|
Dell Ultrasharp 2005FPW 20.1" Widescreen LCD
Introduction
Dell has been a long-standing fixture in the LCD market. Ever since LCD displays have come down in price enough to be affordable for the regular consumer, Dell has been big on getting LCDs into the hands of consumers. The Dell 2005FPW LCD Monitor is a 20.1" (diagonal) display, and comes with a stand that is not only height-adjustable, but it also has swivel and pivot functionality. One thing that Dell does to increase sales is run promotional coupon codes. For example, you can go to the Hot Deals page right here on TheTechLounge to find some amazing deals on Dell's products. While the 2005FPW LCD Monitor's MSRP is $529 plus any applicable taxes and shipping, it can often be had for under $400 (including shipping!) through the Hot Deals coupons. Keeping a keen eye out on our Hot Deals page will definitely help you scoop one up for cheaper than you can buy elsewhere. I'll talk more about that later, though. Dell's television commercials state that they're the number 1 seller of LCD monitors to consumers. But does being number one in quantity equal number one in quality? Read on to find out! Note: I apologize that there aren't more photos in this review - I've owned this monitor for quite some time and didn't initially plan on reviewing it. As such, I no longer have the box, manual, etc... Kurtis has taken some photos of his 2005FPW for this review, but he also does not have the box and all the original accessories. First Looks The Dell 2005FPW LCD Monitor arrives in the standard brown cardboard box with the Dell logo on the side. Once you open the box, you'll find the monitor is in two parts. The LCD is on top, and the stand is on the bottom. Protecting the LCD screen inside the box is a large laminated sheet of paper telling you the pixel dimensions of the monitor (which was nice, because at the time I really didn't know what the native resolution of the monitor was). For consumers this can be a big help because if they leave their resolution at the traditional 800x600 or 1024x768, their display will just be a small area in the center of the monitor, while the rest of the LCD is wasted, or worse, the display is stretched to fill the entire screen.    Aside from the LCD and stand, the box contains a CD with the drivers and profile, a DVI cable, an analog cable, and a brief instruction pamphlet. Pretty standard. Assembly is a snap. No really, I mean it. You slide the base of the LCD into the unit that houses the LCD until you hear a snap. Stand it up, and that's it. Not that difficult at all. Then you plug the power cable into the wall and you're all powered up. There is no "power brick," as the transformer is located inside the LCD housing. The bottom of the monitor has the following inputs - VGA, DVI-D, Composite video and S-Video. There is no component input. Also on the bottom of the monitor is the USB input. There are four powered USB ports available on the monitor, separated into groups of two - two on the right side of the monitor and two on the bottom of the backside of the monitor right next to the USB input port. The ports on the bottom are difficult to access when your monitor is in operation and set at its lowest height setting, so they're most useful for devices you leave plugged in, such as a mouse, keyboard, or a printer. The two ports on the right side of the monitor are very convenient to access, however, and serve as excellent places to plug in things like USB Flash drives, digital cameras, or any other device you add/remove frequently.   I should also mention that there is an optional sound bar accessory which adds speakers to the monitor. I don't have one for testing, so I won't be talking about it in this review, but I will say that integrated speakers on a monitor don't really appeal to me. I'd rather put the money towards some decent speakers.
Page 1: Introduction & First Looks
Page 2: Taking a Closer Look Page 3: Setup Page 4: Testing - Display Page 5: Testing - Features Page 6: Dell Tech Support Experience Page 7: Conclusion 
Related Reviews Add Comment
0 User Comments Add Comment To add a comment without being a member, you may omit the password field, but you must enter your name (or nickname) along with your comment. * Denotes required fields. |
Recent Articles Editorials March 3, 2009
Editorials February 12, 2009
Editorials February 9, 2009
Photography February 2, 2009
Recent News Wired How-To Wiki Jul. 3, 2009 - 11:58 pm
IGN Jul. 3, 2009 - 11:58 pm
Washington Post Jul. 3, 2009 - 11:04 pm
Shack News Jul. 2, 2009 - 11:43 pm
Ars Technica Jul. 2, 2009 - 11:42 pm
The Register Jul. 2, 2009 - 11:41 pm
knoxnews.com Jul. 1, 2009 - 6:23 pm
Games Radar Jul. 1, 2009 - 6:13 pm
Computer World Jul. 1, 2009 - 5:55 pm
Discover Magazine Jul. 1, 2009 - 5:46 pm
|
|||||||||||||||
