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notjustjay

macrumors 603
Sep 19, 2003
6,056
167
Canada, eh?
minimax said:
There are other TFT screens besides Apple and Dell you know. Dell doesnt manufacture their own screens (LG/Philips do) so I wonder why everybody is so lyrical about an average screen that's half the price of the Apple. With the apple you pay for an incredible finish so boosting your cheap Dell as half the price of the Apple is like boosting your dell computer is half the price of a powermac.

But Apple uses the same panel too.

Wouldn't you take your dual G5 PowerMac tower in a standard hum-drum PC case, if it meant you could save half the price? Especially if it also happened to come with, say, dual optical drives and quad DVI output, too?

I sure would - I don't care THAT much about the fancy aluminum enclosure. Function and price over form.

If the price differential was a little smaller, I might have been swayed to stick with Apple's 20" display, but at this price, I could have bought the Dell 20" AND AN ENTIRE NEW MAC (ie. Mac mini) for the same price as Apple wants for its 20" display.

Sorry, I'm a loyal Apple user, but I'm not blindly loyal. It's the same LCD panel, same quality display, better features, crappier enclosure (but not that bad, really), half the price. That matters.
 

Hibbity

macrumors member
Feb 28, 2005
76
0
I'm totally happy with my Dell...no stuck pixels, and it looks totally awesome :) I'm the envy of everyone on my floor :D

Anyone have a the 2405? Post some pics if you do...
 

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robe

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2005
8
0
How cheap can this monitor be had in the UK? Dell is ~£550 and it looks like eBay is ~£400.
 

edesignuk

Moderator emeritus
Mar 25, 2002
19,232
2
London, England
For the month of Feb Dell had it on 20% (I think it was 20%) discount, it was only £479!!! :eek: :cool: Give it time and they'll do it again, just keep an eye out.
 

minimax

macrumors 6502
Feb 9, 2005
351
0
notjustjay said:
But Apple uses the same panel too.

Wouldn't you take your dual G5 PowerMac tower in a standard hum-drum PC case, if it meant you could save half the price? Especially if it also happened to come with, say, dual optical drives and quad DVI output, too?

I sure would - I don't care THAT much about the fancy aluminum enclosure. Function and price over form.

If the price differential was a little smaller, I might have been swayed to stick with Apple's 20" display, but at this price, I could have bought the Dell 20" AND AN ENTIRE NEW MAC (ie. Mac mini) for the same price as Apple wants for its 20" display.

Sorry, I'm a loyal Apple user, but I'm not blindly loyal. It's the same LCD panel, same quality display, better features, crappier enclosure (but not that bad, really), half the price. That matters.

I guess finish for me really IS what decides which product I buy. If it's a little more expensive I'll accept that, but granted, the apple displays are priced a bit excessive :eek:

At the moment I have a stylish sleek silvercolored 17" TFT monitor that fits perfectly with my mini, but for my next monitor price and/ or screen size would not be most important for me but the following which the one I have now lacks:
-DVI input
-glass protection panel
-pixel guarantee

and...an anodized aluminium casing would be a big + worth a little premium :cool:
 

amoildani

macrumors member
Apr 20, 2004
48
0
I just recieved the dell 2405 yesterday and wow, it even makes Windows XP look sweet. The monitor really isnt as nasty as people make it out to seem, with the "ugly, cheap plastic" it's very solid and very attractive. I like the silver rim it has. The image is amazing, looks great connected to my 12 inch pb too.

and for $850, less than 1/2 the price of the ACD23in It was an amzing deal!

i'll post pics soon
 

douglas

macrumors member
Apr 18, 2004
79
0
Just a note of caution to other Ludites - I received my dell 2005fpw week, connected it to my G4 Yikes, and ... my video card (Rage 128) does not support the optimal 1680 x 1050 resolution. I want to keep my G4 a while longer, so looks like I will need a new video card (canadaRAM suggested a used Radeon 7000, which he tested with the Dell).

