Dell P2715Q or Apple Thunderbolt Display

[Helpfixit]

Im looking at purchasing a display and I'm torn between the P2715Q (4K) and the Apple Thunderbolt Display.

As of this moment I'm leaning more towards the P2715Q. In the past I purchased a Dell U2313HM and it was returned due to the aggressive ag coating, dirty white's appearance and yellow tingling. So I'm a bit apprehensive about buying another Dell Display. I do appreciate that the Dell P2715Q is a completely different monitor from the last Dell monitor owned, can anyone advise who have / had this monitor if it is free from yellow tinge etc.

Also, I like the sharp fonts displayed on my Retina MacBook / iPad and having used Thunderbolt Display in the past I'm now pondering if I would be unsatisfied using the Thunderbolt Display having become accustomed to the sharp text on my MBPr and iPad. The Thunderbolt Display that was released circa 2011, I'm not to fussed about the USB 2.0 ports, though I do like the connectivity that it has for the MBPr and the built in speakers and camera.

My main use for the monitor is for Web Development, my MacBook Retina 15" is the late 2013 that supports 4K at 60mhz as far as I believe.

 

[Helpfixit]

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[pastrychef]

I have had a P2715Q since around April. I previously had a Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP (30" 2560x1600). The P2715Q is brighter, clearer, and sharper than the old monitor by far. I have not noticed any "yellow tinge". I do feel that the anti-glare is much better that the old monitor and doesn't cause things to look grainy.

I run my P2715Q at 60Hz and 3200x1800 (HiDPI) resolution. It is by far the best monitor I have ever owned and it makes my time in front of my keyboard more enjoyable.

 

[Helpfixit]

I have had a P2715Q since around April. I previously had a Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP (30" 2560x1600). The P2715Q is brighter, clearer, and sharper than the old monitor by far. I have not noticed any "yellow tinge". I do feel that the anti-glare is much better that the old monitor and doesn't cause things to look grainy.

I run my P2715Q at 60Hz and 3200x1800 (HiDPI) resolution. It is by far the best monitor I have ever owned and it makes my time in front of my keyboard more enjoyable.

I have taken some brave pills and have just ordered the P2715Q. Thank you for clarifying things.

 

[pastrychef]

I have taken some brave pills and have just ordered the P2715Q. Thank you for clarifying things.

lol. Glad to be able to help. I sincerely hope you will be as happy with it as I am.

 

[Helpfixit]

lol. Glad to be able to help. I sincerely hope you will be as happy with it as I am.

Thanks. I'm confident that this is going to be good.

 

[bobbydd21]

Do you have the A03 version of the monitor? I read that this version fixed the wake issues people were talking about it.

I have had a P2715Q since around April. I previously had a Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP (30" 2560x1600). The P2715Q is brighter, clearer, and sharper than the old monitor by far. I have not noticed any "yellow tinge". I do feel that the anti-glare is much better that the old monitor and doesn't cause things to look grainy.

I run my P2715Q at 60Hz and 3200x1800 (HiDPI) resolution. It is by far the best monitor I have ever owned and it makes my time in front of my keyboard more enjoyable.

 

[pastrychef]

I have A01. The wake from sleep issue only happens to me maybe about 3 times a month or so and I keep my system up 24/7 so it's not too big of a deal to me. When it happens, I just power it off and back on. Takes a second or two.

 

[Helpfixit]

@pastrychef

Hi the display arrived today from Scan Computers and can confirm that I received a REV A03. The display worked out of the box with my Macbook Retina 15 ( late 2013, GT750m ). The default for display setting was 1920x1080 ( HiDPI ) not my preference, so i set the resolution to Scaled at 2560x1440 ( HiDPI ). Having owned a Thunderbolt display in the past, I can confirm that I'm more than satisfied with this display, the font's are razor sharp and the colour is very good and not to far from the colour on my rMBP. No yellow tinge or grainy anti-glare coating. This display has restored my faith in Dell displays again.

With regards to the OSD menu settings, I have disabled the DDC/CI setting is there another optimisations that can be done ?

 

[pastrychef]

That's great!

Yes, I also didn't like the 1080p default resolution and went with 3200x1800 HiDPI. I've gotten in to arguments with others on this forum when they insisted that using anything but native resolution would result in a blurry image. Of course, they are people who haven't actually used this monitor...

In my opinion, it's without a doubt one of (if not THE) the best bang-for-buck monitor around. Based on image quality alone, I would choose this over the Thunderbolt Displays every time. I also looked at the Samsung 28" 4K monitor and its TN panel produced a far inferior image. While the extra inch of screen area was nice, I couldn't live with the image quality.

There really aren't many things to configure since the monitor comes pre-optimized. The only thing I did do was turn off font smoothing on OS X. Remember, it only takes effect after a restart.

 

[Helpfixit]

Defin

That's great!

Yes, I also didn't like the 1080p default resolution and went with 3200x1800 HiDPI. I've gotten in to arguments with others on this forum when they insisted that using anything but native resolution would result in a blurry image. Of course, they are people who haven't actually used this monitor...

In my opinion, it's without a doubt one of (if not THE) the best bang-for-buck monitor around. Based on image quality alone, I would choose this over the Thunderbolt Displays every time. I also looked at the Samsung 28" 4K monitor and its TN panel produced a far inferior image. While the extra inch of screen area was nice, I couldn't live with the image quality.

