Dell's U2412M is aimed at the business market, which might
excuse the fact that it’s twice the price of a budget 24in monitor. You get a
lot for your money, though.
Unusually, the IPS screen has 1920x1200 pixels rather than
the usual 1920x1080. This may not sound much, but in practice it’s a
significant amount of extra space.
The fully adjustable screen can be raised or lowered, and
you can switch it to portrait mode or swivel it 45° either side. It also has a four-port USB hub,
which is handy for attaching devices to your PC. The screen has a matt
anti-glare finish, which is suitable for office environments with fluorescent
lighting.
An onscreen display helps you adjust image quality. Controls
consist of four unmarked buttons; press one, and a menu pops up telling you
what it's for. When the display first appears, you can adjust brightness and
contrast and choose image presets. Some presets allow hue and saturation
adjustment, while others don't. Strangely, the color temperature setting is
also a preset, even though it applies its changes no matter which preset you’ve
already chosen.
Viewing angles are excellent, so you can view the screen
from almost any angle without a reduction in image quality. Reflections are
almost non-existent. Colors aren't as accurate as on other IPS panels we’ve
seen, though. In our tests, blues and greens were out of kilter, which made
reds stand out more.
However, colors are still deeper and more natural than those
of any budget 24in monitor we've seen, and only in a side-by-side comparison
with a better IPS panel would you notice a difference. The U2412M also has a
DisplayPort input, which could be useful if you have a modern AMD graphics card
and want to have a multi-monitor setup.
The U2412M is a good monitor with a lot of desirable
features, such as an adjustable stand and a four-port USB hub, but compared
with the latest batch of budget IPS monitors it looks expensive. Fans of the
larger resolution should save up a bit more for Hazro's HZ27WC or buy two
ViewSonic VX2336s-LEDs.
Technical data
Price: $299
Verdict: Great for desktop and gaming, but it’s
expensive compared to new budget IPS panels
24in widescreen LCD: 1920x1200 native resolution, VGA, DVI
inputs, four-port USB hub, 1x DisplayPort
Part code: 860-10148
Details: www.dell.com
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