Dell 2408FPW or Dell E248WFP: Dillemma

Hi guys,

im upgrading my old but trusty Dell 2005FPW 20.1 LCD with a newer 24 but ive got a dilemma! I cannot decide between the two monitors. I primarily use the monitor for gaming, but also do a little photo editing and quite abit of internet browsing! So heres my choice:

1# The highly regarded Dell 2408FPW which i can get for £380, widely regarded as one of the best monitors for colour reproduction. This monitor, does have its down sides... mainly its input lag which effects gamers! and its high cost with regards to the:

2# Dell E248FPW which i can get for £244. Again this monitor is a 24 inch 1920x1200 panel but is constructed with a 'cheaper' TN panel. Therefore the panel has less than perfect colour reproduction and can suffer colour shift at different angles! It also doesnt have alot of the niffty feaures of the 2408 but is conciderably cheaper!

Now im really stuck as which on to buy! I dont want to replace my 2005FPW with a panel that will look inferior, but am concerned about the outlay of the 2408 and more importantly the input lag!

Can anyone with one of these monitors share their experiances and help my decide!

Any input welcome!

I'll jump straight in and say I have never really liked any of the Dell E*** monitors. They are always OK but never great. I havn't used that particular one yet but I'm sure I will at some point and I'm sure my feelings will be the same.

Depending on what the monitor is used for, other than the PC that is, consoles, DVD players etc.. The 2408 has that in it's favour as well.

The A01's should be out soon which I would assume will address the input lag issues. I'd probably wait for that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by staffsMike

I'll jump straight in and say I have never really liked any of the Dell E*** monitors. They are always OK but never great. I havn't used that particular one yet but I'm sure I will at some point and I'm sure my feelings will be the same.

Depending on what the monitor is used for, other than the PC that is, consoles, DVD players etc.. The 2408 has that in it's favour as well.

The A01's should be out soon which I would assume will address the input lag issues. I'd probably wait for that.

---

Thanks for your input! I only have my PC (DVI) and My xbox 360 (VGA) on the monitor at the moment, and im fine with that, connectivity isnt really an issue, but performance (especially since im coming from my excellent 2005FPW) is! but i have to think about cost too! Ill keep my eye out for this A01 revision.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by staffsMike

I'll jump straight in and say I have never really liked any of the Dell E*** monitors. They are always OK but never great. I havn't used that particular one yet but I'm sure I will at some point and I'm sure my feelings will be the same.

Depending on what the monitor is used for, other than the PC that is, consoles, DVD players etc.. The 2408 has that in it's favour as well.

The A01's should be out soon which I would assume will address the input lag issues. I'd probably wait for that.

---

you're correct. the E* monitors are, i every way, inferior

as an example, the E248WFP uses, as its panel, a TN+Film (which is the worst type of panel, suffering from poor color accuracy & strange abnormalities when viewed from any angle other than straight on). the 2408FPW uses a S-PVA panel, which suffers no such issues. These differences are common across the entire dell monitor range (i.e. cheap screens use worse panels)

Hi guys, after speaking to my system admin at my place of work, it seems we have a framework discount at DELL, after speaking to him it would appear i could get a E248WFP for approx £210 posted! I dont know about you guys but for that price im gonna take the plunge. To be honest if i cant live with the display I think ill sell it in a couple of months and get its more expensive big brother.

just to reiterate, the E248WFP is an inferior screen - and the thing about TN screens is the problems get worse and more noticeable the larger the screen

it'll be pretty much impossible to read if you rotate it to portrait, fr'example.

there are absolutely zero benefits to buying a brand like dell for their TN screens - dell screens are only worth the money at the high end (S-IPS and PVA) end of the spectrum, where most of the competitors don't have anything to offer. otherwise, there are plenty of other companies making TN screens for the same money

i would try and get the 2408 if it were possible. the main attraction with dell is their excellent warranty, but it only applies to their higher end models. the 2408 is one of them, but unfortunately the e248wfp isn't.

so what's so good about it then? 4 yrs covered with a replacement shipped before you have to send the monitor back (think they swap but don't quote me on that...), but the main selling point for me would be their dead/stuck pixel warranty. basically if you get even just one then they'll swap it for another one!

when i bought my 24" i got 10 stuck pixels! i retuned it under the DSA, and then paid the sum of £35 to get a dead pixel check.

also a pva panel does make a alot of difference. the first monitor with the stuck pixels was a tn panel, when i returned it i went for a pva panel out of curiosity. i'm so glad i did it, you won't notice the difference till you see it.

as directhex has already said the bigger the monitor the more noticeable the viewing angle/colour shift. if you're doing some photo editing that can cause a problem, because if you sit back and look at the screen then the colours in the centre will appear different to the ones on the edge. unless you want to be scanning the whole screen so you can see pretty dead straight in that area then get a pva/ips panel.

