Dell 2407WFP Review

[Craig]

Dell 2407WFP Review

Introduction

For the past month or so I've been looking around to replace my current dull 17" LCD monitor.

I was originally looking for a 20" widescreen, however during my research I found that a 20" monitor would not be capable of displaying HD content. I wanted to make sure that my purchase was going to last a lengthy amount of time, and didn't want to buy a monitor which would be outdated next year.

I eventually came across the Dell 2407WFP. This is a massive 24" widescreen with a staggering resolution of 1900x1200. This monitor is not the cheapest on the market, but is by far one of the best available, and best of all, the resolution is high enough to display HD content when it becomes available.

HD Ready

The High Definition support is provided by the DVI input. Various news sources suggest that graphics cards capable of supplying HD content will become available towards the end of 2006. So I have hopefully future proofed myself for many years to come!

Delivery

I had the foresight to clear my desk before delivery took place. I did this Saturday morning thinking I would receive the monitor later this week. Literally 30 minutes after I prepared my desk, a TNT delivery van pulled up. Top marks given to Dell and delivery; I only placed my order with a Dell partner on Thursday and here it is in my possession on Saturday (at the time the Dell website was indicating lead times of 5-7 days).

To my surprise, after several minutes of the delivery guy knocking about in the back of this van, he came out with not just one box, but three! One box was clearly the monitor, but I had no idea what were in the two smaller boxes.

Setup

It took me several minutes to negotiate the stairs while trying to get the boxes up to my computer room, but once their I was able to put my mind to rest as to what was in the two smaller boxes they shipped me.

Box one, a power lead. Box two, a user manual!

This seems a bit of a was of packing and shipping, and I have no idea why these items were not in the main box. After all, there was plenty of room for it all to go into one box, and I haven't read any reports elsewhere about Dell shipping the monitor like this. I suppose one reason behind it may be that all the monitors are produced in one country and boxed up, then depending on destination they ship the relevant power cord and user manual.

Here we go, the main box!

Upon opening the box, you are greeted with the standard polystyrene packaging. On top you have all the relevant bits and bobs, in this instance a DVI cable, USB cable, drive CD and a quick setup / install guide.

Removing the above packaging then gives you access to the monitor stand and monitor itself.

What's interesting about the monitor is that it comes with the VGA cable already attached. Again, I have no idea why Dell done this, as I would have thought the majority of people who go for this model would more than likely be using DVI for its superior quality. Still, only a 30 second job to disconnect the VGA and attach the DVI.

Once it was out the box and attached to the stand, I had to step back and take a deep breath. The monitor is huge, and I wondered what I had let myself in for!

With the shock over, I continued to set it up. Above I noted about a USB cable being included, this is because the monitor comes complete with a 4 port USB hub and card reader. As well as that and the aforementioned VGA and DVI, the monitor also comes complete with composite and S-Video. So this monitor can handle pretty much any connection you can throw at it.

Once everything was plugged in, it was time to power up.

The monitor is plug and play as standard and Windows XP had no problem supporting the resolution, USB hub and card reader out the box with no need to install the driver.

After an initial play around, I did install the driver found on the Dell disc supplied. I did this to see if there was any additional functionality of the monitor, but their wasn't! Now you may think what additional functions could a monitor provide, well, this monitor rotates from landscape to portrait. I later found with the help of Chris, that my ATI graphics drivers did all the hard work when it came to rotating.

Unfortunately, the display has not yet been configured to automatically adjust depending on orientation. But to be honest at the moment I don't see myself using it in portrait mode for anything.

Performance

While doing my initial research, I found that this monitor did have it's share of problems since it was launched back at the beginning of the year. Reported problems included colour banding issues and ghosting.

Dell have tried resolving these issues, but some are still apparent. The colour banding issues has been resolved on one of the monitors preset mode 'Desktop' (presets are desktop, entertainment and gaming). Again, I have no idea why they couldn't fix it on all three presets, but one mode seems enough for me as I couldn't see any advantage in switching to a different mode for different applications. (For those interested, i have the A02 revision)

The ghosting however, is still somewhat apparent. I have been successful in eliminating about 95% of it by reducing the screen brightness from the preset 50% to 30%. At this level, the ghosting is only apparent when dragging items over a white background. I don't do that on a regular basis, so I am not too bothered about it.

Game play and watching DVD's is excellent. A great 16ms response time (not the quickest on the market, but still fantastic for game play), everything is crisp and clear, and having the extra screen space is great (but I may need to upgrade my Radeon 9800XT as it struggles with resolutions greater that 1600x1200). Watching DVD's is a pleasure, crisp, clear and sharp. Although the monitors aspect ratio of 16:10 is not usually the standard, DVD's fill up the screen with the exception of two small black strips (top and bottom).

Overall

With the exception of the minimal ghosting issues, I am very satisfied with my purchase, and would recommend this monitor to anyone who is looking. Out the box it is plug and play and fully operational within 5-10 minutes. Having HD support is excellent, and the USB hub and card reader is additional thumbs up for Dell.

The one major downside for this monitor is the price. This monitor retails direct from dell at £824, while the smaller 20" is only £437. Lucky for me, I was able to find a Dell Business Partner who managed to supply me with the monitor for £588, this took the edge off, but it was still expensive.

Overall I will give this monitor a rating of 8.5 / 10.

A great monitor, shame that the ghosting lets it down a little, and the steep price.

