Gateway XHD3000 - 30" Widescreen Extreme HD Display

silentinjections said:
I ordered my XHD Tuesday of last week and just got it today. It hooked up easily and started without a hitch. I have only gotten to use it for about a half hour, but I am immediately impressed.

The manufacturing date is form November, so I got the new model (thankfully, cause I was very worried). After reading all the pages in this thread and tons of other sources across the web, I decided to buy this monster and it definitely seems, so far, to be a great purchase.

The black levels are awesome. The interface is as cool and intuitive as everyone says.The colors are better than my now secondary monitor (SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22") and the bleeding is alot less.

There is no screw issue, at least none that I have been able to find right out of the box. It also looks amazing on my desk. Crysis is simply stunning, and WoW looks and runs the same regardless of the extra screen space (at least in Orgrimmar).

I will post alot more info, as well as pictures once I have truly broken this bad boy in. So far, I love it.

My system specs:
intel core 2 duo e6600 @ 3.4ghz
Thermaltake CL-P0401 110mm Full-Range Fan CPU Cooler
2x EVGA 8800gts (one of them is the new KO edition)
2gb OCZ DDR 2 1066 pc2 8500
EVGA 680i Mobo
PC Power & cooling Silencer 750 watt PSU
Thermaltake Armor series case (with door fan)
2x WD raptor 75gb in a Raid 0 array
1x WD raptor 150gb
1x WD 320gb SATA
Logitech z5500 5.1 speakers
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consider running that samsung in portrait mode next to the gw, it's a nice look...this is what i had when i first got the gw

7wu3408.jpg


if i had 2 sammys to run in triple monitor mode, i would have gone that route...one on each side
 
silentinjections said:
I would love to do that, but sadly mine doesnt swivel :( .
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mine didn't either :D that is the original base. just unscrew, pivot, and re-screw...the top two screws will go in all the way, the lower two almost so...voila!

(i didn't think it would work either, but it did...and as long as you are not manhandling the monitor, you should have no worries)
 
I started to take mine apart to see if I could manage that, but no way. The model Samsung I actually have, now that I double check the model, is the syncmaster 216bw. Since I cant jerry-rig it, where can I by an arm and what is it called? Thanks.
 
silentinjections said:
I started to take mine apart to see if I could manage that, but no way. The model Samsung I actually have, now that I double check the model, is the syncmaster 216bw. Since I cant jerry-rig it, where can I by an arm and what is it called? Thanks.
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Best Buy has them, just ask a salesperson and they will help you. The thing is, if you cannot remove the current stand, how will you be able to attach an adjustable arm to the monitor?
 
I can remove it, I just cant reattach it anywhere else with the same parts.

On another topic - While using my PS3 to play Blu-ray movies it wont scale to the full 1080p. I have set everything in the Ps3 settings to scale it up and to set it at 1080. I am connected via component btw. If anyone has any info it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

After one days use the verdict is: Worth the money so far :)
 
I just noticed on the back of mine it says manufactured June 2007. June?! How did I get a monitor that wasn't even on sale until October and delivered from Best Buy at the end of November made in June? I just thought that was really odd. Can others check the manufacture date? I am really curious now.

On another note, the display is pretty much perfect besides the ocassional blackout issue. It appears to happen maybe once every 3-4 hours of use from what I've seen. Please everyone that has a XHD3000 report quirks or faults that their unit has.
 
Just got done setting my XHD3000 up, and all I can say is WOW! This thing is amazing. So far I don't seem to have the screw issue, and I haven't used it long enough to determine if I'll have the blackout issue as well. Knock on wood.

I did a quick test run of UT3 and COD4 on max settings at 1920x1440. WOW, such a huge difference compared to what I was previously running at on my Samsung 32", 1360x768 or something similiar. UT3 ran really smooth and hardly slowed down. COD4 ran flawlessly. I pushed COD4 to 2560x1600 but it was too laggy. I'll write a full review within the coming days.

Oh and my screen was manufactured in November 07
 
Vega said:
I just noticed on the back of mine it says manufactured June 2007. June?! How did I get a monitor that wasn't even on sale until October and delivered from Best Buy at the end of November made in June? I just thought that was really odd. Can others check the manufacture date? I am really curious now.

On another note, the display is pretty much perfect besides the ocassional blackout issue. It appears to happen maybe once every 3-4 hours of use from what I've seen. Please everyone that has a XHD3000 report quirks or faults that their unit has.
Click to expand...

