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Thoughts? : Apple 24" LED Display vs. Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP

S

shoulin333

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 26, 2007
700
21
California
Anyone seen both side by side?

Anyone have that dell? like it? hate it?

Also i have never seen an LED backlit desktop LCD before, how nice are they?

Is the glass on the Apple display too reflective? (I have lots of windows in my computer area)


...Sorry for all the Q's, if you can answer any of them i would appreciate it.

Thanks
 
i have the 2407wfp and love it, both for coding and gaming. I'm not sure how much of a difference there is between the 2407 and 2408.
 
Apple if you have money to burn - it looks f/ing ace and has the docking ability. Otherwise if you're too sensible get the Dell, it's a very nice monitor. :D
 
The Dell has better value for money, but the LED display might last longer, since the backlights can sometimes dim over time.
 
Flash SWT said:
According to Wikipedia the Dell 2409WFP uses an S-PVA panel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_monitors

Not to confuse the matter, but how about adding the HP LP2475w to the mix, it reportedly has the same H-IPS panel as the Apple 24".
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/382087-382087-64283-72270-444767-3648442.html
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/hp_lp2475w.htm

I think at this point I've decided I would take the HP over the Dell.
Click to expand...

There is a longstanding thread about the HP at Hardocp and it does a pretty good job of documenting the quality control issues that have plagued that model. It would be worth scanning through, I think.
 
Whats the Difference Between S-IPS and S-PVA? Really? The 2408WFP is supposed to be one of the truest colour monitors for the money, and it boasts so many inputs, USB, Card Reader etc, and its significantly cheaper than the Apple, the ACD Looks nicer, but other than that, seems worse.
 
You're crazy to get a glossy screen if you have windows directly behind your computer. you are just asking for a ton of constant reflections and glare. hence why i went with a ACD vs an Imac.

If you have to choose between these monitors, I'd go with the Dell. It's matte and cheaper. Whether you will really notice the PVA quality vs IPS depends on what you do with the monitor. For casual use, PVA will be just fine and better than the TN's found in most monitors.
 
I'm in the same boat right now trying to decide between these two. I just got a Unibody MBP and my girlfriend has a unibody MB so i want a monitor for the office in our new house where we can both go and plug our laptops in. The apple looks really nice there's no doubt about that but for $500 less you are getting way more ports and way more options with the dell..... On the other hand we both have unibodies so in essence we don't really need all these other ports right? Another thing is that there is a couch in the office for lounging having the dell gives us more flexibility like if we want to hook up a dvd player in there to watch movies or hook up a cable box or something. I don't know which one to go with :confused:
 
blair.harringto said:
You're crazy to get a glossy screen if you have windows directly behind your computer. you are just asking for a ton of constant reflections and glare. hence why i went with a ACD vs an Imac.
Click to expand...

I feel people are overplaying this angle. The glare isn't noticeable if the monitor is on. Of course if it's turned off, it's basically a big mirror, but once you turn up the brightness it's basically a non-issue.

I've had a LED 24" for about 2 weeks, and it was sitting right at the opposite of a window with tons of sun coming in in the morning. As soon as the pixels would light up, the glare and reflections dissapeared completely. Same with my Unibody Macbook actually.

As for the topic at hand, it really depends. The Dell 2408WFP have terrible input lag (50 ms+) and reviews on the net don't feel convinced the A01 revision actually fixed the problem. If you're going to play action games, this will be a definitive turn off. Otherwise, it's a solid display choice for the price.
 
shoulin333 said:
how nice are they?
Click to expand...

It's entirely subjective so you're going to get lots of varying opinion.

Speaking objectively, the Apple display has a wider contrast ratio and will have a more even backlight thanks to the LED. The CCFL backlight on the Dell will, in time get dimmer and your screen will require re-calibration periodically if colour accuracy is important to you.
 
RemarkabLee said:
It's entirely subjective so you're going to get lots of varying opinion.

Speaking objectively, the Apple display has a wider contrast ratio and will have a more even backlight thanks to the LED. The CCFL backlight on the Dell will, in time get dimmer and your screen will require re-calibration periodically if colour accuracy is important to you.
Click to expand...

Actually your are backwards with your statement. The dell has a much mucher wider contrast ratio because it uses S-PVA which currently are really the only monitors that have their specifications given without bogus figures regarding contrst ratio. Most IPS max out at around 400 to 1, some newers ones may get near 600 in real world tests, where as S-PVA usually can get up to about 1500 to 1 and above.
 
blackhand1001 said:
Actually your are backwards with your statement. The dell has a much mucher wider contrast ratio because it uses S-PVA which currently are really the only monitors that have their specifications given without bogus figures regarding contrst ratio. Most IPS max out at around 400 to 1, some newers ones may get near 600 in real world tests, where as S-PVA usually can get up to about 1500 to 1 and above.
Click to expand...