Here are a few more images of the monitor, one while setting up, and the others once everything was back on my desk. I have also included an actual size screen grab just to show off the size!

I hope I havent done too badly for my first review, and I know I'm not the best at taking photos!

[AlanHo]

Excellent Craig - congratulations on a full and frank description.

It would be nice to see similar reviews of their technical purchases from other Forum members .

[Chris]

If it wasn't for me getting my 2407 on Wednesday [a day before Craig ordered his] he would have waited till end of the year to get it. :P

Great Review :D

The ghosting for me isn't acceptable [although yes, I don't spend all day dragging icons etc over white backgrounds], but I'm hoping it's just a duff monitor although as Craig gets it as well maybe it's an issue. I also see ghosting when scrolling on the forums, strange as it does not happen in word. I think it depends on what colours are where for you to be able to see it, if that makes any sense

Interestingly both of us see no problems when viewing in Vista.....XP is where the problem occurs. Now as Vista uses the G-card directly to draw the desktop...anyone got an explanation?

The 2407 is enormous...loads'a room for everything... ;)

[scuzzman]

Excellent review Craig! And your monitors are beautiful :)

[RobKing]

Craig,

Very good review! Did you specifically test the 2407WFP monitor as being HD Ready? I chatted with a dell representative today and he/she said it's not HD Ready. I don't see it listed on the tech specs on dell.com

I would love for it to be, however, I just want to be sure. I mean, all the specs look better than some HDTV TV's, however, it's not listed. This is why I want to know if you're 100% positive.

Thanks,

Rob

Here is the conversation:

7:54:44 AM System Welcome Rob King ...

7:54:44 AM System Connecting to server. Please wait...

7:54:44 AM System Thank you for using Dell Chat, a representative will be with you soon.

7:54:44 AM System Initial Question/Comment: Hello, I am looking at buying the UltraSharp 2407WFP monitor. I was wondering if this monitor is "HD Ready"?

8:07:06 AM System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat

8:07:06 AM System Connected with CU_Rep_Flordy

8:07:12 AM CU_Rep_Flordy Welcome to Dell Sales Chat. My name is Flordy. I'll be your personal sales agent today. Give me a moment to review your concern. Please don’t go away.

8:07:30 AM You Hi Flordy

8:07:31 AM CU_Rep_Flordy Hi, Rob.

8:08:46 AM You I was wondring if the UltraSharp 2407WFP monitor is "HD Ready"

8:09:19 AM CU_Rep_Flordy Let me see here

8:10:53 AM CU_Rep_Flordy Thanks for waiting.

8:11:02 AM CU_Rep_Flordy I'm sorry but this is not HD ready, Rob.

8:11:29 AM You Hmm

8:11:42 AM You Does this monitor support HDCP

8:11:58 AM You I've read that on multiple websites

8:12:10 AM You except Dell's

8:12:41 AM CU_Rep_Flordy No, Rob. I suggest for more details, visit the tech specs page for this item. Would you like the link to that/

8:12:53 AM You yes please

8:13:44 AM CU_Rep_Flordy No problem. Are you ordering online today?

8:14:00 AM You Possibly...

8:14:12 AM You I have to think about it for a while

8:14:28 AM CU_Rep_Flordy I see. It's best to order online today though so you don't miss out on promos. They change from time to time.By the way, you may want to check what additional promos and discounts off future purchases you can take advantage of by being a Dell Preferred Account customer. You can apply using the link below:

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/seg...mp;~section=007

8:14:47 AM CU_Rep_Flordy Here's the link:

8:14:53 AM CU_Rep_Flordy http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/product...mp;sku=320-4335

8:15:01 AM You thanks

8:15:11 AM CU_Rep_Flordy You may also want to purchase speakers to maximize its sounds.

8:15:23 AM CU_Rep_Flordy No problem. Is there anything else on this concern?

8:15:43 AM You I might...what is the highest resolution this monitor supports?

8:15:57 AM You 1080i? 720?

8:16:25 AM You That is my last question

8:16:54 AM CU_Rep_Flordy That's 1920x1200 Pixels, It's at the link I gave you. You can visit that for all the tech details.

8:17:03 AM CU_Rep_Flordy Anything else on this matter?

8:17:20 AM You no.

8:17:22 AM You thanks

8:17:31 AM CU_Rep_Flordy You're most welcome.

[Chris]

It does support HDCP!!

£634.44 Including VAT Not bad...

[andsome]

Regarding the photo's. It would probably help cut down on flash reflection if you shot at a slight angle instead of head on. That way the reflection of the flash would not rebound straight at you.

Excellent review.

[Craig]

It does support HDCP!!

£634.44 Including VAT Not bad...

Indeed it does, and what a bargain (noticed that when OC sent me the newsletter last week). If you can spare the £635, get it now! The price will go back up to £800.

Regarding the photo's. It would probably help cut down on flash reflection if you shot at a slight angle instead of head on. That way the reflection of the flash would not rebound straight at you.

Excellent review.

It was a good attempt, i dont do photos often, Kirsty is the professional!

[Craig]

Just had my monitor replaced by Dell as it developed a fault.

Blue flashing pixels kept appearing, turning the monitor off and back on would make them go away for a short while.

I checked the Dell forums and this seems like a reqular problem.

I also read reports that the DVI chip in the monitor isnt up to scratch, so tested the monitor with a standard VGA cable, and the monitor seems 100% better.

Will have to wait for Dell to issue a firmwear update and then send this one back :D