Dell SE-198WFT review

[desiibond]

Specification:

Product Details and Features

Key Features

Monitor Type : Flat Panel LCD TFT (Active Matrix)

Contrast Ratio - 1,000:1

Aspect Ratio 16:10

Brightness : 300 cd/m²

Response Time : 5 ms

Dot Pitch : 0.285 mm

Viewable Picture Size : 19 in.

Connectivity

Digital Video Input Standard : DVI-D, D-SUB

Technical Features

Form Factor : Widescreen Desktop

Max. Viewing Angle - Horizontal : 160

Max. Viewing Angle - Vertical : 160

Native (Recommended) Resolution : 1440 x 900

Miscellaneous

Power Consumption : 32 Watt

Other Features

Non-Glare • Slim Bezel (Thin Frame) • VESA External Mounting

Exterior Color : Silver

Release Date October, 2007

Till last week, I was more than happy with my 7yr old 15” Samsung CRT monitor, thinking that it is more than enough for my tasks. For better gaming (preferable on my 15” moitor), I bought the Sapphire HD 2600XT graphics card and after playing games for a week, the feeling that I got is “What a shame that after having a good GPU that can play games at high resolutions, I am still using this old monitor”. So, me and my friend did a lot of search (online and on road) for decent display that produces sharp and crisp images.

What we were looking for is:

1) 19” widescreen display
2) DVI port
3) Quality after sales support
4) Long life
5) Strong bezel and stand

In the end it came down to two models. One from Samsung and one from dell but the Samsung model was 2k more but was downright sexy. I thought let me save the 2k and get the Dell due to it’s brand image and the quality of their displays.

Bought this at Golcha Inter trade for Rs.9,800. Little big tense about how the monitor is going to look and perform, came back to my house with the 7kg box J.

Packaging:



The monitor comes in a no frills pack. Nothing mentioned on the pack. No specs, no features, nothing. Just the serial number, price and manufacturer address etc.

On opening the box, found an A3 sized paper containing a 5step procedure to setup the monitor.



Underneath, there is

1) Driver CD
2) VGA cable
3) DVI cable
4) Power cable
5) Stand for the display
6) Manual

Design:

The stand looks and feels strong. It’s matte finish stand with glossy lining around the base. It is heavy, very strong and has metal plate that holds the display panel. Does not have any height adjustment and no pivot too, which is okay considering the price. One more model Dell SE-1908WFP has hight, pivot and swivel adjustment along with integrated webcam and USB ports. But this one costs 2k -3k more and is having issues with contrast and has ghosting issues too while playing games and/or HD content.




At the bottom of the package is the display panel. First look and I couldn’t be happier. Even before turning it on, I felt that my hard earned money didn’t go waste.




It’s a classic Dell LCD design. With Silver bezel and black rear side, it’s looks pretty decent. Will not say that it’s sexy but looks really great.

At the bottom of the rear panel, there is DVI port, D-SUB port (VGA) and the power socket.



The stand is slightly curved. This is to allow the monitor to swivel down a little bit more.

Coming to the front, the display looks great. The silver colored bezel is pretty thin.



“Dell” name is nicely etched on the bezel and has a mirror finish. At the borrom right corner, there is the power button with a blue backlight.



Buttons on the monitor:

1) video selection (to select VGA or DVI for input)
2) Menu selection
3) + and – buttons for navigation through the menu and for selection
4) Blue backlit power




Performance:

1) Text: Text is very very clear and my Thinkpad T43 display (1400x1050) looks like a sheep before charging lion.
2) Brightness and contrast: Display is pretty bright. The default setting is 75/100 contrast and 75/100 brightness. There are couple of modes that you can set the display to:
a. Multimedia preset
b. Gaming preset
c. Red preset
d. Blue preset
e. User preset
Multimedia preset has extreme brightness and my eyes couldn’t handle this amount of brightness and gaming preset has extreme brightness and contrast and well….

3) Movie playback: Superb color reproduction. No ghosting. Played Transformers DVD and my friend said “If I watch 3 more movies on your monitor, I will stop watching movies on my laptop” (1280x1024 14”). It’s not just the size that brings the difference. It’s the contrast and sharpness of the display that really surprised me. While the colors on my T43’s display and HP L1925 were little bit dull, here the colors were sharp and vibrant. Really love wathing red’s and blue’s on this monitor. Noticed little bit of over coloring while watching TV (PCTV 110i) but this could also be due to the transmission. 9/10 for this
4) Gaming: Played Need for Speed most wanted and the BMW M3 GTR looks superb. The blue colored car paint looked breathtaking and the shine’s awesome. Again, a 8/10 for this one.
5) Images: Downloaded few pitcutures from Intefacelift site and again, they are sharp and clear. 8/10 for this.
6) Viewing Angle: Rated viewing angle is 160degree. Higher viewing angle means darkness on the monitor and it becomes unreadable. Best angle should be inside 60degree. 7/10
7) Ebook reading: I would say "perfect". PDF's look superb on this monitor. Again, thanks to it's higher contrast ratio, the text is incredibly clear, large. But for long reading times, you certainly have to decrease brightness and contrast as the default setting will definitely cause redness in the eye for those who are not accustomed to 19" displays. 10/10


