5 ms·

Why do Dell make such good monitors? I bought the 24" u2412m earlier this year and it's superb. It doesn't look flashy, but cosmetics are not important. The bu

Why do Dell make such good monitors? I bought the 24" u2412m earlier this year and it's superb. It doesn't look flashy, but cosmetics are not important. The build quality and color calibration on these things is absolutely incredible.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
seiji 13y ago
They use the same panels Apple uses, so it's just a matter of plastics engineering and choice of I/O (giant displayport, hdmi, vga, dvi, ... instead of just thunderbolt). I think the monoprice monitors use the same 27" panel as well? http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=113&cp_id=11307&cs_id=1130703&p_id=10489&seq=1&format=2 http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=113&cp_id=11307&cs_id=...
- coryfklein 13y ago
  Wow! Monoprice does monitors now? mind blown
  - wffurr 13y ago
    Note that the Monoprice (and MicroCenter Auria and Nixeus and Catleap) models are short on features and build / OSD quality and calibration. The really annoying missing feature on these is audio-passthrough for HDMI and DisplayPort. I'd so much rather have a 3.55mm audio out instead of some crappy 2W built-in speakers.
    - taude 13y ago
      On my Auria, I missed the USB hub functionality, too.
jotm 13y ago
Thank LG for the latter - their IPS panels are used in pretty much every IPS monitor on the market, and I've never seen one with a single dead pixel, amazing QC...
- jacques_chester 13y ago
  The panels aren't enough. You need good cases and, this is often overlooked, good electronics driving the panels. I've learnt this the fun way by buying cheap Korean 30" screens. The cases are poorly designed, the electronics are flaky. I'd pay 2.5x for the Dell monitors, but I know they would keep working for a lot longer.
  - w1ntermute 13y ago
    I can't comment on the 30" Korean screens, but I got a 27" QHD Yamakasi Catleap and it's been wonderful. No quality problems at all. And I had an expensive 1920x1200 HP before.
    - jacques_chester 13y ago
      Yamakasi is one of the Korean screen makers. I bought 2 Yamakasi 30" screens. The design of the case meant that the DVI plug, when inserted into the socket, would exert sufficient force on the socket to permanently damage it after a few months (which is what happened to me). On the 2nd Yamakasi, my father and I manually cut a channel for the cable into the plastic to prevent the 2nd screen becoming unusable in the same way as the first. In the meantime Yamakasi stopped making that model (I guess 6 months is a long time) and I was forced to buy a different brand. Guess what? Same poorly designed case! Plus the electronics are different and, having very cheap components, it has since burnt out some small components, rendering that screen inoperable. I emailed the seller asking if a replacement PCB could be purchased. No answer. For those keeping score: I have bought 3 Korean 30" screens. Of which 1 is still working after 6 months. And that one only still works because of modifications made to it. At the time, the other Jacques active on HN (Mattheij) gently remonstrated me for gambling on the huge discount I was getting vs Dells or HPs. I now wish I could take all my smugness back from that point in time and bottle it for sale to Harvard MBA students. My next purchases will probably be smaller Dells, to be arranged in a portrait configuration.
UVB-76 13y ago
The Dell UltraSharp range just strikes a nice balance between quality and affordability. Other manufacturers have spent the best part of the last decade chasing the budget end of the market by cutting corners (e.g. TN panels, poor quality control) and adding gimmicks (e.g. glossy or non-black bezels, flashy lights, ugly asymmetric stands) Dell have stood pretty firm, with the UltraSharp range at least, with high quality IPS panels, decent quality control and simple, timeless designs. Combine that with the economies of scale they are able to achieve bundling monitors with computer systems, and the established support network they have in place, and it's been a winning combination.
haspoken 13y ago
I've always thought the dell ultrasharp monitors were very good quality, but the latest batch this summer has changed that. 10 out of 14 monitors in 3 batches so far appear to have what looks like dirty water spots between the lcd and the backlight. Some but some are bigger than sunflower seeds and quite obvious, with up to six of these scattered across the displays. Beware the dell premium panel Guarantee, its very particularly about what it actually covers, which is just pixels stuck on, not all panel defects, let alone the time spent on replacement monitors that can be worse than that original ones.
taude 13y ago
I have an old 2408, the thing is still amazing. I'd definitely get another Dell monitor. (I even use them with my mac book pro)