Edit - I installed OS9.2.2 (had OS8.6 previously) and my machine now recognizes the 1680 x 1050 resolution with the same video card. stange.
 

propropro

macrumors regular
Nov 29, 2004
144
0
Spain
Anybody with any uneven illumination problem in the 2005fpw? I'm thinking about buying it but I fear this kind of problems...
 

ziwi

macrumors 65816
Jan 6, 2004
1,087
0
Right back where I started...
I have not seen any issues with that - an I have had it for about a month and it looks great. The extra benefit of the reclaimed desk space is worth at least a portion of that price imho. I can't wait until the next sale ;) can't seem to pry it away from my wife ;) now - what to do with all of those CRT's - good quality one's but what to do????
 

notjustjay

macrumors 603
Sep 19, 2003
6,056
167
Canada, eh?
propropro said:
Anybody with any uneven illumination problem in the 2005fpw? I'm thinking about buying it but I fear this kind of problems...

If you Google "Dell 2005fpw" you get links to a lot of forums (anandtech etc) where people complained about having uneven backlight problems -- even people who RMA'd one monitor after another until they finally got one they were happy with.

Thankfully, those problems seem to be all gone now. The monitor I received is perfect and has no dead pixels either.
 

propropro

macrumors regular
Nov 29, 2004
144
0
Spain
notjustjay said:
If you Google "Dell 2005fpw" you get links to a lot of forums (anandtech etc) where people complained about having uneven backlight problems -- even people who RMA'd one monitor after another until they finally got one they were happy with.

Thankfully, those problems seem to be all gone now. The monitor I received is perfect and has no dead pixels either.

It's ok, I've reading some reviews and forums about the display and it seems all the first problems have been resolved, and everybody seems very happy with it.
And I suppose there is no compatibility issue with macs ;)
 

douglas

macrumors member
Apr 18, 2004
79
0
DVI vs VGA?

Has any one compared the image quality of DVI vs. VGA connections with the same 2005fpw monitor? I have mine connected to my G4 Yikes via VGA and am wondering if installing a DVI video card would make a difference?
 

Etrain

macrumors 6502
Feb 26, 2005
292
0
Land of Cleve
I just got my 2005fpw today. I love it! It is a huge step up from my 17" CRT.

Supergod - Did you ever figure out the stuck button problem? My monitor won't raise or lower etheir. The button on the back won't push in. I called Dell about it but was on hold for over an hour without any help so I hung up. :confused:
 

Eastend

macrumors 6502
Aug 1, 2004
378
8
Nara, Japan
Etrain said:
I just got my 2005fpw today. I love it! It is a huge step up from my 17" CRT.

Supergod - Did you ever figure out the stuck button problem? My monitor won't raise or lower etheir. The button on the back won't push in. I called Dell about it but was on hold for over an hour without any help so I hung up. :confused:

The monitor has to be perfectly centered first, after that push in the button.
(not too far left or too far right, perfectly centered.) I just bought one of these 2005 Dell in Japan for just over 600 US dollars I had a Apple 20 inch that I gave to my brother in law, that cost twice that (It was 4 months old, bought it before they lowered the price.). I cannot tell any difference in picture quality, between the Apple or Dell. I hooked the VGA to my old PowerBook and the DVI to my new Mini, I can switch back and forth. The PowerBook only has 8 MB of Video memory but to my surprise it runs the Dell screen at 1680 X 1050, however I cannot get the iPhoto screen saver to work no memory left for that I guess. The Mac Mini drives the Dell fine and everything works with the mini, there was a Dell color Profile allready in OS X no software required and the Dell is great right out of the box. It looks different than the Apple screen but it's not too bad looking actually. The box that the Dell screen came in is nothing for design, I'll say one thing for Apple, everything is designed well, right down to the box it comes in (I can never bear to throw away an Apple packing box).

Brian
 

Etrain

macrumors 6502
Feb 26, 2005
292
0
Land of Cleve
Thank you for the info. I tried everything, in every position but still nothing. The height is stuck at the perfect eye level but still just knowing something about it doesn't work bothers me. Amazing product though. I got it one full week before it was even expected to ship! That is fast! I ordered it Saturday and got it Wednesday. I would recommend it to anyone. :D
 

Eastend

macrumors 6502
Aug 1, 2004
378
8
Nara, Japan
Here is the Mini with the Dell, way above the Mini out of site is a PowerBook hooked to the VGA in the Dell, the screen is the Mini. Tiny picture.