I have Sept.
 
slight 1 sec flicker when i delete files, but that might be the dual dvi cable connect/video card...this baby is too big for me to fiddle around in the back, i''m good for now

build august 2007
 
Well, my wife and I hooked up her new Gateway to her Mac Quad G5 with a Nvidia 7800GT and we were stunned. This is an amazing display. Beautiful doesn't do it justice. The product tour that is built in is fantastic but we are having some problems that Windows users may not experience. There a CD worth of software for the PC but not for the Mac. The on screen controls are slick and work well. I'll check the manufacture date later and report. No screw problem noticed, and the lighting is uniform.

First, this graphics card is "supposed" to be able to run at 2550 x 1600 on one of its' two DVI ports, but if you set the resolution the monitor blacks out, then blinks between 100% black across the whole monitor, to the left side screen displaying half of the 2550 x 1600. You can't adjust anything and have to turn off the computer. Restating that, the screen blinks on and off and when it is "on" only the left side of the screen blinks "on" and you can see that the resolution is the 2550 x 1600, but you can't do anything about it.

I switched out the DVI cables and nothing made a difference. So for now I'm assuming it is a graphics card problem. I hopped on ebay bought a slightly better card from ATI that is made for this G5 Mac (ATI X1900). It is supposed to be able to run two 30" displays, so I'm hoping it will work.

The monitor DID run fine at the 1920 x 1200 resolution but didn't look that great. The best default setting was a 1280 x 900 setting.

We have a Macbook Pro and I hooked the DVI out on the laptop to the Gateway and set the resolution to the 2550 x 1600 and it looked crisp and clear and so that convinced us that it was worth the risk to get a new card for her computer and pray the ATI card enables us to use the Gateway at the 2550 x 1600 resolution.

Secondly, Apple has a built in calibration program for displays and we could not get it and monitor to work together. It was almost like the contrast setting on the remote control didn't really change the screen although it said it was (the numbers went up and down), I would like to know if anyone else has played with the remote and the contrast setting. And how would you suggest calibrating this monitor.

Out of the box the colors look rich but the monitor is quite dark and I was having some trouble getting the color to be acceptable, I think I'll figure this out eventually, but I'm waiting somewhat for the new card. I really hate to spend money on a calibrator but I may have to unless someone has ideas or tips (those of you who have had the monitor longer).

We love the monitor but we have issues to work out on the Mac platform and I'll post more as we test it. I sure hope we can get the 2550 x 1600 to work as that would be a deal breaker as anyone who uses this monitor will really want to work in that resolution.

No time to test other equipment being hooked up but maybe after the holidays.

Oh, I almost forgot, I know we are all pretty geeky here, but that sound bar is really excellent. My wife loved her sound sticks but one listen to the Gateway and she said, "Maybe we can sell those too with the Apple display." I used the optical connection and it is clean, clear but could use a bit more base. Unfortunately, I didn't see a connection for a sub-woofer on the Gateway. That would be really nice

:: DH
 
Donut,

Sounds like your graphics card. I'd get the new one.
 
Here is what I have discovered about the brief blackout issue after about a week of using the XHD3000. It does not happen ever with the HDMI port. Using the DVI port, it happens anywhere from zero to three times during about a five hour period of use at night. I have had it happen while web-surfing and in Eve Online. I would say the duration is about 1.5 seconds. Also, when it goes black, the sound cuts out of the speakers. It appears to me to be some sort of input select error. I am using about a twelve foot DVI cable, so I wonder if the signal is dropping below a certain threshold of signal strength if you will. I will try plugging in a different, shorter DVI cable and I will report my findings.

The dilemma I have is whether I should return it or not because of this "fault". Besides this problem, the LCD looks and runs great. Being in Iraq, the chances of damage or shipping problems and cost of sending it back and then waiting for another are quite large. Not to mention the replacement monitor could have other faults like stuck/dead pixels and could also still have the blackout issue.

What would you guy's do?
 
Personally, I think it's worth taking it back, but rather than doing it now, I'll wait until newer builds come out. I got the 3-year warrenty, so I may even wait for next year's model.

It's a defect that would fit the warrenty's guidelines in my opinion. I'd just rather wait and get a new revision or model while I'm at it
 
Here is my review of the XHD3000. I've only had it for a few days, but I've used it enough to give a qualifying perspective on it.

