FireElements

I'm going to buy a monitor and I don't know which of the following to buy. Not sure if I should get widescreen or not and not sure if the newer model is worth the higher price.

So which should I get?

Dell 2001FP
Dell 2005FPW
Dell 2007FP
Dell 2007WFP

Will be used for gaming mostly.

Judas

i wouldn't get the 2007 series..... they don't use a very good lcd display... (not true 16.7million colors).. not sure what dell was thinking..

widescreen is starting to become the norm.... i'd suggest looking at those.

so out of those.. i'd say 2005fpw..

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FireElements

What about resolution problems with games because of the widescreen? Are there any of those? What about a game like Starcraft that only uses 640x480, will they still work?

BWX

I <3 CRT's

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FireElements

Thank you for your contribution to this thread.

I don't like CRTs and want an LCD .

Judas

todays graphics cards should work prefectly fine in widescreen, if they didn't... there would be a pile of unhappy widescreen users out there..

while running a game @ 2560x1600 on a Dell 30 inch lcd.... i experienced absalutely no issues at all for games...

just do the math for how many pixels you gotta crunch at the native resolutions.. (1280x1024 = 1.31 million pixels vs 1680x1050 = 1.76 million compared to that of 1600x1200 = 19.2 million pixels)

so if you are running 1280x1024 on your current monitor with no issues at all.. good fps..... but don't do very well at 1600x1200.... a 1680x1050 widescreen may not be a good idea... go one notch lower..

One thing about LCDs is that you do not want to really deviate from the native resolution.. things tend to get ugly.

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dipstick

I have used a 2001fp/2005fpw and they were both superb panels. However, I would say the 2005fpw was the nicer screen with better IQ, response time, and because its widescreen. I have not seen any of the newer 2007's yet so I do not know how they are, and there has been talk that Dell made some bad choices with them. As for going widescreen; it’s all up to the individual if they like it or not. Having used a WS for a while now going back to a 4:3 panel is just too square and almost unbearable. If you are worried about gaming know that there are ways of making many games that don’t support WS to work in WS. At the very least you can always scale the image or run it 1:1 with black borders. Its also rare to see new games that don’t support WS

Check this site out for more info and to see if you can mod your favorite games for WS. http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/

Necrosis

WRONG it is. I don't know where you get this from.

Honestly there is very little difference in the 2005 as opposed to the 2007. Honestly the 2007 is just a 2005 /w a few updated specs /w HDCP.

Judas

where's swimtech... if those specs are true... i most likely got another display mixed up...

Swimtech will know.

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Necrosis

I think what you were thinking about is the banding issue /w the monitor which the 2005 doesn't seem to have.

Judas

hmm... i know of some of the banding issues... and i know that 2005 don't have any.... but i swear the 2007 had some annomolies... but i may be wrong...

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Tipstaff

I was just looking at a 2007WFP today side by side with a 2005FPW, and the image is not as good as the 2005 series. Even if the specs are nearly the same, the image quality isn't. A possible reason? Well, from what I was told by an old friend that works at Dell (a real tech, not some phone twit) is that the new monitors are made by BenQ. This is very surprising, especially when all the praise Dell has been getting for their last 2 years for their LCD screens is in large part because they were made by Samsung.

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Judas

samsung kicks ass

i'm still curious about the 3007FPW though... dammit, still waiting for it to get here!

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dipstick

That's weird; BenQ has always assembled the LCDs for Dell and they have always used LG Philips or Samsung panels. Never heard of BenQ actually making the panel though

Ferret_Style

I have kinda having the same issue as i want a 20 inch wide screen and i get a huge discount through dell through work....

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"You might be Eaten by a Grue" MC Frontalot!

swimtech

Frankly, on the 2005 vs 2007 issue, I've been so busy this past week and the 2007FP unit is so new, I hadn't had the chance to read up on them much more - although I anticipate the chance to actually see them soon at work. Tip's side by side eyeballing is certainly enough to convince me though... Of large importance though, is the HDCP compatibility of the Dell 2007. Finally too, looks like the Widescreen 2007FPW performs well on games and on video - a difficult to find combo for the money, especially if you can get one at a "huge discount" - and performs overall slightly better than the 4:3 standard screen size 2007FP - but that "banding" issue is a little troubling to read about on the 2007...

The 2005 has been a real winner for quite some time now, but is now discontinued. LG is coming on strong, Samsung has been great for a while now, and Viewsonic looks to be the industry leader in controlling latency and overshoot - reducing observable latency to lower than perceptible levels (finally...) for gaming at 60hz refresh (with some compromises made reducing video playback quality and color fidelity).

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It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Tipstaff

I emailed him again today, and sure enough you were bang on. The panels for the 2007 series are from Philips, and are based on their Super IPS tech. The reason for going with Philips this time around was that they are getting the panels cheap.. really cheap, and damnit, it shows.

Oh, of interest is that all the complaints about banding issues, and what not are to do with the first run of the 2007s, but he mentioned that the more recent stock hasn't had these same problems. While I didn't notice any banding issues with the one I saw I wasn't impressed with the colors. They seemed to be slightly washed out, even when directly centered with it, and the washed look got worse and worse the more I moved to even the slightest angle.

BTW, if you want to pick up a good Dell monitor take a look at the 2405FPW series. Dell Canada just dropped the price on them by $165 to $935.00, which, btw, is lower than the US selling price of $999.00. I'm sure the US side will drop the price soon too... well.. almost sure.

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dipstick

It hurts to hear Dell has gone down the same route as all companies with a succesful product. Once they establish a good rep they risk it all just to save a few bucks on the panels for larger profits. I've stuck with Dell since the 1901FP and didnt even look elsewhere when shopping for displays but I might have to in the future. However, I do plan on keeping my 2405fpw for as long as possible as I really dont see the need for anything better. Dell also has some insane coupons about once a month and its really the only time to buy anything from them. I got my 2405 well over a year ago for only $699 with overnight shipping

FireElements

Well I've decided on the 2005FPW and also decided to buy a Radeon X1800XT so I can fully enjoy it .

Tipstaff

BTW, what I didn't mention was that the 2005FPW uses an LG Philips panel, and is infact the same panel that Apple uses in their 20" Cinema display too. Even though it's a Philips panel it's a really nice monitor. Also, the 2005FPW did have problems with the initial release units (too much red color, problems with panel edges being distorted), but that was corrected in Jan/Feb.05.

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Judas

well i got my dell 30 inch 3007fpw.... i'll report on how it handles things.. how it looks

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