Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP Review

Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP

Score Details

DT Editors' Choice

“...the Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP display performed better than expected.”

Pros

Excellent picture quality; great for gaming; plenty of input options

Cons

Needs color adjustment out of the box; stand tends to wiggle

Summary

While most early adopters and Gen Y-ers are used to the idea of watching TV on their PC using services like Bebo, Hulu, Joost or a million alternatives, now the rest of the world is finally catching up. Have yet to join the party? It’s about time you tuned in – and upgraded your monitor to really enjoy all of these groovy options as they’re meant to be experienced. Thankfully, Dell’s new Ultra-Sharp 2408WFP 24-inch widescreen flat panel monitor can help.

The Dell 2408WFP replaces the previous Dell 2407WFP. Aesthetically, both look pretty much the same, but Dell has added an additional DVI and display port to this year’s model and picture quality has really improved.

For testing purposes, we tried screening a few movies online, starting with the website Hulu and the film Fever Pitch. Not only did video quality exceed expectations, it was also surprisingly clear in full-screen mode. Following a few slight manual adjustments on the 2408WFP, we were suitably impressed by the monitor’s sharp contrast, deep blacks, overall picture brightness and excellent transitions.

What makes the display perform so well is its 1920×1200 resolution, 6ms response time, 3000:1 image contrast ratio and TrueColor technology. Dell also wisely made sure that no matter the media source you’re using, you can hook it up to the 2408WFP without difficulty. Featured connections include DVI, VGA, HDMI, component, and composite inputs, ensuring the monitor easily complements nearly any home or office configuration.

The back of the Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP

When using traditional day-to-day office work applications, the 2408WFP also proved up to the task and had no apparent issues reproducing any number of fonts, pictures or colors. Come break time, we further screened the DVD movie Transformers, and found colors crisp and overall performance exemplary. In fact, when later paired with the GPU-punishing first-person shooter Crysis as well, we weren’t just impressed with general aesthetic quality, but actually felt like we were seeing details overlooked or missed out in previous sessions, making gameplay that much more fun and enjoyable.

There are several on-screen customization choices including brightness and contrast, input source selections, display settings, PIP settings, and more found on the front of the monitor that are very intuitive and easy to use. Frankly, the overall construction of the 2408WFP is quite good, although we did experience a little wobbling while we typed due to the included rear mounted bracket and stand – a not consistently noticeable issue, but still worth a mention. However, that said, the stand does rotate nicely and attaches to the monitor with no trickery. What’s more, included in the box are the stand and all the important cables you’ll need for video hookups, including VGA, DVI and HDMI. (Too bad most TV manufactures don’t include the necessary cables with their products.)

Conclusion

In summary, the Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP display performed better than expected, and we actually noticed a significant improvement over last year’s model. Although 6ms is not a blazing fast reponse rate, we are forgiving considering the monitor’s price. Do yourself a favor and pick one up: Units are available now and retail for around $600 USD – not a bad deal if you ask us.

Pros:

• Excellent picture quality
• Top marks in nearly all viewing categories
• Numerous connections and input options

Cons:

• Needs some color adjustment out of the box
• Stand tends to wiggle

Summary

Editors' Recommendations