Dell 2405 FPW ... what am I missing?

[argoldst]

I just do not get it. The only review for the dell 2405fpw is from extremetech and it is good but not "crazy good".

To top it off, it is a 24" monitor which means that most, if not all video cards, cannot run this well it it's native resolution.

Yes, it is widescreen but there are not many games you can run on widescreen.

I know the price is GREAT right now but what am I missing?

What good is an huge monitor if you cannot run games well on it and many games will have to be cropped because they are not widescreen?

Is it's picture quality so amazing? I recently got a veiwsonic vp912b and with all the excitment I almost want to buy one but I cannot figure out why

 

[knyghtbyte]

its a big fun new toy for people with lots of money to spoil themselves with.....

granted if i had teh cash i'd probably have one cuz i like Dells fascia styling....and use it for web use...

for gaming i'd still rather fork out for 22in CRT.....

for movies i'd be using my nice phat 8ft diagonal screen with DLP projector

 

[Cheesetogo]

This monitor is so great because it is huge and is at very high resoultion, so you can be looking at two webpages or word documents at once. As far as most games not being played in widescreen, you can force almost all games to run in widescreen by editing files. Go to Tiger Dave's Widescreen Gaming List to see how. Plus, it's an awsome monitor.

 

[argoldst]

How is their image quality?

Would it be worth while to trade up from a viewsonic vp912b?

 

[JBT]

Even if you game u don't HAVE to run at the native resolution. If its anything like my 2001FP for scaling it is fine. Also you should be able to use black bars as well if you can't stand interpolation.

 

[magnumty]

this thing is awesome, I play unreal 2004, and it is absolutely beautiful on this monitor, i am running it at 1600x1200, via dvi connection, amd 64 3200+, with 6800nu vid card, runs fine at that resolution, havent tried it at higher res tho..

 

[Jeraden]

Like others said, there is no cropping.
If a game doesn't support widescreen, you have 3 options for displaying it:
1. Stretched to fill the whole display (poor option in my opinion)
2. "Aspect Ratio", in which it will basically be sized to fit its aspect ratio, which most likely means blowing it up to fit 1600x1200 as a 4:3 image with black bars on the side.
3. "1:1", which will display it with black bars on all sides, depending on the resolution.

Aspect Ratio is probably the best choice overall for things.

Other reasons to get it, great contrast ratio, even compared to the 2001fp. Great for watching dvds or HDTV (either via the PC or through its component inputs). Lots of desktop space.

 

[Isocene]

I might be able to help ya out there with your decision argoldst. I bought a viewsonic vp201s a week and a half ago. Its an inch bigger than yours and has a USB hub built into it. Beautiful monitor. I'm very very happy with it.

But since I bought it a week and a half ago from frys, I can still take it back. (I was intending on doing that anyway to get it for 300 cheper at newegg)

I decided to get the 2405 for a few reasons.

1. It wasnt that much more expensive than the viewsonic. viewsonic 700 dell 860 (got in on the deal even though I ordered yesterday)
2. Its 4 inches bigger than my 20
3. IT HAS COMPONENT AND SVIDEO INPUT.
- Very excited about this. I can now hook my tivo or a ps2 or a gamecube up to it. Hope awesome is that?

So for a little bit extra, I can get some features that I think will really prolong the life of the monitor. With it being so big AND having compnent and svideo inputs, that means when i move out of my apt and have my computer and tv in a seperate room, I can use the 2405 as my tv with its inputs. It also has built in picture in picture which means I can watch judge judy on my tivo while im playing 3 poker tournaments.

I'm a big gamer too and Ive stayed away from widescreens because i was ignorant about the maybe ways to play games on widescreen monitors. I know many gamecube and ps2 games have a widescreen option in the video options. Also play pc games alot and having black bars on the side does not both me one bit.

So thats why im really excited. I ordered it yesterday, 3/08 and they shipped it the same day! Its supposed to be here tomorrow. Wow. I wasnt expecting that.

When I get it tomorrow and play with it ill post some impressions. I think this will be a great monitor and possible tv replacement later.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I'm working on getting a nice review up soon. If you can wait a bit, maybe that'll help you out.

 

[argoldst]

Thanks Isocene.

I assume you got it for 860. Would you be willing to post or pm me your order number from dell. They are refusing to give me that price unless I can give them an order number of someone who bought at that price.

Your help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Darksword, if you can have that review up, or at least send me a summary within the next 2 hours it would greatly help. OTherwise I think I am just going to get it.

 

[Isocene]

Sent!

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: argoldst


Yes, it is widescreen but there are not many games you can run on widescreen.

I know the price is GREAT right now but what am I missing?

What good is an huge monitor if you cannot run games well on it and many games will have to be cropped because they are not widescreen?

You can run virtually any game in widescreen.

 

[Isocene]

This monitor is a monster....

I'll post my impressions after I play around with it for a while.

 

[SnowyEnigma]

Woot! I just ordered it today for 860 Plus Tax and free shipping. They said that the shipping time is up to 8 days though, I'm hoping to have it by next week. Anyone in MA order? If so how long did it take?

 

[imported_itr]

gaming isn't the only thing i do on the computer. i watch dvds on my bed and a 24" widescreen is perfect.

 

[Isocene]

So far I'm not too impressed with it.

It is very big. But i think the colors on the viewsonic are alot better. I'm still playing with it though. I really want to like it. The inputs alone make it awesome to me.

 

[Compddd]

Is it still available for 860$?

 

[R3MF]

1920x1200 will very quickly become the standard widescreen resolution, if only because of its compliance with HD video resolutions.

if a particular game doesn't support widescreen, it is easy enough to run them at 1600x1200.

 

[wannabe]

Folks - is this an 8 bit panel or 6 bit? The speed suggests 6 bit but I cannot find the info anywhere so if someone could help - many thanks!!!

 

[argoldst]

Well I finally got mine and MAN is this a monster. I knew it was big but this is even bigger than I expected. WOW.

I only got to play with it a little and it does seem a little bright and needs some tweekin.

The good news was that I have no dead pixels.

I will be playing some movies and games this weekend and will post my results.

I heard it is 8 bit but I am not 100% sure.

 

[wannabe]

thx argoldst... even if its 6 bit I'll probably just accept the color difference... 860 bucks (or thereabouts) is just too cheap

 

[wannabe]

Well, I just tried ordering it and "CJ" (who has obviously spoken English from birth and could not have been with WiPro in India) said the 860 was "a mistake" by a person, and Dell would no longer honor that price. And she stated this very quickly so obviously 'the memo' had been around.

Secondly, she confirmed it is a 6 bit panel (as its speed suggests) and maybe that's why Isocene feels his Viewsonics colors are deeper / more accurate (aka "better"). An 8 bit panels' would be...

Guess our alternative is the coupons...

 

[anandemide]

Er wait...

No, the 2405FPW is an 8-bit PVA screen. You're confusing it with 6-bit TN+ panels.

 

[anandemide]

By the way, the same goes for all of Dell's latest models of TFTs IIRC. The 1800FP, 1905FP, 2001FP and 2005FPW are all 8-bit panels I believe. Though they are S-IPS panels, whereas the 2405FPW is the only PVA one.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Yeah, I'm pretty certain that this is an 8-bit panel.

I don't see how you could get away with a 6-bit panel in a monitor of this price. I'm highly doubtful that it would be one of the corners Dell supposedly "has" to cut in order to sell it for such a low price.