Design
Who really needs a 27-inch LCD monitor on their desk? Really, and honestly, do you? Outside of certain design and industrial/medical applications, the answer is usually a pretty much resounding "no", especially once you get into home/consumer usage patterns. Let's be honest here -- a 27-inch monitor is a pure luxury item, and if you're going to go for a luxury item, you may as well make it a luxury item that looks the part. Dell's 2707WFP 27-inch Widescreen LCD monitor certainly makes the most of emphasising the screen real estate with a very minimal silver bezel and the tiniest possible buttons running along the bottom right hand side of the screen.
The entire focus is to get you looking at the enormous glowing wall that a 27-inch monitor presents before your eyes, rather than any of the additional features of the monitor itself. The LCD panel sits on top of a glossy black stand, connected by a thin tower-style twistable post. It's clearly a product of Dell labs design; while Apple stuff tends to be relentlessly white and with lots of smooth corners, Dell's designers like lots of sheer metal and sharp-looking edges. Whether that floats or sinks your boat is, of course, a matter of personal preference.
Features
The 2707WFP 27-inch Widescreen LCD offers a top resolution of 1900x1200 pixels with a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and a 6ms response time; that's not quite cutting edge but should be more than acceptable for most display applications. The display offers five different connection methods -- D-Sub, DVI-D, Component, S-Video and Composite, with HDMI being the only notable exclusion. Still, Dell's selling this as a computer monitor in the first instance, not a bit of consumer electronics, so it's somewhat understandable.
The 2707WFP supports multiple display modes within the hardware, including picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture to simultaneously view multiple inputs; naturally with this much screen real estate you can also give plenty of space for virtual desktops depending on your operating system of choice. Down the left hand side of the 2707WFP you'll find a pair of USB ports and two media card slots, covering CF, SD/MMC and Memory Stick formats. There's an additional two USB ports on the underside of the display next to the video inputs for a total of four USB ports.
Performance
We tested the 2707WFP 27-inch Widescreen LCD across all of its inputs and with multiple different types of display content, including a Windows XP laptop, Apple Macbook and an Xbox 360 console. We also calibrated and tested with DisplayMate Multimedia Edition to check the display clarity of the panel. The 2707WFP performed flawlessly across all of our test media in terms of visual clarity and fast screen movement, although predictably you'll want to stand a bit back for gaming and DVD purposes to get the best possible picture.
That brings up our one concern about the 2707WFP, and it's something that's true of all large monitors designed to be put on ordinary desks. When you're sitting right in front of it, the size of the image mandates that it takes up your entire field of vision. Unless you've got the type of desk beloved of your Dallas-type tycoon and can move it back a bit, you're probably going to be sitting a touch too close to the 2707WFP's display -- and that's very tiring on the eyes. Ergonomic issues aside, however, the 2707WFP comes highly recommended.
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gabrie
07/08/2008, 03:45 AM
rating
10/10
The Best 27-inch LCD monitor!
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CaptainApathy
30/06/2008, 12:23 PM
rating
10/10
Just set it up on the weekend. Ummed and ahhed about the 27 vs 24 and wondered if it might be too big... NO! So glad I got it. Spreadsheets and word docs have plenty of room (2 a4 pages to the screen and still huge). Great for coding with plenty of tool space but games are where it shines obviously. Brilliant!
Pros: Sharpness control, 1:1 true mapping, no input lag that I have noticed. Massive!
Cons: Price, but seriously just do it!
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hysteria
26/06/2008, 11:09 AM
rating
9/10
I have owned this monitor a little over a year. I sit very close to it and it does not strain the eyes.
Pros: Brushed aluminium finish adds a wow factor to it - makes it look a lot more of a premium product than black. Image quality is great
Cons: Height/swivel adjustment is pretty but not that effective
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Atemlos
15/11/2007, 09:53 PM
rating
3/10
poor quality with laptop connected, pixel pinch is huge and contrast is too high and difficult to adjust.
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Sethkore
31/08/2007, 04:39 AM
rating
10/10
have this screen on my xps 720 system.. have had no problems what so ever, great colours and clarity is amazing although you do need a big desk for this one
Pros: gaming +++, watching hi def content is superb, and this screen is perfect for multi tasking
Cons: no component 1090p but i use the vga for my 360, you really need a deep desk to place the screen a bit further away, cause its huge!!!
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JKB
09/02/2007, 09:10 AM
rating
8/10
Dell site
shows that it DOES have
vertical adjustability.
I would have
MUCH preferred black, though .. .
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zone
02/02/2007, 05:35 PM
rating
10/10
it's got 1080p over dvi and 1080i over component.
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Alex Kidman
02/02/2007, 04:56 PM
rating
9/10
Re: The purpose of the monitor, and whether or not it "warrants its existence" -- the review has been written, as clearly stated, with a general consumer use in mind. Certainly, and again, as stated, there are professional uses for a display of this size -- and it's never stated that there aren't! But for the regular consumer, a 27" display is still a very big display for everyday purposes. I will grant you that it would be a good match for those with visual acuity issues.
The 1900x1200/1920x1200 thing is a typo. Nothing more, nothing less. Mea Culpa; you can find me out the back if you want to bring the flaming torches and the pitchforks.
"Who are you to predict how users will use this monitor?"
Just the reviewer. And if you think that user ergonomics are "stupid", then I wouldn't like to be your eyes in about five years time. It's pitched as a computer monitor, and for most purposes the desks that many users - especially the consumer users that CNET.com.au is all about -- don't differ in size or dimensions all that much. As such, on an average sized desk, you're likely to be sitting very close to the monitor, and that *is* tiring on the eyes, as it would be if you sat only 50cm or so away from an LCD or Plasma TV.
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Steen Winther
02/02/2007, 09:29 AM
rating
10/10
A rather lame review marred by omissions and errors - I didn't get any wiser at all.
Firstly, the resolution of this monitor is exactly identical to its smaller sibling, the Dell 2407WFP @ 1920x1200, NOT 1900x1200. The only difference, size wise, is that the 2707WFP has a physically larger viewable image size, and thus a higher dot pitch. So you won’t be able to fit more content onto the desktop compared to the 2407WFP – the views are exactly alike. The larger physical size is a benefit for people with impaired eyesight and an advantage if you’d like to use the monitor for presentations, TV viewing and other applications where it is placed further from the viewers than the norm. So the larger size does have a warrant for its existence.
The picture quality is a lot more interesting than size, and here the review draws a blank. According to Dell, the 2707WFP should have superior color reproduction, and the faster response time indicates that it should be better suited for gaming and video. But the review fails to address these issues? For graphic designers and photographers, color fidelity is probably the most important aspect of a monitor and definitely has a huge influence on the buying decision. It would have been nice with some feedback?
It seems that the 2707WFP has lost the swivel function that allows vertical orientation. Again, a point that could exclude this monitor for certain particular uses and is worth commenting on?
Finally, the reviewer conclude the “review” by stating that the size is “very tiring on the eyes” and “You may go blind”! Funny, funny? No, quite stupid and unwarranted. Who are you to predict how users will use this monitor - “you're probably going to be sitting a touch too close” - what their preferences are and when their eyes will strain? Why don’t you just resort to describing the pros and cons and let the user decide?
Regards,
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gav
31/01/2007, 02:00 PM
rating
5/10
If it doesnt do 1080i over dvi, why would you bother
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