Recommend 2407wfp or FPD2485W?

These two displays are both fully adjustible. tilt, swivel, rotate hight adjustable etc. The 2407wfp is cheaper because you have to pay $30 more to gateway to get warrenty equivalent to the 2407. 2407wfp has free ship. Dell does or did have trouble with banding. I like the hidden buttons on the fpd2485w but the dell has a card reader. Both displays have equal inputs. Gateway has lower response time. (even though you dont really know the truth.) Both displays have pip, but 2407 has pbp also. As far as features go the 2407 seems to win but the gateway is the closest competition (in my opinion) for the price. I would Like it if I could get the gateway in a store like BB or CC but right now they only have gateway 21". My dad needs a pc but not a monitor and i was going to pay the upgrade price for the 2407 when he got his pc. For awhile the upgrade was only $455 with a $650 pc. Im kind of mad I missed that. If anybody has any thing that would help me decide which one to get I would apreciate it. (sorry for the long post)

I will be using this for Media center pc, xbox, ps2, and eventually 360!

From what I understand, the banding problem was far more prevalent on the first 2407WFP's. I just got an A03 2047WFP, and have not detected any banding so far in Desktop mode (note: I haven't been into Photoshop or Gimp to see if it may be present there, but I've been told it's minimal and not an issue unless you're a professional graphic designer). So far, I really like mine, but I've had it less than 48 hours, so not long enough to give a full opinion yet.

Note that you can also extend the Dell warranty further than 3 years if you wish. I plan to own my for a long time to come, so I slapped a 5-year warranty on, since they aren't cheap. It's $49 to add two years onto the warranty, so if you compare to the gateway that takes $30 to get to a 3yr, it's only a $19 difference.

Why would you want hidden buttons? Not so sure I'd like that. I like having my controls where they're easy to get to, and Dell does a lot with a small number of buttons that aren't too tiny to easily work with.

Not sure why you'd need to buy locally either. Dell has a 21-day satisfaction guarrantee, and advanced-exchange in case you have a warranty issue. The only reason locally would make a difference to me is at least you get to see them side-by-side up close, but then again, test images at big-box stores are often low-quality compared to what you'll get at home.

I'm not sure the FPD2485w is even available for purchase yet. The only thing I'd make sure of on the Dell is that you can get the resolutions you want with the game consoles. Reports say that some resolutions don't work the best through component; I'd check the Dell Community forums to get a good answer. ChrisM, the moderator should be able to help you.

I bought my 2407 A03 in mid october, I've been using it to watch DVD's, play games, and surf the internet in my dorm room, i've also used it for my Xbox360 through component and once USPS gets their act together VGA (in all it's 1080p glory!)

I owned a Samsung 215tw 21" WS LCD, the 215 had a slight X shaped backlight bleed and ghosting was present in trackmania nations going around a corner quickly, when I got my 2407 I was expecting a little bit of lag and slight backlight bleed, to my amazement there is abosolutely ZERO ghosting (tested with over 6 games including trackmania nations also tested with 3-4 xbox and xbox360 games), there is absolutely NO backlight bleed, it is a solid black screen, extremely happy about that

as for inputs, the inputs are great and the cardreader + USB ports are a major plus, the only thing I wish it had was HDMI, I don't own any HDMI devices but who knows what the future holds and it is always a good idea to be future proof

The only thing I don't like about the 2407 has to do with the menu, when I do PIP or PBP it doesn't save the input combo, so DVI is input #2 and component is input #5, whenever I do PIP or PBP it goes directly to like 2-4 or something even after i select the 2-5 combo, it also doesn't save your sharpness setting for vga, so apparently you need to have a sharpness of 30 on VGA when running a 360 with 1080p or else you get lines or something, everytime you use your 360 you have to set your monitor to a sharpness of 30

overall if I could get my cash back (paid 640) and could use it for another monitor there is nothing I would chose except maybe a 3007

The 2407WFP is not a bad monitor, but the history of complaints should really make you concerned. It has me. Get the FPD2485W, I say. I am. I ordered it already from JR.com, but they are taking forever to get it in stock. I'm contemplating ordering it direct from Gateway.

The advantages of the FPD2485W
(1) Price: $680 MSRP versus $800 MSRP for Dell (but you can get it cheaper, see below).

