Dell have once again added to their impressive armada of flat panel monitors. The 2709W monitor is a 27inch 1900×1200 widescreen flat panel monster. I believe it offers the perfect size to resolution ratio; some argue that the dot pitch (the size of every pixel) is too large, but 5 minutes with this monitor and you will agree with me, Dell got it right!
The 2709W features every possible connection you could ever require, HDMI, DVI, VGA, component, composite, audio out and the new displayport. It also has a USB hub and a 5 in 1 card reader built into the side. The monitor is built brilliantly. The stand is amongst the best I’ve used for height and tilt adjustments, the touch controls are tricky at first but after a few minutes you won’t want to go back to clunky buttons. As hard as I looked, I couldn’t find a single dead or stuck pixel.
I personally don’t like being too much above 1080p because you require too much graphics card horsepower to keep the frame rates up in games. I plugged up my Xbox 360 via the HDMI port and the games looked superb in 1080p. The resolution is also ideal for movies; I loaded up Transformers in HD and the monitor performed superbly. The 2709W is also great for productivity; it’s so convenient to be able to work on two A4 documents side by side!
The 2709W isn’t by any means perfect. The response times are pretty bad, so if you competitively game (first person shooters particularly) then I would definitely avoid this monitor. Also, the screen ships with ridiculous contrast & brightness settings that will need to be changed immediately unless you like looking staring at the sun. Also, for ideal colour reproduction, I’d advise getting or borrowing a calibration tool!
I love this screen, I’m too old and too slow to competitively game, so the 2709W from Dell is absolutely perfect for me!