You can't overstate the difference in going from a 19-inch CRT to a 24-inch LCD.If you use a PC a lot, it'll change your life.That's true for me even though I routinely use two monitors at the same time with an "extended desktop" in Windows XP Pro.The Dell 2407WFP is an extremely well-though-out, high-quality piece of hardware and I highly recommend it.
But here are some things that you should know about extended-width monitors in general that I tried to find out before I bought this one, but couldn't:
1.If your graphics card is more than a year old and currently supports a monitor with a 4:3 aspect ratio, it probably will NOT correctly support the 16:10 aspect ratio of a widescreen monitor.Instead, it takes a 4x3 image and stretches it to fill the new widescreen.That means that photos will be distorted by being too wide, much like an HDTV does to a normal 4:3 television image.
2.However, it's still worth it even with an older graphics card.Because of the increase in size, you can increase the resolution displayed by your graphics card to 1280 x 1024 or 1600 x 1200.This will still have a "stretched" 4:3 aspect ratio, but you can get a lot more on the screen.For example, Outlook's three columns have enough space that the third preview column is as wide as a normal page.You can see a great many more Excel spreadsheet columns.Programs that will display a variety of items like Paperport have a lot more room to spread out and are MUCH easier to use. Programs that can't take advantage of the increased width as easily--for example Word or Internet Explorer--still look better on this monitor.Everything is still distorted by the stretched width, but you only notice it for photos--and you even get used to that.If you have a traditional monitor next to this LCD like I do, you can move the image to that monitor to eliminate the distortion if you're really curious about the difference.I quit bothering after a while.
3.Newer graphics cards will support true widescreen capability, and then you really have something.Your PC probably came with a smaller widescreen monitor in that case.But don't sweat it if your card is relegated to the 4:3 aspect ratio.
4.It also takes a newer graphics card to support rotating the display to portrait mode, which would be handy for Word and IE documents, for example.The PC graphics card enables and controls that functionality, not the monitor.
5.Playing TV through this monitor is great but you have to be aware of a few things.First, the provided DVI port does not work with 1080i video output by the DVI port of a cable modem.For technical reasons that are over my head, this model does not support interlaced video.Apparently future versions may.Second, the composite ports ARE compatible with the output from a cable box and the resulting TV looks beautiful.There is probably loss from the additional data conversions on each end, but it's not noticeable.What IS noticeable is the fact that PC widescreen monitors like this one ALL have 16:10 aspect ratios, while widescreen TVs ALL have 16:9 aspect ratios.(That probably makes sense to someone, but I haven't met that person yet.It probably has to do with some perceived reduced utility when using PC programs on a monitor that isn't "tall" enough.)When the cable box outputs its video to the monitor, you don't get the slight letterboxing I expected with narrow dark bands at the top and bottom.Instead, the picture stretches vertically to fit the screen, much as it stretches horizontally for the 4:3 output of a PC graphics card.The result is that the picture is about 11% taller than it should be--not terribly noticeable but still there.If you instead route TV to the monitor through a Vista HD-capable PC, this problem will be eliminated.At that point, your PC will have the advantage of being connected to the monitor though the DVI port as well.The only disadvantages are the usual delays and vagaries of Windows over and above the cable box, but Vista is much better than XP in that regard.And of course, Vista gives you DVR capability.
The only "con" specific to this monitor that I could find is that the settings for picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture are not "sticky".Once you set it up the way you want, it works great.But as soon as you change the input source from, say, the TV composite ports to the VGA PC port and back again, you have to start all over again when you activate either feature.
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Product Description:
The DellTM UltraSharpTM 2407WFP is one of the latest models in the Dell lineup, replacing the DellTM UltraSharp 2405FPW. The Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP 24.0-inch Flat Panel LCD Monitor is a wide aspect desktop display that redefines the performance of LCD displays with a stylish new Dell industrial design, and advanced functionality. Improve productivity with less scrolling and toggling. The 2407WFP wide aspect Flat Panel LCD also provides an excellent option for video editing and 3D imaging as both source and destination video can be viewed in a single window! With 5.1 inches (130 mm) of height adjustment virtually every user can adjust the display to their exact comfort level and help reduce eye and neck strain. To optimize this monitor's performance, your system must be able to support WUXGA resolution (1920x1200).
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