at least 1 year, iirc, not 90 days.

 

[Dredog]

Originally posted by: song414
theres a coupon for the refurb one's. I want to jump on it because if you apply this coupon code on it 2PXBZQVR2Z2?VF it comes out to 593.30. I was waiting for the 2407fpw but at this price i might jump on this. Im just worried about dead pixels and problems on refurb. Does dell have a warranty on refurbs? Is it only 90 days?

What were the details of the coupon you used?

 

[Noid]

I had a bad experience buying refurb. (from NEC)

The monitor I recieved had visual problems.
So, I called to get replacement, but the supplier would not exchange.
So, I called NEC, they agreed to replace, but I had to pay shipping (60$ for a 50 lb monitor)
When I recieved the the replacement, it had different problems.

So, I lost any financial benefit from the refurb price.
And I still had a screwy monitor.

Go buy new locally... like Best Buy, or whatever.

That way you can check for problems at the store.
(or at least get a NEW replacement.)

 

[OvErHeAtInG]

Originally posted by: Crusader

Originally posted by: Matthias99
For games, you can also run 1600x1200 1:1 with bars on the sides. That's not much more demanding than 1680x1050 is --

I'm going to have to disagree here. 1600x1200 is almost a million more pixels. Even though widescreen renders more.. thats quite the difference. If you have a major review site that has done 1680x1050 to 1600x1200 comparisons I've love to see it (honestly).

A million? (1600*1200)-(1680*1050) = 1,920,000 - 1,764,000 = 156,000

Edit: that's <9% difference

 

[mikeford]

How do you refurbish a LCD? Wipe if off and ship it back out.

 

[digitalduck]

Well guys... just to update my own thread, I finally bought a 2405 new. It came to $760 after coupons, shipped out today, should have it later this week

 

[mazeroth]

Nice! Let us know how you like it.

 

[OvErHeAtInG]

Originally posted by: digitalduck
Well guys... just to update my own thread, I finally bought a 2405 new. It came to $760 after coupons, shipped out today, should have it later this week

Nice!!!! Did you get it straight from Dell?

 

[digitalduck]

Yup, straight from Dell... I should have it later today... ill if I get a chance to get it up and running