Hardware Dell U2711 27inch Widescreen Monitor Review

With 23 and 24in monitors now commonplace, we take a look at what many consider to be the next big thing. Dell's new 27in IPS monitor certainly has a sky-high specification but is it worth the outlay?

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/monitors/2010/03/16/dell-u2711-review/1

 

We picked up one of these at work a few weeks ago, and up close it's a nice screen (although the first thing you have to do is turn off the bloody key press beep noise it makes). Also, I don't think it's mentioned in the review but you can swivle the screen 90 degrees to portrait mode.

We did have one problem though, for some reason when we tried to boot the PC it was bought with, it would seemingly hang just after the POST screen. Eventually (after a graphics card swap out, then a mobo swap) we found that if the screen was connected to the computer then it would not boot. Disconnect the screen during the few seconds between POST and the start of the windows boot process (it also hung even if I tried booting off an Ubuntu CD) and it would boot fine.
I've no idea what the problem was but my guess it was when the graphics cards communicated with the monitor to get the resolutions etc. it was getting a malformed reply and was just hanging.
One of the weirdest and hard to diagnose problems I've had (ditto the engineers that came out to fix it).

For what it's worth, I don't think anyone else will have the same problem, and the Dell business support was great as ever.

 

so what was the solution to the problem? swaping the monitor?

 

i had the 27" model before this, the PVA one. input lag was literally unbearable and it had to go back. although im sure this IPS model will be much better. looks nice, if i wasn't deeply satisfied with my LP2475 i might consider it

 

I so want one, but I will have to "make do" with my 2408 until it dies, can't justify the expense.

 

Anything over 24" for a monitor seems like overkill to me. Looks like a pretty sweet panel though.

 

the more desktop space the better provided the resolution is higher... if no more res then not worth it

 

1- About the comment of that the screen is "too vibrant".
If you compare it next to a good CRT monitor, the effect is the same. I think some people got used to the bland, flat, boring colors of a TN panel.

2- 2ms TN panels are not 2ms in real life, but much higher. The 2ms is because TN panels can't produce 8-bit colors, but rather 6-bit, so the 2ms response is needed to fool you by switching between 2 colors really fast in the vein hope to trick your eyes. Which is fine (well not really), but add that to a moving picture... and that 2ms appears slower depending on the monitor processing.

3- Touch screen button on the screen (well on my U2410), is very responsive, and I never hit the power button by accident. I don't get what is being complained about. The cool thing about the touch buttons, is that the first one (menu) illuminate when your finger is near it. Making it ideal for usage in dark or low light environment.

4- I am surprised that Adobe RGB and sRGB color profiles are pre-calibrated.

5- Finally, I can't believe the stand was not mentioned is metal with a metal mechanical system, which is a BIG up in moving the monitor compared to the plastic version.

I am disappointed by this review... it feels like it was done by someone that did not want to work. It lacks a lot of information about the screen, any lower and I feel like CNET useless videos on a product of 10sec. :/
I mean all was done is mentioned some Dell website information, generic attitude on a touch sensitive control with no details on it specifically, no menu information, no test of all ports of the monitor, nothing on color accuracy and IPS general comment. It could all fitted in a nice paragraph if you remove all the pictures.

I vote for a re-review of this product to keep in standard in quality with other bit-tech reviews.

 

My brother has his PC linked up to his 26" (I think) Samsung HD TV (I forget model) and it just seems too much to me. That said, my 17" LL-172G-B faithful though it is, is starting to feel a tad small.

I want a Dell s2309w but alas I am poor

 

I wouldn't go over a 24 I have had and what a waste. I am so much happier with my 22 and 24 inch

 

£800? whoa! My nearly 2 years old 2909W was £400. Are they different panel types or something or is this reviewed monitor a victim of the price fixing fiasco?

Edit: just noticed it's a much higher resolution (mine's 1920x1200) so that goes some way to explain the price!

 

would be quite good to compare it with 27" iMac - just screen comparison, well, I got my samsung le40b650 two weeks ago and no way i'm going back to smaller screen. And I've got a really good one, Dell 2707

 

Too expensive imo, i really wanted one of these when they were first announced, but if you shop around and are prepared to wait ive seen the 3008's go for around the same price, or just grab 2 24" dells

If they could get the price to around £700 then im sure it would be a winner but as it is its not for me.

 

I bought one of the older style1900x1200 dell27" screens and ive been very happy with it.

One thing i would like to point out to Bit-Tech readers is the return policy which i unfortunaly have to do 5 !!!!! times due to various defects with the pixels. If you buy a new monitor, if you return it you well get a refurbished monitor, not anther new one.

I had to return 5 monitors to dell(which they did without bother or fuss to be fair). But i was a bit unsettled to learn that they will give you a refurb, one i got was even an earlier model.

Something to be aware of when u get a lcd monitor.

 

i wanted it, but at over £900 it's way too expensive, might as well go for a NEC 30 inch. or Apple iMac 27inch.

titanium has the right idea, if it were 700 to 800, i'd have jumped the gun right away.

the edge power button is very annoying though, there are a couple U2410 at university labs and everytime i go to move the monitor or if the monitor right edge touches the other monitor, screen turns off. im sure it won't be a problem with single monitor or personal monitor where you will be very careful when moving it.

 

This is a big issue for me. I use a 19" CRT at home but going to uni I didn't want to have to lug it about so I'm using a cheap TN based monitor as my primary. The difference is astounding and I always love going back home. I still have an older Samsung PVA monitor as a secondary, but its only 1280*1024 so not ideal for gaming. I do watch films on it though which means I can actually see what's going on in darker scenes.

 

It looks like a great screen but it cost to much $$$. For that price I'd rather have 2 U2410 than a single U2711

 

My 28" 1920x1200 was like $289 two weeks ago. Why is this thing over a grand (U.S.)?