Gateway XHD3000 - 30" Widescreen Extreme HD Display

I'm still working on it actually.
Took all the pictures, but not done with the review yet.
I will probably try to get it done sometime after wednesday. I have thousands of lines of code to look over for work for a meeting on wednesday afternoon, so until then I can't really do anything else.
I really wanted and intended to have a full review up as soon as I received the display, but unfortunately the timing was ill conceived.




@ Channy0305:

I would advise you put a hold on the purchase for the time being. As I've said, I'll have a review up within some days. Hopefully, it'll help you make your decision.


On a side note:
I had a long chat with a tech at mpc earlier today. He has escalated my case to the engineering lab department. They will contaact me tomorrow and send me out a return shipping label that will be addressed to them, so they can take a look at the monitor and see exactly what the problem is and hopefully resolve it.
 
^ i see you put up a new thread with some prelim photos...many thanks! with the lack of actual user experiences thus far, it's hard to separate the reality from the marketing hype on these things (although i did see a 24" in person at frys, looked like a good monitor)...appreciated
 
No problem. I'll have the full review out as soon as I can.
Hopefully it'll satisfy most of your curiosities regarding the purchase of the monitor.
 
Well nevermind. I took it back out of its box and hung it back on its wall mount and the defect is gone! Somehow after taking it down, boxing it up, and unpacking it again I no longer can make the screw imprint appear again. Also the backlight is now almost completely uniform with very very little bleed. I have no idea how to explain it. I am still going to return it tomorrow because I don't believe what I'm seeing. There is no way these things have just magically fixed themselves. It's unreal. I turned my sub all the way to eleven and blasted som R&B and the screw will not re-appear.

I am going to play with it the rest of tonight and see if it comes back. The crappy thing is that if it doesn't come back and I want to keep it, I couldn't. I lost the contact number for the person at Gateway corporate that scheduling the pick-up. They are coming tomorrow one way or another. Argh!
 
I'm still not seeing that screw or whatever it is no matter what I do. However I did have an odd isolated problem over the weekend. I was just playing a PS2 game when the screen just turned to the white snow/fuzz. There was still sound coming through though. So I checked all the connections to see if something came loose and they were all fine. And then I changed the input and then back to the PS2 input and it worked again. Dont know what it was but thought I would mention it. That's the only problem I've had.
 
DustinFrazier said:
Well nevermind. I took it back out of its box and hung it back on its wall mount and the defect is gone! Somehow after taking it down, boxing it up, and unpacking it again I no longer can make the screw imprint appear again. Also the backlight is now almost completely uniform with very very little bleed. I have no idea how to explain it. I am still going to return it tomorrow because I don't believe what I'm seeing. There is no way these things have just magically fixed themselves. It's unreal. I turned my sub all the way to eleven and blasted som R&B and the screw will not re-appear.

I am going to play with it the rest of tonight and see if it comes back. The crappy thing is that if it doesn't come back and I want to keep it, I couldn't. I lost the contact number for the person at Gateway corporate that scheduling the pick-up. They are coming tomorrow one way or another. Argh!
Click to expand...



That's somewhat of a good news. And yeah, I think it might actually be related to the stand attachment to the panel. Anyways, you can just tell the carrier that you're not going to ship it back. Then contact Gateway and explain the situation.

I'm actually sending mine back due to the 1year warranty, and re-purchasing it with 3years. Better to be safe than sorry >_> heh
 
I originally scheduled the return through the regular Gateway sales channel. But Gateway corporate contacted me to clear up the restock fee issue and took over the shipping. The lady at corporate had me give her my fedex tracking number so she could cancel it. She said she was going to arrange the pick-up herself for today so that it could be taken straight to some engineers or something. So I have no idea who the courier is. I will be extremely surprised if anyone shows up today to pickup my monitor. I just have a really bad feeling that I'm going to have to get mad at Gateway again for forgetting me. I get the feeling that maybe all corporate was trying to do was to get me to take down my forum posts. Maybe I'm wrong though. I'm usually a pretty trusting person, but this whole deal with Gateway has soured me a bit.

