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Dell E248WFP 24- LCD How Bad Is It Really?

jazz1

jazz1

Contributor
Original poster
Aug 19, 2002
4,700
20,307
Mid-West USA
I've just ordered one after getting tired of shuffling windows around on my Dell 20.1 2007WFP. Which I know is an Ultrasharp.

Is the E248WFP 24-inch Widescreen going to melt my eyeballs? I saw an affordable Dell 22" (UltraSharp 2208WFP 22-inch Widescreen), but the specs seemed similar and the salesperson could not tell me why it was designated as Ultrasharp with very similar specs.

Well it is on the way and I guess I can send it back if my eyeballs melt down my cheeks.

Any advice, even with DHL rolling it to my door, would be much appreciated. Oh, if you own one how tall is it with the stand? Dell's WWW site specs. differ.
 
jazz1 said:
I've just ordered one after getting tired of shuffling windows around on my Dell 20.1 2007WFP. Which I know is an Ultrasharp.

Is the E248WFP 24-inch Widescreen going to melt my eyeballs? I saw an affordable Dell 22" (UltraSharp 2208WFP 22-inch Widescreen), but the specs seemed similar and the salesperson could not tell me why it was designated as Ultrasharp with very similar specs.

Well it is on the way and I guess I can send it back if my eyeballs melt down my cheeks.

Any advice, even with DHL rolling it to my door, would be much appreciated. Oh, if you own one how tall is it with the stand? Dell's WWW site specs. differ.
Click to expand...
I will be honest with you. Your new monitor sucks balls, but hey that's ok. 98% of the time that doesn't matter. You will most likely enjoy your new monitor or at least be satisfied with it. Unless you do color sensitive work like graphic design, you don't need a good monitor. If you think it looks fine keep it, but if you find it lacking, I would return it and get the Ultrasharp. Those use better panels with more accurate colors. Just my 2 cents.
 
Frozonecold said:
I will be honest with you. Your new monitor sucks balls, but hey that's ok. 98% of the time that doesn't matter. You will most likely enjoy your new monitor or at least be satisfied with it. Unless you do color sensitive work like graphic design, you don't need a good monitor. If you think it looks fine keep it, but if you find it lacking, I would return it and get the Ultrasharp. Those use better panels with more accurate colors. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

Wow! Thanks for the advice. I'm having it sent to work actually, maybe I'll preview it there before I lug it home. Does Ultrasharp mean I would get the superior screen, or is it a crap shoot? I should have gone with my first impulse and get the 22" Ultrasharp.....but noI had to get screen size greedy!
 
I would also stick with the Ultrasharp model if I were you, they are more expensive but worth the money. If you are not looking to spend $600+ for a monitor there are other choices out there besides the Dell that you might want to consider such as the HP W2407h or the Gateway FHD2400.
 
jazz1 said:
Wow! Thanks for the advice. I'm having it sent to work actually, maybe I'll preview it there before I lug it home. Does Ultrasharp mean I would get the superior screen, or is it a crap shoot? I should have gone with my first impulse and get the 22" Ultrasharp.....but noI had to get screen size greedy!
Click to expand...
Ultrasharps are prosumer monitors. They are superior to the cheaper TN panels, such as the one you bought. They make for very good general use monitors and I doubt you will have a problem with them. Unless you do design work the Ultraharps would serve you wonderfully.
 
Frozonecold said:
Ultrasharps are prosumer monitors. They are superior to the cheaper TN panels, such as the one you bought. They make for very good general use monitors and I doubt you will have a problem with them. Unless you do design work the Ultraharps would serve you wonderfully.
Click to expand...

Good advice, I'm still a little confused regarding Ultrasharps. My 2007WFP is an Ultrasharp and says TFT/Active Matix. So does the 24" I just bought and it is not an Ultrasharp. I'm sure you get what you pay for.

Since it is on the way I'll give the cheaper one a shot. If it seems bad for my general use I will ship it back and go for the more expensive Ultrasharp after a few more paydays.

There is no free lunch as they say. Thanks for the help.
 
jazz1 said:
Good advice, I'm still a little confused regarding Ultrasharps. My 2007WFP is an Ultrasharp and says TFT/Active Matix. So does the 24" I just bought and it is not an Ultrasharp. I'm sure you get what you pay for.

Since it is on the way I'll give the cheaper one a shot. If it seems bad for my general use I will ship it back and go for the more expensive Ultrasharp after a few more paydays.

