Review: Dell 30-inch LCD Display
Last week I wrote about my first impressions of the new Santa Rosa Apple MacBook Pro, which I purchased after selling my 24-inch iMac. Since the MacBook Pro is now my main machine I had to spice it up with a larger external LCD. I bought myself an early birthday present, the Dell 3007WFPHC display.
Why Dell and not Apple?
This particular Dell display holds many, many advantages over the equivalent Apple display that in my opinion far outweigh the aesthetics of the Apple model. The HC in Dell 3007WFPHC stands for High Color. Dell isn’t joking either. The Dell display features a 92% color gamut versus the typical 72% color gamut found on “regular” LCD displays. Color gamut is a fancy phrase for how many colors the display can accurately represent. In this case, it can display more colors than typical displays.
The Dell display also boasts an impressive 1000:1 contrast ratio compared to the 30-inch Apple display’s 700:1 contrast ratio. To round it out, the Dell display is much cheaper, features a stand that takes up less space and height can be adjusted (Apple displays can only pivot). Oh and the Dell display has a USB hub and memory card reader. I also think the Dell display is brighter but don’t take my word on it.
Thoughts
As soon as I took the display out of its big box and set it on my desk, I instantly took note of how sturdy the display was. The stand feels small for the size of the display but it is well crafted and stays put. Everything about the display feels solid yet adjusting the display up, down or side to side is effortless. I was thoroughly pleased that the display can be vertically set fairly low, the way I like it.
The integrated USB hub and memory card readers on the left of the display are alright, but nothing special. I did notice that the card reader can’t read SDHC (high capacity, often found with 4GB and larger SD cards) memory cards. There are 2 USB ports on the left and 2 on the back.
The display does not have an image processor and only has a single DVI connection. The lack of an image processor means there are no On-screen Display (OSD) visuals depicting setting levels and the such. This is fine with me as I’ll only be using a digital signal with the DVI input. However, some people might be a little irked that the 3007WFPHC does not support multiple DVI connections or something like HDMI for your Blu-ray/HD-DVD player. But then again many Blu-ray/HD-DVD players output in DVI as well. If you ever go that route, I ask that you buy the BBC Planet Earth Blu-ray/HD-DVD set as it is a must for showing off your display’s high definition excellence to your friends.
You can only control power and brightness with 3 touch-sensitive buttons on the bottom right corner of the display.
As you can easily tell, this display is massive; perhaps too massive. My desk is only about 2 feet deep and then the display takes up about 7 inches of that depth. I am actually considering getting a larger desk as I am leaning back in my chair writing this now. If you’re too close to the display you will have to move your head a bit to see everything, but if you’re too far the small text might be frustrating. For me, a comfortable computing position is about 30-36 inches away from the display.
I mentioned above how the Dell 3007WFPHC has excellent color gamut. I quickly noticed that I was not used to that type of color. Coming from using “regular” LCD displays for many years and suddenly going to a professional, high color gamut display was a sharp change. Colors seem very vibrant. Greens are really green, reds are really red, etcetera (Keep in mind I am using the proper Dell color profile and calibrated it in OS X). It just takes some getting used to but is definitely a good thing and works in hand with the higher contrast.
Viva La Resolution!
The 3007WFPHC, like many 30-inch displays of this caliber, can pull off an amazing 2560×1600 resolution. That’s greater than High Definition, which is defined as 1920×1080 for 1080p. Here’s an example screen shot of what is capable:
As I’m writing this now, I have two large Firefox windows open - one where I’m writing and one where I’m previewing this article. It definitely speeds up my work flow in that I don’t have to flip from tab to tab and lose my place. One counterargument might be to use two smaller, cheaper displays rather than one massive one. For me I like having everything in the same pane rather than split up - just a personal choice. That and you can extend a movie seamlessly on one larger display.
Here’s another example showcasing the perfection that is 2560×1600 resolution. The F1 video playing in the middle is 1080p HD. Check out how much extra space is left.
I am very impressed with this display and the only things I have said that might be perceived as negatives are a product of how great this LCD really is: 1) not being used to a 30-inch display right in front of me, 2) not being used to high contrast and high color gamut.
The Dell 3007WFPHC currently sells for around $1500 USD, which is a great price compared to when it debuted at $2500 USD. If you consider purchasing this LCD, make sure your computer has a dual-link DVI connection. If it doesn’t, you won’t be able to use the native 2560×1600 resolution.
Paul… great post….. love the Dells I went with dual 24in Dell 2407’s love them….
