213T vs 2005FP review.

[Gmok Bonecrusha]

So my Dell arrived yesterday...

I'll skip all the things on how well packaged it came...How easy it was to assemble etc.

So to get right to it.

I, like most people here, am a gamer.

Games I'm ALWAYS on are World of Warcraft,Battle for Middle Earth,CCZH,HL2.

I tested those I listed above..and also Doom 3.Max Payne 2.ET and UT2K4.

PC specs.

6800 Ultra.(stock speed)
Athlon 64 3700 (939)
1024 of Kingston super duper Ram.

All games were played at native res of the monitor.

Rest is generic.

Used FRAPS to measure my FPS.

So I hook this puppy up.

1st thing I check for is the backlight bleeding since this was a huge knock on the monitor.

On boot up I notice the bottom right corner is bleeding SLIGHTLY.If I wasn't looking for it...I wouldn't have even noticed.

Do a pixel test...No dead Pixels!Im on a roll now baby!Play these numbers tonite people! 7-2-4-6!

I get up to get a Pepsi..and as I get up... the 1st thing I notice is that for some odd reason the screen turns maroon when your at an angle.You don't need to sit at the monitor head on...But its noticable at not too deep angles.I won't be playing games like that...so I really didn't care.But it is worth mentioning.

1st game I try out is WoW...Since its the game I'm on the most..and its widescreen out the box.

1st thing I notice is my GOD this thing is bright!For those that are familar with WoW..I was standing in Ogg at the main entrance..looking at the tethered zep thats unreachable in the forground up in the air...Where you get that glare.Its MUCH brighter than my 213T ever was looking at that zep.

2nd thing is that the colors and picture quality is sharp as hell also!On par if not better than my 213T.I would lean toward better.

3rd thing is my goodness...widescreen makes a VERY nice immersion factor in this game.For all you non MMORPG guys out there...It looks pretty badass.

I take the zep to Stranglethorn Vale...where in WoW you get a bazillion colors at once.

It was much more vibrant and richer than my 213T.Only way I can describe it.

Now...Im used to the slight ghosting that my 213T has...And when comparing this to my new 2005FP...They BOTH have the same amount of visible ghosting in WoW!

I honestly unplugged my Dell.Hooked up the Samsung to TRY and see if I can see if I was getting slightly less ghosting from the Dell.This wasn't the case.

I could NOT tell any visibly less ghosting on my 213T than my Dell.Now to be honest...WoW almost has no ghosting IMO...So take what I just said with a grain of salt.

I wasn't sure if it was the game or the monitor yet.

Unhook the 213T....Hook up the Dell.

I try other games...OBVIOUSLY I thru in HL2 next.

THIS is where the 200FP shined for me.

HL2 DOES ghost on my 213T...I don't know why.It just does.

On my Dell...There was none.I can honestly say there was MUCH less ghosting!

And to top it off...Widescreen baby!

Now I see where that fricken facehugger came from!I'm loving this shit!I must have played HL2 5 times thru now?And I found myself playing the game as if I just bought it!

I catch myself staying on this one game..and decide to give the rest a quick runthru.

I start with the games that I KNOW ghost a lot.

Max Payne 2...MUCH less ghosting.

ET...This game has always been pretty bad on my 213T.MUCH less ghosting.To the point I'd say little to none on all the maps cept the desert ones.

Zero Hour never really ghosted.So I didnt see a huge improvement.But I DID notice the sharpness was greater... and colors were much brigher.Couldn't get this to work in widescreen.KEPT getting a black screen for some reason.

Doom 3.Never had much ghosting on my 213T...But I wanted to test the backlight bleeding.

Ya...In a couple spots I noticed it.But again..I was looking for it specifically.So again.Take it as you will.But I will say.The bleeding IS there in that before mentined corner.But during the course of me playing for 30 mins...It soon "went away" from me just playing the damn game.

BFME I tried also...I did the little registry trick to get it to play widescreen.

Game played in widescreen perfectly fine.Problem was the damn UI stretches!!!Thats more annoying than any ghosting I ever saw.

So forget the widescreen thing in that game...But no ghosting.

UT2K...Played Widescreen PERFECTLY and no ghosting at all.I only played 5 mins.But right off the bat...You can see how much of a difference having wide screen makes.