(2) More component inputs: The Gateway has two component inputs, whereas the Dell only has one. This may seem extraneous, but as one of the other posters is about to find out, these monitors won't do 1:1 pixel scaling at 1080p over VGA for the 360. The video is almost assuredly going to be stretched to fill the screen, so using VGA with the 360 is pretty much out of the question. Therefore, it's back to component for the 360, but you'll still have another component port for the Wii and a DVI-D port for the PS3 if you choose, leaving VGA for your computer. But using component for the 360 with the Dell leads to another issue....

(4) 3X 1080p inputs: Yes, the FPD2485W will do 1080p over DVI-D and both component inputs. The Dell will do 1080p over DVI-D only. So, if you had the Dell and wanted to view 1080p content with your 360, well, you're out of luck because the component inputs will cap at 1080i, and the VGA will stretch it to 1920x1200, which will look crappy.

(5) Aesthetics: The Gateway has a touch sensitive panel along its side as well as a sleek and sturdy stand. Videos of the Dell have shown the stand to be rather flimsy, forcing you to hold it down in order to rotate the monitor (I saw these videos at CNET but maybe they had the tension too high).

Advantages of the Dell...
(1) Deals: You can get it cheap, in the $500 range if you search deal sites. But isn't 2 extra 1080p inputs worth the cost?

(2) Warranty: Dell gives you a nice 3-year warranty. Gateway gives you a 1-year limited warranty, but you can extend it to a 3-year warranty for $30, bringing the cost to $710, costing about the same as the Dell with a standard reduction.

pNin01 said:

The 2407WFP is not a bad monitor, but the history of complaints should really make you concerned. It has me. Get the FPD2485W, I say. I am. I ordered it already from JR.com, but they are taking forever to get it in stock. I'm contemplating ordering it direct from Gateway.

The advantages of the FPD2485W
(1) Price: $680 MSRP versus $800 for Dell.

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The Dell is only $800 if you don't use coupons, or if Dell doesn't have a deal (they always do). Currently, the Dell is 15% off, for a total of $679 before any discounts you can find. Also, the Dell has a 3-year warranty standard vs. the 1-year from Gateway. You can upgrade Gateway's warranty, but it is additional cost.

(2) Panel: The Gateway will definitely use an S-PVA panel. I'm not clear but there seems to be some randomness about the panel Dell will use.

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All Dell 2407WFP's use an S-PVA panel. The randomness applies to Dell 2007FP and 2007WFP displays.

(5) Aesthetics: The Gateway has a touch sensitive panel along its side as well as a sleek and sturdy stand. Videos of the Dell have shown the stand to be rather flimsy, forcing you to hold it down in order to rotate the monitor.

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I guess that all depends on whether you need to rotate the monitor or not. In my case, I find that the 2407WFP is just large enough in depth that I can sit my center channel speaker on the top front lip of the display (Logitech X-530's). I don't have a need to go to portrait mode. By the way, just to ask, do you have a Gateway 24"? I wanted to know if you've tested their stand alongside the one that Dell has.

The touch-sensitive panels on the Gateway sound nice, if they're on the bezel and not on the screen itself (I don't like the thought of putting fingerprints on the panel). You have points on the component inputs, if a user plans to use a game console in addition to a PC.

Advantages of the Dell...
(1) Deals: You can get it cheap, in the $500 range. But isn't 2 extra 1080p inputs worth the cost?

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I guess that depends on what you need. Right now, finding the Gateway is somewhat difficult from what I've heard. Also, the Dell offers an integrated 9-in-1 flash card reader. I admit I'll probably never use mine (my digicam uses xD cards, which aren't supported by a lot of card readers), but it's only fair to add this if you're comparing features.

Too bad the Gateway doesn't change one of those component inputs for an HDMI. I think that that change might make it a tougher call. I don't think the Gateway is necessarily a bad monitor (though I haven't seen one up close), but I don't think that it is cut-and-dried that it's better than a 2407WFP.

pNin01 said:

(5) Aesthetics: The Gateway has a touch sensitive panel along its side as well as a sleek and sturdy stand. Videos of the Dell have shown the stand to be rather flimsy, forcing you to hold it down in order to rotate the monitor.