Mike
Wow. I wish my MacBook could put out like that! That’s a really nice set up.
Is that Pownce in your second screen shot? How’s the AIR client?
Holy crap. An early birthday present? That’s quite the self-gift. At least we’re not being frugal. :)
That display should be absolutely awesome design work - the HC gamut as you mentioned would be quite useful for that line of work. Plus that’s just a massive resolution. Ahhh the multi-tasking possibilities, although I wonder sometimes if a multi-monitor would be more effective (vertical resolution doesn’t seem to be as important as horizontal resolution). I wonder when they start fitting LED backlights on these things.
Dell also launched a HC version of the 2407FPW recently. I feel somewhat limited by the 1680×1050 resolution of the 20″ display I’ve got now and I’m taking a hard look at that monitor now - unfortunately, I haven’t got quite enough cash for the 30″ version.
Hey Paul, How about elaborating on the calibration process, maybe a HOWTO?
@Jeff - OS X has a calibration wizard that is pretty easy to follow. If I wrote a how to it would seriously be two sentences..
Paul, awesome setup.. I was looking into the 24″ Dell and the base MBP as an upgrade to my current macbook. But now seeing the 30″….I may have to upgrade. Derek peaked my interest when he got his, but now seeing this, I may have to get the 30″ instead of the 24. haha
Paul, very nice. Puts my Samsung 213T to shame! How’s it compare to similar offerings from Samsung like the 305T? I’ve had several Samsung LCDs and have loved every one of them… I looked at a Dell LCD before I got the 213T and I picked the Samsung because it was a better monitor. I justified the additional cost by letting my dad pay for it. Unfortunately, now that I have a job and whatnot I don’t think he’ll foot the bill, so cheaper is better :).
A word of warning- at my last job I got a shiny new MBP and 30″ Apple display- I brought in my nice height adjustable corner desk and perched the monitor on an arm back in the corner about 15″ from my face- the real estate was awesome- productivity was great- but the entire year I worked there, I had headaches from my eyes having to move so far from window to window, and neck aches from the minute movements my neck would make throughout the day so i could view things in various areas of the screen. I work at home now with a 20″ monitor, though I feel a 23″ would be fine as well.
Great review, makes me want to run out to the stores and get one myself, if only I had the money and table space to spare.
I think sometimes we can really get spoilt by the quality of high quality monitors; I work in a animation studio and get to use a 23 inch HP monitor with great colours and gamut, so when viewing webpages and graphics they look really fantastic. The minute I reach home and turn on my 19 inch Acer monitor everything just looks bad by comparison.
holly… friggin… crap. That’s ridiculous. and on a desk that’s 2 feet deep!? you so crazy
I laughed when I saw you walk in the door with a Dell box, after all those years of you preaching the supremacy of Apple products and me being a stalwart of Dell monitors. The WFP series is by bar the best series of screens to hit the world since the 22″ Dell CRTs. I’m guessing the MBP only has one mini-dvi? dual 2407WFPs would have been more useful as you could rotate them 90*s when coding. That’s my goal 2 or 3 24″ widescreens, 3 might be overkill though but what else is new.
@roomy - MBP has a single, dual-link DVI (not mini)
Wow, that one costs $2760 here in Norway :\
Paul, is the light on the power button blue? That’s much better than the green light on my 2407WFP.
@Don - yup, it’s a nice blue.
Nice review, Paul. I’ve been thinking about getting a Mac Pro along with one of these awesome displays as my primary setup. I think I’m definitely sold on the 30″ just considering the mammoth size and incredible specs. Also, with the price been considerably lower than Apple’s Cinema of the same size, I’ll probably be going with the Dell.
Paul,
First of all, happy birthday. That monitor is definitely sweet… I’ve got a 30 inch at Google and love it. If I had to guess I’d say your background picture is taken from Treasure Island last summer for the car show… yes? I believe I took that same picture. Looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks.
Phil
@Phil - spot on: http://flickr.com/photos/pauls/174319875/
Even after a year, I still use it as my main wallpaper. Maybe this summer I’ll be able to retake the same pic w/ my dslr.
You have a 30-inch at Google? deeaaaaaamnn. That is nice for an intern. See ya in July mate.
That’s pretty sweet. I might have to spring for one of these for Christmas or something. I have a Dell 2407FPW, and even though it’s the updated revision that fixes the banding, my vision is good enough that I can tell that it’s not doing 24 bit color. I could definitely use that 92% gamut.
