All I can say is thank god I did my research. I was this || close to ordering the 2005fpw. Read a glowing review on Neowiin.net (http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=246836) which a lot of people agreed with and I thought "woohoo, finally the LCD monitor I've been waiting for and there's 20% off atm".
But having read this topic and the one on Hard Forum I'll be keeping my money firmly in my pocket.
Sounds like Dell have well and truly messed up with this product. It has so much going for it but that backlight problem is really terrible. Some of the stories from people in this topic are horrific, 3, 4, 5 replacements?! If that happened me I would be going crazy, especially as I know how woeful Dell customer support is. Don't know how some of you remain so patient and restrained (in your posts at least).
I'm not trying to defend Dell because it is evident a backlight issue does exist. However, many people are making a bigger deal about it than is necessary. I know the argument goes "I spend $$$$ I should have a perfect product." The truth is you wont' find a product like this offered by anyone else for such a great price. I have one of the first monitors sent out a November Rev00 and I do have some backlight.
What most people need to realize is that it isn't noticable during 90% of normal usage. I doubt most people bought this monitor primarily for watching DVDs, if so I'm sorry you have to watch movies on such a small screen. Other than that maybe it shows up on a game loading screen, not really even in the game. If all you're going to do is b1tch and moan, then take all that $$$ you have and spend about twice as much on a product that will make you happy.
If all you're going to do is b1tch and moan, then take all that $$$ you have and spend about twice as much on a product that will make you happy.
It has come to the point where this is not about the product, but the fact that Dell seems to have no idea what to do about it. Nor do they care to address it, other than sending out faulty monitors as a way to make "good".
This is about spending your hard earned money on something and wanting it to work.
MSalseda - If you feel that your monitor is fine, than that's your opinion. Obviously, there are enough people here to justify a real problem. No need to say we are b1tching about it.
If you don't want to read the posts, move on to somewhere you feel more comfortable.
The point of these forums are to either:
A: commend a product for it's good.
B: condem a product for it's fault.
Your right, nothing is perfect, but in this case, it's safe to say, Dell dropped the ball on this, and does not seem to want to make ammends to correct it.
To each their own. I myself am not happy with something I paid for not working as it should.
If it said in the product description, "Monitor ships with slight backlight problem, as well as the 1-5 dead pixels" , I would understand. But somehow I missed that in the specs.
Anyway, I'm off the soapbox..still waiting on that Dell official word.
I've been doing A LOT of reading on this monitor over the last few hours and came across a possible solution to the backlighting problem. It's a DIY job and probably not 100% effective but worth mentioning as some people have had success with it:
"I have dual 2001FPs, both had backlighting issues when I took them out of the box. I fixed both of them myself by displaying a blank screen screen saver, which made the bad areas visble, and pressing all over the screen, very firmly, with my fingers. After about 5-10 minutes I had evened out the backlight leakage so it was no longer very noticable at all. I probably reduced it by 70 to 80%. I just double checked and over time the pressure has evened out. I can safely say that my monitors now have a very uniform backlighting." - zan780
...and...
"THANKS ZAN780!
my monitor exhibited a slight backlight problem after it warmed up on 3 corners... but pushing around on the screen almost got rid of it all! I did notice when I pressed on the 4th quarter of the screen.. and let go.. you can hear the lcd "pop" back into place... which was weird. But yes.. this does work.. at least for mine.. it's practically gone.. I wanted to whole heartedly send this back like everyone else.. but after messing with it.. I am gonna keep it.
I used a microfiber rag to push around the screen instead of my fingers because if I got smudges on it.. I would probably have to start over after I cleaned it. lol.
when I read your post at work.. I couldn't wait to get home and try it... PROPS 2 U." - magnetik
my monitor exhibited a slight backlight problem after it warmed up on 3 corners... but pushing around on the screen almost got rid of it all! I did notice when I pressed on the 4th quarter of the screen.. and let go... you can hear the lcd "pop" back into place... which was weird. But yes.. this does work.. at least for mine.. it's practically gone.. I wanted to whole heartedly send this back like everyone else.. but after messing with it.. I am gonna keep it.