Now during all this swapping in and out...Both monitors found their way onto my dek at the same time.

Make no mistake.The 213T even though its JUST an inch and a half or so bigger.Looks MUCH larger than the Dell.Its not even close.

When I 1st got my 213T I was like "Wow!..This thing is huge" (no jokes please)

But you get used to it quickly.

I found myself saying that again with the Dell next to it.

I'll try and get my digital camera back tonite for some pics.(Let a bud use it.)

Ok..The nitty gritty.

FPS on my setup on almost every game was almost exactly the same.You lose nor gain anything from the swap.

Text on the Dell is about the same as on the 213T

Ghosting is SLIGHTLY better on some games on the Dell.

The colors and brightness on the Dell are noticable.

I paid 618 bucks from Dell small business with overnight shipping.HUGE plus here.

So I guess the burning question is...If you own a 213T is it worth swapping over to the Dell?

Simple answer.Yes.

This is coming from a person that cant stand the Dell 2001 (I've owned one of those and brought it back)

Long answer...Some games you will NOT see a difference.But on FPS games...Hell ya I noticed a HUGE difference.

You will miss that extra real estate that your 213T provided you.I will be keeping both..and just extend my desktop to the 2 monitors.But the Dell will be the DVI and the 213T the "crap" In.

I gotta say I am impressed..I just wish more games had out the box widescreen.

 

[rush24t3]

Agreed on most of the points.

The 2005FPW's brightness is far beyond that of the 213T...the Samsung seems "dull" in comparison. A bit strange getting used to the widescreen aspect, but worth it.

 

[FitzRoy]

If you read the xbitlabs article on all the different lcd panel technologies, you'll know why the dell beat the samsung in gaming. Samsung's PVA panel response times can go as high as 100ms and as low as 16ms, but they only count the lowest for marketing. The 2005fpw uses an S-IPS panel which goes as high as 25ms and as low as 12s. Again, they market the lowest, so 4ms is not the difference between the two, it's the average ms that counts. But as with all LCD technologies, there is no definitive tech. Each one has its flaws and advantages over the others. S-IPS, great for gaming but bad, purple viewing angle and comparably bad contrast to PVA. PVA destroys every other tech in terms of achieving true blacks (though the 213t might be a bad example at 500:1), and its viewing angle is extraordinary. But its average response time can never achieve that fast-fps gaming level, so it is great for movies and desktop use, but just decent for gaming.

I think widescreen is good for movies but not the best for desktop use. I had a 2005fpw for a while and there is simply no reason to have a screen that wide. Unlike a tv, you sit up close to your monitor, so 4:3 is plenty of information at that distance to necessitate a change to widescreen.

 

[jacuzz1]

Well having Owned a 213t or two , i must concure . I prefer the Dell and infact I alos prefer it for work environments

 

[MethylONE]

Got a question for you guys,

What video cards are you using to drive this monitor?

I'm thinking of buying one but I don't game "alot" but enough that I'd like decent frame rates.

 

[IdiotInCharge]

The 2005FPW has a lower resolution than the 2001FP, and thus would expect slightly lowered GPU requirements. I would still use a minimum of X800 or 6800 series GPU, but a 9700+ series could probably skirt along with castrated quality settings. I prefer full quality with 16xAF, 2xAA optional; my goal with such a screen is whatever replaced the 6800GT, for use in an SFF.

 

[drizzt81]

I think widescreen is good for movies but not the best for desktop use. I had a 2005fpw for a while and there is simply no reason to have a screen that wide. Unlike a tv, you sit up close to your monitor, so 4:3 is plenty of information at that distance to necessitate a change to widescreen.

thanks that input was really helpful for me, I have been looking at both dells (2001fp/2005fpw) all afternoon trying to decide which one to get. I play the occasional game, but i need it for desktop (programming) work.

I hope you are right

 

[paladin0]

thanks that input was really helpful for me, I have been looking at both dells (2001fp/2005fpw) all afternoon trying to decide which one to get. I play the occasional game, but i need it for desktop (programming) work.

I hope you are right

You can actually show more information on a 213T than a 2005FP. There is a greater number of pixels. id go with the 213T for programming.