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uh, thats not true. I have no problem whatsoever rotating my monitor without holding it down.

pNin01 -
Do you know that the vga on the Gateway won't do 1:1 for a fact? Just wondering how you know that.




Also, a big concern of mine is lag. I wonder if the Gateway is going to have any lag problems.

My last concern with the gateway is how clean the component hookups are going to be.

I really like what the gateway has, just would like to get some real reviews on this. And maybe free shiping.

can one of you guys post some pics of your 2407wfp? because i want to get a feel for its size. Also has anyone hooked this up to an hd cable box or dish box?
thanks alot

Here's a quick pic. Note that the monitor isn't cockeyed like it looks; I attempted to take the picture at an angle to reduce the effects of the flash.

The picture really doesn't do it justice.

BPini said:

pNin01 -
Do you know that the vga on the Gateway won't do 1:1 for a fact? Just wondering how you know that.

Also, a big concern of mine is lag. I wonder if the Gateway is going to have any lag problems.

My last concern with the gateway is how clean the component hookups are going to be.

I really like what the gateway has, just would like to get some real reviews on this. And maybe free shiping.

Click to expand...

I've read in the user guide for the Gateway that it will do 1:1 (http://support.gateway.com/s/Manuals/Desktops/8511715.pdf, page 19 of the guide). The component inputs on Gateway's other monitors work fine, so I assume that they will also be fine on the 24" as well. I don't think it will be a problem for the lag, either. Personally, I am deciding between the FPD2485W and the BenQ FP241W because the component inputs on the Dell are not too good.

Well basically 21" 4:3 is around same height as 24" ws. Ofcourse 24" ws has lot more width.

I was going to get a 2407 myself however the gateway and benq offerings have convinced me to wait until good reviews are out to help me decide, although I feel that the dell has dropped to third place feature and quality wise and I would want to wait and see if the 2407 will be upgraded.
Until a good reviews comes out here is a preview of the gateway I found.
http://media.digitaltrends.com/digitaltrends/gateway_fpd2485w_24in_lcd_monitor.html

LoneWolf,
Thank you very much for the pic. Is it hard to read the text on the screen when you move farther away? I was thinking of using this as a tv/pc monitor in my bedroom and was wondering if i would have trouble seeing things from a slight distance.

Whats wrong with the components on the 2407 because I'd like to get one of those myself. Not just for PC, but I'd like to hook components from my cable box to this monitor to watch some HD. It does 1:1 right?

Well, when the 2407 first came out, there were problems with the color reproduction of the component inputs. I was going to buy a 24" LCD last Christmas, but waited for the 2407 to be released. Reviews started coming back that it had faulty component inputs and I don't think they have been fixed yet. I may be wrong, but I haven't seen anything saying they are fixed yet (someone please correct me because I would love to buy this monitor if they have been fixed). It does 1:1, though.

I had a Gateway FPD2185W. The component was fine for my xbox 360, 1:1 pixel mapping and everything. The VGA port was strange. It would do 1:1 for some resolutions, but it would display the resolutions pixel for pixel. What I mean was that if I set my 360 to say 1024x768, the Gateway would display exactly 1024*768 pixels on the screen. It wouldn't keep the proportion and fill up the screen as the component port did. But at 1080p, it stretched to fill the screen. Anyways, the FPD2485W manual does say it can do 1:1 pixel mapping for all resolutions from 800x600 to 1920x1200, but it doesn't say which ports it's talking about. I've corresponded with Gateway several times about the monitor. They've consistently told me that VGA will stretch to fill and that the component and DVI-D ports support 1080p. Of course I don't believe them about the VGA port fully. There is some hope that it will display a 1920x1080 picture pixel for pixel on the panel, and that would just be freaking awesome. The Dell has gone through revisions to fix issues with its component port. I'm not sure how it handles 1:1 pixel mapping on the VGA port. But if it doesn't support it without stretching, then there is no way to get 1080p from your Xbox 360 on the Dell. Anyone found out if the FP241W supports 1080p on its component port? I'm thinking it doesn't. Yeah, Gateway charges some high shipping. It's a total rip-off. The fact that JR.com is selling it for $30 less, 2-day shipping is $20 less than Gateway's ground shipping, and there's no sales tax is what is forcing me to not buy it from Gateway. But I would like to get this monitor as soon as possible. I'm thinking that if JR.com doesn't get it in stock by the end of this week, I'll cancel and order it direct from Gateway.com as well as the extended 3-year warranty. But they had an article about a new CTO factory in Nashville (where I live), so I'll ask them if I can just go there and pick it up without having to pay for shipping. But I doubt that.

