Dell U2410 24" H-IPS monitor - thoughts?

Handruin

Handruin

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I know I've asked about 24" monitors in the past and I still haven't found one close to my liking. I saw this deal for $479 on the newer Dell 24" panel with an H-IPS panel type. It apparently offers a game mode to remove the extra processing so that there is less panel lag time. CNET did a comparison of lag times using a reference monitor. The average input lag was measured around 14ms.

Some of the comments I read had concern for it being a wide gamut monitor, but later discussions on HardOCP seem generally positive about it. Has anyone bought one or looked into this monitor? I'd love to spring for the NEC 2490wuxi, but at twice the cost, I can't stomach that right now.
 
Handruin

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I should put into perspective that I would be upgrading from a 5 year old Dell 2001FP panel (I believe it's an S-IPS panel).
 
Handruin

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I decided to take a chance on it. I'll let you know what I find. If it sucks, I'll send it back to dell.
 
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Gilbo

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I'd be very interested to hear your experiences with it Handruin.

I was looking at that monitor myself. It's getting harder and harder (and expensive) to find IPS panels.


Do you know what the difference between S-IPS and H-IPS is?
 
Handruin

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When I get it I'll try some different tests with it if you have anything in mind. I'll be have it side by side with my 2001FP to compare. I'm hoping it exceeds my expectations. I was very tempted to order two of them since it's on sale, but I'll try this one for a bit and see if I like it. Supposedly it comes sRGB calibrated from Dell.
 
Handruin

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The monitor came today and so far I like it. There are no dead pixels and the colors seem good. I will have to wait until it's dark out to get a better impression if there is any bleeding of the back light. I currently have the brightness set to 25% because it's really bright at 100%.

What's also kind of interesting is that the U2410 came with a PremierColor factory calibration report. The report breaks down the numbers of sRGB, Adobe RGB, gray-scale tracking, and gamma. I have to research what the values mean and how well-calibrated the monitor actually came to me. It even lists the test equipment used to calibrate it.

So far I don't have any complaints with it yet.

Every Dell U2410 is shipped incorporating pre-tuned sRGB and AdobeRGB with average Delta-E (dE) < 5. This helps prevent significant color inconsistency or inaccuracy when content is displayed onscreen. In addition, a tighter grey-scale tracking on each U2410 helps enable ultra-smooth color gradation. The factory measurements from this very unit are shown here.
Click to expand...
 
Handruin

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I like my monitor, but mine does have the issue with noise (dithering) in dark gradients in the sRGB mode that was found to be an issue in the A00 revision that I have. I guess being an early adopter doesn't pay. From what I've heard, the A01 firmware revision which should be out in the masses now doesn't have that issue any more. I can supposedly send mine back for repair because it's under warranty (which I may do eventually). It's possible for me to flash or upgrade my monitor on my own, but it will void the warranty because Dell isn't allowing people to do this on their own. They want people to do returns which I think is ridiculous.

There is a huge thread over here at hardocp that discusses the monitor and some of the issues people have seen. Some people complain of a pink tinting issue, but I haven't seen it in my monitor.

I'm sorry to say but you did just miss a recent deal from Dell small business for $449 + tax with free shipping which makes it a pretty good deal for an IPS monitor. You may be able to call them and ask if they'll still honor it, or maybe wait for another deal.

I would personally hold out for at least $499 if not better if you can wait. I think it's a very good monitor and I was actually tempted to buy a second one at the $449 price, but I already spent too much on my NAS project recently so I passed on it. I have the 2001FP as my second monitor and I do like the colors better on the U2410. The game mode has strange colors, but the lag really is reduced. That's fine with me because at least they give the option to disable the color processing if I need better performance. I tend to leave it on sRGB all the time. I did have to turn the brightness down to about 50% because it can be a bit too bright at its highest setting.
 
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I setup a deal alert at slickdeals.net. I can wait a bit as I don't use the computer that often, like once a week. I have an old CRT hooked up right now. I think my 2001FP is having power issues. I might see what a new power brick costs.
 
Pradeep

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You'd have to think they would be introducing LED lit models in the 24" WUXGA form factor soon.
 
Handruin

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Have you heard anything about that or is it just a guess at this point?
 
Handruin

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That stinks, sorry to hear it. Why wouldn't they cover it under warranty?
 
DrunkenBastard

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Will Rickards said:
Compressor was shorted and is now dead. Going to cost me $1200 even though the part is under warranty. No new monitor for me.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a small claims court case. Still, you have to front that money. Please let us know the brand so we can avoid it in the future.

Are they saying it's $1200 for labor only?

