Dell Selling 30" Flat Panels 417
bling..bling writes "Apple is not the only company selling 30" flat panel monitors. Dell is now offering a 30" flat panel display that has a native resolution of 2560x1600 and sells for $2,199. Just like the apple 30" display you do need a dual link DVI video card to drive this massive beast. This monitor also sports four USB ports and a media card reader.
I've been waiting for Dell or someone else to release a 30" display and hopefully bring the prices down. I'm tired of the dual monitor thing, I want one display device on my desk, just make it a very large device.
See the details on Dell's web site on the new Dell 3007WFP 30-inch widescreen digital flat panel monitor."
Two heads are better than one! (Score:5, Interesting)
or... (Score:4, Interesting)
that's great, except the human field of vision is wide, not tall. So the multi-monitor setup is more efficient.
Well too bad for the rest of us (Score:4, Interesting)
Too bad, because I really like the form factor (big tubes are space wasters) but unless they improve whatever it is that makes me sick, I'll stick with good ole CRTs.
Re:4, 19 inch screens (Score:1, Interesting)
But a friend's 24" dell panel looks a little dark at the corners when I'm right in front of it, and moving my head side to side lets me see one side or another a bit better, but not both at the same time. The one Apple 30" panel I've managed to look at was so huge that the viewing angle problems were really apparent.
Is this just me seeing this, or are all those people with 30" panels just happy to be using massive amounts of screen area and not worrying about the light falloff near the corners? I don't consider myself a monitor snob but I really don't find those large panels acceptable when it comes to displaying a nice even picture from side to side.
I've ordered one... (Score:4, Interesting)
I've been using dual 20" CRTs at home for a long time, but at work, I got a Dell LCD about 6 month ago. Having used it as my primary monitor for half a year I decided I was going to upgrade my home setup for Christmas. While looking for coupons for the 2405 though, I heard about the 3007, and decided to wait and get just one of those instead.
Re:Isn't it the same liquid crystal panel as Apple (Score:2, Interesting)
I expect that if Dell are using a more modern panel, then Apple will soon have an updated 30" product, not to compete but just because their 30" is due for an update... then again we are talking about Apple, who seem to forget about products once they're launched.
It'd be nice if both had more inputs though. I don't need that many 30" displays in the house, and considering my TV is a 24" widescreen CRT I think I'd switch entirely to the 30" computer display for everything. As a high end product I'd understand if it only offered, say, two HDMI inputs alongside the dual-link DVI. An svideo/SCART would be nice too though.
You guys are all pussies (Score:4, Interesting)
Everyone knows the real display technology of the day is Toshiba's Surface-conduction electron-emitter display. [ign.com]
It's 100,000:1 contrast ratio, 1ms response time, and you can get it in 55".
Re:flash: oracle selling database software (Score:3, Interesting)
There's not that much exciting stuff happening at the bleeding edge this time of year, so they're spending more editorial space on general interest issues where formerly bleeding edge things are going mainstream, which might be of interest to anyone looking to buy in the near future?
lies and damned specifications (Score:5, Interesting)
DELL 700:1 Contract Ratio
The difference is that Dell is claiming figures based on smoking crack, and Apple's is actually somewhat reasonable. The first thing I did when I got my 20" from Dell, was calibrate it.
According to the calibration device (Eye-one Display2), none of the specs were even close. I think the "true" contrast ratio turned out to be more like 1:250, and when I did brightness testing- brightness on the panel actually went DOWN with time at any setting over "75"; Dell's design pretty clearly overdrives the backlight(probably damaging it), and it is probably to be able to brag an extra 30-40cd over "the competition". Which is hilarious, since the thing is so damn bright, I have to keep it on the lowest brightness setting.
Maybe I'll re-run the calibration right now and get actual numbers and post them as a follow-up, so you can see how lousy true specs are compared to what is claimed on paper.
Re:Well too bad for the rest of us (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Two heads are better than one! (Score:2, Interesting)
So, given your set up -- I do still see a big plus of having 21" monitor next to the prime 23" one, assuming that cost is not a big factor. The border "in the middle" is the thing you dislike, but, I really like that. I have seen my colleague jokingly say me
Re:Two heads are better than one! (Score:4, Interesting)
I was faced with upgrading my Samsung monitor from a 1280x1024 170T to a 1920x1200 243T on my home machine awhile back. I was all set to flash the plastic when I stopped and did the math. I could go from 1.3 to 2.3 megapixels for (at the time) about $1500... or I could keep the 170T as a secondary monitor and buy a 1600x1200 213T instead for about $800.
1.9 megapixels plus 1.3 megapixels >> 2.3 megapixels.... duh. I've been very happy with the 213T/170T combo.
Until applications emerge that actually need a contiguous 30" hunk of screen real estate, I think the parent poster has the right idea. Dual monitors have a lot of advantages over buying a single humongous one at the pointy end of the price/pixel curve. Sure, I appreciate a panoramic gaming experience as much as the next guy, but Q4 and HL2 are already choppy when I run them on the 213T with all rendering features cranked up. A 30" display would be like watching King Kong at 12 FPS from the front row.
tired of the dual monitor thing (Score:3, Interesting)
Multimonitor setup is more sensitive to your eyes. With the two monitors you need to refocus when you look the other monitor, this "exercise" saves the eyes from the strain caused by staring into one monitor from fixed distance for a long time. The best setup so far (that i tested) is 1600x1200 (left) 1920x1200 (center) 1600x1200 (right) with a TV display far behind so i can focus my eyes to distant display as well as near displays giving my eyes lot of exercise. I've found that my eyes keep refocusing on the other displays when it is no longer confortable to stare into one for too long. I have no eye sight problems since.
