Review: Dell 2408WFP 24" LCD

I recently bought a new LCD for home. I've still been using the Samsung 17GLsi CRT which I bought in 1992 for $1550 (!) and Naomi has been using a cheap Viewsonic 1440x900 LCD (6 bit panel). So I waited a while until Dell offered good incentives to buy their Ultrasharp high-end 24" LCD (8 bit panel):

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/monitor_2408wfp?c=au&cs=audhs1&l=en&s=dhs

I got a fantastic deal! The base price was $799, but Dell had a 10% off coupon plus free 4GB USB stick plus free Sennheiser headset plus free Shintaro 7" digital photo frame. I couldn't pass that one up!

Positives

• 1920x1200 resolution - fully HDTV 1080p ready
• Lots of inputs: DVI1, DVI2, VGA, HDMI, DisplayPort, Composite, Component, SVideo!
• USB hub and card reader built in
• Beautiful crisp pure colours, no banding as it is a full 8 bit panel
• Dell "Sound Bar" attaches to bottom - I bought this too ($55) and the sound is very good.
• Easy slide up/down and rotate, can be used in portrait mode if desired
• Cheap price for 8 bit panel

Negatives

• Crappy controls - buttons are stiff and menus difficult to navigate
• Doesn't read SmartMedia flash cards (my old Olympus) but handles xD,Sd,MS,MMC,CF
• Picture in picture will only allow the 2nd display to be Composite, Svideo or Component, so effectively useless

Overall

Highly recommended, 9 out of 10 marks.