Can only agree with the guys here, I would suggest that the E248 is not the way to go....after all, the 2005FPW has a better grade panel (I also have one :)) and so although the replacement would be larger, it would not look as good in my opinion.

I am tracking the 2408 too.....but - as suggested in one of the above posts - the A01 revision is likely quite close now.......

Just took delivery of my E248WFP and wanted to share my thoughts:

As anyone who has followed this thread, I was in a bit of a dilemma. The dilemma involved the hard decision between the TN E248WFP and S-PVA 2408FPW. My main concern but not my only was 'cost', having an old graphics card it time it was upgraded. Another, the fact I was upgrading from the Dell 2005FPW (S-IPS) would the screen be inferior?

After a good few hours of deliberation, I bit the bullet... I ordered the E248WFP...How bad would it be?

I was so worried about how the screen would look over the weekend I spent hours looking at peoples picture and reviews... Monday came:

The monitor...

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/DSC06239.jpg

Total amazement... the panel is nowhere near as bad as people’s reviews make of it. And comparison to my 2005FPW, the image quality is almost the same! The viewing angles are smaller, but to be totally honest it negliable, as you start to get reflections of the screen surface before anything else. The only viewing angle I was truly worried about was how the monitor would look as I stood up... again... excellent:

Now Im not an expert and Im quite glad Im not as buying a monitor would be the most horrific experience, but I had illusions of this monitor being terrible, it is categorically not... and I would recommend it to anyone!

Ive been using the monitor for a few hours now and do like it, but i have to bring up some of the negatives. Mainly the stand! I really think Dell should have put a few more quid on the price and included a height adjustable stand. I honestly feel the lack of height adjustment compounds some of the problems of the TN panel. As it happens i went straight on ebay and have started bidding on a Ultrasharp stand from a 2007FPW so ill let you know how that goes!

Also, i manged to get my hands on a Panetone Huey colour correction system and its made a world of difference! Colours are almost identical to my old Dell 2005FPW.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/DSC00632.jpg

Heres a quick setup picture with the colours fixed: (funny thing is how bad the viewing angle is on my Vaio!)

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/PICT0001.jpg

That looks very nice :)

As long as you are pleased with your purchase, that is all that really matters. :)

You make me envious, I am still saving up for my purchase of a big Dell monitor.

Certainly seems alright from the pictures, better than previous E's I've used. Not sure though, I'd still want the 2408 I think.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by staffsMike

Certainly seems alright from the pictures, better than previous E's I've used. Not sure though, I'd still want the 2408 I think.

---

Please dont get me wrong, I am in no way trying to turn people away from the 2408FPW. I am only trying to show that for people where cost is real issue, the E248WFP isnt as bad as alot of people online are making it out. All i know is, that ive managed to get myself a 24inch monitor, 2408WFP stand and a ATI 4870 or Geforce GTX 260 for the same money as the 2408WFP!

I should have a 2408FPW stand coming in the next few days and im sure that will make even more differance. Ill get back and show the results of the better stand.

Glad to hear that you are pleased with your new pal :) I must admit that I would never have thought it to be a bad monitor anyway.......horses for courses and seems like you are a happy chappy and that is what really counts :p

any updates s on? i want to seeee

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by vmong

any updates s on?

---

On... what :confused:

Since Shameless has already posted some good pics of his E248WFP above, I assume you mean the 2408FPW?
I think it would be safe to say images on the 2408FPW will be equally as impressive... and probably a lot better again :)
But if you're really that keen to view/compare the two, that you can't wait for an owner to post pics... Google for reviews of each monitor?


But the E248WFP certainly appears impressive enough in your pics Shameless :cool:

Thanks for the positive comments! Im going to be adding another dimension to this saga :rolleyes:

Okay guys, I’ve been using the E248WFP for hours now and im quite impressed but I’ve decided to compare the E248WFP with the 2408WFP for one reason which ill show you.