After a night of thinking about it, i still want to return it anyways. I already have the HP 30" on the way. I will buy the XHD again maybe in a couple revisions or I'll buy the competing product from Dell whenever they come out with one.
 
I believe it's being picked up by Fedex. And it will be going back to a different location. Probably to the Advanced Tech Services center in South Dakota.
Also, you can just exchange the monitor once you hear that they have revised the new batch. >_<

Well, enjoy your new HP ^-^
 
Thanks Encyee, I hope you are right. Good luck with yours too.

Yup, they never came to pick-up the set. The person at corporate completely failed. The set is gone though. I had to set it up again through normal channels and leave work early, again, but the pos is gone.
 
bootstrap said:
Well said. I hope this monitor is everything it claims to be, but there have been plenty of other monitors that have looked very promising initially but turned out to be disappointing once people really got a chance to evaluate them. It's pointless to argue about whether an upcoming monitor will or won't be great -- let's just wait and see.
Click to expand...
I had to quote this again..(it was in resonse to my post about tempering your enthusiasm for unreleased hardware) and produce this thread as the perfect example why. http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1233961 Does that mean these Gateways are not good? Absolutely not...it just that no monitor on the market is perfect and this one is no exception.;)


edit- I see the person who started the other thread has already posted in here.
 
You know whats strange to me is that all these reviews on the xhd3000 are so great, i figure atleast one of them would notice this defect.

I think that this defect is a common problem so far ( 4 out of maybe 5 people so far ), but there are indeed one's that are not effected. Im looking deeper into this, this is the only thing stopping me from buying the monitor at this moment.

Some guy is claiming he has a defect free xhd3000 so hopefully he can provide proof for us.
 
21questions said:
Some guy is claiming he has a defect free xhd3000 so hopefully he can provide proof for us.
Click to expand...
If it doesn't affect every one, just purchase from a place that will guarantee a replacement or your money back. Maybe you can show them the other thread with the short video so they can comprehend the severity of the defect. I'm sure they'll comply. It's much worse than a dead or stuck pixel.

Wait another week or two until we have more conclusive info.
 
What sucks is that i live in a state that does not carry it in any retail store so i have to order it either way, gateway claims to have a 15 day return policy & provides a free postage return if there is anything wrong with their product.

Im trying hard to wait this out, i need a monitor bad. Hopefully we get this conclusive info soon.
 
i got a question:

How do you check to see if there is dead pixels and bleeding on the monitor? i guess the most easiest / effective way?

What is bleeding? ;)
 
I've been so busy these past few weeks, sorry.
Also as you've read in my previous posts, both of my monitors are affected by the defect. I should be getting another replacement soon and see how that looks.

Tomorrow is my final meeting for the week. So hopefully after the weekend I should be done. =)

Truly sorry for making you guys wait.
I must sleep now, need to wake up at 6am to review all the materials for the meeting. =(
 
I got my HP 30" the same day they took my XHD away. I can say right off the bat that the XHD is much more pleasurable to use because that damn scaler chip just makes the input options so easy, plus the remote and Infra red pass through really were nice. But I have to say that subjectively, the LP3065 is just such a better screen. The color difference is noticable and the blacks are deeper. The uniformity of the backlight is also neerly flawless. It just looks and feels better made.

After having used a 30" with a scaler chip and all the features of the XHD, it is really hard to go back to any other screen. I just wish the XHD had been made by a company other than Gateway. HP is rumored to have a replacement to the LP3065 coming out at the end of 07 that does scaling as well. I am crossing my fingers.
 
DustinFrazier:
I think you have done a HORRIBLE disservice to Gateway. I went back to look at all the other reviews of the XHD 3000 and a lot of them have you SCREAMING (in all caps) "DO NOT BUY THIS MONITOR"

You mention the defect, and the %15 stocking fee. You rip into Gateway and the monitor very harshly.