I would also like to say that when I was at the Tokyo game show in September, I entered a competition for Lost Planet, and we all played on Dell 2407WFPs. The Xbox 360's were hooked up via component. This was before the 1080p update, but the game looked crisp and fine on the Dell. But if you are going to get a 1920x1200 monitor, why not be sure it'll do what you want? The Dell, you can't be sure. The BenQ, it definitely cannot right now and who knows if it will. The Gateway, yeah, you can be sure it will. They even advertise it as compatible with your game consoles. It's even mentioned in the manual.

pNin01 said:

Anyone found out if the FP241W supports 1080p on its component port? I'm thinking it doesn't.

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I've only read of 1080i, no 1080p. It supports 1080p over VGA, though. The main reason I am considering the BenQ is the HDMI port for a PS3. I could just buy a HDMI -> DVI cable and use the digital audio, though.

thefewtheproud said:

LoneWolf,
Thank you very much for the pic. Is it hard to read the text on the screen when you move farther away? I was thinking of using this as a tv/pc monitor in my bedroom and was wondering if i would have trouble seeing things from a slight distance.

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Define "slight distance". Viewing is very clear for me, I'm usually about 3 feet away. If you're going to be a ways away though, you can always switch Windows to large fonts, which should help. Since FireFox (like every other browser) has scalable text, you should be able to set text to whatever size you want. Text has been sharp for me. I have an old rev. 2 ATI TV Wonder PCI in my rig, and the picture looks good, though so far I haven't tried it fullscreen (I usually view TV in a window 1/4 of screen size so I can do other things at the same time). Video playback of higher-res DivX files has been very good, though if you want a test of the best it can do, Quicktime movie trailers in HD really show the best quality.

I'm not at my main system right now, so I'll have to check, but I may either have large fonts (120dpi IIRC is Windows default setting for large, I know 96dpi is small), or I may have it set to a custom size of 110dpi. Remember, you're at 1920x1200, at a resolution that high it isn't unusual to want to upsize your fonts slightly.

thanks again Lonewolf,
My fouton will probably be about 5-6 feet from the 2407 and i will be using Dell bluetooth wireless mouse and KB. If this works out it should be pretty cool.
But besides the 2407 i will have a 17" lcd hooked up to my pc on the opposite wall on my desk for normal pc work.

@thefewtheproud,

I just searched the offical 2407WFP thread. You basically don't have a choice.

The 2407WFP won't do 1080p over component. It won't scale 1080p over VGA. There is no DVI/HDMI for the 360 (yet).
The BenQ won't do 1:1 scaling on any input. The firmware update likely won't fix the 1:1 on VGA, but the component won't do 1080p. And there is no DVI/HDMI option.

It's an easy decision now.

Man, screw Jr.com. I'm ordering the monitor tomorrow from gateway. I need a monitor now. I'm tired of using a laptop, and I Gears of War is calling to me. I have no screen or TV right now. I looked at the Gateway shipping charges. It's supposed to be $35 for that monitor's weight range. So I'm going to place the order via telephone and get them to take off $20 because $55 is a rip-off for ground shipping. Also, I'll feel more comfortable with gateway's 3-year warranty. Well, by the end of the week, I'll make a thread and run whatever tests people want me to and I that I can do.

pNin01 said:

Man, screw Jr.com. I'm ordering the monitor tomorrow from gateway. I need a monitor now. I'm tired of using a laptop, and I Gears of War is calling to me. I have no screen or TV right now. I looked at the Gateway shipping charges. It's supposed to be $35 for that monitor's weight range. So I'm going to place the order via telephone and get them to take off $20 because $55 is a rip-off for ground shipping. Also, I'll feel more comfortable with gateway's 3-year warranty. Well, by the end of the week, I'll make a thread and run whatever tests people want me to and I that I can do.

