Dell Monitors

Review by Brakton "Gamer" : Excellent Widescreen Monitor (glad I bought it!!!)

UPDATED: June 20, 2009

I have to admit, I was a bit concerned about purchasing this online, virtually sight unseen. I went to Best Buy and saw the 20" version of this display and wasn't overly pleased, but then realized that the demo Best Buy had running on the monitor was not in the model's native resolution. So I came home and after a couple of days of deliberation with myself I took the plunge and bought this from Amazon. The display is a cinch to assemble. I've read some reviews where people have had great difficulty putting the stand together then attaching the stand to the monitor itself. This simply is not the case. Everything is keyed (all you have to do is pay attention to the carved out notches) and slid together very easily, no difficulty at all. "Professional" reviews have indicated that the monitor is very wobbly. This is the case to an extent, but it takes a fair jolt to get this monitor to tip. In all practicality who is going to be hitting the monitor with their hand anyway trying to get it to tip over. Perhaps a good earthquake, a running child or clumsy oaf is needed.

Buyers will definitely want to take some time to calibrate the monitor. I am currently running Windows 7 RC1 so some calibration tools are included that don't come in previous versions of Windows (including Vista, that I have found anyway). A Google search for "monitor calibration" will help aid in this process. "Professional" reviews have indicated that gray colors are not represented correctly, taking on a "yellowish hue." Out of the box using default settings this seemed to be the case (you'll see what I mean if you open a picture using Windows Photo Viewer, maximize the window and notice the color of the border surrounding the image), and using the monitor color profile that ships with the LCD (which Adobe Photoshop CS3 reports as being corrupted), but after customizing the monitor settings and getting a new color profile generated by Windows 7, this color turned from the "yellowish" hue to a light blue color as was displayed by my previous LCD (this of course is based on my current color scheme found in Windows 7).

Games play flawlessly, with good color, picture quality and vibrancy. No bleeding or blur with this 2ms response time display. The monitor includes presets for gaming, but if you calibrate the monitor properly this seems to be unneeded. Your mileage may vary depending on personal preference, but using in-game settings with brightness, contrast etc. can help get the job done. Games I tested in 1920x1080 were Crysis, the Half-Life 2 series, Far Cry 2, Unreal Tournament III, Stalker: Clear Sky, Street Fighter IV Benchmark (now available for download) and Bejeweled Twist. All played perfectly, again no blur or bleeding. I tested out a HD copy of "The Dark Knight" with no issues, perfect clarity in all respects. Some complaints (again from "professional" reviews) state that there is some white light bleed-through at the top edge of the screen on dark pictures. I found this to be very minor and not distracting at all. My desktop wallpaper images are native to 1920x1080 which is crisp and clear, so you'll probably want to find some HD or widescreen wallpapers for your viewing pleasure.

Settings for the monitor I have found to be optimal (at least for myself) are as follows:
Picture, Brightness: 50
Picture, Contrast: 76
Picture, Sharpness: 68
MagicBright: Custom
Response Time: Normal
Color, MagiColor: Off
Red: 50
Green: 50
Blue: 50:
Color Tone: Custom
Color Effect: Off
Gamma: Mode1

It may also be advantageous to use the ClearType technology built into Windows (MacOS probably has something similar), again personal preference so your mileage may vary. Windows 7 is a bit more extensive in customizing ClearType than prevoius versions of Windows.

I am very pleased with this monitor and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quality display at a reasonable price.

Review by H. Hartley "California Book Guy" : Not a Pro Monitor

I just purchased this monitor to replace and older high end Dell LCD display (Is there such a thing?). And what I can tell you is that this is a great looking monitor from a design point of view but really does not pass the test. If you are working on spreadsheets only --- this might be the monitor that does the trick! Not sure if I had a defective unit but when viewing dark photos of dark movies ... the top and bottom of the monitor had about a 1 inch band of lightness / leakage from the backlighting inside the monitor.

With bright color images and a truly white screen all looks just fine ... but the monitor is also a bit on the dim side overall. I have both an apple cinema display and a older Dell and both of these monitors are easier on the eyes.

In addition --- the viewing angle on this one is such that you can see a difference from corner to corner on the screen. Like i said --- perhaps my unit is defective ... and I think it might have been ... but this one is going back after one night on the desk. Also --- the comments about the stand are right on ... this is a big monitor for this stand base and although it is a 10+ on design looks ... I think it is more like a bobble head on function. Really bums me out to return it because it is a great screen to look at from looks ... but not from function.