I think in fairness to Gateway you should go back to those sites and state how Gateway knows about the defect, how they waived your fee, how the defect is not in all monitors, and how Gateway is working hard to fix it.
 
That was my original plan, to go back and change my comments, until I found that the person at corporate was basically just paying me lip service when they called me. Gateway should be receiving my returned screen today. I will now wait to go back and update my comments once I actually have my full refund. I don't take anything for granted with them any more. Every time I want to give Gateway some credit they seem equally as eager to throw it in my face. I mean, how dare I want to get a full refund on a defective screen. How dare I. That seems to be the sum of my experience with them thus far. To date, all my hours on the phone with them and all my frustrations and missed call backs and pickup dates have got me was no 15% restocking fee. That is something that should have taken no more than a few minutes and a single call. This is especially true since they had already exchanged Enycee's set for the same reason by the first time I called. When I called they acted like my problem, the same as Enycee's, was impossible and that it was MY FAULT. So no, I don't think I'm doing Gateway a disservice.
 
to anyone who has this monitor...

have either of you owned a lcd monitor with 92% color gamut?

if so, with this monitor i know its lower but do you notice the difference?
 
DustinFrazier said:
That was my original plan, to go back and change my comments, until I found that the person at corporate was basically just paying me lip service when they called me. Gateway should be receiving my returned screen today. I will now wait to go back and update my comments once I actually have my full refund. I don't take anything for granted with them any more. Every time I want to give Gateway some credit they seem equally as eager to throw it in my face. I mean, how dare I want to get a full refund on a defective screen. How dare I. That seems to be the sum of my experience with them thus far. To date, all my hours on the phone with them and all my frustrations and missed call backs and pickup dates have got me was no 15% restocking fee. That is something that should have taken no more than a few minutes and a single call. This is especially true since they had already exchanged Enycee's set for the same reason by the first time I called. When I called they acted like my problem, the same as Enycee's, was impossible and that it was MY FAULT. So no, I don't think I'm doing Gateway a disservice.
Click to expand...

Here is what you wrote:

BY DUSTINFRAZIER AT 10/18/07 08:05 PM
I just hooked up this monitor and it has a factory defect. Stay faaaar away from this monitor at all costs. A small circle appears on the right side of the screen and you can see the outline of a phillips head screw poking at the back of the screen. The circle is about the size of a dime. Even the low bass from my small hometheater subwoofer sitting all the way across the room caused this circle to appear. Any kind of pressure, even from its own stand causes this circle to appear and makes it completely unwatchable. Here is a link to another person who is experiencing the same issue. [www.hardforum.com]
He was lucky because Gateway let him do a defective exchange. I wasn't so lucky, Gateway is blaming me for this issue and refusing to take it back as defective meaning I must pay a 15% restocking fee. The tech support manager actually told me my screen was not defective just because a small circle appears whenever my subwoofer makes a sound. The funny part is the other guy's replacement monitor has the same problem. So the whole line of xhd3000s have this defect. I tried other screens in the same place as my xhd3000 and none of them experienced this issue. DO NOT BUY THIS SCREEN.


If you go look at the updates on the defect the issue has been fixed! You should update your review, or at least link them to here
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1234459
 
First of all thanks to all the posters for the incredible amount of info etc.

I'd like to raise some questions about input lag and scaling, quoting DustinFrazier:

DustinFrazier said:
On a positive note, I watched an episode of roots in standard def and the upscaling made it appear nearly as good as if it were HD. I honestly can't get over how well this thing upscales and how good it scales less than native desktop resolutions.
Click to expand...

Which is the reason I'm even reading this thread, because I don't own any consoles etc. I just want to be able to play games in less than native resolution, and upscale it. When doing that, I don't want it to get blurry. I've now read several contradicting statements about the upscaling quality. Am I correct in assuming that it upscales other inputs just fine, but the upscaling of a DVI signal from the PC is just not good enough to be happy with? In other words, would I end up running 1:1 mode, with black borders around the image? (This will tell us a lot about the image processor used here.)