The other possibility is hold off on fixing it, now that it's spring time you likely won't need it for heating or cooling for a few months.
 
Bozo

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Will Rickards said:
Compressor was shorted and is now dead. Going to cost me $1200 even though the part is under warranty. No new monitor for me.
Click to expand...

I went through the same thing. All the parts were covered, but I had to pay the labor. If the unit had been under 3 years old, I would have paid nothing.
 
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Will Rickards

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Yes it is a labor cost thing. They have to drain refrigerant and refill or something. We are getting another bid for the repair (but with a $90 fee just to look at it again). I think it is just under 4 years old based on manufactured date in serial number but we didn't own the house when it was put in so we don't know the actual install date.
 
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time

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That would be ridiculously high in Oz, but I don't know how rich your A/C technicians are in the US.

I'm definitely not an A/C tech, but I estimate it would take about 3 to 4 hours to change a compressor, allowing for less than perfect access. I found a reference on the net where the (challenged) charge included an unspecified environmental fee plus 5 hours at a pretty outrageous rate, probably >$150/hr. Even that's nowhere near the fairy story you've been spun.

Pretty sure a competent tech would be a lot faster, especially on a relatively new unit that should have a drop-in replacement available.

I recently had the fan and a startup capacitor changed in an A/C outdoor unit, requiring partial disassembly. From when the tech put his toolbox on the ground until when he picked it up to leave was about 8 minutes, despite us chatting while he did it.

I used to have a 'split' indoor unit mounted 10ft up on a wall, backing onto the roof cavity. An A/C tech 'pumped down' the refrigerant (into the compressor), disconnected both the indoor and outdoor units (he did have an apprentice who helped disconnect the drain, power and refrigerant pipes from the indoor unit), repositioned the outdoor unit on concrete slabs that I supplied, removed, disassembled and cleaned the indoor unit, reinstalled both, evacuated the lines, checked the pressures and topped up as necessary.

It took him two hours and he charged me $200. Admittedly, he would charge a much higher rate these days, but I'd still expect this service to take less than 3 hours and cost under $400.

On the other hand, I did have a service agent offer me a quote for 5 hours labor just to pump down, disconnect an indoor unit, replace the scroll fan, reconnect the indoor unit etc. I cried "bullshit" to the manufacturer who assigned a new service agent and sent me a whole new indoor unit to shut me up.

It took them less than 2 hours to effect the replacement.
 
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time

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BTW, that's assuming there's no legal requirement to use a newer type of gas. Seems unlikely after just four years, but perhaps that's what they're trying to do?
 
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Will Rickards

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Yes it isn't the cheap $50 a bottle stuff. The gas they use is like $300 a bottle. So there is the cost of the refrigerant (though I don't understand why they can't reuse the old stuff?). The cost to dispose of the old stuff. The time taken to drain and fill it. We found another guy through some friends, we'll see what he says next week or so. No rush to fix it as were at the period of spring where the temps don't get too high and don't get too low either. So we can pretty much turn it off.
 
CougTek

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And I should put in perspective that I'm upgrading from a 14 years old Mitsubishi Diamond Scan 20H with a blurry picture that's giving me headaches.
 
Handruin

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That sounds like a good price to me. I paid $479 seven months ago and it was on a special price back then. Check to see if you got the A01 revision, if not return it and ask for the newer revision. They corrected the dithering issue in A01.
 
Handruin

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Where did you buy it from? If you bought it from Dell, they'll pay return shipping. If you bought it new there is a good chance you will get the A01. That revision has been out shipping since January this year. The monitor is covered under their good warranty from what I read so just call them and they should be able to help you out.
 
Pradeep

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CougTek said:
And I should put in perspective that I'm upgrading from a 14 years old Mitsubishi Diamond Scan 20H with a blurry picture that's giving me headaches.
Click to expand...

It's still going to be an awesome upgrade from a 14 year old CRT (VGA connection?) (except the blacks but you can't beat that without going plasma). Perfect 1:1 pixel mapping is really easy on the eyes, like getting glasses for the first time and everything goes into crystal clear focus. What will you be driving it with?
 
CougTek

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I bought it directly from Dell. I'm not sure their returning policies are the same here as they are in the States. Hopefully, I'll get the newest revision and the sun will shine and the little birds will sing.

What will I be driving it with? Let's see...the three computers at my feet have the following graphic cards :

  • Fanless GeFarce 9400GT with D-sub, HDMI and DVI outputs
  • Fanless Radeon HD 5750 1Go RAM with DVI and HDMI outputs
  • ATI Rage Pro AGP with 32MB of RAM or less (don't remember)
The last one is in a Duron 1GHz system that I only use for testing purpose.
 
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