The main purpose for this display was for gaming at high resolutions. My old 32" LCD just wasn't cutting it anymore. While I lost two inches, I don't notice much of a difference. The higher resolutions are much needed and a fair trade off. I took the display out of the nicely packaged box and was ready to go. Currently I have the following connections,
1) DVI - PC
2) Component - Xbox360
3) HDMI - High Definition DVR Cablebox, Cablevision

I decided not to use the speaker bar that came with the display as I have a 5.1 speaker setup, and I personally think the speaker bar looks ugly when connected. The overall design of the monitor is fantastic. It is very heavy and seems to be well built. I love the touch buttons that are used to operate the display's on-screen menu. There are many options to choose from and everything is easily navigated. I did notice that my UP scrolling bottom doesn't work all the time, forcing me to keep scrolling DOWN if I want to select a certain item. This issue is small enough for me to overlook.

My manufacturing date is November 07 and I immediately checked to see if I had the visible screw issue, and thankfully I didn't. I also did a dead pixel test and didn't find one, so far so good. I have yet done a extensive session with the display so I can't comment whether or not I have the blackout issue. It hasn't happen yet so lets hope it stays that way.

So after I set Vista's resolution to 1600x1200 (Anything higher and I was straining too much to view web sites properly, don't know how some of you do it!) I fired up Unreal Tournament 3, my game of choice. I adjusted the resolution to 1920x1440 and cranked up all the settings to max, V-Sync disabled however. Loaded up a game of Warfare and I was blown away by how beautiful, crisp, and bright everything looked. I can't believe I use to game as 1360x768, I'll never go back! I am now in gamers heaven. I also tested out Call of Duty 4 with max settings and the same resolution and couldn't get over the huge difference in sharpness and quality of the textures. If you are a hardcore gamer, you NEED this screen.

Next I decided to see if Gateway's ExtremeHD 1600p upscaling could prove itself any justice. I turned on my cablebox and turned to a random movie channel, HBO. Immediately I saw a huge difference over my old display. Standard channels now looked extremely close to HD quality. It is amazing how much more detail and clarity there is on my non-HD channels. Every non-HD channel was being upscaled gorgeously to 780p. Next I tried a Showtime HD, catching the middle of Hostel. This is were the display really shines, no pun intended. The channel was being upscaled to 1600p and it is something that you need to see to believe. I could see, with great detail and clarity, the smallest wrinkles and lines on the actor's faces. It's ridiculous how smooth and fine the image is. I thought 1600p upscaling was some cheap marketing scheme. I am wrong. I am wrong. Film and media enthusiasts, this is your ultimate display.

Next I threw on an episode of The Sopranos on HD-DVD via my Xbox360 HD-DVD Player. Similar to that of that HD channel, the image is magnificently upscaled to 1600p, creating an image that is unsurpassed in quality and definition. Meadow Soprano never looked so hot!

If you are thinking of getting a XHD3000, stop thinking and whip out the credit card. You don't regret it.
 
Ohh my, please tell me you are not running your OS at 1600x1200 on this monitor. 1st, that is a 4:3 ratio and the scaler chip will strain to stretch that out to widescreen. 2nd, run 2560x1600 resolution and just increase Vista and your internet explorer's font sizes if they are too small to read. There is absolutely no reason to run this monitor at anything but native in a OS. Now, in games, if your games play too slow that's a different story. But if you do downscale, try and keep a widescreen resolution. ;)
 
Vega said:
Ohh my, please tell me you are not running your OS at 1600x1200 on this monitor. 1st, that is a 4:3 ratio and the scaler chip will strain to stretch that out to widescreen. 2nd, run 2560x1600 resolution and just increase Vista and your internet explorer's font sizes if they are too small to read. There is absolutely no reason to run this monitor at anything but native in a OS. Now, in games, if your games play too slow that's a different story. But if you do downscale, try and keep a widescreen resolution. ;)
Click to expand...


Thanks for the heads up! I didn't know that could happen to the scaler chip. I

did increase the font size of Vista which is good, but in Firefox when you increase the text size it almost always overlaps the layout and design of the website, crashing into other text and images and plain out looks bad. Is there anything you suggest I adjust to make the larger font appear more natural?
 
TheGooch69 said:
did increase the font size of Vista which is good, but in Firefox when you increase the text size it almost always overlaps the layout and design of the website, crashing into other text and images and plain out looks bad. Is there anything you suggest I adjust to make the larger font appear more natural?
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You might want to try and see if the same happens with IE or Opera to determine if the problem is app specific. Those browsers might render pages better or have better font scaling. OOC, reading your other post, you didn't mention (unless I missed it) that you selected the native resolution of 2560x1600 for any of your tasks. If true, why did you purchase a WQXGA display and not a 32" or greater TV panel instead?
 
