No, they must replace tons of them for backlight bleed problems, from the amount of traffic we see on this one particular issue in the forum. Call back. Make sure you have your Order and/or Customer number handy. They should be more than happy to replace your defective monitor.

I will. :( It's just that when I called technical support about a defect, I kind of, you know, expected them to know technical background of the issue. Instead I was told by two people - technicians as they called themselves - that they don't know what backlight is.

I just received my Dell 9150 with 2005FPW monitor today... Same problem.  3 out of 4 of the monitor's corners have light pouring out of them heavily and the bottom left corner's leakage is very huge and very distracting.  The fourth corner has leakage, but it's mild in comparison to the other 3.  I've got a Dell E173FP that has backlight leakage around the edges and I thought that was bad, but it's NOTHING compared to the massive leakage on this 2005FPW.

Personally, I think it's ridiculous how they made you jump through all of those hoops (reinstall video drivers?  please...) when it's apparent that this is a very common problem with these monitors.  You shouldn't have to say any more than "My 2005FPW monitor is defective and has serious backlight leakage" to get a new one sent out.  I'm considering returning mine, but I'm afraid I'll get one that is even worse, or receive one that has dead pixels, but not enough for them to exchange it again.

It's very disappointing to finally splurge for a nice expensive monitor and end up with something that you can't stand to look at because it's defective and you know it.  Has anyone had any luck returning theirs for one with no backlight leakage?

I hate to say this, but this is what happens when you outsource tech support. The supervisor I was talking to had difficulty understanding me and I had difficulty understanding his heavy Indian accent. Now, my English isn't bad; I've never really had trouble with people misunderstanding me in phone conversations. It's just that it's pretty hard to get tech support from people who are very polite, yet not at all knowledgeable about the product they service and are just plain hard to understand.

Sorry, I keep going on and on about this, but I'm still pretty upset. This has got to be the worst tech support experience I've ever had. Is there an option to be routed to a U.S. call center when I call for tech support?

You should do this through their e-mail system rather than phone. I had backlight bleed all around the edge and in to the center of the screen. There was about 4 square inches in the middle that was not getting the bleed. I sent an email and they replied with troubleshooting steps that had nothing to do with the issue. I did nothing and replied stating that I tried those procedures and the backlight issue still exists. They replied to me with a case number and they shipped out a new monitor (Next Day). No hassle.

Now, I still have some minor bleeding on the new one but I am not going to exchange monitors until they send me one that is perfect. I don't think there is such a thing. It is a minor,common issue with all LCD's that is visible when the screen is black (rare) or when I turn off all of the lights and the screen is black (very rare). During normal use, it is not an issue. If the monitor has terrible bleeding like my first one, just about any new monitor that they send has to be better. Just my 2 Pennies.

Thank god someone else has noticed this issue. I first noticed the back light spill when playing THIEF THE METAL AGE. The low level light environment thief utilises immeadiately drew my attention to the corners of the display. This problem is wholly unsatisfactory and like you I have spent hours on the phone trying to get an adequate answer to this issue, but to no avail! Through further research I have found that monitors manufactured in Mexico, namely A00 & A01 have a greater tendency to leak light aroud the corners than the later models A02. So what do we all do in the meantime Ditch our A00 & A01's? :smileymad:

That's interesting, do you remember their support email address? It doesn't seem to be in the warranty booklet. I don't want a %100 perfect display, I know that isn't possible, just one that is worth what I paid for it.

And as for revisions - mine is A3, manufactured in Mexico, in January, 2006. So I don't think they've fixed the issue entirely.

Try this link to go to the page and start the process.

https://support.dell.com/support/supportrequests/create.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&request=true&s=dhs

It requires a service tag. Standalone monitors do not carry service tags.

I've just found out that my monitor is in fact an A02 Revision manufactured in the UK. I guess Dell know of this issue and have not addressed it yet. It's beginning to make sense to me why there are so many monitors of this type going cheap on E.Bay!!

I'm from Sydney and I just received two 2005FPW and one of them has this backlight bleeding problem that has been mentioned here. I purchased these two monitors from the Dell Factory Outlet and what I received was two great looking monitors but as soon as I turned them on, I was terribly disappointed...

My next step now is either get a replacement for at least one of them or get a full refund. Its only been less than 12 hours since I received them so hopefully something good will come out of this...

I just received mine 2 days ago and I noticed this backlight leaking. Mine is bad. A couple corners are almost yellow. I'm using a MAC with the DVI so drivers aren't an issue. Other than that, it's an awesome monitor. I just submitted a service request. It kind of makes sense now. There several of these for sale at different prices. Maybe this is why. It did say it comes with a 3 year warranty. We'll see what happens.

I've now sent my monitor back to it's maker! What really infuriates me is the postage costs of £100.00 ie about $165 which I've had to front. Living in Paris may have it's benifits but not when you order your monitor from the UK - drat and double bloody drat.

I think Dell have not addressed this issue and it will be some time before we see an improvement. In the meantime I suggest giving E.Bay a wide berth. You can rest assured half price monitors all have back light issues!

 

Well, here's an update on my situation if anyone cares - I finally got through to a representative who sent me a new monitor. When it arrived, I plugged it in to discover that the backlight problem in the new display was much, much worse. In my original monitor, the leak was on two corners and pretty mild compared to the replacement. The new monitor had all 4 corners leaking backlight so brightly that it looked like 4 spotlights were placed at corners. I called Dell again to schedule a pick-up, since there was no return slip included with the exchange display (as there should have been). I sent the replacement display back and am still faced with the same problem

I have talked to several 2005fpw owners about my situation and one of them went through 4 monitors before finally getting a good one. I don't know if I want to go through the tedious return procedure once again, much less 4 times. If anyone from Dell is actually reading these forums - really, wouldn't you save money by getting higher quality backlights for your displays instead of paying tech support and return shipping for unsatisfied customers like me?

Argh. I really wanted to buy this monitor, but after reading through all these comments I think I have changed my mind. I was all set to buy the 2005FPW -- it's currently at a great price. However, after pouring through everyone's comments I have decided that it sounds like an unwise purchase. From what I had read the Dell UltraSharp 2005FPW is essentially identical to Apple's 20'Cinema display (I think the review was on Anandtech). Of course, the Apple's is considerably more expensive so I was hoping to save a few hundred bucks by buying a Dell. And I am still tempted to buy the Dell and not give Apple the extra money (Apple's markup ticks me off), but it sounds unwise to get this model Dell. If anyone can recommend to the contrary, or even if someone can recommend another Dell monitor (or any brand for that matter) not more the $500, I would be most appreciative. And sorry guys & gals that you had such a horrible experience, but thanks for saving potential buyers the agony!