I’ve spoke to my Dell rep and he is sending me a 2408WFP (I hope this isn’t seen as a cop out). I’m going to compare the two and make my decision based on image quality/cost. All also get some side-by-side photos for you lot.

Okay, my reason for comparing:

When you look at the screen an angle not face on you will notice a very slight green/pink shift from top to bottom. 90% of the time this is not noticeable but on white heavy screens such a Word or in my example photo, the start page of firefox you see this effect. What this means is, that if you look carefully the top of the screen things are very slight more pink/red, now if you go to the bottom of the screen things tend to be slightly more Green. Below is a picture showing it at it worst... this picture was difficult to get to say the least.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/PICT0011.jpg

Now before anyone discounts this monitor because of this, please wait till I get the 2408WFP to compare. I must stress that 90% of the time you probably wont notice! By directly comparing the two I hope the E248 stands its ground as a a great monitor for the money, but from what I’ve seen so far the problems it does have are nowhere bad enough to make its low selling price a false economy!

We shall see!

Will await the results :)

Have to say I would expect the superior panel in the 2408 to ace this, but - as you point out - horses for courses and one wouldn't likely even notice most of the time !

do you have to pay for it?/

:rolleyes: Haha vmong, you actually made me laugh out loud then...

Yes ill be paying, lucky i have contact with a Dell representative through the company I work at so I have aranged to swap out the E248WFP with the 2408WFP, obviously paying the differance! :)

Hi guys, just an update... the 2408WFP is coming Wed/thursday and ill have the two for a couple of days. Till then...

ahhhh cool, do you have to put two outputs frm the gfx card to the one monitor as its so big?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by vmong

ahhhh cool, do you have to put two outputs frm the gfx card to the one monitor as its so big?

---

NO, a single DVI or VGA is fine. DVI is highly recommended dude to it superior image quality.

Bit of a teaser!

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/PICT0122.jpg

:rolleyes:

Okay first image...

The 2408WFPs viewing angles are much larger (but we all knew that was gonna be the case!)

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/PICT0132.jpg

Some straight out of the box comparisons:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/PICT0133.jpg

Firstly - long time lurker, I haven't visited the forums that much recently apart from the odd brief browse, but this thread is an absolute godsend after finding that theres basically FA comparisson pics of these monitors anywhere of the web, and I am very much trying to decide between the two!

From what I've seen so far, I think the E248WFP will be the choice for me, as I will be sitting pretty much in front of it, and the viewing angle issues will not be that much of a problem for me. I will be using it for PC games, and might try the PS3 on it, but I do have a samsung HDTV in the room aswell so I will probably just use that exculsively for the consoles.

Just out of interest, does the E248wfp allow you to set the resolution to 1:1, for example, plugging in a PS3 and having it display it in 1920x1080 (with black bars)? I remember my old 2007wfp was able to do this, but I wasn't sure if this feature was removed from the E-series monitors?

Also, don't suppose you can buy monitor stands directly from dell, or is there a certain stand model no. I should look for on eBay, as the area I will be sticking the monitor on is slightly elevated over the desk.

Once again, this thread has been a godsend, thanks for taking the time to compare these! :D.:rockon2:

this will be great, i know you probably will be doing this, but do get the same image on both monitors for a proper comparison, preferably not a website that consists mainly of white :)

Wow... I like the looks of that screen! It's huge...... :)

I have those Creative speakers by the way! They're pretty nice haha.

I hope you don't run into problems with that screen! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by shadowneo

From what I've seen so far, I think the E248WFP will be the choice for me, as I will be sitting pretty much in front of it, and the viewing angle issues will not be that much of a problem for me

Just out of interest, does the E248wfp allow you to set the resolution to 1:1?

Also, don't suppose you can buy monitor stands directly from dell, or is there a certain stand model no. I should look for on eBay, as the area I will be sticking the monitor on is slightly elevated over the desk.

---

Hello Shadowneo, okay let me answer some of your questions:

If your coming from a TN panel im sure your going to be happy with the E248WFP!

I can happily confirm that the E248WFP, does support 1:1 pixel mapping shown below:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/5a8000d7.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/4747cbc2.jpg

I can also confirm, that the E248WFP fits onto the 2408WFPs stand and is fully fuctional!

As you can see from the the photo, the mounting hardware is identical!

Im not sure if you could buy direct from Dell, but im sure its only a matter of time before one pops up on Ebay...

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/109f1bcf.jpg

Hope these help!