There is no free lunch as they say. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
TFT is an LCD monitor. TN stands for twisted nematic, these are low-end panels like the one in your new monitor. Ultrasharps use P-MVA panels, which are higher quality panels. P-MVA panels have better viewing angles, better colour accuracy, and no color shift. A quick test you can perform on you monitor when you get it is to get fairly close to it (~2 feet), then move your head around. If you can see the colors shifting at all on the opposite side, you can see one of the big disadvantages of a TN panel.
 
Frozonecold said:
TFT is an LCD monitor. TN stands for twisted nematic, these are low-end panels like the one in your new monitor. Ultrasharps use P-MVA panels, which are higher quality panels. P-MVA panels have better viewing angles, better colour accuracy, and no color shift. A quick test you can perform on you monitor when you get it is to get fairly close to it (~2 feet), then move your head around. If you can see the colors shifting at all on the opposite side, you can see one of the big disadvantages of a TN panel.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I wish the sales guy informed me as well. Dell does take things back without hassle. So I guess I'm covered.
 
Blurring panel lines...

Looks like the 24" Ultrasharps are still the high end panels, but Dell seems to be blurring the line on the smaller models. The new UltraSharp 2009W monitor has viewing angles, response times, and a price point that says TN panel to me, though it is still an "UltraSharp". That and they still sell the 2007 for 100 bucks more. It used to be that UltraSharp was the high end panel, now it seems to be starting to mean included usb hub and height adjustment. They even got rid of the old video ports...
 
sndcj1 said:
Looks like the 24" Ultrasharps are still the high end panels, but Dell seems to be blurring the line on the smaller models. The new UltraSharp 2009W monitor has viewing angles, response times, and a price point that says TN panel to me, though it is still an "UltraSharp". That and they still sell the 2007 for 100 bucks more. It used to be that UltraSharp was the high end panel, now it seems to be starting to mean included usb hub and height adjustment. They even got rid of the old video ports...
Click to expand...

Actually I started out with that one on my list. But after I started seeing "Ultrasharp" on bargain Dell's I was wondering what was up with that. I'm pretty happy with my current 2007WFP 20.1, I just wanted a larger screen. I guess I'll be shipping the bargain unit back. Maybe even sight unseen.
 
You were right on the Negatives

Just set up the E248WFP on my desk at work. I only had my MBP so I had to take a co-workers and set up the new monitor on it and kept my MBP working with my 2007WFP which is an Ultrasharp.

There is lots of light in my office. So it was difficult to fully test and I had a lot of visitors. I may have to lug it home and see it in the conditions I would be using at home which is a darker environment.

The size of the screen was impressive when compared tot he 20.1 in 2007WFP. I want to figure out if I can live with it "warts and all". I did see most of the "cons" that were described earlier in this thread that I started. Tweaking did help on color, but everything else could not be improved.

So I think I have a few of options.

1. Set it up in my home to give it a fair chance.

2. Return it, and quit fooling myself ;) and pony up the the real deal 24" when I can afford it.

3. Keep the E248WFP on my work desk for e-mails, WWW browsing, and WP. Take the 2007WFP home and put it side to side with my home 2007WFP. In a way that may be a little more friendly space wise on my desk at home.
 
I've not used a 24" TN panel, but I do use 22" panels and my impression was that for stuff requiring decent representation of colour, a 22" TN panel was pretty much the absolute maximum give screen size vs viewing angle, and a 24" may be stretching things even with normal head movement.

Is the white-to-pink shift very noticeable on the E248?
 
I was actually considering the Dell E248WFP as well for a second monitor just to dump alot of windows and to use windows vista parallels on...
 
Sesshi said:
I've not used a 24" TN panel, but I do use 22" panels and my impression was that for stuff requiring decent representation of colour, a 22" TN panel was pretty much the absolute maximum give screen size vs viewing angle, and a 24" may be stretching things even with normal head movement.

Is the white-to-pink shift very noticeable on the E248?
Click to expand...

Are you saying that at 24" the viewer's angle, in trying to cover the whole screen with their eyes, would be such that the this kind of panel's deficiencies would be more apparent as compared to the 22"? I so I never took that into consideration. I'm a newbie at reviewing LCD screens.

Is the white-to-pink shift something you would see off angle or could this be seen straight on? I'll give it a go this weekend when I get it out of my office and to my home.
 
jazz1 said:
I've just ordered one after getting tired of shuffling windows around on my Dell 20.1 2007WFP. Which I know is an Ultrasharp.

Is the E248WFP 24-inch Widescreen going to melt my eyeballs? I saw an affordable Dell 22" (UltraSharp 2208WFP 22-inch Widescreen), but the specs seemed similar and the salesperson could not tell me why it was designated as Ultrasharp with very similar specs.

Well it is on the way and I guess I can send it back if my eyeballs melt down my cheeks.