Brian
 

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supergod

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2004
439
0
Toronto
The button on my monitor was never stuck, it just seemed a little "stiff". I don't know why. Either way, I disconnected all my cables, picked it up and just messed with it a little: loosened 'er up and now it works great. I'm cautiously looking forwards to Tiger's optional display rotation mode. I could see this being very useful for some of my programs: logic 7 would be quite functional in portrait mode.
At the same time, I can hardly think that I will use portrait mode on a regular basis because it is so darned difficult to tilt the display with all the cables plugged in to the back. The only option I can see is to have a USB hub but I see this as a total pain when the monitor should do the job just fine. Oh well.
 

Eastend

macrumors 6502
Aug 1, 2004
378
8
Nara, Japan
douglas said:
Has any one compared the image quality of DVI vs. VGA connections with the same 2005fpw monitor? I have mine connected to my G4 Yikes via VGA and am wondering if installing a DVI video card would make a difference?

My PowerBook is hooked up to a VGA and a Mac Mini is on the DVI, Quality looks about the same to me, however the PowerBooks Video card will not let iPhoto screen saver work, it's probably too much video memory for the old Book. It is so nice, number one is the book number two is the Mini and three is the s-video for tv's or videos, etc, so easy to switch back and forth.

Brian
 

Abulia

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2004
1,786
1
Kushiel's Scion
My PM (.sig) is using DVI and my PC gaming rig is using VGA. I can't see any meaningful loss of quality between the two pictures. Had a Gamecube hooked up via S-video for a bit but wasn't impressed. (This is more likely a fault of the Gamecube as I'm used to my Xbox on my HD set via component.) :)

My X800 control panel supports rotating a picture; I've played around with portrait mode and while nifty, can't see any great benefit (for me). As others have noted, rotating the display can be a little difficult. You have to string your wires a certain way to make the rotation smooth.

Visited a CompUSA over the weekend and saw my first 20" Apple display in person. Cosmetic differences aside, the picture was no better nor worse than the Dell, IMO.

The 30" was amazing, though. :eek:
 

debroglie

macrumors 6502a
Aug 19, 2004
607
0
Philadelphia, PA
Don M. said:
My PM (.sig) is using DVI and my PC gaming rig is using VGA. I can't see any meaningful loss of quality between the two pictures. Had a Gamecube hooked up via S-video for a bit but wasn't impressed. (This is more likely a fault of the Gamecube as I'm used to my Xbox on my HD set via component.) :)

I'm surprised that you say that about your gamecube. I have one set up, and through the composit it is pretty bad, but through s-video it is very sharp! (Make sure you aren't stretching it for widescreen) Are you using a 3rd party video cable or the nintendo one?
 

crap freakboy

macrumors 6502a
Jul 17, 2002
866
0
nar in Gainsborough, me duck
UK Dell sale now on monitors

DELL
Dell Ultrasharp 2001FP 20" performance LCD Flat Panel Monitor. 250cd/m2 brightness, 400:1 contrast, 16ms response time. Midnight grey TCO99
£554.60
£385.75
incl. VAT, shipping
[You Save £168.85]

&

DELL - Dell Ultrasharp 2005FPW 20" widescreen LCD Flat Panel Monitor. 300cd/m2 brightness, 600:1 contrast, 16ms response time. Midnight Grey TCO99
Dell Part : 29082, Manufacturer Part : 200-28481
Usually Ships: 5-7 Days
£554.60
£440.86
[You Save £113.74]



DELL - Dell Ultrasharp 2405FPW 24" widescreen LCD Flat Panel Monitor. 500cd/m2 brightness, 1000:1 contrast, 16ms response time. Midnight Grey TCO99
Dell Part : 30906, Manufacturer Part : 200-30408
Usually Ships: 5-7 Days
£860.10
£856.58
[You Save £3.53]
(edit:eek:ops didnt notice the massive saving on this one....I'll have two thank you very much)

it pains me to type Dell fyi :eek:


oh btw anyone seen/use a Dell LCD TV? Any comment on picture quality?
 

combatcolin

macrumors 68020
Oct 24, 2004
2,283
0
Northants, UK
Hibbity said:
I'm totally happy with my Dell...no stuck pixels, and it looks totally awesome :) I'm the envy of everyone on my floor :D

Anyone have a the 2405? Post some pics if you do...

Do we like the Absinthe then :eek:

(Top left of pic)
 
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