I would also really like to know: When you upscaled the DVI input, do you think it looked better, worse, or identical to that of the HP? On the HP you have to use your gfx driver, so that would be an interesting comparison.

DustinFrazier said:
Even if mine didn't have a defect I would still return it because the extreme input lag. Since I can't have it anywhere near my subwoofer, I brought it to my office and plugged it into my multi-monitor setup. I had it sitting next to my 24" gateway, my 20" samsung, and my dell and the XHD3000 takes much longer to react to my mouse than all the others. When I scrolled a web page the XHD would start to scroll just as the other monitors were finishing. I think this is due to image processing that the others don't have to do, except for the 24". For me this is no good as I wanted this for gaming.
Click to expand...

Wow that is invaluable info, and quite a letdown at the same time. I'd want it for gaming too. Not that I can get it, because it's not available in Europe / The Netherlands. As of yet, anyway. I for one cannot stand input lag as I'm an Unreal Tournament veteran. I see and feel every little bit of lag, ghosting, motion blur, you name it. These days I'm not playing UT anymore and I'm not focused on winning any of the games I play, but I am still a very demanding user. I need a steady 50 fps or higher to be happy playing a shooter. So yes, scaling is going to be important to me. I'm not about to settle for a 1920x1200 display either, because I just love a 30" for my desktop, and I want the extra size. If all else fails I could always run my games in a lower res in 1:1 mode. But upscaling, say 1680x1050 to 2560x1600 would be much better. IF it looks nice enough, that is.

Oh right, I was going to comment on the input lag. :D
Do you have any idea what component or action might be causing the input lag? Do you think it's related to the scaler, or is it continuous, permanent image processing that the XHD3000 is doing? I have read that LCD TV's tend to have that lag problem because of the image processing they do and I'm guessing maybe the XHD3000 has it too because it can be used as a TV? If we know what exactly is causing it, we will know when to be wary of a newly released monitor in the future.

Are there 2 sources for the inputlag that the XHD3000 produces?
1: the image processor
2: the scaling (when used)
I assume the scaler is integrated in its image processing solution.

Do other TFT monitors that have a scaler (but no high quality image processor) introduce input lag too when the scaler is used?

If they DO, I willl be buying myself the HP 30" in a heartbeat. Otherwise, I might wait for the next HP with scaler. (or another 30" that has one)

Do other TFT monitors that have a scaler actually do it better than the nvidia graphics driver? If not, I might as well get the HP now.
 
Roenie said:
First of all thanks to all the posters for the incredible amount of info etc.

I'd like to raise some questions about input lag and scaling, quoting DustinFrazier:



Which is the reason I'm even reading this thread, because I don't own any consoles etc. I just want to be able to play games in less than native resolution, and upscale it. When doing that, I don't want it to get blurry. I've now read several contradicting statements about the upscaling quality. Am I correct in assuming that it upscales other inputs just fine, but the upscaling of a DVI signal from the PC is just not good enough to be happy with? In other words, would I end up running 1:1 mode, with black borders around the image? (This will tell us a lot about the image processor used here.)

I would also really like to know: When you upscaled the DVI input, do you think it looked better, worse, or identical to that of the HP? On the HP you have to use your gfx driver, so that would be an interesting comparison.



Wow that is invaluable info, and quite a letdown at the same time. I'd want it for gaming too. Not that I can get it, because it's not available in Europe / The Netherlands. As of yet, anyway. I for one cannot stand input lag as I'm an Unreal Tournament veteran. I see and feel every little bit of lag, ghosting, motion blur, you name it. These days I'm not playing UT anymore and I'm not focused on winning any of the games I play, but I am still a very demanding user. I need a steady 50 fps or higher to be happy playing a shooter. So yes, scaling is going to be important to me. I'm not about to settle for a 1920x1200 display either, because I just love a 30" for my desktop, and I want the extra size. If all else fails I could always run my games in a lower res in 1:1 mode. But upscaling, say 1680x1050 to 2560x1600 would be much better. IF it looks nice enough, that is.