Actually, that's not quite true. Once calibrated, tftcentral managed to get 698:1 contrast ratio out of a H-IPS HP LP2475w and 672:1 out of the Dell 2408WFP.

I'd say real world contrast ratios are probably very close between both monitors, unless the LED backlighting robs you of contrast ratio.
 
KnightWRX said:
I feel people are overplaying this angle. The glare isn't noticeable if the monitor is on. Of course if it's turned off, it's basically a big mirror, but once you turn up the brightness it's basically a non-issue.

I've had a LED 24" for about 2 weeks, and it was sitting right at the opposite of a window with tons of sun coming in in the morning. As soon as the pixels would light up, the glare and reflections dissapeared completely. Same with my Unibody Macbook actually.

As for the topic at hand, it really depends. The Dell 2408WFP have terrible input lag (50 ms+) and reviews on the net don't feel convinced the A01 revision actually fixed the problem. If you're going to play action games, this will be a definitive turn off. Otherwise, it's a solid display choice for the price.
Click to expand...

The glare is noticeable with the monitor on. It's that your eye is adjusting to the reflections and not noticing them as much. Go to your local Apple store, look at an Imac, and you will see glare. The only way you won't is if you use glossy screens on the daily and are used to it. Add sunlight reflecting off your monitor, whether it is on or off, and you absolutely will see reflections at times. Especially in blacks.

Your eyes are straining by attempting to ignore the glare. You will probably get used to the glossy screen in sunlight if you use it regularly, but that doesn't mean it's doing a world of good for your eyes down the road.

Get a matte screen in high sunlight environments. Your eyes will thank you down the road for it.

Ditch the Dell and get the HP LP2475w. I got mine for $609 total via Amazon. I ended up returning it because 24" was way too big for what I needed, but the monitor was amazing.
 
I will never buy a glossy screen monitor. And I don't recommend them to anyone. Glare and reflections are just one problem. The major problem is if you are creating any kind of photographic or video content. They exaggerate the contrast. and are not "accurate". But if you are using the computer only as a media player then some people like the exaggerated the contrast the same way some people like those speakers that exaggerate the bass. But could you imaging being an engineer trying to record a band using those bopmy speakers as a reference? He'd never get the mix right. Same with monitors they need to be accurate if you are going to make judgements about color.

If you want a iMac you are pretty much stuck as Apple has gone to using only these cheap screen on their iMacs but why buy a standalone Monitor without an anti-glare coating? Even worse why buy extra for it?
 
brentsg said:
There is a longstanding thread about the HP at Hardocp and it does a pretty good job of documenting the quality control issues that have plagued that model. It would be worth scanning through, I think.
Click to expand...

Could you be more specific about these problems?

I'm about to plonk down the cash for the HP LP2475w

I will use the monitor for video work with some colour correction, and photoshop.
 
MIDI_EVIL said:
Could you be more specific about these problems?

I'm about to plonk down the cash for the HP LP2475w

I will use the monitor for video work with some colour correction, and photoshop.
Click to expand...

thread is http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1326971

It's coming up on a hundred pages now and I haven't kept up in a while. The part I was following earlier was graduated color inconsistencies across the screen (ie pinkish one side, greenish other side, etc).
 
blair.harringto said:
Get a matte screen in high sunlight environments. Your eyes will thank you down the road for it.
Click to expand...

Actually, I had a matte Dell inspiron 6400. I never managed to use it outside once. With the sun shinning, I couldn't even read black text off a white background with the brightness all the way up.
 
brentsg said:
thread is http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1326971

It's coming up on a hundred pages now and I haven't kept up in a while. The part I was following earlier was graduated color inconsistencies across the screen (ie pinkish one side, greenish other side, etc).
Click to expand...

For what it's worth, I picked up an LP2475w for $550 shipped sealed new, and it is stellar. Now it is the latest/greatest in build revision and firmware revision so hopefully they have dealt with the issues. If you can get in at that price point and confirm that you're getting a very recent build, it's a great panel and hard to beat the price for the panel type. It DOES need calibration out of the box so if you if you do not have access to calibration equipment I might shy away from it. Once calibrated, the display is gorgeous without a doubt. Has 2xdvi, 1 display port and 1 hdmi + usb 2.0 hub etc. Again, for the price I could not be happier! Hope that helps!
 
KnightWRX said:
Actually, that's not quite true. Once calibrated, tftcentral managed to get 698:1 contrast ratio out of a H-IPS HP LP2475w and 672:1 out of the Dell 2408WFP.

I'd say real world contrast ratios are probably very close between both monitors, unless the LED backlighting robs you of contrast ratio.
Click to expand...

Those results are most likely inaccurate because it is widely accepted that PVA has better contrast ratios than IPS.

The lacie 724 has the same panel as the 2408 and also has hardware calibration to ensure proper calibration so this measurement is almost foolproof. The led display got about 600 while the lacie got about 1200.
 

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