In the end, I really love this monitor and is worth every penny. I have HP L1925 hooked up to HP workstation XW4300 (with Quadro FX GPU) and the Dell SE-198WFP blows away the L1925. Don’t know how it will face against Samsung’s and LG’s. But I am pretty sure that it will definitely stay alongside or above the Samsung’s.
Pro’s:

1) DVI port
2) 1000:1 contrast ratio
3) Strong build
4) 3yr onsite next day replacement warranty (optional 5yr advance exchange warranty)
5) Superb contrast and color reproduction
6) Competitive pricing

Con’s:

1) No height adjustment



Bottomline:

This monitor is true performer which directly competes with the middle and high end 19” monitors. Thanks to it’s high contrast ratio and DVI port, there is no real competition for this monitor in sub-10k 19” segment. Dell is known for it’s excellent service. With optional 5yr warranty available, it’s a steal.

[sansyk00]

Hi Desiibond,
I am Sandeep from Mumbai. I am a graphic designer and in my office, i am working on dell monitor since last 4 years. I liked the monitor very much. I m planning to buy a PC at home for some graphics and image related work and want to buy Dell 1908FP 19" monitor.

Just wanted to know from you that how can I buy this product. Pls. tell me the right and fast procedure to buy this.

Thanks in advance.

Regards
Sandeep

[desiibond]

1) place an order at Dell India website
2) Go on calling computer dealers for this monitor. If you are in bangalore, get it from Golcha Inter Trade, SP Road.

[dushi23]

hiii,
I 2 bought this lcd nd preety satisfied wid it...
just wanted to knw abt. wht settings u use to get the best possible image.
Reply is awaited

[desiibond]

Contrast around 60 and brightness 65-75. Best way is to use Display mate tool and set it according to your sight.

[Liverpool_fan]

Great!
I want to buy this Monitor Myself.
I want to ask though will I be able to play games like PES, HL2E2(Which I play using WINE/Cedega in Linux) at native resolution of this monitor if I buy an nVidia 8600GT.
And how is the image quality at its non-native resolution especially in Games.

And How much does the optional warranty cost?

[desiibond]

^^ Yes. HL2E2 can be played at native resolution. I haven't noticed much drop is clarity for non-native resolution (just my view).

No idea how much the optional warranty is but since the actual warranty is for 3 years, there is no need for optional warranty.

[deepnx]

Just registered to this site to ask u this simple question that i still havnt figured out ......

this LCD has everything what i need DVI ... nice body etc etc ........ the thing that i am confused about is the contrast ratio 1000:1 .. is it native or DC ?

Just registered to this site to ask u this simple question that i still havnt figured out ......

this LCD has everything what i need DVI ... nice body etc etc ........ the thing that i am confused about is the contrast ratio 1000:1 .. is it "typical" or "DFC" ?

[desiibond]

1000:1 is typical contrast ratio. That's for sure.

that's the reason why it looks so crisp and clear.

[mastermunj]

Originally Posted by sansyk00

Hi Desiibond,
I am Sandeep from Mumbai. I am a graphic designer and in my office, i am working on dell monitor since last 4 years. I liked the monitor very much. I m planning to buy a PC at home for some graphics and image related work and want to buy Dell 1908FP 19" monitor.

Just wanted to know from you that how can I buy this product. Pls. tell me the right and fast procedure to buy this.

Thanks in advance.

Regards
Sandeep

You can go to lamington road and ask at 3 - 4 shops..

Dell website will cost you more..

For ex: SE198WFP on their website is 9700. They then apply tax and octroi.. which will make ur LCD cost beyond 10500..

I bought the same from lamington road at 9500 with 5 year on table warranty..


@@desii

nice review buddy... keep it up!!

[desiibond]

^^ Thanks mate.

[deepnx]

i hope the contrast ratio is typical 1000:1 !! im countin on u buddy

"One more model Dell SE-1908WFP has hight, pivot and swivel adjustment along with integrated webcam and USB ports. But this one costs 2k -3k more and is having issues with contrast and has ghosting issues too while playing games and/or HD content."

do u mean there are 2 models of Dell SE -198WFT ???

i will b running it on my 8800GT

so i shud go for the non web cam right ....

and u have any idea about the pricing of 1908WFP ??? its featureas are almost same
+ it has stand adjustments + Anti glare coating

[desiibond]

Don't go for 1908WFP. This particular model has contrast issues and few bugs. for that extra 2k-3k, you get 2008WFP or 2208WFP.

