Dell Selling 30" Flat Panels

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Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday January 8, 2006 @05:12AM from the still-waiting-for-review-units dept.

bling..bling writes "Apple is not the only company selling 30" flat panel monitors. Dell is now offering a 30" flat panel display that has a native resolution of 2560x1600 and sells for $2,199. Just like the apple 30" display you do need a dual link DVI video card to drive this massive beast. This monitor also sports four USB ports and a media card reader. I've been waiting for Dell or someone else to release a 30" display and hopefully bring the prices down. I'm tired of the dual monitor thing, I want one display device on my desk, just make it a very large device. See the details on Dell's web site on the new Dell 3007WFP 30-inch widescreen digital flat panel monitor."

27 of 417 comments (clear)

Two heads are better than one! by ericspinder · 2006-01-08 05:13 · Score: 5, Interesting

I'm tired of the dual monitor thing, I want one display device on my desk, just make it a very large device.
OTOH, the first thing that crossed my mind was: "How much for for two of them", because I'm that much of a dual-monitor 'convert'. If I had to choose between one 30" or my two 19" monitors, I'd choose the pair, rather than just one. Right now, I've got a 21" at work, and I find myself resizing windows, just to find the perfect balance of window size, far more than my dual monitor set up at home. Also, it's great to leave some 'desktop hogs' such as chat windows, the Google desktop, the task bar, and other items which would grab the entire vertical or horizontal axis, in the 'secondary window'.

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The grass is only greener, if you don't take care of your own lawn.
1. Re:Two heads are better than one! by John+Miles · 2006-01-08 05:52 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  If I had to choose between one 30" or my two 19" monitors, I'd choose the pair, rather than just one.
  
  I was faced with upgrading my Samsung monitor from a 1280x1024 170T to a 1920x1200 243T on my home machine awhile back. I was all set to flash the plastic when I stopped and did the math. I could go from 1.3 to 2.3 megapixels for (at the time) about $1500... or I could keep the 170T as a secondary monitor and buy a 1600x1200 213T instead for about $800.
  
  1.9 megapixels plus 1.3 megapixels >> 2.3 megapixels.... duh. I've been very happy with the 213T/170T combo.
  
  Until applications emerge that actually need a contiguous 30" hunk of screen real estate, I think the parent poster has the right idea. Dual monitors have a lot of advantages over buying a single humongous one at the pointy end of the price/pixel curve. Sure, I appreciate a panoramic gaming experience as much as the next guy, but Q4 and HL2 are already choppy when I run them on the 213T with all rendering features cranked up. A 30" display would be like watching King Kong at 12 FPS from the front row.
  
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2. Re:Two heads are better than one! by dr.badass · 2006-01-08 06:31 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  You're confusing dual connections with dual-link. A dual-link connection is required for any resolution over 2048x1536. If you want to drive two monitors over 2048x1536, you need two separate dual-link DVI connections.
  
  Most video cards don't support dual-link at all. Those that do tend to support only one dual-link connection, even if they have two DVI connectors. So, you can only have one 30" display and one smaller (2048x1536 or less) display.
  
  The only current card that I know of that supports two dual-link connections (i.e., can drive two 30" displays) is the nVidia Quattro FX 4500, which costs over $1500.
  
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3. Re:Two heads are better than one! by shmlco · 2006-01-08 06:35 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Since you mentioned Apple displays and a mini, I assume you're on a Mac as well. At any rate, Mac OS X has a "feature" that definitely works against multiple monitors, namely the single top-of-the-screen menu bar. As implemented, any application you put in the second monitor will have it's menu all the way back over on the first monitor.
  As such, I'd like an option to "echo" the menu bar onto each monitor, reducing at least half of the problem.
  The other half, however, is inherent in their single shared menu design. Yes, I know about the usability studies, but the majority of those stem from the time when most Apples had a single 9" screen. If you've ever used a Mac with a 30" widescreen display, I think you'll agree that the top menu bar, as with the split screen setup, often seems a long ways away from your current work window. It kills a lot of the benefits of having a huge monitor if you need to cluster most of your work in the top-left corner of the screen.
  