APOLLO said:
You might want to try and see if the same happens with IE or Opera to determine if the problem is app specific. Those browsers might render pages better or have better font scaling. OOC, reading your other post, you didn't mention (unless I missed it) that you selected the native resolution of 2560x1600 for any of your tasks. If true, why did you purchase a WQXGA display and not a 32" or greater TV panel instead?
Click to expand...

Please explain, I have no idea what you are talking about.
 
Vega,

As sad as you must feel, I'd return the display too, I mean try the shorter cable, but you have problem of a different order, get a later date and definitely get the 3 yr warr as well. I hope you are right on the graphics card for my problem, I went ahead and bought the ATI X1900 for the PCI G5 mac....and I hope I didn't blow the money, but I think it's the card.

And YES defiinitely...run this monitor at 2550....!!!!!

Adding this later: My is a Nov 2007 date as well.
 
Tamlin_WSGF said:
Try using zoom function instead. In most browsers its either ctrl + -/+ or only -/+. :)
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Yes, that's what I do. Internet Explorer looks fine when I enlarge the text. Sadly though, Firefox doesn't :( I'll deal with it though, I am loyal to Mozilla.

Vega, call Gateway and see what they say. I would try to return it. I am going to try to do an extensive run of my monitor and see if I get a blackout problem. If not, then you know it's an issue they fixed and you should request a display manufactured in Nov 07 or later.
 
APOLLO said:
You might want to try and see if the same happens with IE or Opera to determine if the problem is app specific. Those browsers might render pages better or have better font scaling. OOC, reading your other post, you didn't mention (unless I missed it) that you selected the native resolution of 2560x1600 for any of your tasks. If true, why did you purchase a WQXGA display and not a 32" or greater TV panel instead?
Click to expand...

OOC? What?
 
TheGooch69 said:
Yes, that's what I do. Internet Explorer looks fine when I enlarge the text. Sadly though, Firefox doesn't :( I'll deal with it though, I am loyal to Mozilla.
Click to expand...

Minefield (firefox 3 beta) does zoom properly, but increasing minimum font size looks bad. Tried it just now on a page I know hates larger fonts. Zoom ok, larger minimum fonts (tried 24) looks bad on this site: http://www.vg.no/

Latest beta can be found here:
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/?C=M;O=D
 
TheGooch69 said:
Yes, that's what I do. Internet Explorer looks fine when I enlarge the text. Sadly though, Firefox doesn't :( I'll deal with it though, I am loyal to Mozilla.

Vega, call Gateway and see what they say. I would try to return it. I am going to try to do an extensive run of my monitor and see if I get a blackout problem. If not, then you know it's an issue they fixed and you should request a display manufactured in Nov 07 or later.
Click to expand...

Hello,
I do this on Firefox in MAC OSX and in Windows. Hold down the ctrl key and press + to zoom a level and - to unzoom a level. Pressing + numerous times keeps zooming.

Les
 
TheGooch69 said:
just downloaded Minefield, zoom works a lot better. Thanks! Now if my favorite extensions will just get upgraded :p
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Glad you have found a solution. Are you using the native 2560x1600 resolution for your desktop now?
 
Hey all,
I still havent heard from anyone about my aforementioned issue with the PS3 Blu-Ray disc upscaling. To reiterate: I have set every setting to 1080p in the PS3, but it always changes it to 720 when the movie loads. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

After a few more days of using my XHD, I am noticing some issues.
-I am receiving the blackout crap. It only happens once every 4 or so hours, but it is very random. It only lasts for one second. This only seems to happen when using it in PC mode, which I find strange because this is a MONITOR and not a TV.
-I am experiencing the weird static-y sound when I scroll down in in a web browser.
This only started today and only since I connected the speaker to the monitor.

I will call gateway this week I suppose to see what can be done about these issues and if they have figured out the source of the problem. I really do not want to send this back...

Just a reminder: mine is a November model.
 
Mine's a Nov model too, so that blackout issue is a bit scary to hear about.

New or old issue as someone else mentioned it a week or so....

Calibrating this monitor, I was thinking of getting the Spyder2Pro and it wants to be able to adjust the RGB channels individually and the White Point, I didn't see these controls in the onscreen displays....did I miss them??

Some monitors apparently work hand in hand with calibration software, does anyone know if the Gateway supports being calibrated through a third-party hardware/software solution like the Spyder series of calibrators.