I used a microfiber rag to push around the screen instead of my fingers because if I got smudges on it.. I would probably have to start over after I cleaned it. lol.
when I read your post at work.. I couldn't wait to get home and try it... PROPS 2 U." - magnetik
Sidane7,
You would have to do a lot of pressing to fix this one:
I took a soft cloth (I used a sock) and rubbed it around the screen. I pressed along the corners and back and forth across the screen, around the corners, up and down, etc. This evens out the backlight and leaking. I still notice it a little, but it is now more uniform. I also dropped my brightness down to 85%.
Hopefully this will help. I may just keep the monitor after all. :) Now my only concern is how long this will last.. or if it will get worse over time.
Well, got my 2005fpw today, Jan05 ver01 Mexico, and it's nearly in perfect condition. Only one red stuck pixel on black background. Funny part is that the stuck pixel is on the center of the screen but nearly vision unless I'm inches away from the LCD. As for the backlight, It's almost perfect.
I however found the possible cause of the backlight and also a solution to fix it if you will. The cause is from the irregular plane of the monitor frame. When the material and the frame keeping the LCD sheet is not perfectly flat and this will cause backlight leakage on the LCD. For those who's having backlight problem can fix it themselves by twisting the frame in the opposite corner of where the backlight exist. Just try try twisting the opposite diagnal corners on the LCD frame and make the backlight appear or disapear. Now, someone tell this to Dell engineers.
So far, I've had my display on for several hours without any backlight or i would say even backlight on the LCD. I've watched DVD in complete darkness and had the black desktop background on in the dark and no visible backlight leakage. Maybe I got lucky with mine. Hopefully, it will stay this way.
It has come to the point where this is not about the product, but the fact that Dell seems to have no idea what to do about it. Nor do they care to address it, other than sending out faulty monitors as a way to make "good".
It would appear that this is your first time dealing with Dell CS. I learned my lesson long ago with the Axim X5 (which overall was a great PPC, but there were a couple of major fiascos in its day). I can tell you right now that there will never be an official word on this issue. From Dell's perspective the vast majority of thier 2005FPW customers will probably never notice/care about the issue. Given this, a company in Dell's position would not admit to something it doesn't have to, as it would cause a whole bunch of people who would've never compained otherwise to send their screens back for replacments. What's going to happen here is that gradually the 2005FPW's assembly process will improve and less defects will go out (as is the case for almost every new product), also people will be familiar with the 2005FPW's flaws (and its benefits) and will know what they're getting into when they buy one. As all of this happens, gradually this issue will fade away. Incidentally, Dell isn't the only company dealing with this issue....
Slightly against my better judgement I've gone ahead and ordered this monitor. Yes despite my angry little rant a few posts ago.
The way I see it - this is one sweet monitor at a great price (especially with 20% off). Two downsides are the likelihood of there being dead pixels and backlighting problems out of the box. A few dead pixels out of 1 million+ I can handle, the backlighting less so.
I'm gambling that I'll get a unit with little or no backlight. And if I don't, I'll give the rubbing technique or twisting the bezel slightly a try. Also, I've read elsewhere from a couple of people that the backlighting seems to be lessening on their monitor over time (with the help of some regular rubbing). Maybe it needs a breaking in period to right itself, dunno how true this is, sounds unlikely.
And anyway, if it doesn't meet my satisfaction after a couple of days I can get a full refund. The prospect of sending monitors back and forth until I get a good one is not appealing.
That's the problem, Dell knows you're not going to get a better Lcd for the money.Belive me I compared the specs of many other Lcd before purchasing this one and for the money no one comes close. The pictures is gorgeous one of the best I've ever seen. After playing WS you can never go back.
Ok, after getting the 2nd replacement I've decided to keep my original and not try another exchange. Somehow the 2nd was worse than the 1st replacement.
Ah well, overall I'm still pretty happy, since it's way way better than my old CRT. I think I'll try the rubbing and whatnot if it's confirmed to work for others.
Well my 2005FPW arrived this morning. Was pleasantly surprised by the speed of the order turnover - ordered it on tuesday, arrived thursday! Kudos to Dell on that one. The laser printer I ordered from them before Christmas took 3 weeks to arrive so I was dreading a repeat.