  --
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I'd rather have dual 24" monitors by Anonymous Coward · 2006-01-08 05:13 · Score: 4, Informative

From Dell. That'd only cost you about $1600, and you could spend the other $600 on a good video card. You'd get a resolution of 2400x1920.
or... by User+956 · 2006-01-08 05:17 · Score: 3, Interesting

I'm tired of the dual monitor thing, I want one display device on my desk, just make it a very large device.

that's great, except the human field of vision is wide, not tall. So the multi-monitor setup is more efficient.

--
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Well too bad for the rest of us by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · 2006-01-08 05:21 · Score: 3, Interesting

I don't know for you, but flat panels make my head hurt. Literally. I know they're the latest craze and all, but I get one big headache after 1 or 2 hours AutoCADing with one. I can go a lot longer with my 10 year old 21" CRTs without headaches. I guess it's the light source or something, because I tend to get headaches with neon lighting as well.

Too bad, because I really like the form factor (big tubes are space wasters) but unless they improve whatever it is that makes me sick, I'll stick with good ole CRTs.

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"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
point of comparison by Schlemphfer · 2006-01-08 05:21 · Score: 3, Informative

After all that space in the write-up mentioning that Apple also has a 30" monitor, I was waiting for Apple price. It's $2499, shipping included -- $300 more than what the Dell lists at.
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/A ppleStore?family=AppleDisplays

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smaller resolution by sinucus · 2006-01-08 05:27 · Score: 4, Insightful

Why is it that except for the very large 20"+ LCD monitors it's impossible to get 1600x1200 res or better? I bought a laptop 6 years ago that had UXGA+ 1600x1200 res but I can't find an LCD monitor anywhere on the planet under 20" with that res or better. Anyone know of one? Or, anyone know how to disassemble old UXGA+ laptop screens and reframe them with new adapaters so they can plug into a vid card? I just can't seem to understand the companies that sell these things, I know that 1280x1024 is the size they seem to sell but you take one look around the office of any company and you'll see 90% of the office has resized their screens to 800x600 or 1024x768. It seems silly of them to stop at 1280x1024.
1. Re:smaller resolution by brucehoult · 2006-01-08 10:45 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  HIgher resolution != Smaller text
  
  Any decent OS or web browser will let you scale up font sizes. The end result is that your text is the same size, but smoother.
  
  I *hate* OSes that do that! If I'm paying top dollar for lots of pixels it's because I want to put lots of text on that screen. If you feel that you need more pixels in each character in order to make them readable then I suggest you're using the wrong fonts.
  
  The *right* fonts, by and large, are the twenty year old ones that came with the original Macintosh, especially Monaco (and Geneva for variable width). Monaco 9 is still today very hard to beat as a font for terminals or programming. And it's not just Mac-heads who think so -- I know lots of Windows and Linux people who swear by it (or close clones) as well.
  
  Just make sure you remember to turn anti-aliasing *off* for those fonts. They're perfect already, and hand-optimized pixel by pixel by the best in the world (Susan Kare) in a way that a smoothing engine can never match.
I've ordered one... by Jerrith · 2006-01-08 05:32 · Score: 3, Interesting

I've ordered one, and it's set to arrive in a day or two. One interesting detail about the process is that Dell's website seems to consider it a system, rather than a monitor. This added some odd things (which were later stripped) such as a 7 day delay in shipping for "build" time.

I've been using dual 20" CRTs at home for a long time, but at work, I got a Dell LCD about 6 month ago. Having used it as my primary monitor for half a year I decided I was going to upgrade my home setup for Christmas. While looking for coupons for the 2405 though, I heard about the 3007, and decided to wait and get just one of those instead.
You guys are all pussies by User+956 · 2006-01-08 05:37 · Score: 3, Interesting

I'm tired of the dual monitor thing, I want one display device on my desk, just make it a very large device.

Everyone knows the real display technology of the day is Toshiba's Surface-conduction electron-emitter display.