Any advice, even with DHL rolling it to my door, would be much appreciated. Oh, if you own one how tall is it with the stand? Dell's WWW site specs. differ.
Click to expand...

My 2405FPW absolutely sucks in my opinion.

The color is downright pathetic. The brightness is painful (even at 0?!!?).

Most of the time I turn it off and use my ACD solo until I can afford a second one (whenever they release new ones ....)

I had to do 4 replacements on this POS before settling on one because the backlight was so bad. Dell service is absolutely despicable and even though I paid about 60% of the cost of the ACD, I would never ever ever order another.

That said, I'm a graphic designer and I'm very sensitive to color. I'm even more sensitive to sending a PDF to the printer and having it come back looking like a different document.

Oh and the contrast distortion is just pathetic too. I move 6 inches to the right and the distortion is out of hand. Working on this thing late at night has made me feel sick.
 
I know lots of people who design on the dell monitors. they arent perfect but once you know the limitations you can get colors pretty close. I don't do print to often. just a lot of web so perfect color isn't quite as important.

definitely go for ultrasharp though. I have an early 2407. its not perfect. but it is a great monitor and I have never regretted it. I would regret anything cheaper though... Ive heard the 2408 is better then the 2407. even a bit better would make it a fantastic monitor!
 
jazz1 said:
Are you saying that at 24" the viewer's angle, in trying to cover the whole screen with their eyes, would be such that the this kind of panel's deficiencies would be more apparent as compared to the 22"? I so I never took that into consideration. I'm a newbie at reviewing LCD screens.

Is the white-to-pink shift something you would see off angle or could this be seen straight on? I'll give it a go this weekend when I get it out of my office and to my home.
Click to expand...

It's something I was curious about. Colour shifts are clearly visible - but not egregious for everyday use - on the edges of the screen of a 22" if you're looking at it head-on. I mean, clearly there will be compromises with budget monitors but I wondered how much worse it would be on the 24" TN's.

As far as colour controls are concerned, this is where you may need some neurons when adjusting a Dell as opposed to Apple - clearly this is one of the problems facing those who complain about 'awful' colour on Dells. As well as going for the correct OS mode, you should turn all the colours up to 100% before making other changes.
 
Sesshi said:
It's something I was curious about. Colour shifts are clearly visible - but not egregious for everyday use - on the edges of the screen of a 22" if you're looking at it head-on. I mean, clearly there will be compromises with budget monitors but I wondered how much worse it would be on the 24" TN's.

As far as colour controls are concerned, this is where you may need some neurons when adjusting a Dell as opposed to Apple - clearly this is one of the problems facing those who complain about 'awful' colour on Dells. As well as going for the correct OS mode, you should turn all the colours up to 100% before making other changes.
Click to expand...

Well I finally got the E248WFP home and set it up side-by-side with the 2007WFP. Lots of tweaking of both displays to get them to play nice. I don't know if I'll ever get the brightness and contrast even between the two. I don't run my LCD's really bright or with the gamma T.V. style setting.

I'm thinking that this cheaper LCD may be o.k. for me for everyday use as suggested by Sesshi. I've used two monitors before on my old G4 and I can say a second one comes in handy for iChat, SlimDevices SqueezeCenter/SqueezeNetwork(browser window), iTunes and Widgets when you want to call them forth. Of course I wish the 24" was the Ultrasharp and the 20.1 the plain ol' TFT. But I wasn't forward thinking.

I was hoping that I could have the 20.1 run my album art full screen via iTunes, or even have Front Row run on only one of the two screen so I could still run applications in the spare screen. Both Front Row and full screen album art in iTunes take over both screens. Is there anyway to prevent that? I know get a second MacPro ;)
 
I will Post Pics Tomorrow

I'll post a couple of pics tomorrow. I'm liking having two LCD's. Oddly when I push them together side-by-side the bottom of the two screen are closer than the top. The two stands are not true as the gap grows in a "v" at the top.

Sorry for the double post.
 
I will Post Pics Tomorrow

I'll post a couple of pics tomorrow. I'm liking having two LCD's. Oddly when I push them together side-by-side the bottom of the two screen are closer than the top. The two stands are not true as the gap grows in a "v" at the top.
 
The E228 (and the Samsung 226BW in far fewer numbers) is what I use in quad-monitor (or more precisely, 2 x 2) configurations. Apart from the colour shift I mentioned (and that you may need to play around with the monitor to get what most people consider natural colour) I don't think they're bad at all. For some of my uses though the shifts do get to me. Like say I'm moving between two banks of benches and I'm looking at screens from an angle, the TN's are noticeably worse for this type of use. So I'm replacing some of them with 2407's I've pulled from other places, which are in turn being replaced by 2408's.
 
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