Assembly was a breeze but was worried when I saw "Manufactured: November 2004, A00. Assembled in the UK". I have read that the november batch are notoriously bad for back lighting. Alas it's still daytime and the monitor is setup by a window so no way to test it yet.
There is also one green pixel off center upper left. It really is tiny though, I only noticed it while browsing a website with a black background. When I closed the window I went looking for it and couldn't find it so it doesn't really bother me. 1 in more than a million I can live with.
That's the negative, now the positive - the picture on this thing is fantastic. I've read that many times on various forums but you have to see it in living colour to appreciate it. This is my first LCD, I had a fairly high end 5 year old 19" Lacie CRT but the 2005FPW blows it out of the water. It is SO sharp and the colours so vivid.
I do a lot of graphic design and the pixel perfect clarity is astounding and will be of great benefit to me. Plus my eyes will thank me for not having to stare at a CRT all day anymore.
The rotation feature is great, I'm using an ATI card and you can set hotkeys in the control panel to switch the rotation. Not sure if I'll use it that often. Probably when doing a lot of reading online or editing large portrait sized graphics.
Lastly, this probably goes without saying when switching from a CRT to an LCD, but the amount of desk space I have recovered is a real bonus.
Overall, first impressions are VERY positive. If the backlight is relatively minimal I'll be keeping this bad boy as 80% of my time is spent in windows, surfing, coding, graphic design. The rest is gaming and watching videos.
I know there are a lot of negative comments out there about this monitor, but if I got lucky and got one with next to no dead pixels and little backlight I'm going to be very happy with my purchase.
John1GHz
34 Posts
0
January 17th, 2005 01:00
Sidane7
20 Posts
0
January 17th, 2005 18:00
All I can say is thank god I did my research. I was this || close to ordering the 2005fpw. Read a glowing review on Neowiin.net (http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=246836) which a lot of people agreed with and I thought "woohoo, finally the LCD monitor I've been waiting for and there's 20% off atm".
But having read this topic and the one on Hard Forum I'll be keeping my money firmly in my pocket.
Sounds like Dell have well and truly messed up with this product. It has so much going for it but that backlight problem is really terrible. Some of the stories from people in this topic are horrific, 3, 4, 5 replacements?! If that happened me I would be going crazy, especially as I know how woeful Dell customer support is. Don't know how some of you remain so patient and restrained (in your posts at least).
Back to the drawing board Dell....
MSalseda
10 Posts
0
January 17th, 2005 19:00
What most people need to realize is that it isn't noticable during 90% of normal usage. I doubt most people bought this monitor primarily for watching DVDs, if so I'm sorry you have to watch movies on such a small screen. Other than that maybe it shows up on a game loading screen, not really even in the game. If all you're going to do is b1tch and moan, then take all that $$$ you have and spend about twice as much on a product that will make you happy.
muziqlover
44 Posts
0
January 17th, 2005 19:00
First off...
If all you're going to do is b1tch and moan, then take all that $$$ you have and spend about twice as much on a product that will make you happy.
It has come to the point where this is not about the product, but the fact that Dell seems to have no idea what to do about it. Nor do they care to address it, other than sending out faulty monitors as a way to make "good".
This is about spending your hard earned money on something and wanting it to work.
MSalseda - If you feel that your monitor is fine, than that's your opinion. Obviously, there are enough people here to justify a real problem. No need to say we are b1tching about it.
If you don't want to read the posts, move on to somewhere you feel more comfortable.
The point of these forums are to either:
A: commend a product for it's good.
B: condem a product for it's fault.
Your right, nothing is perfect, but in this case, it's safe to say, Dell dropped the ball on this, and does not seem to want to make ammends to correct it.
To each their own. I myself am not happy with something I paid for not working as it should.
If it said in the product description, "Monitor ships with slight backlight problem, as well as the 1-5 dead pixels" , I would understand. But somehow I missed that in the specs.
Anyway, I'm off the soapbox..still waiting on that Dell official word.
Sidane7
20 Posts
0
January 17th, 2005 21:00
I'm sure this will interest people here.