I’ll probably be getting a 17″ WUXGA Santa Rosa MBP too, so maybe you won’t be the only one showing off at WordCamp. :-)
Haha, nice. See you at WordCamp Mark! BTW, Phil (Google intern above my previous comment) will be there too. =)
With that resolution you’ll have problems finding a decent wallpaper of that sizes :P
I’m considering the Dell 2407FPW-HC, dunno when it arrives here though. I’m also trying to find out if it supports 1:1 pixelmapping at 1080p as with 2407FPW Rev A03.
Hmm, seems there will be a lot of 22’s and 2’s around at the cheap now everyone’s going for the 30′. Good for me!
Nearly $1300USD for a monitor? I can’t even imagine.
I got myself a 20 inch LG widescreen (2000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response rate, and all the other goodies) for about $250USD and I couldn’t be happier.
I dunno maybe it’s just me, but I can’t imagine having a 30 inch monitor when I could setup 5x 20inch screens in succession for the same price (not that I would).
Do you have to deal with changing icon sizes when you “dock” and “undock” your computer from the display so you can see them?
How will Leopards resolution independence help you out with such a massive display?
Are you now a consumer of eye drops?
Is that “Pownce” I see in the screenshot with the video? If so, will there be a review soon?
Great review. May I ast where you got the 1080p F1 video.
wow! I’m just blown away… by the quality of your review photos! :) The DSLR really makes a difference.
And the size of that thing… man! I think that’s bigger than our TV!
@Ash
It’s worth it. Especially if you’re going to be staring at it all day. I’d rather pay $1300 for the monitor and scale back a bit on the specs for the computer. A nice, big, high quality monitor makes a huge difference in productivity and comfort.
Using multiple, smaller monitors is an option, but can be just as expensive once you get all the hardware installed and deal with ongoing maintenance issues… if you have five monitors, for example, you’d have to have multiple graphics cards, which is an additional expense.
Great post Paul. Sounds like Dell is the way to go….better performance at a cheaper price. What more could you ask for.
Paul
I was hoping for some real dirt on why you went with Dell and ditched Apple, but your blog post left me still wondering what to do with my looming decision. If you were a professional photographer, would you still buy the Dell or would the Apple be a better choice for how it displays images?
Awesome display. I sold my 20 inch Apple to Dimitry a couple of months ago and really miss being able to work on a big screen. I bought a Mac Book Pro about 4 or 5 months ago. Does it also have the connections necessary for this display?
Just bought two for the new workstation I built up. GeForce 8800GTX to drive them.
I was holding out for LED backlighting but found out they will not be as bright (Samsung 30″ w/LED Backlighting specs).
Dell takes two weeks to ship.
Nice review. It’s funny how Dell has completely dominated the monitor biz. I wouldn’t buy one of their computers but I wouldn’t buy a monitor anywhere else.
@Kirk - it was an IMAX HD file, only a few minutes, that I found on Zudeo a while back.
@Rob - if you look in the pics I’m driving the display with my MacBook Pro, so it works. Just double-check that your older MBP supports dual-link DVI.
Awesome stuff.
I’ve got a Dell 2407 (24 inches, unsurprisingly) and I was fairly blown away at just how good the quality is. Even though I have a 22-inch Samsung 226b at work and have used various other relatively high-end LCD displays, none of them can match the sheer colour gamut and quality of the Dell. Which I found weird as I’d never really associated Dell with high-quality components that much before.
But it’s not just the panel that’s great, but also the extensibility; having a collection of SD/Smart/USB/etc ports hidden on the side of the monitor is extremely convenient, and beats the hell out of using an external one like I did before. The stand is great too, with all its rotatory action.
I’m looking forward to Dell inheriting the 24-inch LED-based display technology that Samsung unveiled in an upcoming monitor towards the beginning of the year, which I’m sure you’ve also all seen in the latest MacBook Pros.
Great 30″ monitor , i’m planning on getting one myself .
It’s very annoying to read reviews of big monitors here in Croatia, where they cost double the price :/. But, congratulations, it’s a nice setup, although I’m personally considering a dual or maybe even a triple monitor setup (:
Wow, that looks like a really nice set up. I could see how going with the 30″ monitor would replace the need of using two smaller monitors. That sounds like something that I could work towards getting in the future!
Daniel Del Real
DelRealProperty.com
Even a 24-inch beauty is pretty excellent as a dual monitor alternative, with its 1920×1200 resolution supposedly being the same as two pieces of A4 paper; it’s enough for me to comfortably have Photoshop, Firefox and mIRC all open simultaneously, anyway. :)
I much prefer the “throw stuff around” feel of a big widescreen rather than dual monitors though, that’s for sure. At work I used to have two 1280×1024 monitors, and I really hated running my stuff in maximised windows on the two and then flicking between which one was active on each screen. Just clicking on part of the window you want is 100,000% more intuitive IMO.
