Features (Continued)

Cable Management

A cable management grommet inhabits the back of the stand to keep cables tucked out of sight.  It works quite well and can easily accommodate three or four reasonably sized cables.  Note that in this picture the monitor is rotated to portrait mode:

Four Degrees of Freedom 

Controls

The controls for the monitor are easy to use for the most part.  For each of the 5 inputs there is a corresponding LED.  The left-most button controls input and cycles from left to right through each of the inputs, lighting the corresponding LED.  The button to the right cycles between picture in picture (PiP) modes: full screen input, inset thumbnail view, and side-by-side.  The last four buttons control menu, plus, minus, and power respectively. I am happy to report that the LEDs on the monitor are not distracting or too bright; an annoying flaw many monitors suffer from. 

Display Controls for the 2405FPW 

Overall, the on-screen controls are acceptably easy to use and straightforward.  Settings include positioning, imaging synchronization, color balance, language, and picture in picture, brightness and contrast.

Image Quality - Subjective

Upon unpacking the monitor, I found the factory default color balance settings unacceptable as the entire image was heavily red-tinted.  After several minutes of adjustments to the color balance, however, I was able to produce a good image.

The monitor is able to produce striking contrast and vibrant colors.  The quoted 12 ms response time seems acceptable for movies and games.  Unfortunately, the timing artifact that plagues almost all LCDs is present with this monitor.  In scenes of rapid color change over large areas – such as a flashing lights – the pixels will update at slightly different rates, causing an artifact.  This is a relatively minor quibble, however.  Another minor quibble is that off-axis viewing (looking at the monitor at an angle greater than 20 degrees) produces a noticeable red tinge in whites and grays.

Concluding Remarks

After a week with the monitor I was unable to identify any dead pixels or other pixel-related flaws.  It is fair to say that Dell made absolutely no compromises in the construction of this monitor.  Dell went the extra mile in producing a very well-built monitor.  Much of the plastic components are reinforced with steel underneath, particularly the base.  The memory card reader and USB 2.0 are also a very nice touch.

Rear, Portrait Mode 

Perhaps the one area that the 2405FPW is lacking in is the area of design.  Although you will wow people with its sheer size it isn’t the most stylish panel in existence, nor is it the sleekest.  However, it is certainly not ugly and will complement any workplace or home office.

Value is also an important consideration with the 2405FPW.  As of this writing, its list price of less than $1000 is a steal and it is intermittently available for less through different promotions.  This is a monitor which allows you to do things with your computer that you could not do with a lesser replacement.  No matter how fast your computer is, a 19” monitor just won’t let you do two things at once without switching back and forth.  The 2405FPW offers liberation of productivity at an incredible price.