I've been doing A LOT of reading on this monitor over the last few hours and came across a possible solution to the backlighting problem. It's a DIY job and probably not 100% effective but worth mentioning as some people have had success with it:
From http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=838487
------------------------------------
"I have dual 2001FPs, both had backlighting issues when I took them out of the box. I fixed both of them myself by displaying a blank screen screen saver, which made the bad areas visble, and pressing all over the screen, very firmly, with my fingers. After about 5-10 minutes I had evened out the backlight leakage so it was no longer very noticable at all. I probably reduced it by 70 to 80%. I just double checked and over time the pressure has evened out. I can safely say that my monitors now have a very uniform backlighting." - zan780
...and...
"THANKS ZAN780!
my monitor exhibited a slight backlight problem after it warmed up on 3 corners... but pushing around on the screen almost got rid of it all! I did notice when I pressed on the 4th quarter of the screen.. and let go.. you can hear the lcd "pop" back into place... which was weird. But yes.. this does work.. at least for mine.. it's practically gone.. I wanted to whole heartedly send this back like everyone else.. but after messing with it.. I am gonna keep it.
I used a microfiber rag to push around the screen instead of my fingers because if I got smudges on it.. I would probably have to start over after I cleaned it. lol.
when I read your post at work.. I couldn't wait to get home and try it... PROPS 2 U." - magnetik
And here - http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=246836&st=540
Towards end of the page, post #552.
John1GHz
34 Posts
0
January 17th, 2005 23:00
Message Edited by John1GHz on 01-17-2005 07:48 PM
Message Edited by John1GHz on 01-17-2005 07:48 PM
vabch22
13 Posts
0
January 17th, 2005 23:00
I took a soft cloth (I used a sock) and rubbed it around the screen. I pressed along the corners and back and forth across the screen, around the corners, up and down, etc. This evens out the backlight and leaking. I still notice it a little, but it is now more uniform. I also dropped my brightness down to 85%.
Hopefully this will help. I may just keep the monitor after all. :) Now my only concern is how long this will last.. or if it will get worse over time.
bitemymac
8 Posts
0
January 18th, 2005 02:00
I however found the possible cause of the backlight and also a solution to fix it if you will. The cause is from the irregular plane of the monitor frame. When the material and the frame keeping the LCD sheet is not perfectly flat and this will cause backlight leakage on the LCD. For those who's having backlight problem can fix it themselves by twisting the frame in the opposite corner of where the backlight exist. Just try try twisting the opposite diagnal corners on the LCD frame and make the backlight appear or disapear. Now, someone tell this to Dell engineers.
So far, I've had my display on for several hours without any backlight or i would say even backlight on the LCD. I've watched DVD in complete darkness and had the black desktop background on in the dark and no visible backlight leakage. Maybe I got lucky with mine. Hopefully, it will stay this way.
ajabbari
59 Posts
0
January 18th, 2005 09:00
It has come to the point where this is not about the product, but the fact that Dell seems to have no idea what to do about it. Nor do they care to address it, other than sending out faulty monitors as a way to make "good".
It would appear that this is your first time dealing with Dell CS. I learned my lesson long ago with the Axim X5 (which overall was a great PPC, but there were a couple of major fiascos in its day). I can tell you right now that there will never be an official word on this issue. From Dell's perspective the vast majority of thier 2005FPW customers will probably never notice/care about the issue. Given this, a company in Dell's position would not admit to something it doesn't have to, as it would cause a whole bunch of people who would've never compained otherwise to send their screens back for replacments. What's going to happen here is that gradually the 2005FPW's assembly process will improve and less defects will go out (as is the case for almost every new product), also people will be familiar with the 2005FPW's flaws (and its benefits) and will know what they're getting into when they buy one. As all of this happens, gradually this issue will fade away. Incidentally, Dell isn't the only company dealing with this issue....
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=855554
Message Edited by ajabbari on 01-18-2005 03:49 AM
vabch22
13 Posts
0
January 18th, 2005 10:00
muziqlover
44 Posts
0
January 18th, 2005 10:00
Sidane7
20 Posts
0
January 18th, 2005 21:00
2xist
2 Posts
0
January 18th, 2005 21:00
thirdchild
4 Posts
0
January 19th, 2005 02:00
Ah well, overall I'm still pretty happy, since it's way way better than my old CRT. I think I'll try the rubbing and whatnot if it's confirmed to work for others.
Sidane7
20 Posts
0
January 20th, 2005 11:00