By the way, this not be relevant to that many of you but bear in mind the hardware implications that running games on the high resolutions that 24-inch+ monitors bring with them. Do some research if you value your performance.
Way to include the Pownce client on your screenshot!
I’ve got a 24″ Dell LCD and I maximize everything. Trying to make me fit in windows between each other is torture for some reason. I’m sure in a month’s time after getting a 30″, I’ll find a way to think it’s a bit too small.
As you noted in your pevious review of the MBP, the unit gets hot (running in open mode and native resolution). How hot does it get now that you run it in closed mode and have it “power” the significantly higher resolution?
@Ingo, temperatures actually don’t seem to have fluctuated heavily with lid closed mode and the display. Yes it does have to process more pixels but that is far from the horsepower required for 3D applications, of which the 8600M GT and its appropriate cooling solution was designed for. Just to be on the safe side, I have smcFanControl on and keep tabs on the temperatures. If I’m doing CPU-intensive things and it gets hot, I can manually ramp up the fan speed.
Sweet, that’s good news considering the heat issues (and thus often fans running on max speed) that many people seem to have with their new MBPs.
Boy the world has moved on - when I was your age my birthday presents were Albums (not even CD’s!!!)
Nice review - personally I would go with 2 x 23″ rather than 1 x 30″ but I can see your logic and it does look very nice.
Happy Birthday :-)
Really nice setup. I love how good the monitor actually is to just look at. The little blue button in the bottom right… beautiful.
Also, that large resolution really makes me jealous. Now I want to go out and buy a 30″.
Heh Don Wilson, surely not your web browser though? Liquid sites look totally ridiculous when maximised at this size. :~
Incidentally though, the whole “arrange your windows so they all appear neatly on the screen” thing like in Paul’s screenshot is a bit impractical and I don’t know many people who do it. The method of choice I’ve seen is to just toss everything all over the place, overlapping if need be, and then just click on part of the window you want to use.
I guess if you don’t like the look of windows being behind each other with overlap it might not be so good. I have OCD though and it still doesn’t really bother me. :D
Looks great, congratulations!
Excellent write-up on the display, Paul. Happy nameday!
I had no idea they had High Color displays. *hmmmm*
I’ve got the 2407. It’s my favorite. I might upgrade to the 27, but I feel like the 30 is a better deal. You should call me because I have things I cant put in writing that you might like to know. :-)
Colin
Druel.
Like what, Colin?
nice purchase! How does the macbook fair temp wise being used closed?
Too high of a resolution for my eyes, although it seems nice.
Paul, I use a 22″ with my Macbook, and use the 13″ MP display for Adium and Skype. I am curious why you close the MBP rather than doing the same?
Nice review!
One thing, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I am almost certain that this LCD monitor will not work with the DVI signal that comes out of an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player. There needs to be a special decoding chipset on the AD board in the monitor, and most computer LCDs will not have that.
Ryan, I maximize everything. ;)
Just a force of habit.
@Paul, i think you should get either griffin icurve or elevator to let the heat off your mbp flow better. I am using the former and like it better than the latter. I even let the display lid opened up (display remains off) after my mbp is powered on to get rid as much heat traps as possible.
That’s a great review, that makes me run to the stores and get one myself. In this modern world everytime the market suggest us some new very nice products
holy moly - I would like to have that !
Great review …
@Paul. Awesome display! But does the system lag even with your maxed out RAM?
@Colin - nope no slow down at all. it has a dedicated video card and it’s only running 2D which really isn’t much for a video card of its caliber.
@Paul - awesome! now im deciding to get a huge monitor of my own. cheers
@Paul - if you haven’t yet gotten your table but want to lean back and read text, you can use apple’s nifty magnification to stop you from squinting (:
Congrats and an awesome setup. I was considering the same display, but couldn’t bring myself to spend that kind of cash. My profession doesn’t require me to have a large display like that, so I wouldn’t see a return in my investment. But it sure would have been nice.
I just recently purchased a MBP and just this morning hooked it up to my Dell 2407WFP. It definately is nice to have a larger screen to work with. I have run into some issues though. Text and icons are definately not as sharp as they are on the MacBook Pro, I’ve tried many things and searched through settings but I’m not able to make it look as sharp and clean as it looks on my MacBook Pro. I even put the monitor back to default settings thinking that it might be setup for Windows, but that didnt help any at all. When I plug the display back into my windows box, everything looks sharp and clean. If anyone has any thoughts or inputs and maybe even an answer to my problems I would really appreciate the input.
