Looking at the Dell 2407WFP

[m21s]

Looking to upgrade to a 24" Widescreen LCD.


Would like to hear from some owners of the Dell 2407WFP.

Are there any issues with the monitor?
I'd like to know about the good and the bad if there is any bad.


Would like to make up my mind pretty soon.

The price is pretty good right now at $719.10 and compared to other 24" panels the price can't be beat!

Should I be looking at any other monitors?
Are there any other in this price range?

Thanks.

 

[SunnyD]

What do you plan on doing with it? It's a "good" all around panel (using one right now), however it suffers from most of the same that almost all other panels are suffering from these days: 6-bits per pixel. You can definitely see gradiants in images with subtle transition changes - I play EVE a lot and it's definitely there. Plus, it does ghost a bit more than some of the other panels I've used as well.

On the plus side - color reproduction (aside from banding) is as faithful as it gets. It has excellent brightness and contrast, good features, and best of all, its screen is uniform (moreso than my Gateway 21" at home).

Hope that helps.

 

[imported_Seer]

You can get it for $600 if you buy a $5 25% off coupon on ebay. Also, while I don't think this is a 6bit panel, it is known to suffer from banding. The latest revision, A03, has supposedly fixed this.

For more information, try looking in the Display forum at hardocp.com There's more than hundred pages of talk on this monitor, all in all.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
What do you plan on doing with it? It's a "good" all around panel (using one right now), however it suffers from most of the same that almost all other panels are suffering from these days: 6-bits per pixel. You can definitely see gradiants in images with subtle transition changes - I play EVE a lot and it's definitely there. Plus, it does ghost a bit more than some of the other panels I've used as well.

On the plus side - color reproduction (aside from banding) is as faithful as it gets. It has excellent brightness and contrast, good features, and best of all, its screen is uniform (moreso than my Gateway 21" at home).

Hope that helps.

I'm 90% sure the 2407 is an 8-bit panel. The 2407 suffers from severe banding in most cases.

The Rev A02 panels fixed banding in Desktop mode (the default video mode). In all other modes ("Gaming", etc), banding is still rampant. Banding is where the colours in the adjascent area to movement seem to get screwed up. It's a bizarre effect - try making a small window in Windows and moving it around and watch the desktop magically change colours to see what I mean.

The 2407 is a beautiful looking panel, but don't expect any of its "extra" features to come through. The coponent video ports are oversaturated to the point of uselessness (connect an Xbox360 by VGA for better results). The HDCP compliance is only for 720p (and possible 1080i), so BlueRay users won't get the full effect of 1920X1080p video.

The banding in other desktop modes is a severe annoyance.

On the plus side, input lag is all but gone .

 

[xitshsif]

Bought the 2407WFP over the summer, hooked up to a 1900xt. It's simply amazing for gaming. No banding issues at all here.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: xitshsif
Bought the 2407WFP over the summer, hooked up to a 1900xt. It's simply amazing for gaming. No banding issues at all here.

Good to hear. Not to burst your bubble, but try the other video preset modes aside from Desktop and see banding in its full glory.

 

[brikis98]

one alternative you could consider is a 24" CRT - namely, the sony fw900. they can be had on ebay for $300 or less (originally retailed for $2300) and are, IMO, simply amazing. At half the price of a 2407, you get incredible colors, awesome contrast, amazing brightness, perfect viewing angle, no ghosting, no banding, and the ability to smoothly change resolutions from 800x600 up to 2304x1440. It's also a 16:10 widescreen monitor, so DVD's look great and you have tons of space to work with.

Of course, it's not perfect by any means. It's big, heavy (92lbs!), eats more energy than an LCD and, while text is extremely crisp as far as CRT's go, it's still not as nice as reading on an LCD. Moreover, you lose 1.5" of viewable space, as a 24" CRT has 22.5" viewable and a 24" LCD has 24" viewable. Finally, buying on ebay can be hit or miss, as it would be used. You definitely want to have some kind of DOA garauntee and at least some warranty.

i just picked the fw900 because I play games and watch movies all the time, so I needed something that could change resolutions well and had no banding issues. At < 50% the price tag, I can tell you it was welllll worth it. btw, the auction i bought it from happened to have the warehouse close to where i live, so i picked it up rather than paying $100 shipping. this was totally key, as the warehouse ppl let me hand pick one that had a perfect screen, as many had scratches and other defects.

 

[m21s]

Thanks guys, these are the responses I was looking for.

Anyone else

 

[jkyle]

Bought the 2407 as just a pc monitor its great. Then I tried hooking up my Dish HD to it... then nothing but problems... In short if you never want to use the component inputs its a great monitor if you ever want to use the component inputs then this monitor is pure misery.
I wound up returning mine and buying a 24 inch samung which has none of the problems the dell has.

 

[Madellga]

Try looking at the Samsung 215TW. It is a 21" and 1680x1050 monitor, but is a great product - this comment coming from a 2405 user also.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: jkyle
Bought the 2407 as just a pc monitor its great. Then I tried hooking up my Dish HD to it... then nothing but problems... In short if you never want to use the component inputs its a great monitor if you ever want to use the component inputs then this monitor is pure misery.
I wound up returning mine and buying a 24 inch samung which has none of the problems the dell has.

How was it pure misery with the component inputs?

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Madellga
Try looking at the Samsung 215TW. It is a 21" and 1680x1050 monitor, but is a great product - this comment coming from a 2405 user also.

Which in your opinion possesses the best image quality (obviously size is not a factor here)? Which is faster?

 

[m21s]

Originally posted by: Madellga
Try looking at the Samsung 215TW. It is a 21" and 1680x1050 monitor, but is a great product - this comment coming from a 2405 user also.

I currently use a 20.1" 4:3 monitor.

The reason for me to upgrade would be to move up in size.
A 21" widescreen would not be a big enough jump for me in size and resolution.

The sweet spot really would be 24" Widescreen.

Would also like to know why so many problems with the inputs other that DVI?

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: jkyle
Bought the 2407 as just a pc monitor its great. Then I tried hooking up my Dish HD to it... then nothing but problems... In short if you never want to use the component inputs its a great monitor if you ever want to use the component inputs then this monitor is pure misery.
I wound up returning mine and buying a 24 inch samung which has none of the problems the dell has.

How was it pure misery with the component inputs?

The component inputs are a joke - too dark and oversaturated. You can adjust it but it merely diminishes how bad it looks.

Through DVI/VGA in desktop mode it's a good screen.

Another issue I've heard is that it doesn't have 1080p HDCP support - only 1080i and 720p. Meaning BlueRay and HD-DVD won't support full 1920X1080 progressive resolution. This makes the HDCP compliance of the screen misleading.

 

[m21s]

Well after this thread. (Thanks for the comments)

I have decided NOT to get this monitor. (Even though I can get a prtty good deal with the coupns)

I am definetly interested in the new BenQ FP241W

Just need to wait till I can find it for sale