I spy with my little eye you have photoshop, how is the 248wfp in comparison to the 2408wfp when working with image manipulation?

Also im sure it does, but when you have something plugged into the monitors, both by DVI and VGA, such as PC bia DVI and a console by VGA, can you swap between the two by pressing a button? its just my current monitor has to have one unplugged as it forces to DVI all the time :/

And obviously the main question, is it really worth the extra £150+?

You are making these both mighty tempting though :)

For an extra £60 or so you can get 3" more desktop real-estate with the 2709W... just got mine today and it's very nice :) Same S-PVA type Samsung panel as the 2408WFP, just bigger :)

I'll be calibrating it next week, so I'll let ya'll know what the image quality ends up being like :)

ciao!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tigerboyce

I spy with my little eye you have photoshop, how is the 248wfp in comparison to the 2408wfp when working with image manipulation?

Also im sure it does, but when you have something plugged into the monitors, both by DVI and VGA, such as PC bia DVI and a console by VGA, can you swap between the two by pressing a button? its just my current monitor has to have one unplugged as it forces to DVI all the time :/

And obviously the main question, is it really worth the extra £150+?

You are making these both mighty tempting though :)

---

You know what, im not really sure... Im no expert, but on a photoshop front, Id be more confident with the results from the 2408WFP, but on a gaming front its not so clear cut. I really thought it would be a clear cut thing, maybe its due to me not being a professional. All i can really say for sure after the short time ive had with both is, the whites and blacks are far better on the 2408WFP but for what colour is like id rather not jump in too soon.

Im having probelms capturing true comparison shots, but what the camera is showing is the E248 being alot more saturated and the 2408 are more natural.

2408WFP (LEFT) 248WFP (RIGHT)

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/84c80b81.jpg

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/eb109d9b.jpg

Technical questions are more my forte. Your question about input selection, yes you can quite happily swap between inputs with the press of a button.

Is it worth the extra cash...

Depends what your doing and what monitor your coming from... thats my 2c till Ive had a good play.

To get the best out of the 2408WFP for photography, you really should calibrate it with a colorimeter... that's if you want to be sure of getting accurate colors in your photos :)

Thank you very much for confirming those things for me Shameless, and also for taking the pics aswell!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by shadowneo

Thank you very much for confirming those things for me Shameless, and also for taking the pics aswell!!

---

No problem, im glad to have helped!

2709 currently £440 inc vat.

Hey mate. First time poster here, just saw your thread come up in Google when I was looking for some advice on the Dell E248WFP.

First up, great review + pics, was really nice to see pictures of the two monitors side by side. Quite hard to come by. I've just bought the E248 for AUD $380 delivered reduced from $500, which equates to about GBP 180.

I noticed you calibrated the monitor back on the first page, I don't suppose you would still have the settings for that and mind sharing them please? Would also be good if you could run through the steps involved.

Many thanks :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by phantom220

Hey mate. First time poster here, just saw your thread come up in Google when I was looking for some advice on the Dell E248WFP.

First up, great review + pics, was really nice to see pictures of the two monitors side by side. Quite hard to come by. I've just bought the E248 for AUD $380 delivered reduced from $500, which equates to about GBP 180.

I noticed you calibrated the monitor back on the first page, I don't suppose you would still have the settings for that and mind sharing them please? Would also be good if you could run through the steps involved.

Many thanks :)

---

Hi Phantom, Firstly I hope you like the E248WFP!

Ok, to colour calibration... Do you own a Pantone Huey? Unfortunatly if you dont i cant really help appart from giving you the RGB values i thought were the most natural. The reason is Huey runs in software, as windows starts up Huey does and adjusts the colour and brightness.

If you dont own or cannot borrow a huey try these RGB values in Colour Presets> Custom

R: 96
G: 98
B: 100

Sorry i cant help any more than that! Any other questions just hit me back, Id be happy to help. :)

Hi,don't know if this as already been posted?
But the 2408 supposidly had a FW revision middle of July.Might have fixed a few things,like high Input Lag you read about.You can't do the FW upgrade yourself.


Cheers BOB

ps DOH,read this thread a few times,but missed it this time.

Hi,great warranty service.Iv'e had(well had) a 2405 for 3yrs in sept.
Bought it off eBay.
Its had a bit of a prob for a while,with warranty coming to a end,i contacted Dell(UK),couple of days back.Tech guy was extremely helpful etc,i sent him some pics.Got me sent out another monitor the next day.
Its a 2407 rev A04(last rev)in mint condition(a lot of these monitors get sent back ie if peeps don't like the Rev No etc,new rev comes out etc).Could have been a 2408,but after reading up,i'm happy with the 2407 A04.Peeps are picky with these thou,most peeps prob won't even notice some of the little issues.