I would love to have this one!
Sweet LCD Display Paul! Congrats, someday I’ll get one like this. It’s sad that the prices here in Brazil are so damn expensive.
Nice review, Paul. I have been agonizing over whether to get the Apple or the Dell 30″ display since I, like you, am a huge Apple fanboy.
Seems Apple is just fine leaving money on the table though while Dell runs away with all the LCD business. It’s a shame - one of the things I will never understand. It’s an even further shame because the Apple displays are much prettier, plus they match the macbook pros.
Oh well. What are you going to do. Thanks for helping me decide on the Dell.
I bought a Dell 2007WFP (that’s a 20.1 inch) to replace my antiquated Dell 1600HS (21 inch Trinitron) and I absolutely love it. A Mac Pro is next on the list.
Congratulations on the purchase Paul!
BEAUTIFUL LCD!
So beautiful. Maybe I will save for one.
I don’t care about the worthless specs, I want quality I can see and after years of using them at work, I have yet to see a Dell deliver quality of any kind. I recommend looking at them side-by-side to see if it really does the job.
Paul, I would like to ask you do an experiement for me if you would.
1) Would you open a browser window of some website with some good photography.
2) Take a screen shot and while viewing the image at the website, view the screen shot in Photoshop side by side but make sure to have the color management settings on “North American Web / Internet” for Photoshop. This will ensure the PS image is displayed correctly in sRGB.
From what I have read about other high gamut monitors, none of them display colors outside of coloraware programs like Photoshop correctly. I want to see if this happening with Dell as well.
What happens with the other monitors is everything appears oversaturated. The reason is because the default profile for the monitor wide gamut but although sRGB is the default profile for Windows and the web, all images are displayed in the same wide gamut unless using a coloraware program. What this does is map the colors incorrectly resulting in appearing oversaturated. Right now with monitors only being 92% is the effect is some what subtle but has the gamuts rise to 100-120 next year I suspect at some point people are going stop thinking they are seeing new colors and realize something is wrong.
Anyway, I am curious to see what you see. Thanks in adavanced.
@BlakkJakk - I am away from the LCD for the next two weeks, but I’ll try to do what you were curious about when I get back.
Thanks for the reply, Paul. I am looking for to what you see when you get back. If does what I fear it will do then I think Service Pack 1 for Vista should come with colorawareness at the OS level. Bill are you listening! :P Mucho gracias.
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the review. I just got mine delivered yesterday and verily grinned from ear-to-ear when I unpacked it. I’d never grinned like that before and was surprised how painful it actually is.
How would one go about actually hooking up a separate Blu-ray / HD-DVD player to the monitor (using one that outputs in DVI of course) when the one that’s there is taken up by the MBP?
Appreciate your input-
@Jens - you’d have to manually disconnect it. =/ Or get a DVI switcher box, which is probably somewhat hard to find.
I have a macbook pro 2.4 and also bought a dell 3007wfp-hc and it works perfectly under os10.4.10 but in boot camp under VISTA Premium home edition the screen gets recognized but only at a very low resolution and it is not offering me the choice of any higher resoltions despite that I have down loaded the Dell driver.
Do you have any idea what the problem might be.
Cheers
Paul, i’m wondering if you were ever able to test that color saturation thing as mentioned by BlakkJakk.
I dont imagine your still on vacation. ;)
I’ve just got my Dell 30″ this week and connected to my new Macbook Pro 15″ (running Win XP) - what a fantastic setup! Everything worked perfectly out of the box, setting up Bootcamp, installing XP, installing and running all my apps and finally attatching the 30″ monitor and having it work straightaway - sweet!
The MBP’s ability to drive a big monitor was one of the main reasons for buying this laptop rather than a dell or something else, but I have to say it’s the nicest laptop I’ve used.
Thanks for your review Paul, it gave me the confidence to go ahead and order this setup and I’m very happy with it.
I’m trying to buy the same monitor and I was just wondering if you got a student discount on your purchase. If so, how much did you get off? Thanks in advance.
Apple Mac and DELL are your best choice, i think
Holly Mother of God! That is a nice screen (I know I am replying a bit late but just found this post!) but I have a question how do you connect a external keyboard to your laptop with the laptop screen down??
Paul, how did you get the mac capable drivers for this?