30" is better than dual-monitor for certain apps (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Ouch (Score:3, Interesting)
I wonder how ATI takes it when Dell only recommends five specific nVidia cards for the screen [dell.com].
(Interestingly, nothing on TV inputs, if any; actually seems to pass the "no HDCP to pay companies to restrict how I see video in full quality" test.)
Re:I'd rather have dual 24" monitors (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:point of comparison (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah, it seemed to be using the same Panel but the backlight is different and I had a chance to compare both the Apple and the Dell and the Apple IMO looked better, brighter (I am writing it on that one right now).
Michael
Re:Two heads are better than one! (Score:4, Interesting)
As such, I'd like an option to "echo" the menu bar onto each monitor, reducing at least half of the problem.
The other half, however, is inherent in their single shared menu design. Yes, I know about the usability studies, but the majority of those stem from the time when most Apples had a single 9" screen. If you've ever used a Mac with a 30" widescreen display, I think you'll agree that the top menu bar, as with the split screen setup, often seems a long ways away from your current work window. It kills a lot of the benefits of having a huge monitor if you need to cluster most of your work in the top-left corner of the screen.
Re:smaller resolution - Res, not Size folks (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Two heads are better than one! (Score:3, Interesting)
Right now her at work I have a 21" CRT & 20.1" LCD which gives me the same aspect ratio of the CRT. Now I can get a 20.1" LCD for about $600. I could even see the use of 4 in a rack.
Re:USB on a display (Score:3, Interesting)
Also, when I leave I want the display to blank immediately. I have tried to use the "activate screensaver when moving mousepointer to screen corner" function, but it seems it can only activate a screensaver, not the powermanagement.
Furthermore, leaving the system in inactivity time-out powersaving is somewhat unreliable. Sometimes it wakes up because it believes the mouse has moved.
This is a Linux system. But my experience at work with Windows systems shows the detection time and system slowdown for USB is similar, so it is probably caused by USB design defects, rather than operating systems.
Well, with my workaround the display is usable. But the 3007FPW does not allow this workaround (I believe), so I thought one better be warned.
Re:point of comparison (Score:1, Interesting)
The Apple Support forums (discussion.apple.com) is filled with complaints. Obviously, most people who don't have issues would not visit, but just go to an Apple store and look at the ADCs there for pink hues, and I think you'll find more displays with problems than without.
Re:USB on a display (Score:3, Interesting)
There is nothing plugged in to these slots and connectors normally. I use them for my USB key and would use them for cards if I had those.
The problem still occurs when everything is empty because there still is a hub and a couple of cardreader USB devices that are being detected, and an eager "hwscand" process that likes to find out what exciting new hardware there is to be found, automount cards, etc.
In this, Linux is becoming more like Windows. By default, it is doing things that you don't want it to, and you have to find out how to make it stop doing that.
Re:Isn't it the same liquid crystal panel as Apple (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Two heads are better than one! (Score:3, Interesting)
Uhm, there's no such concept as "putting an application on the second monitor" on the Mac, since there isn't anything on screen which you could call "the application".
I personally use three monitors on my Mac, with the menu bar at the center. I don't have any issues with the menu bar distance, since the center monitor is the only one that's really used for work, the others are like auxiliary monitors for windows I currently don't use for work.
Re:Dead Pixels Worries (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:First Prime Factorization Post (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:USB on a display (Score:3, Interesting)
It is merely a convenience issue now. The input select needs 5 presses for a complete cycle (5 inputs), and it reacts slowly when the monitor is in standby.
It's cheaper in Canada! (Score:4, Interesting)
http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/products/productde tails.aspx/monitor_3007wfp?c=ca&cs=CABSDT1&l=en&s= bsd [dell.com]
Re:Calibrator vs Dell vs Apple (sorta) (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Calibrator vs Dell vs Apple (sorta) (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:smaller resolution (Score:4, Interesting)
Any decent OS or web browser will let you scale up font sizes. The end result is that your text is the same size, but smoother.
I *hate* OSes that do that! If I'm paying top dollar for lots of pixels it's because I want to put lots of text on that screen. If you feel that you need more pixels in each character in order to make them readable then I suggest you're using the wrong fonts.
The *right* fonts, by and large, are the twenty year old ones that came with the original Macintosh, especially Monaco (and Geneva for variable width). Monaco 9 is still today very hard to beat as a font for terminals or programming. And it's not just Mac-heads who think so -- I know lots of Windows and Linux people who swear by it (or close clones) as well.
Just make sure you remember to turn anti-aliasing *off* for those fonts. They're perfect already, and hand-optimized pixel by pixel by the best in the world (Susan Kare [kare.com]) in a way that a smoothing engine can never match.
Fanless? Rotate 90 degrees? Cheaper video cards (Score:1, Interesting)
Now, I have a couple of questions about the Dell monitor, in case anyone knows the answer, as I'm considering requested these monitors at work.
1. Is it fanless? I have been told that the Apple monitor in its aluminum case is fanless. If I get one of these monitors, I would like it to be fanless and then disconnect the fan in the video card. I don't intend to run games that exercise the GPU, and I'm willing to replace a burned out $200 video card occasionally in exchange for more quiet.
2. Can this monitor rotate 90 degress like the other larger Dell flat panels? From the pictures, it looks like the margins around this monitor are thinner than on the Apple monitor. I would be nice to be able to rotate this monitor 90 degress and be able to set up a wall of them on my desk without any special mounting hardware. Unfortunately, I do not see any mention on the Dell web pages about being able to rotate this monitor, and its mounting assembly looks like it might not be able to do so, although this is not clear. At least the Apple display uses some kind of industry standard removable mounting bracket, so there is more hope that someone will make a 90 degree rotating bracket for it.