It's 100,000:1 contrast ratio, 1ms response time, and you can get it in 55".

--
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
1. Re:You guys are all pussies by AndreiK · 2006-01-08 08:05 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  55'' minimum - This is a plasma tv replacement, not a replacement for the LCD sitting on your desk.
Same price as 4 Gateway FPD2185W by DAldredge · 2006-01-08 05:39 · Score: 3, Informative

One of these monitors costs the same as 4 of Gateways FPD2185W widescreens. I know that it is a larger monitor, but would not 3-4 rotatable 20 inch wide screens be a better, more useful investment for most people?
lies and damned specifications by SuperBanana · 2006-01-08 05:47 · Score: 5, Interesting

Apple 400:1 Contrast Ratio
DELL 700:1 Contract Ratio
The difference is that Dell is claiming figures based on smoking crack, and Apple's is actually somewhat reasonable. The first thing I did when I got my 20" from Dell, was calibrate it.
According to the calibration device (Eye-one Display2), none of the specs were even close. I think the "true" contrast ratio turned out to be more like 1:250, and when I did brightness testing- brightness on the panel actually went DOWN with time at any setting over "75"; Dell's design pretty clearly overdrives the backlight(probably damaging it), and it is probably to be able to brag an extra 30-40cd over "the competition". Which is hilarious, since the thing is so damn bright, I have to keep it on the lowest brightness setting.
Maybe I'll re-run the calibration right now and get actual numbers and post them as a follow-up, so you can see how lousy true specs are compared to what is claimed on paper.

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Please help metamoderate.
tired of the dual monitor thing by BadassJesus · 2006-01-08 05:54 · Score: 3, Interesting

I'm tired of the dual monitor thing

Multimonitor setup is more sensitive to your eyes. With the two monitors you need to refocus when you look the other monitor, this "exercise" saves the eyes from the strain caused by staring into one monitor from fixed distance for a long time. The best setup so far (that i tested) is 1600x1200 (left) 1920x1200 (center) 1600x1200 (right) with a TV display far behind so i can focus my eyes to distant display as well as near displays giving my eyes lot of exercise. I've found that my eyes keep refocusing on the other displays when it is no longer confortable to stare into one for too long. I have no eye sight problems since.
30" is better than dual-monitor for certain apps by xornor · 2006-01-08 05:55 · Score: 4, Interesting

I have a 30" cinema display at home and two 23" cinema displays at work. I do an equal amount of programming from each. I like the dual-display setup better for programming. For programming it seems to be easier to arrange the windows (IDE,firefox,terminals,etc) in the most efficient way. When using programs like autocad and photoshop though, the 30" is much better.
This is ridiculous by AutopsyReport · 2006-01-08 05:56 · Score: 3, Informative

Why would anyone want to spend $2000 on a monitor? For half the cost (and this isn't even a great example), I'd sooner buy a projector that gives me up to 300inches of view space. Not to mention I can watch movies on it, too.

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1. Re:This is ridiculous by suwain_2 · 2006-01-08 06:28 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Resolution. To me, it's more important than display size. I was looking at LCDs, and ended up getting a 17" that did 1280x1024, even though there was a 19" of the same resolution for only slightly more. I want a huge resolution, but not a huge monitor. (Not that 1280x1024 is a "huge" resolution.)
  
  Unless you're spending the same $2,000+ on a projector, I doubt you could exceed 1280x1024. (Though I haven't looked too closely at pricing lately.)
  
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USB on a display by pe1chl · 2006-01-08 05:59 · Score: 5, Informative

This monitor also sports four USB ports and a media card reader.

Be careful, there is a problem with that!
I have a Dell 2405FPW and it has the same ports and readers. When the monitor is switched off, the power supply to this subsystem is cut as well (and apparently it is not powered from the PC USB bus).

I leave my PC switched on all the time, and switch off the monitor when I am not using it. The PC continues to perform server functions.
The result is that every switch off and on of the display it will go through the USB hardware discovery cycle, find all the cardreaders, and try to read all card types. This results in a massive amount of log messages and a very slow PC for 5-10 seconds.