There really aren't many things to configure since the monitor comes pre-optimized. The only thing I did do was turn off font smoothing on OS X. Remember, it only takes effect after a restart.

View attachment 598231

Definitely best bang for buck display. In comparison to the Apple Thunderbolt Display the image and text quality of the P2715Q are far superior than the ATD ( as to be expected for a 4K panel ). The Dell display is a winner in my eyes and I'm glad I went out of my comfort zone and purchased it. I previously owned a Thunderbolt Display, hence my dilemma about buying another or going with the Dell 4K. There are thing's I still like about the ATD such as the glass screen, built in speakers, Ethernet port and power connections. I can live without those, though having become accustomed to the sharp text and images on retina screen's it makes it hard to go back to non retina displays.

You must have good eyesight to be able to use the 3200x1800 hiDPI resolution. I gave that resolution a try but settled on 2560x1400.

 

[pastrychef]

You may be interested in the Dell MKS14 monitor stand. I purchased one to use with my P2715Q and really love it. I has helped me keep cable clutter to a minimum.

Yes, I'm very grateful to my parents for blessing me with good vision. I even tried native 3840x2160 briefly but it became a bit stressful on the eyes after a short time.

 

[Helpfixit]

You may be interested in the Dell MKS14 monitor stand. I purchased one to use with my P2715Q and really love it. I has helped me keep cable clutter to a minimum.

View attachment 598240

Yes, I'm very grateful to my parents for blessing me with good vision. I even tried native 3840x2160 briefly but it became a bit stressful on the eyes after a short time.

Thanks for sharing this, i'm using a single arm mount for the display.

 

[theSeb]

@pastrychef

Hi the display arrived today from Scan Computers and can confirm that I received a REV A03. The display worked out of the box with my Macbook Retina 15 ( late 2013, GT750m ). The default for display setting was 1920x1080 ( HiDPI ) not my preference, so i set the resolution to Scaled at 2560x1440 ( HiDPI ). Having owned a Thunderbolt display in the past, I can confirm that I'm more than satisfied with this display, the font's are razor sharp and the colour is very good and not to far from the colour on my rMBP. No yellow tinge or grainy anti-glare coating. This display has restored my faith in Dell displays again.

With regards to the OSD menu settings, I have disabled the DDC/CI setting is there another optimisations that can be done ?

This is wonderful news since my P2715q is arriving from Scan tomorrow

 

[theSeb]

There really aren't many things to configure since the monitor comes pre-optimized. The only thing I did do was turn off font smoothing on OS X. Remember, it only takes effect after a restart.

View attachment 598231

What does turning off font smoothing actually do according to your eyes?

 

[pastrychef]

It makes the text sharper.

 

[Helpfixit]

This is wonderful news since my P2715q is arriving from Scan tomorrow

I've used Scan for some time, never had any problems. Scan seem to have a high stock turn over hence my decision to get the display from them rather than through Amazon. I'm happy I got a Rev A03. Enjoy the display.

 

[theSeb]

I've used Scan for some time, never had any problems. Scan seem to have a high stock turn over hence my decision to get the display from them rather than through Amazon. I'm happy I got a Rev A03. Enjoy the display.

Yes, I have bought quite a lot of stuff from Scan before, so I am happy to give them my business and the price is pretty good compared to others in the UK. I was glad to hear that you got the latest revision. It should be coming before lunch today and I can't wait

 

[Helpfixit]

Here I have uploaded some images of the P2715Q, the last two images compare the text, colour shown on my MacBook and the text shown on the Display. Pretty good.

 

[pastrychef]

I'm impressed at how close the colors are between the P2715Q and the MacBook.

What are you using for sound? I have an old SoundMatters MainStage. While I love the sound it produces, it takes up a bit more desk space than I like. I also tried using a Bose SoundDock Series III but hated the sound quality and it would revert back to its default audio source every time it went to sleep.

 

[Helpfixit]

I'm impressed at how close the colors are between the P2715Q and the MacBook.

What are you using for sound? I have an old SoundMatters MainStage. While I love the sound it produces, it takes up a bit more desk space than I like. I also tried using a Bose SoundDock Series III but hated the sound quality and it would revert back to its default audio source every time it went to sleep.

The colours are far better than I expected, very very close, minimum IPS glow and backlight excellent, though sometimes I feel that backlight and IPS glow can be a lottery no matter what brand of display you buy. I did turn the brightness down a bit. As for sound, I use the speakers on the MacBook, they are good enough for me as I don't play a lot of multimedia on the MacBook. If I'm streaming music or film from my Synology then the speakers on my Samsung 4K TVs are good enough.

 

[theSeb]

Mine arrived today in packaging that might survive a nuclear blast and it's also a Rev 3, just like yours. I'll get around to connecting it to my nMP tomorrow.

 

[Helpfixit]

Mine arrived today in packaging that might survive a nuclear blast and it's also a Rev 3, just like yours. I'll get around to connecting it to my nMP tomorrow.

looks like Dell are pushing the recycling with the hefty cardboard and minimum plastic. It certainly would survive a nuclear blast

Let us know your thoughts on it when you get time, such as backlight and IPS glow ?

 

[akm3]

I'm currently using TWO p2715q with my early 2015 retina macbook pro. They both work great in 4k while also using the internal monitor. Very pleased with how it turned out.

 

[theSeb]

Is yours being detected as a TV? Go into About this Mac and then system report. It's running at 60 Hz but it says Television Yes. I am not too bothered, since it's working as I expect, but just curious.