DELL 2407WFP or BenQ FP241WZ

PixelTrawler

Hi

I'm weighing up either the DELL 2407WFP or BenQ FP241WZ lcd 24" monitors
Both seem pretty decent. I've found a guy selling the dell monitors on ebay for €620 new, with warranty and the cheapest I can find the BenQ is 847 off a german retailer.

If anyone that has either one can you let me know what your impressions of it. Also, and these are questions im have a hard time answering by googling.

1. Both monitors have a native res of 1920*1200. How do lower res's look on these monitors, say 1280*1024, in either gaming or windows, or even 1024*768? My cards getting old, an x850 XT PE so its not going to be pushing games at native res!

2. If running in 1920*1200 in windows (not gaming), say, using visual studio, does everything become so small its hard to read - like turning my 19" crt up to 1600*1200?

3. Has anyone used a 360 with these monitors?

Cheers
John

8T8

I'd go with the Dell.

1) Games can be stretched to fit the full screen or this can be disabled (on some displays) so black bars are present on non wide resolutions, as for the image quality it depends on the quality of the scaler used and the display really. It doesn't bother me too much with my NEC widescreen though of course the image wont naturally be as sharp or clear when running non-native it still looks pretty good.

2) Yes items will look small at that resolution, some have no problem with it & some do, raising the DPI can offset it but it screws with icons in XP so the don't look as good. Windows Vista is better with handling high resolutions displays in this area.

3) A 360 will work fine as 1920x1080 is 1080p so the maximum support resolution for scaling content supported by the Xbox 360 can be used with the VGA input.

(The BenQ display does not have control over the aspect ratio and stretching unless you get one with an updated firmware apparently, maybe they are shipping by default now)

(The Dell's also had a raft of issues that were apparently solved the by the A02 revision so make sure that is the one you are getting)

PixelTrawler

Hi 8t8

Thanks for coming back. The dell im looking at is rev A04 which has improved the colour banding problem even more over A02 from what i'm reading and the 1:1 pixel mapping is implement properly.

I have a dual boot vista/xp machine so I can try out both - i still use xp a lot although I'm slowly moving over to vista. I'll have to look more into the BenQ firmware editions yet...

Overclockers have the latest BenQ now with 1:1 pixel mapping but its damn expensive - over a grand - having trouble finding it anywhere else, although the slighty less specced FP241W seems to be a lot more common.

Seeing as I can get the Dell for 400 less then the BenQ im thinking the dell too...

Anti

I am just about to order that dell you are on about. Found some nice reviews on it.

Since it is considerably cheaper too i would go with the dell.

Even though dell are selling the same monitor but smaller ( 22") for 369€ inv vat and delivery, and a standard 3 year warranty.

8T8

If you can get the A04 then go for the Dell.

PixelTrawler

I've ordered the dell now so I'll post back what I think when it arrives.

Noticed on the US Dell site last night they sell the monitor for almost half what they sell it in europe. I really hate the way technology and software is priced so much higher in europe simply because they can.

Its about $670 in the us and €1090 here, even overclockers undercut dells own prices.

Anyway, I've ordered it from a dealer off ebay for €670 including delivery, new with 5 year business warranty so fingers crossed it didnt fall off the back of a lorry somewhere! Its a rev A04 too.

PixelTrawler

Got the Dell - seems nice. Although the resolution is massive its still easy to read everything. Its nice the way you can have 2 browsers/programs open at the same time side by side easily. Its a bit like having 2 monitors in one.

It seems twice the size of my old 19"crt.

Tried the 360 on it as well, no major problems to report there either. Seems different then the HDTV - colours are more washed but that tends to be how the 360 outputs vga and not the monior.

The stand is great, very flexibly too.

I'd have to recommend it...

8T8

You probably need to tweak the colour calibration of the VGA input as the colours should not normally be washed out with the Xbox 360.

PixelTrawler

I tried that - improved it a little. Its the same on my samsung TV and it was the same on the first 360 i had. I think its just the way the 360 outputs vga vs component. Its commonly posted on the web.

Not that its drastic, just the colours seem less vibrant then through component.

I havent tried plugging in the xbox to the dells compnent ports either. From what I'v read it can look very dark but I might give it a shot later on.

L31mr0d

Can I ask where you bought it from?

EDIT: Ok I see you said Ebay, could you send me a link to the seller on Ebay, i'm in the market for one of these monitors myself.

PixelTrawler

Seller was EricBunny

I had to replace the first one as there was a minor flaw. Dell replaced it direct in 2 days so they do come with a genuine business warranty (i was a bit worried about this because you never know off ebay.

I'm not sure if this links is valid or whether theres something unique to my session in it but try Linky

Otherwise search for user EricBunny or search for this product "Dell 2407WFP 24" widescreen tft monitor.Rev A04"

Including delivery it cost me €680 which is not bad considering they cost 1090 off dell.ie

If you get one, whereever you get it, make sure its an A04 revision which is the latest and it fixes a number of issues

cosgrove80

Sorry to bump this thread but I'm trying to decide which of these monitors to get.

They both now seem to have the 1:1 pixel mapping which I think the BenQ initially didn't have.

I'd be using it for video and multimedia work so colour reproduction and connections would be important.

I'm swayed by the BenQ mainly for the HDMI port but it's not critical I guess. The Dell can be got for a bit less though

Are you still happy with your Dell Joebloggs4817?