The manual tells about this, but I think many users would not think about it when reading the feature list.
Fortunately, the monitor has multiple inputs (VGA, DVI, S-Video, Composite, Component) and when switching to one of the TV inputs it goes to standby mode when no signal is present. So as a workaround, I switch it off by setting S-Video input and back on by selecting DVI again. Not as convenient, as it needs multiple button clicks to do so.
1. Re:USB on a display by pe1chl · 2006-01-08 07:31 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  This monitor does not have an external AC adapter.
  It uses about 59W when running normally, 3W in standby, 1W when "powered off" using the frontpanel button.
  Of course the powerconsumption does not drop merely by blanking the display, as with a CRT monitor. Powermanagement can set it to standby.
  
  These numbers are consistent with observation: it gets moderately warm when normally operating, and is cold when it is in standby.
Don't buy it for $2199 by __aailob1448 · 2006-01-08 06:09 · Score: 4, Informative

You can get this monitor for $1800 or less if you claim you are a small business (they don't check) and speak to one of the reps in the small business department of Dell. More importantly, If you wait a bit, some great deal will show up. Wait until a $1500 or less deal and grab it then. I got my 2001FP for 860 when it used to cost $1200 and my 2405FPW for $915 when it used to cost $1500 so I'm familiar with Dell deals.

This price is ridiculous for a Dell, you can get the apple 30" for $100 more with student discount. And we all know the kinds of margins Apple has.
Calibrator vs Dell vs Apple (sorta) by SuperBanana · 2006-01-08 06:26 · Score: 4, Informative

Maybe I'll re-run the calibration right now and get actual numbers and post them
Done. Here are the results for my 2 month old Dell 2005FPW, which has been on for about 2 hours before calibration.
Max brightness: 250 cd/m^2 at 100, but dropped 1 cd/m^2 EVERY SECOND I left it at that setting(and oddly enough, when I brought the setting back to 0, luminance climbed slightly over 5-10 seconds, then dropped back to 178-179). 0 is anywhere from 178.2-180.
Guess what? 250cd/m^2, or 250 lumens, is run of the mill. Dell claims an additional 50 lumens. To put that in perspective, that's as if the display had a brightness setting of around "200"(well, a little less, but you get the idea.)
Dell also claims a 600:1 contrast ratio. Except the calibration device measured a minimum luminance of .4 cd/m^2. 180 divided by .4 = 450:1 contrast ratio.
Apple claims a contrast ratio of 400:1 and a max luminance of 250cd/m2 on the Cinema 20", which is supposedly the same exact screen (but different front "glass" and backlight, I believe). How 'bout that.

--
Please help metamoderate.
You might check out my review... by cassius2002 · 2006-01-08 08:34 · Score: 3, Informative

Well, you might checkk out my review.
It's a nice unit. No embedded controls, except for brightness, so you need to use your graphics card control panel to make adjustments. Some minor uniformity problems with the backlight, but good D6500 color temperature tracking.
Oh, and Civ4 looks great at 2560x1600 ;-)
It's cheaper in Canada! by medazinol · 2006-01-08 08:44 · Score: 4, Interesting

I'm really surprised that nobody has noticed this: The Dell Canada site has the sane thing for $1999 Canadian which works out to be about $1700 US!!
http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/products/productde tails.aspx/monitor_3007wfp?c=ca&cs=CABSDT1&l=en&s= bsd
Re:Linux support by Strolls · 2006-01-08 09:04 · Score: 4, Funny

Has anyone actually used one of these 30 inch displays with Linux, NOT using closed-source drivers?
Yes! The 800 x 600 scales great to fit this monitor (with only 8" black bars at each side) and the little VGA penguin is SO cute when he's 6" high.
Cheaper in Canada by muyshiny · 2006-01-08 11:48 · Score: 3, Informative

Cheaper to buy it from Dell Canada at $1,999 AKA $1665US or so.

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx ?sku=222-0863&c=ca&l=en&cs=CABSDT1&category_id=619 8&first=true&page=productlisting.aspx