PS - I did play with the calibration, brightness, and contrast settings. Unless you don't mind 2 ellipses of extra light in the top and bottom of the screen when looking at darker hued images and or movies this is probably not the one for you. I know some may say --- but it is a monitor --- yes but it is a wide screen monitor and one could imagine the movies would on the menu for a monitor of this size and stature. Thank you Amazon for the great customer service.

Review by J. A. Smith "MusicCity" : Incredible value!

I replaced a 20" Dell pro LCD with this. Quite a difference - the contrast and color of this screen is better in almost every way compared to the 4-year old Dell screen. Not to mention the incredible array of adjustments that allow you to tailor the picture to your liking. The only thing to be aware of is that to keep the price low and features high, this screen uses an LCD technology that is known to have a relatively narrow optimum viewing angle. This means that colors change fairly dramatically if you are looking at the screen from an angle vs. straight on. Not a problem if you will will always view from the same location but something to be aware of otherwise.

I have the screen mounted to the wall via an inexpensive VESA standard mounting arm (this screen uses the 75mm hole pattern). This works very well as the screen is relatively light given its size. In fact this 23" screen weighs considerably less than the 20" Dell it replaced. The included base for standard desktop installation does not look very sturdy, but again this screen doesn't weigh a lot so it is probably just fine for most uses. Still, I recommend the wall-mounting option, especially if you will view this from more than one area of the room as the mounting arm allows me to easily aim the screen at the area where I will be sitting or riding my stationary bike, etc. This nicely solves the issue of having a more limited optimal viewing angle.

I am using the screen with Windows 7 through a DVI connection and highly recommend that you run through the Win7 display optimization process, including the cleartype setup. This gave much more natural and saturated color (the screen was a bit too bright and washed out with Windows default settings), and the cleartype setup made text much more clear and sharp than when I first plugged it in.

I also have my satellite DVR hooked to this screen via a component input. The HD picture through component video looks really great in Movie mode. I'm very pleased with this device and feel that it's a terrific value given its performance and features at this price.

Review by hagope "@hagope" : Crisp thin and lovely

This is the best monitor i've ever owned. The LED backlight provides a very deep contrast ratio. I also love the design of the clear our bezel. The hinge and stand work great too. My only complaint is that the monitor is too light and can easily get jostled on the desk...

Review by A Reader "Professional Reader" : Photo and Color quality

I am a photographer and one of my main usages is photo editing with Photoshop. So the important thing for me is the color quality and response time issues which is the case for hard core gamers and DVD watchers is nonsense to me. I have connected it to my asus EEE 1000HE with no problem.

As far as I can tell you I am really pleased with this monitor. I have adjusted the setting according to the lagom.nl site and nearly all of the steps this monitor passed which is surprising to me. the only problem was with the Sharpness test that I doubt if any TN monitor with this price range can pass and also the watch angle which I believe no monitor can pass it. I can tell you that contrast and colors are perfect and by adjusting the coarse and fine there is no flickering. The sharpness is perfect and brightness is more that adequate for my usage. In the morning I increase the brightness to something like 50-60 and at night it would be 20-30.

The only problems is that Samsung has been successful in absorbing the dust on monitor and also the frame around the screen sometimes reflects the light which is not a very good thing, though not a disaster. The touch bottoms are a little difficult to work but you will get used to it.

This monitor is extremely thin that I can not believe it and the power adapter is external and quiet as a mice. The power consumption is another major plus with this piece of equipment.

The bottom line if you are looking for an affordable monitor with good color quality, just go for this without any doubt as no other option can beat it unless you want to put much more for a nice IPS pannel. you get more that you put with this monitor :)

Review by Paul Hamill : great monitor at a reasonable price

I'm a programmer and have spent the past 15+ years or so staring at all kinds of screens and monitors while paying close attention to pixel-level details. The Samsung P2370 is the best monitor I've ever owned. It's a big, super-sharp display with great color range and detail; the transparent housing is lightweight and looks high-tech without being obtrusive; no video glitches, lagging, odd noises or other quirks; the lighted menu looks cool and is easy to use; the auto-power-off timer is a great feature; and it's reasonably price. Like other reviewers have said it can wobble a little on its base but unless you have it standing on a shaky surface that's a non-issue.