The one I have is 198WFP. spell mistake in title.

I am pretty certain that it has 1000:1 typical contrast ratio.

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/prod...hs1&l=en&s=dhs

There's the proof. clearly mentioned as typical contrast ratio.

198WFP and 1908WFP have lot of difference, to the core.

[deepnx]

yea its 1000:1 typical that means the Image Quality wud b truly amazing !!!! im sure u are njoin the dynamic quality

the images u posted do not open dunno why ?

spell mistake in the title ? u have the SE198WFP right ? not the E198WFP ?


besides that do u think any square 19" monitor is good @ 10K budget with atleast 700:1 contrast + DVI ?

[desiibond]

I have Dell 198WFP. There is one samsung square model that I don't remember the model number.

Also check HP L19 series. They are also good.

It's pretty hard to get square models in the market now. It's flooded with the widescreen monitors.

[Micheal]

KUDOS 2 U desiibond !!!!
Man i dont know how but u & me thinking xactly on the same line. God's Wonder i presume.
Only difference: My samsung's an 8yr old AND my dad has been convinced by a bloke (pc maintenance guy in his office) to buy a samsung 17 inch.

I have been having a bad relation with him for almost 4-5 months now. But neway TIS REALLY GOOD TO SEE DELL SE198WFP getting its rightful ovation.
WISH U A REALLY HAPPY VIEWING EXPERIENCE

[=CrAzYG33K=]

Can some MOD please change the thread title from SE198WFT to SE198WFP?

Nice review!

[axxo]

@desibond any benchmark results could be posted here? bcoz I cant accept ppl commenting on a LCD display who previously use 15" CRT or a notebook display.

[desiibond]

benchmark results for a monitor??

Dude. Do you think you will find original detail if I take a pic of something shown on my monitor and put it on a website?


If you think that I have to do a stress test on my monitor, the answer is NO.

LCD panels are too delicate to play with. They are not silicon chips that can be stressed and turned off on reaching limit.s

If you need more reviews:

http://www.techenclave.com/reviews-a...iew-98705.html

http://www.chotocheeta.com/2007/10/0...onic-vx1932wm/<-- suggesting Dell 198WFP

Best buy user reviews: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....#productdetail

CNET australia review: http://www.cnet.com.au/desktops/moni...9277757,00.htm

reviews at dell site: http://reviews.dell.com/2341-en_gb/100801/reviews.htm

[axxo]

Thx for the links but only the last one worked.

[desiibond]

Fixed the links. Sorry for that.

[axxo]

hey desiii do you think running bechmark would harm hardware??i dont think so..what i intend to see is some tests which cnet and others run
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6603_7-5098394-1.html
or http://www.dirfile.com/tireal_tft_test.htm

Thx again for the links..actually am in 2 mind to go for 19" / 22" TFT

[desiibond]

either go for 19" or 20" or 24". 22" has the same reso that 20" has and is not a good buy.

As I said earlier, I did displaymate tests, adjusted brightness and contrast accordingly and as a result, it feels perfect.

I didn't post images coz you will lose lot of real detail when you take a picture on the cam.

[axxo]

I actually see a huge difference between 17" and 19" CRT screen sizes. Won't there be any such notable screen size diff wrt 19" and 22" LCD?
Edit: Currently i own a 19" Flat CRT

[desiibond]

Forget about difference between 19" and 22".

Since the resolution in 20" and 22" is same, you will not have any extra detail on 22" when compared to 20".

Why waste 2k-3k more for just 2". Get a 250gig HDD for that saved amount or extra RAM stick.

This is just my thought.

but, since you have 19" CRT, better wait till 24" price comes down (which should happen soon due to it's higher sales numbers) and get the fullHD 24".

22" is not fullHD monitor. 24" is.

[axxo]

right now the diff between 22" and 24" is 10k the reason why my attraction is towards 22" and I could get a laptop for 24" price. anyway i postponed my purchase expecting current 24" monitor costs to come down soon.

[desiibond]

yes. 10k is not a big difference. Moreover, you know how fast monitor prices are coming down. Better wait when there is FullHD in offering

[dare devil]

Thanks for ur review.Just now i bought this LCD from Delta,Chennai for 9.6k.

[desiibond]

Congrats Mr.DareDevil on your purchase.

[Gigacore]

^ nice monitor and good review desiibond! Even I bought a new widescreen monitor yesterday