Oh right, I was going to comment on the input lag. :D
Do you have any idea what component or action might be causing the input lag? Do you think it's related to the scaler, or is it continuous, permanent image processing that the XHD3000 is doing? I have read that LCD TV's tend to have that lag problem because of the image processing they do and I'm guessing maybe the XHD3000 has it too because it can be used as a TV? If we know what exactly is causing it, we will know when to be wary of a newly released monitor in the future.

Are there 2 sources for the inputlag that the XHD3000 produces?
1: the image processor
2: the scaling (when used)
I assume the scaler is integrated in its image processing solution.

Do other TFT monitors that have a scaler (but no high quality image processor) introduce input lag too when the scaler is used?

If they DO, I willl be buying myself the HP 30" in a heartbeat. Otherwise, I might wait for the next HP with scaler. (or another 30" that has one)

Do other TFT monitors that have a scaler actually do it better than the nvidia graphics driver? If not, I might as well get the HP now.
Click to expand...


While I can not compare it to other 30" monitors, I can do so vs my dual 20" Dell 2001FP's. I will be picking this up in about 3 hours (going to UPS distribution to pick it up myself), so I can check this out tomorrow or over the weekend. HTH's.
 
what scaling options does this monitor have?

and does it actually do all of them correctly across all the different inputs?
 
fasteddie_21 said:
While I can not compare it to other 30" monitors, I can do so vs my dual 20" Dell 2001FP's. I will be picking this up in about 3 hours (going to UPS distribution to pick it up myself), so I can check this out tomorrow or over the weekend. HTH's.
Click to expand...

Eager to read about your discoveries.
 
HTH = Hope that helps.

And I'm at work til midnight, but after that, I have all weekend to play around w/ it. Granted I'm no professional reviewer or anything, but I'll give you my impressions over the wknd.
 
Looking forward to your impressions sir. A 30 inch flat panel is just about the last part I need to order for my rig. And also where yall ordered it from.
 
surya said:
Looking forward to your impressions sir. A 30 inch flat panel is just about the last part I need to order for my rig. And also where yall ordered it from.
Click to expand...

excellent so far, bought retail from fry's (ca) $1850


7wu3408.jpg
 
I decided to bite the bullet and ordered myself the HP LP3065. :D I can't wait for it to arrive. It wasn't in stock, so I hope it gets here soon. I think that even if the rumours about a new HP TFT at this size turn out to be true, and it has a scaler, actually using it would probably cause input lag anyway. And ofcourse it'd have to be an S-IPS panel too, and scale better than the nvidia driver of my 8800GTX.

As I said I can't get the Gateway here, but I hear it has input lag issues...
 
Well, I will have the long review up next weekend. Sorry but things got in the way this weekend.

That said, I have to say that thus far, I'm blown away by it. Only have it set up and the colors set up, but seriously, WOW!

Like I said, I'll do up a full review this weekend, but in the meantime here are two shots of my setup w/ it:

img_014020716.jpg


img_014691802.jpg
 
fasteddie_21 said:
Well, I will have the long review up next weekend. Sorry but things got in the way this weekend.

That said, I have to say that thus far, I'm blown away by it. Only have it set up and the colors set up, but seriously, WOW!

Like I said, I'll do up a full review this weekend, but in the meantime here are two shots of my setup w/ it:

img_014020716.jpg


img_014691802.jpg
Click to expand...

nice - what is the simplest way to run 3 monitors like that in windows? i'm assuming you are using 2 video cards, or is this the ultramon i hear about?
 
Nice, thanks!

Ah, is that why you removed it, the wallpaper comment? I thought they were talking about the PC wallpaper ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top