What gives? (Dell/Planar fudging specs?)

[NTB]

Just recieved the Planar 15" LCD that I ordered from Dell last week. So far I like it, but I noticed a few discrepencies between both Dell and Planar's websites and the manual that actually came with the monitor -

Dell/Planar sites:

Response: 15ms typical
Contrast: 500:1
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Viewing Angle: 140H/120V

Manual:

Response: 40ms typical
Contrast: 350:1 typical
Brightness: 250 cd/m2
Viewing angle: 120H/105V

The only one that really bothers me though is the response time. The rest aren't that bad. Text is still perfectly readable off-center, although the colors are a little screwy. It's more than bright enough, and the contrast is high enough for me - I'm not doing any major graphics work here, so "blackest black" isn't all that important.

Oh and also, oddly enough, cleartype looks blurry as heck on here. Standard mode looks fine though. I thought cleartype was supposed to make LCDs look better?

Nate

 

[PsychoAndy]

Hmm. Bring this up with Jeff Russell. He handles dell online peripheral sales. x 88204.

-PAB

 

[MattCo]

Dude, youre getting a cheap imposter. I would call them and see if it was a mistake (wrong model etc) and see if I could get the proper version. If not maybe you could get some cash back.

-MC

 

[NTB]

I don't think it's an impostor, the model numbers are the same all around; Dell, Planar, on the manual and on the monitor itself - FWT1503Z. If this is an impostor, its a good one.

Nate

 

[Hoeboy]

double check to see if the model #s match because planar DOES have a variety of similar LCDs with varying specs.

 

[Vette73]

15ms and 40ms difference is day and night. I would get one that matches the specs you paid for.

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: Hoeboy
double check to see if the model #s match because planar DOES have a variety of similar LCDs with varying specs.

All identical

Nate

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
15ms and 40ms difference is day and night. I would get one that matches the specs you paid for.

Problem is, at $320, this probably is what I paid for . But you"re right; they should sell what they're advertising on the site.

Nate

 

[NTB]

^^BUMP^^ before I go to bed. I think I'll give Dell a call tommorow after class, if only to find out just what's going on here.

Nate

 

[d33pt]

yes please call them and straighten it out, they need to give you what you paid for... that's like getting a .28dp monitor thinking you were gonna get a .25dp...big difference.

 

[NTB]

Anybody know what the Customer Service number is? The number that I found on their website is 1-800-WWW-DELL, but I think that might just be the sales department.

Nate

 

[NTB]

Hmm...well, Dell 'fessed up, but that's not what the page looked like last thursday when I ordered this monitor. Planar's still says 25ms typical, though.

EDIT: Here's a second page at the dell website for the same monitor, and it says 30ms...

EDIT 2: and a third that says 10ms. I know this one is wrong; no LCD is that fast.

The only difference between these monitors should be the color. Somebody at Dell needs to get their numbers straight.

Nate

 

[ElFenix]

planar's spec sheet that they gave me has the wrong info on it too. sonuva...

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
planar's spec sheet that they gave me has the wrong info on it too. sonuva...

What model did you get and what does yours say? just curious.

Nate

 

[NTB]

Just got off the phone with Dell CS - and they're giving me the runaround. So far I have two choices - return for a refund or buy another one, return this one, and have my account credited. What I want is an LCD that comes a little closer to the specs originally listed, wether it be planar, Dell, or anything else.

Nate

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: NTB
Just got off the phone with Dell CS - and they're giving me the runaround. So far I have two choices - return for a refund or buy another one, return this one, and have my account credited. What I want is an LCD that comes a little closer to the specs originally listed, wether it be planar, Dell, or anything else.

Nate

Call the guy Andy gave you the # for, and complain until something gets done. Explain that you saw certain published specs - which are still incorrect, and let him know that - and that you expect to get the product as it was advertised. Let him come up with a solution to appease you.

Rob

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: NTB
Just got off the phone with Dell CS - and they're giving me the runaround. So far I have two choices - return for a refund or buy another one, return this one, and have my account credited. What I want is an LCD that comes a little closer to the specs originally listed, wether it be planar, Dell, or anything else.

Nate

Call the guy Andy gave you the # for, and complain until something gets done. Explain that you saw certain published specs - which are still incorrect, and let him know that - and that you expect to get the product as it was advertised. Let him come up with a solution to appease you.

Rob

Sounds like a plan. What I'mg going to do is go through dells website and pick out a few that meet - or at least come closer to - those specifications, and see if they can send me one of those.

Here's a quick question - I did get through to someone below the guy Andy is talking about, and he looked at the website and saw what was screwed up. So it will be fixed sooner or later. Anybody know how to take a screenshot that will capture an entire Explorer window, including what you can't see because you can't scroll down? I want proof before it disappears

Nate

 

[Lichee]

you could use "print screen".

i would go ahead and open a few windows all showing gradual scrolling down of the page (or something similar), and then hit print screen. then go to your graphics program like photoshop or MS paint and paste the image from the copy board to your canvas.

or, to just copy the window, hit alt+printscreen.

 

[Lichee]

yikes.....double post.....double the fun.

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: Lichee
you could use "print screen".

i would go ahead and open a few windows all showing gradual scrolling down of the page (or something similar), and then hit print screen. then go to your graphics program like photoshop or MS paint and paste the image from the copy board to your canvas.

or, to just copy the window, hit alt+printscreen.

I know, but all printscreen does is capture what I can see. No need to worry about it though - I just saved the webpages themselves to a folder on my HD. Pictures, specs, and everything are all right there.

Nate

 

[NTB]

OK, after diging around on Dells website - and a few other places for some "missing" specs, I've narrowed my choices down to a few that actually come pretty close to the originally-quoted specs. Now all I have to do is convince somebody:

Samsung syncmaster 151S

Eizo L365

Sceptre X5 Iguana or X5 Agama.

Any suggestions? The Eizo is more expensive than the others so it's probably out, but hey, it's worth a shot.

Nate

 

[Jstic]

NEC-Mitsubishi has been working on a new technology to get response times down in the 10-15ms range. If any other manufacturer advertises a response time of under 25ms they are either lying , or fudging.

As far as I know this new technology will not appear until some time late this year or early next. Be careful when researching pixel response time as there are different ways to advertise this spec. Some only use the time it takes for the pixel to change from its original color to white or gray, which is not the true time. The total time it takes for the pixel to change from its original color, back to gray or white, then to its new color is the true pixel response time. Fujitsu's MVA technology LCD's currently has the fastest response time that I know of. Viewsonic and Formac both use it.

I researched this pretty thoroughly a few months ago and the above is a brief synopsis of what I found out. Things may have changed since, but definitely do a lot of research before buying any LCD for a computer, especially if you are a gamer.