Dimension 2400 with FP2001

Question

Will this combo give me good results or is it a bad combo with the non DVI output on the intel integrated graphics? I know I can upgrade to a better PCI graphics card, but I don't think you can have a DVI out unless you have an AGP card. Is this correct? Any advice or comments please. Thanks .

talmy · Answer

This monitor begs for a DVI card. Yes, there are PCI cards that support DVI. I went to www.newegg.com (which has an excellent reputation), searched for NVIDIA FX5200 based cards (they will support DVI at 1600x1200 including the portrait mode) and got three hits at $72 to $73. Search for "FX5200 DVI PCI".
There are ATI chip based cards as well that would probably work fine, but I'm not as familiar with them.

StevenC56 · Answer

Thanks for your reply. Can you tell me how many PCI slots the Dimension 2400 has? I think it's 3 or 4. Is there enough room for a video card, sound card, and a wireless network card? I think I can delete the modem if I order off the Small Business site and then I should be OK. I found an ATI Radeon 7500 PCI video card on the Dell site that has DVI-I support. Would that be a good choice?Thanks again. Message Edited by StevenC56 on 02-25-2004 02:44 PM

warpdrive · Answer

The 2400 has three PCI slots. You can save a slot if you stay with integrated sound (which is fine for most people).

The nvidia cards have one nice feature that the ATI ones don't, they support rotation of the screen (which the 2001FP can do). If you want to use that feature, go with the nVidia cards.

DVI is noticably nicer quality but even with a standard VGA, it is reasonable good. But if you pay that much for a monitor, you might as well spend the extra $70 to get the best quality out of it.

StevenC56 · Answer

Thanks for the help. I ordered my 2400 last night. I see that the FP2001 is 20% off on the Small Business site. Is this the lowest price they run or should I wait for a better sale? Also, does the FP2001 only look decent in it's native 1200X1600 or does it look OK at any lower resolution? I have an older Inspiron 5000e with the 15' UXGA screen and it's a fine screen, however my wife doesn't care for how small everything is at it's native resolution. Thanks again.

talmy · Answer

@StevenC56 wrote:
Thanks for the help. I ordered my 2400 last night. I see that the FP2001 is 20% off on the Small Business site. Is this the lowest price they run or should I wait for a better sale?
I got mine on a 25% off sale, but you never know when they will do that again.
Also, does the FP2001 only look decent in it's native 1200X1600 or does it look OK at any lower resolution?
Quality deteriorates except at exact submultiples, so 800x600 works.
I have an older Inspiron 5000e with the 15" UXGA screen and it's a fine screen, however my wife doesn't care for how small everything is at it's native resolution.
You don't have to put up with small fonts and icons. Display Properties->Advanced lets you set the font scaling to anything you want, and you can also opt for large icons and customize the fonts. Only problem are websites that don't scale the pages to fit, but even that can be "fixed" by using the Opera browser.
Thanks again.
You're welcome.

ortleeb · Answer

@StevenC56 wrote:
Thanks for the help. I ordered my 2400 last night. I see that the FP2001 is 20% off on the Small Business site. Is this the lowest price they run or should I wait for a better sale?
I got mine on a 25% off sale, but you never know when they will do that again.
Also, does the FP2001 only look decent in it's native 1200X1600 or does it look OK at any lower resolution?
Quality deteriorates except at exact submultiples, so 800x600 works.
I have an older Inspiron 5000e with the 15" UXGA screen and it's a fine screen, however my wife doesn't care for how small everything is at it's native resolution.
You don't have to put up with small fonts and icons. Display Properties->Advanced lets you set the font scaling to anything you want, and you can also opt for large icons and customize the fonts. Only problem are websites that don't scale the pages to fit, but even that can be "fixed" by using the Opera browser.
Thanks again.
You're welcome.

Monitors

Dimension 2400 with FP2001

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