Review by wbent44 "Charley" : Great Picture & Screen Sync

Very clear 3-D looking screen. It stretches images without distortion; great aspect control.
My only gripe is having only one DVI input. Old monitor had several, including HDMI.
Base stand and screen enclosure seem vary robust - tilts & swivels but no height adj. It sits just fine on the desk.
Everyone says how remarkable the picture looks with Win 7 backgrounds. Shows allot of depth.
No dead pixels yet, don't expect any from Samsung either.

Review by B. Ducote "fugno" : The WOW Factor

This is my first WS monitor,I've always used 4:3 CRT's and one 4:3 LCD.I plugged this thing into my computer and my first reaction was"this is gonna take some getting use to".This monitor is just beautiful no dead pixels the color is just awesome.If your looking for a good quality WS monitor this is it,I've noticed the price is going up a little so get it while the gittin's good.

Review by M. Zur : This is the monitor you wanna buy!

I have been trying to find the right monitor for over a month now. I have tried Samsung monitors, Asus, HP and even ViewSonic. At first I got the Samsung 2333SW. I was disappointed. There was a yellow tint to the display, and color adjustments didn't do the trick. There was an acute problem with the grays.

I then tried an Asus 23 inch (don't remember the model) and it had a problem described as the "Grey screen of death" - google it for more info.

I also checked an HP monitor and a ViewSonic, but they are not even worth mentioning due to an overall disappointing contrast and display.

I finally decided to give Samsung another shot and after reading very positive reviews I got the P2370. This was an excellent decision. The monitor rocks in every way - accurate colors, awesome grays, fantastic brightness and contrast, amazing slim design with touch keys, a sturdy stand and finally a fast 2ms response time.

The only problem I could find is when using the "fastest" setting in the response time, there is a noticeable black pattern when two pictures fade (in a movie, a game or any other instance). However, if the "normal" setting is used, the problem goes away.

Amazon shipped it fast and the packaging was perfect.


Pros:

- Accurate colors and awesome grays
- Fantastic brightness and contrast
- Amazing slim design with touch keys
- Sturdy stand
- Fast 2ms response time
- Reasonable price

Cons:

- When using the "fastest" response time setting, fading in and out of a picture generates a noticeable black pattern instead of a clean fade. However, if the "normal" setting is used, the pattern is gone and the fade is clean.


The bottom line: this is, in my opinion, the best monitor for that price range in the 20-24 inch category.

Review by Gary Edson : Great monitor, but please turn down the bright blue blinking nightlight!

You're probably wondering why some monitors cost a lot more than others in this niche. The answer is the quality of the lcd material is much higher and more precise at the top end. There are probably only about two or three significant levels of quality differences for monitors in this price range. Once you realize that, you can probably easily see which companies tend to use the higher or lower quality lcd units. Basically, you get what you pay for.

The P2370 monitor is capable of a wide range of brightness settings from very bright displays that would hurt your eyes if you tried to read letters on a white page for very long and of course much dimmer ones. Unlike 'Gamer's' review which included his recommended settings, I can really see advantages in using the MagicBright capabilities for switching such settings according to the type of use.

For example, I keep the Brightness toned down while I am up-close and reading or surfing the internet. However, I really want to brighten it up much higher if I am watching a movie from a few feet away. I hate it when you can't see what the actor is doing in a darkly lit scene for example.

I know that sounds like a lot of adjusting, but it really is quite easy if you rely on the MagicBright pre-set choices of "Text; Internet; Game; Sport; Movies; Dynamic Contrast" or you could use "Custom" for making your own choices as "Gamer" does. The whole thing only requires about four touches to select your preferred adjustments.

I had no trouble putting the stand together, and the monitor is very stable. I have no concern about tipping it over.

There is one thing, however, that really drives me crazy about this monitor. It is the insistence of unthinking engineers to choose to include a laser bright "on-off" BLINKING indicator light right on the front. I could probably read by that single light if the rest of the room were dark. What the heck? I did find a work-around however, you just need some scissors and some black electrician's tape!

In summary, I would highly recommend this monitor to anyone looking for monitors in this general size range. (But make sure you have some black tape and scissors with you before you turn off the overhead lights.)

The reviewer was compensated for posting this review. However, the opinion stated in the review is that of the reviewer and the reviewer alone. Further, the reviewer independently selected this product to review and has no affiliation with the product maker/distributor, Amazon or the review requester.