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If you are going to use the FPD2485W as a TV/XBOX display, you should consider ordering the speaker bar as well ... it looks like it has 6 high powered speakers and cool touch controls as well. I'm sure that a 5.1 system would sound better, but with this speaker bar it gives you a nice integrated experience. Also, it looks WAY better than Dell's whimpy speaker bar ...

pNin01 said:

@thefewtheproud,

I just searched the offical 2407WFP thread. You basically don't have a choice.

The 2407WFP won't do 1080p over component. It won't scale 1080p over VGA. There is no DVI/HDMI for the 360 (yet).
The BenQ won't do 1:1 scaling on any input. The firmware update likely won't fix the 1:1 on VGA, but the component won't do 1080p. And there is no DVI/HDMI option.

It's an easy decision now.

Click to expand...

thats to bad because I was planning on buying the 2407 when my dad bought his new computer because he dosent need a monitor. I have seen the upgrade price as low as $455 with a $650 pc. So i guess I just have to save some up some more. No "24" in hd for me.

Tim-in-CA said:

If you are going to use the FPD2485W as a TV/XBOX display, you should consider ordering the speaker bar as well ... it looks like it has 6 high powered speakers and cool touch controls as well. I'm sure that a 5.1 system would sound better, but with this speaker bar it gives you a nice integrated experience. Also, it looks WAY better than Dell's whimpy speaker bar ...

Click to expand...

I seriously considered it. I'm just not sure because I think it'll look awkward when I put it in portrait mode. Maybe in the future I'll order it. I already placed my order. It's going to take a week for it to arrive, unfortunately. I hope they're just covering their butts. And, thye did discount the shipping for me after i showed them their shipping charges page. Well, he discounted it to $40, not $35, but whatever. He also tried to sell me a DVI cable even though Gateway included one in the box this time.

pNin01 said:

I seriously considered it. I'm just not sure because I think it'll look awkward when I put it in portrait mode. Maybe in the future I'll order it. I already placed my order. It's going to take a week for it to arrive, unfortunately. I hope they're just covering their butts. And, thye did discount the shipping for me after i showed them their shipping charges page. Well, he discounted it to $40, not $35, but whatever. He also tried to sell me a DVI cable even though Gateway included one in the box this time.

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Can’t wait to hear your comments on this monitor! I am really interested to see if the gateway has any issues with banding like the dell has with their Faroudja processor.

By the way how does the gateway return warrantee/policy compare to Dell’s can anyone
let us know?

WildSide said:

Can’t wait to hear your comments on this monitor! I am really interested to see if the gateway has any issues with banding like the dell has with their Faroudja processor.

By the way how does the gateway return warrantee/policy compare to Dell’s can anyone
let us know?

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Well, in my chat log, I asked him if I could return it without having to pay the shipping, and the guy told me yes. Also, the 3-year warranty says it covers the cost of shipping for replacement monitors.

does gateways warrenty give you a new monitor if yours breaks or a refurb?

thefewtheproud said:

does gateways warrenty give you a new monitor if yours breaks or a refurb?

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I'm not sure. Probably a refurbished one.

HA this monitor is too new to have any referbs ready yet but I would want to check out if you would get a new replacement just the same.

But I am betting that you will get a kick a$$ monitor !

WildSide said:

Can’t wait to hear your comments on this monitor! I am really interested to see if the gateway has any issues with banding like the dell has with their Faroudja processor.

By the way how does the gateway return warrantee/policy compare to Dell’s can anyone
let us know?

Click to expand...

Note: If you operate your 2007WFP or 2407WFP in Desktop mode, the Faroudja processor is turned off, which pretty much eliminates banding issues. AFAIK, the processor is only turned on in Multimedia/Gaming modes. While I do play games, I've so far run my 2407WFP in Desktop mode only, and the same for the 2007WFP for the few days I had it.

More than just Dell displays have the Faroudja processor, but as Dell is likely the largest supplier of displays that use it, it has received the most press. Just wanted to post this as an FYI.

I'll be interested to see how the Gateway turns out when a few people have it, and it appears in a few reviews.

is there any backlight bleeding on the gateway? I just checked out the 22inch model and had some backlight bleeding in it on a black background.