Thanks!
 
silentinjections said:
Hey all,
I still havent heard from anyone about my aforementioned issue with the PS3 Blu-Ray disc upscaling. To reiterate: I have set every setting to 1080p in the PS3, but it always changes it to 720 when the movie loads. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

After a few more days of using my XHD, I am noticing some issues.
-I am receiving the blackout crap. It only happens once every 4 or so hours, but it is very random. It only lasts for one second. This only seems to happen when using it in PC mode, which I find strange because this is a MONITOR and not a TV.
-I am experiencing the weird static-y sound when I scroll down in in a web browser.
This only started today and only since I connected the speaker to the monitor.

I will call gateway this week I suppose to see what can be done about these issues and if they have figured out the source of the problem. I really do not want to send this back...

Just a reminder: mine is a November model.
Click to expand...

Silent, thank's for your input. This means that monitors even manufactured up to November also are afflicted by the random blackout issue. That means there is no point in returning mine, seeing as I could get one back with the same issue and even dead/stuck pixels which my current one does not have. As you have stated, the blackout issue seems to be pretty random. For me it will happen zero to three times in about a 5 hour period. Although it's not totaly pissing me off, it is still annoying, especially for a screen that costs $1700.

As for the static sound you hear in web pages, sorry I do not have a similar problem,. The speakers are actually quite good for ones included with a monitor. Lastly, if your monitor is showing 720p it's a PS3 problem and not the LCD. Are you sure the disc you bought is 1080p? Check the back of the disc, it might say 720p. I have noticed that unless you uncheck everything in the PS3 setup besides what you want to run at, it has problems setting the correct output. Ohh and try and use 1080i instead of 1080p, the XHD3000 does a better job of upscaling 1080i then it does 1080p.
 
silentinjections said:
Hey all,
I still havent heard from anyone about my aforementioned issue with the PS3 Blu-Ray disc upscaling. To reiterate: I have set every setting to 1080p in the PS3, but it always changes it to 720 when the movie loads. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

After a few more days of using my XHD, I am noticing some issues.
-I am receiving the blackout crap. It only happens once every 4 or so hours, but it is very random. It only lasts for one second. This only seems to happen when using it in PC mode, which I find strange because this is a MONITOR and not a TV.
-I am experiencing the weird static-y sound when I scroll down in in a web browser.
This only started today and only since I connected the speaker to the monitor.

I will call gateway this week I suppose to see what can be done about these issues and if they have figured out the source of the problem. I really do not want to send this back...

Just a reminder: mine is a November model.
Click to expand...

Just wanted to comment on the static-y sound.

Mine is a high pitched that is on constantly, but vairies in pitch as a scroll. I knew it was the monitor, but had no idea it had to do with the speakers... I have my Logitech speakers hooked up through the monitor's 'output' and just turned them off, then the high pitched sound left
 
I have blackout issues with my FPD2185W, but it happens only a few times a week. Basically, the display will blackout for about a second and the image reappears. It will do that several times and stop altogether. By pressing the power button on and off I can force it to stop. Sometimes however, it will just blackout and nothing will make the display work except pulling the power cord. I believe this problem was attributed to a faulty PSU, can't say for sure about the XHD3000.

It's disappointing to hear similar issues being reported across very different Gateway displays. The FHD2400 owners are now reporting progressive backlight bleeding, and the FPD2185W was also notorious for random backlight bleeding as well. There seems to be a great amount of variance with Gateway displays even within the same product range. One owner can have a perfect monitor will another is plagued with all sorts of issues. It's like a crap shoot with Gateway indicating serious quality control problems with their manufacturing.
 
Thanks for the input guys. The PS3 issue was all my doing and not the monitor's. The only thing im having an issue with now, is the movie "the Fountain." This is the only movie that wont play at 1080i or 1080p and it has that support. I will keep fiddling with it, and hopefully I will get it to work.

Thanks for the info on the static sound jonny, I will see about messing with the audio inputs next.

I will not be returning my monitor anytime soon because I think I got a good one out of the bunch and do not want to risk getting anything worse. Hopefully Gateway will get it together after the holiday season.

I might just end up buying the Samsung 305t to use with my PC, and use the gateway as my movie/console gaming monitor, as it seems to handle everything but the PC to perfection. I will get to putting up a review with some pictures hopefully within the month once ive had a chance to test everything very thoroughly.

And one last thing I forgot to mention: Mine came with one damn dead pixel.
 
Hello,
If you return your monitor, who pays shipping both ways? What is their Pixel policy? The blackout issue has me concerned that if I bought one of their monitors, it would eventually have to be returned to the mothership, which is no fun because that means you get a refurb in it's place most likely.

Les
 
Hi,
I'm reading the Dell 3008 thread to see their spin. What do you guys think of the Dell 3008 vs the XHD3000? I'm trying to decide.

Les
 
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