Cheers BOB

My E248 came today, have to say so far I'm quite impressed with it. Silly as it sounds, the extra 2" over my 22" is noticeable.

Anyway, just had a quick question, the pixel mapping option in the OSD is grayed out, how can I turn it on?

Cheers

Hi,not sure,but i couldn't get/change 1.1 pxel etc in settings,with 2407.But that was with 1920 x 1200(so obvious answer).Change GFX card to output a lesser resolution,then you can select 1.1 & get the appropriate size image on screen,with black borders etc.

Cheers BOB

Dell seem to have put prices up across moniors :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bibio

Hi,not sure,but i couldn't get/change 1.1 pxel etc in settings,with 2407.But that was with 1920 x 1200(so obvious answer).Change GFX card to output a lesser resolution,then you can select 1.1 & get the appropriate size image on screen,with black borders etc.

Cheers BOB

---

Last time I looked, you could perform 1:1 pixel mapping through ATI and Nvidia drivers - is that not the case?

Hi,2407 is 1920 x 1200,connected via DVI.Just tried setting it to a lower resolution,set to 'don't scale',in Niv control Panel.And it did show a small pic with black borders all around it.Not sure if its 1:1 pixel mapping thou?,bit since i read about it.
Also i have 2407 driver installed,which Niv panel shows.Don't know if this setting(sending signal,to tell panel to 1:1 pixel map) panel to 1:1 pixel mapping,because 'don't scale' is selected ?
Some re-reading up required :) ,if i get the chance.


Cheers BOB

Hi,this seems to say you can,but for some reason?you can't with some monitors.

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/widescreen.htm


Mind to do it with monitor as in question posted,you have to send monitor a lower reolution than the monitors.This will be upscaled etc & fill screen,but then you can select 1:1 pixel mapping etc etc.

Cheers BOB

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by phantom220

My E248 came today, have to say so far I'm quite impressed with it. Silly as it sounds, the extra 2" over my 22" is noticeable.

Anyway, just had a quick question, the pixel mapping option in the OSD is grayed out, how can I turn it on?

Cheers

---

Thats strange, mine wasnt greyed... are you putting a signal into the screen?

Hi,i couldn't pick/use option of 1:1 pixel mapping on Dell 2407(connected via DVI),it just won't let you choose it,if GFX card sending native resolution of panel(1920 x 1200).Prob because theres no need/reason to use it :) .
Don't know if connected via VGA,it would give the option?


Cheers BOB

Hi,still not sure on 1:1 pixel mapping via GFX card driver,especially if sending say a TV signal 720p etc.you see some peeps having probs.
One thing 1:1 pixel mapping capable monitor,looks good if you have say a XBox360 etc,Sat Box etc etc connected up to it.



Cheers BOB

Hrm. Think I have figured out this little problem. Two things need to happen to get the pixel mapping option. Firstly, you need to let the monitor control scaling/pixel mapping. I know there's an option in my nVidia control panel for this. Secondly, you need to send the monitor a signal with a resolution lower than the monitor's native - in this case less than 1920x1200.

The pixel mapping should then become an option, as it did for me. All good with the E248 now :)

ahhhh i think i am going to get the E248WFP, anyone know where i can get it for as cheap as possible???

im in the UK if thats important.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by vmong

ahhhh i think i am going to get the E248WFP, anyone know where i can get it for as cheap as possible???

im in the UK if thats important.

---

Hey just came across this thread as I was looking at exactly the same problem with a chioce over the E248WFP and the 2408 you asked and I know it's a month ago where to buy and it seems that OcUK (Overclockers UK) still have the chaeapest price for this item currently *this week only* the site says at 240.86 gbp, did you get one eventually are you happy with it did you find it cheaper?:juggle:

Haha i bought it like a month ago from scan.co.uk. for about 270 :( but i sold my old 19" for 70, so i like to think that i got it for £200 haha!

its probably one of my best computing investments to date. it is brilliant for my uses which are watching films, opening multiple programs simultaneously and still not much hassle to change windows.
i still have a dual screen setup on my other computer. being used to dual screens i wasted a lot more work area and the "24 inch is a dream!!