Back to Site Map Back to Site MapHi Gals and Guys,I did a review a while back about researching LCD monitors. I read a lot of reviews for about all the major brands, and after a lot of checking I came up with the goods. As you know for the super rich, Lacy, Eizo or the HP Dreamcolor is for you. We are talking about the super rich too, because these monitors cost many, many thousands of dollars.
Note: Before you read further, remember to read reviews and think carefully, don't just take my word for it. I posted this stuff so you can do your homework first on this, and then decide if the Dell 2209wa is right for you. It might not fit your needs, but then again, it just might! So be prudent, and don't just take what I say at face value!
For the rest of us, I found two LCD monitors. I won't provide reviews and links and such for the HP LP2475w 24 inch monitor, which is also a very good monitor for the price cause it's a step up yet again with a ten bit gamma, so for around $500 dollars, that's not bad at all. Its considered to have excellent color, but because it has 10 bit gamma, as a photographer I prefer not to use it.
The reason is its color range is superior to most 8 bit gamma monitors, and when I edit photos in Lightroom 2, these might not show up correctly on the majority of users monitors on the Internet for cycling. I don't use Photoshop anymore for post processing and my photos are almost twice as good as they used to look, although I haven't reworked most of them, only some.
I also read more problems with this monitor then with the Dell Ultrasharp 2209wa. After reading all the reviews of the Dell model 2209wa, I found the complaints about problems to be like 99 to 1, just incredible. Those few complaints were usually either nick-picking or a bad monitor, or perhaps they didn't see a feature they wanted.
I would say on the whole, the reviews have been off the scale, incredible, and indeed finding one of these jewels might not be an easy task. At the time I found one, it was like searching for gold down by the river. I couldn't hardly find one anywhere on the Internet, and when I did find one, when I came back the next day, it was gone!
It could be most dealers are getting them now, I don't know. I haven't read the reviews for sales on DP Review, so perhaps there are stocks now, I don't know. As of now, neither Ebay or Amazon have hardly any! The reason I like the 2209wa is because its not a cheap TN panel, but an very reasonably priced ISP variant at around $300 dollars.
My Thoughts..
Long Intro Note: Because of the gamma curve, some reviewers don't recommend this monitor for custom studio print reproductions from monitor to printer. Indeed, if you are doing custom critical work for paying clients, you will probably want to go with a solid industry standard like Eizo or Lacy. Those are for professional print work. For guys like me who just want to share digital cycling photos on the internet with the rest of the world, this monitor should work fine. For just surfing, reading and viewing photos, fantasic! For night time, I would recommend better lighting in the room to offset the brightness of the monitor, or set the brightness and contrast lower still.
The gamma curve is a bit off standard because its a hybrid ISP variant, but you won't hear anyone complaining for the price. After comparing to a Sony Trinitron CRT, its obviously much better. The colors are sharper, the blacks are jet black, as good as can be, and everything is sharp, in focus with brilliant color and sharp text for easy reading. However, its a bit bright for gamers. If you are a gamer or view a lot of videos or watch TV on LCD monitors, then you might want to step up and pay considerably more, if you want to use it as a TV. I personally would never recommend such a thing.
TV should be separate like HD or Plasma, and computers should use LCD or CRT. There is a slight lag on video, but I think its the basic ATI Radeon HD 4550 I bought which I only intended to do photos with. Its good enough for that no problem and doesn't require a bigger power supply. Perhaps a bigger video or gaming card would improve video quality on the Ultrasharp with more then the usual 512 ram that comes onboard the ATI Radeon HD 4550. But again, this card has been fine for stills, digital photo work, surfing, Internet graphics and text.
Note Ended:
Out of the box, it was delivered in perfect condition, as Fedex delivered it in just a couple of days. When I ordered it, I was told it would take 3 to 6 weeks, because there were not any in stock and that they were selling them as a go between for Dell factory orders. Milo Bay I guess makes some money on it, but they took my order and stated it would be 3 to six weeks, but I received it in only 3 weeks!
I found it to be very bright out of the box, but after some adjustments, this is not a problem. There is plenty of adjustment on the brightness but you might have to bring it way down to make your eyes happy. I have heard some people who game have put the brightness on zero, which I tried, and its still readable, not entirely dark!
However at zero brightness would be enough for anyone with weak eyes, but if you bring the contrast down, it really knocks the heck out of the brightness, so adjust evenly! I have heard some are using lower then 50/50. I am using 40/60 for starters. Also I used the Display One Eye Two device, (See Amazon) to calibrate this monitor.
I won't recommend this tool, as its not very user friendly, but I finally got it right. In my experience, the Dell 2209wa seem to have great color out of the box. After calibration, I noticed the flesh-tones were richer, and the brightness dimmer which is good. However, you can probably just adjust the brightness and contrast to suit your tastes, and rest should be fine.
If you find the colors too rich, there are the RGB colors you can adjust to make this better. I think with a little finesse, you can achieve close enough to suit your tastes without buying a calibration tool like the Spyder, Pantone, or the Display One Eye Two.
