Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24 inch LCD TFT Monitor (16:10, 1920x1200, 300 cd/m2), Black

Having spent several months researching an upgrade for my 2007 Samsung Syncmaster 226BW (a superb monitor, though I did have to replace the capacitors a couple years back), I decided to buy the Dell U2412M. I'm glad I did.The monitor is spectacular: crisp and clean with all good pixels. Default settings are very good, but I did make minor adjustments based on the test system provided by Lagon (http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/). The stand is solid and well designed. The four downstream USBs are welcome. Two are somewhat inaccessible at the back, but that's fine for a keyboard and/or mouse. The other two are on the lefthand side, very convenient for flashdrives.Regarding setup, there are some quirks. I received a UK power cable, but I had to laugh when I unwrapped it because it's way too short to be useful. I mean, it's just so cute, like a puppy dog tail, 40 inches, one meter. Maybe I'll use it for something else one day. Fortunately most of us have spare power cables kicking around.The CD is useless. It doesn't actually do anything at all. Instead, you need to go to the Dell website (http://www.dell.com/support/home/uk/en/ukdhs1/product-support/product/dell-u2412m/drivers) and download the driver (DELL_U2412M-MONITOR_A00-00_DRVR_YXXV4.exe). The exe simply unpacks the driver (U2412M.inf). From Windows Device Manager, update the default P&P driver by pointing to the folder containing the U2412M.inf file. Windows will then recognize the monitor. Forget the related Dell DDM Monitor Application download. It doesn't work. While every application on your system will recognize the Dell monitor (once you have installed the driver), the Dell DDM Monitor Application (ddmsetup1586.exe) won't. I laughed again when the Dell monitor software couldn't recognize its own Dell monitor. Amusing, but you don't need it anyway. These are minor quibbles. I just point them out to save you some time during setup.Overall, I'm thrilled with this monitor. Simple, elegant, clean and functional. The screen is uniformly lighted, flawless, text is sharp, colors are sublime. While the reviews suggested this would be a good monitor, it exceeded my expectations. Best 200 quid I've spent in a long time.As for the bad reviews, I'm puzzled. Either you got a freak dud or your video card sucks or you accidentally dropped it off a cliff. As Jordan Grosz pointed out in a hilarious review on Amazon.com, this monitor won't wash your dishes, walk the dog or give you every pixel in the Andromeda galaxy. If you want that, be prepared to fork out mucho serious cash. For average humans who want a brilliant monitor at a reasonable price, this is excellent value for money.

Brilliant monitor. Having looked in the shops at the lack of quality of 24" monitors that retail at around half this price range - this Dell is worth the extra cost both for the extra screen space and the build. It is for use in our home office that gets a lot of sunlight and is used for design and programming work and the clarity compared to the old LG next to it is notably better. The stand is solid and easy to position the screen and surprisingly it can be raised a good 15cm off the base making you realise just how low the cheaper fixed height monitors are - that you have your office chair much lower to compensate. In fact, I decided to buy a desk mount for the old LG monitor rather than lower the new Dell as the viewing position is much more comfortable.The two applications I use for long hours on a daily bases are a specialised visual IDE and a coding editor. The extra couple of inches and increased resolution make everything less cramped in the IDE and reading code, even leaning back in the chair is comfortable.The monitor also comes with several USB ports and these work well with two on the side for quick access and a couple hidden at the back for permanent devices like a mouse dongle or webcam. The ports are solid and take my metal Kingston USB key without problem.The setup was straightforward - I think once you've had a few monitors and modern TVs that they are all the same in principle - and I found settings that suited my work environment quickly enough that the monitor is viewable in both sunlight and in the evening with the office light on.I was concerned about the higher lag rate than newer monitors but I've not noticed anything in general use or playback for HD videos. It's attached to the DVI port and running off the in-built graphics of an i7 chip and works well enough that I would consider replacing all the office monitors with these.

I spend way too much time on the computer (OK I rely on it for income). So naturally, when I built a new computer to replace my laptop+monitor combo at my desk, I realised that I didn't want to lose having at least two screens. A family member had this monitor and I always thought it looked pretty good so having some more money to spend than before I thought I'd invest in something far more 'professional' than my previous £100 22 inch 1080p monitor.I was not disappointed. The image quality is amazing for the price. I game, and I haven't noticed any latency issues. Displayport is great with my GTX770 so I don't need an adapter - since I have to use the other outputs for other monitors. IPS panels are far better to use through the day and it is noticeably easier to spend long periods of time on the computer than with my previous one. Blacks are far more pure in particular compared to my other screens. There's tonnes of customisation within the menu system which is really easy to use. The resolution is slightly taller than 1080p - at 1920x1200 - which gives me a bit of extra room which I prefer for web pages and productivity purposes.The USB hub is super convenient and I also got the Dell AX510 soundbar since I wanted something compact (I've reviewed that too) - so there's lots of opportunity for accessories. The stand is great too - height adjustable, can swivel to portrait and of course tilt - so I haven't had to replace the stands like on my other monitors.I would thoroughly recommend this monitor - even over the 'newer' Dell U2414H since they dropped the resolution to 1080p - BUT - there's the Dell U2415 now, it costs only a little bit more - and I expect that is just as good - but comes in a slimmer design - and fixes one of my main problems with the U2412M - lack of HDMI. I have no idea why they dropped the old card reader from the previous model to this and wish it would return.Overall, this is an amazing monitor - but look out for the newer model.