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

seiji 13y ago

They use the same panels Apple uses, so it's just a matter of plastics engineering and choice of I/O (giant displayport, hdmi, vga, dvi, ... instead of just thunderbolt). I think the monoprice monitors use the same 27" panel as well? http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=113&cp_id=11307&cs_id=1130703&p_id=10489&seq=1&format=2 http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=113&cp_id=11307&cs_id=...

coryfklein 13y ago
Wow! Monoprice does monitors now? mind blown
- wffurr 13y ago
  Note that the Monoprice (and MicroCenter Auria and Nixeus and Catleap) models are short on features and build / OSD quality and calibration. The really annoying missing feature on these is audio-passthrough for HDMI and DisplayPort. I'd so much rather have a 3.55mm audio out instead of some crappy 2W built-in speakers.
  - taude 13y ago
    On my Auria, I missed the USB hub functionality, too.

jotm 13y ago

Thank LG for the latter - their IPS panels are used in pretty much every IPS monitor on the market, and I've never seen one with a single dead pixel, amazing QC...

jacques_chester 13y ago
The panels aren't enough. You need good cases and, this is often overlooked, good electronics driving the panels. I've learnt this the fun way by buying cheap Korean 30" screens. The cases are poorly designed, the electronics are flaky. I'd pay 2.5x for the Dell monitors, but I know they would keep working for a lot longer.
- w1ntermute 13y ago
  I can't comment on the 30" Korean screens, but I got a 27" QHD Yamakasi Catleap and it's been wonderful. No quality problems at all. And I had an expensive 1920x1200 HP before.
  - jacques_chester 13y ago
    Yamakasi is one of the Korean screen makers. I bought 2 Yamakasi 30" screens. The design of the case meant that the DVI plug, when inserted into the socket, would exert sufficient force on the socket to permanently damage it after a few months (which is what happened to me). On the 2nd Yamakasi, my father and I manually cut a channel for the cable into the plastic to prevent the 2nd screen becoming unusable in the same way as the first. In the meantime Yamakasi stopped making that model (I guess 6 months is a long time) and I was forced to buy a different brand. Guess what? Same poorly designed case! Plus the electronics are different and, having very cheap components, it has since burnt out some small components, rendering that screen inoperable. I emailed the seller asking if a replacement PCB could be purchased. No answer. For those keeping score: I have bought 3 Korean 30" screens. Of which 1 is still working after 6 months. And that one only still works because of modifications made to it. At the time, the other Jacques active on HN (Mattheij) gently remonstrated me for gambling on the huge discount I was getting vs Dells or HPs. I now wish I could take all my smugness back from that point in time and bottle it for sale to Harvard MBA students. My next purchases will probably be smaller Dells, to be arranged in a portrait configuration.

UVB-76 13y ago

The Dell UltraSharp range just strikes a nice balance between quality and affordability. Other manufacturers have spent the best part of the last decade chasing the budget end of the market by cutting corners (e.g. TN panels, poor quality control) and adding gimmicks (e.g. glossy or non-black bezels, flashy lights, ugly asymmetric stands) Dell have stood pretty firm, with the UltraSharp range at least, with high quality IPS panels, decent quality control and simple, timeless designs. Combine that with the economies of scale they are able to achieve bundling monitors with computer systems, and the established support network they have in place, and it's been a winning combination.

haspoken 13y ago

I've always thought the dell ultrasharp monitors were very good quality, but the latest batch this summer has changed that. 10 out of 14 monitors in 3 batches so far appear to have what looks like dirty water spots between the lcd and the backlight. Some but some are bigger than sunflower seeds and quite obvious, with up to six of these scattered across the displays. Beware the dell premium panel Guarantee, its very particularly about what it actually covers, which is just pixels stuck on, not all panel defects, let alone the time spent on replacement monitors that can be worse than that original ones.

taude 13y ago

I have an old 2408, the thing is still amazing. I'd definitely get another Dell monitor. (I even use them with my mac book pro)