Also, remember you need a video card that has a DVI port. The monitor comes with DVI and VGA cables, however DVI will bring much better clarity to your 2209wa. Comes with USB cable too! Everything you need in box from the factory direct!
Update: The USB cable is just to use the monitor as a hub, so you don't need to use it at all, only DVI cable.
If you buy a high end video card, you will need a extra molex power plug available inside the PC free to use, because high end video cards need more power, and that will also require a power supply that runs at 500 watts. However, most PC use standard 400 watt supply, so the answer is to buy the most powerful card that will run on 400 watts, and doesn't need to be plugged into the power supply.
These cards get all their power through the bus card slots, so not to worry. I used The ATi Radeon HD 4450 around $70 bucks and it worked just fine, so I didn't have to upgrade the power supply.
I found the text to be sharp and clear, the photos to sharp and clear with great color and no graininess. I can't tell hardly any difference between this 2209wa and my old CRT, and we know CRT monitors almost always have better color and sharpness, but they hurt the eyes too much. That's why they went to LCD because they are easier on the eyes and they are lighter in weight and take up much less room.
At night it seems a little bright, but during the day with a window behind you, its perfect, doesn't hurt the eyes at all for such a big screen. Yes, its odd sized at 22 inches, but the display drivers for 1680x1050 work fine, and the ATI cards support this. Just check your possible resolutions on your video card, and you should be fine, but I recommend at least 512k ram on the video card, which the ATI Radeon HD 4550 does. I don't believe you would do justice to this monitor trying to run it on an old cheap VGA video card, but its possible. You should step up, and go with DVI ports on the new cards!
To be honest, so far I am blown out by this monitor! Its the best I have even seen for this price! Anyone can afford this price, and its very nice. Its a Cadillac Monitor for the prize of a Volkswagon! It there a catch? Well, the warranty seems adequate. You mean it looks good, but will it last? Well, if it lasts for 3 years, why not?
You can always just buy another one, or by then a better one! It should last five years, but if you get any dead pixels out of the box, or any color variance across the screen, I mean major defects, just send it back. Like I said, I read about more out of the box problems with the HP monitors then I did with this Dell 2209wa.
I read about very, very few out of the box problems, but tons of praise for the experience and the price! I read this monitor is much improved over the older dell monitors. I can't remember what the improvements are offhand without going back and reading again, but Dell solved a number of problems with this model. Mind you, no other model do I endorse, only the 2209wa, not the 2209w, it has to be wa!
The 2209w is sold at Best Buy for cheap and its not this one! I think without the a, its just a cheap TN panel, not ISP! As I said ISP variants, MVA, and PVA are superior to TN panels. However, the dealers at stores know nothing about these differences and they are not even listed on the sales sheets! You have to research this stuff on your own to know! However the 2209wa seems to be a good one for the money!
Personally, I would prefer to buy one factory direct, and not from Ebay or Amazon. You know why obviously. There are always reasons and risks when you get a great deal on computer products from the big two, Ebay and Amazon. Amazon I trust more then Ebay!
Below are reviews, and places to buy!
Viewing angles..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coMpfMS91No
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj8gCWugZEI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMEudn_JuukStand demo..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiBxe3RhYXUSettings..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1NH2-oKVTMDell 2209wa vs Sansung 226BW..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SjS6VCVAcADell 2209WA e-IPS vs Belinea 101711 TN+Film..
khttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3fgwawRBnFeatures...
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=corp&sku=320-7825Reviews..
http://www.overclock.net/monitors-displays/467862-my-review-dell-2209wa-ips-panel.html
http://www.cnet.com.au/dell-2209wa-339294389.htm
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1004&message=30952937
http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000OK2X6K?showViewpoints=1&SubscriptionId=0G89Q2G72Y9S4S28F602&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B000OK2X6K&tag=bestbuynet537-20"
http://reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors/dell-ultrasharp-2007wfp/4505-3174_7-31783769.html">
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1004&message=30959127Reviews, where to buy..
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1004&message=32260661I found two on Amazon!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B001TOMRIO/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&qid=1247676165&sr=1-1&condition=newEbay has five of them, and a bidding war is on! I noticed the numbers shoot up at the end or they wait until the last minute, so no one really knows how many people are bidding, but last time they had five, there was 15 bids of more on these apiece. I guess just check Ebay and Amazon now and then for new stocks! I have never seen a monitor in this much demand. Everytime one shows up on the Internet, there is a stampede!
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1311&_nkw=2209wa&_sacat=See-All-CategoriesI got one brand new from the Dell Factory through Milo Bay! I bought it through Amazon, but the third party was Milo Bay. Orignally for me, it was $299. I just missed one at Amazon that was $249. In fact I saw three on Ebay that went faster then hotcakes. They were on Ebay for anywhere from around $200 to $300.
http://www.milobay.comCheers!