Dell's new UltraSharp 2709W 27-inch LCD

Dell just busted out a new member in its storied line of LCDs, the UltraSharp 2709W. The 27-inch LCD is Dell's followup to the 2707WFP, and features the same 1920 x 1200 resolution, 9-in-2 media card reader and 6ms response time, but bumps the contrast ratio to 3000:1 and goes for some new all-black stylings. Brightness is a mean 450 nits, but the real fun comes with ports: Dell squeezed just about everything known to man in here, including HDMI, DVI-D, VGA, component, composite, and DisplayPort. There's also a nice collection of USB ports, plus HDCP for good measure. With a three year warranty the display sells for $999, quite the steal compared to the 2707WFP's intro price of $1,400 last year.

[Thanks, Jonathan]

[matt @ Jun 19th 2008 1:03PM]

Wow, so the same amount of pixels as a 24" in a screen 3 inches bigger *Slow Claps*

[Reid @ Jun 19th 2008 2:06PM]

Yeah, kinda lame. For $700 maybe, but the original price of $1400 was totally unrealistic when the 30" 2560px wide panel was only $1700ish. Of course, the 30" doesn't have all of the inputs.

I've got the 2407WFP. The extra 3" on the display would make it worse as a computer display, but would be decent for when I watch TV on it. I'll upgrade to the 30" when prices come down to reality and they add component video...

[KarlW @ Jun 19th 2008 2:09PM]

Sweet. Still, I'm happy with my 2407WFP-HC.

Do like the new styling though. Well, I like the monitor bit of it. The stand doesn't look as good as the old bird-foot one.

[Cunthor @ Jun 19th 2008 5:46PM]

The article doesn't mention this, but it has the wide colour gamut like the new 2408 and 3008 panels. This is great news for any photographers and designers on a tight budget. In fact, this is definitely on my short-list now.

[Dyranios @ Jun 19th 2008 1:05PM]

Should be easier to read the screen?

[matt @ Jun 19th 2008 1:05PM]

Wow, so the same amount of pixels that is in a 24" one in a screen 3" bigger. *Slow Claps*

[matt @ Jun 19th 2008 1:06PM]

How broken is this comment system?

[Luke D @ Jun 19th 2008 1:10PM]

Why do you say that? Your second comment is different from your first one which is consistent with you deliberately posting an altered second comment.

[Danakin @ Jun 19th 2008 1:11PM]

agreed...needs some re-coding.


Monitor is sweet though...however a little pricy (sp?).

[matt @ Jun 19th 2008 1:24PM]

Thats because I didn't get a confirmation of it working, and when I checked the comment page my first one wasn't there. It obviously takes a few minutes for the hamsters to work.

[Steven @ Jun 20th 2008 12:42AM]

"It obviously takes a few minutes for the hamsters to work."

00'00" Post comment
00'03" Receive confirmation e-mail
00'05" Reply
00'09" Comment shows on updated page.

What's your problem?
Kudos to the carrier pigeons which have to fly all the way to Belgium and back to accomplish this.

[JerkfacedFed @ Jun 20th 2008 8:16AM]

stop defending the comment system you losers. i can deal with it and dont complain, but it SUCKS. period.

[Turcu Ciprian @ Jun 19th 2008 1:08PM]

Apple has a 30 inch widescreen LCD what's so special about this one? (is it because it's new? :|)

[vileta2 @ Jun 19th 2008 1:23PM]

Dell also has a 30" monitor to offer.

It's size isn't necessarily the news, it's the price. And before anyone throws up the quality difference, let me remind you of the 2005FPW fiasco.

[Turcu Ciprian @ Jun 19th 2008 1:26PM]

first of all...I'm not a "mactard".. don't have , or ever had a mac of any kind / ipod / iphone... and i'm happy with my pc... i was just asking a question.... no need to get all "temperamental" on me ;)

[KarlW @ Jun 19th 2008 2:11PM]

Why does every post have to mention Apple? I'm a big mac fan - I've got a MacBook, iPhone, and I've set aside the money for a Mac Pro come Nehalem, and even I'm getting fed up of the fanboys every post.

[nomadic0ne @ Jun 19th 2008 2:16PM]

IMO, it's not the size, but the features.
Last I checked, the Apple Displays don't have quite the number of connections.

I'd get this for the HDMI, composite, and DVI connections alone.
Then I can use it for both a TV for my game consoles/media and a monitor for my PC.

[darkstar @ Jun 19th 2008 1:09PM]

my monitor used to be 22 inch. now its 37 inch.
how big is big enough?

[James Cameron @ Jun 19th 2008 1:09PM]

I'm getting sick of the over saturated of LCD being released. Sure the price been dropping but the techology haven't really picked up. When are they planning to release a LCD and it response time that's going to equal a CRT?

[James Cameron @ Jun 19th 2008 1:14PM]

$999 is NOT quite the steal but $600 would be. I can't believe just another 3 more inches almost double the price of the 24". My 24" look a bit better than the Dell 27" downstairs.

[James Cameron @ Jun 19th 2008 1:15PM]

$999 is NOT quite the steal but $600 would be. I can't believe just another 3 more inches almost double the price of the 24". My 24" look a bit better than the Dell 27" downstairs.

[James Cameron @ Jun 19th 2008 1:16PM]

Oops. Double post. What the heck happen?

[cit9 @ Jun 19th 2008 1:30PM]

4 posts in a row? C'mon man...

Nice monitor though...

[Podaman @ Jun 19th 2008 1:42PM]

Make a worthy sequel to Aliens and I'll forgive you.

[Ken @ Jun 19th 2008 1:16PM]

"the display sells for $999, quite the steal compared to the 2707WFP's intro price of $1,400 last year."

More like highway robbery since I paid half for my 28".

[helloUser @ Jun 19th 2008 1:24PM]

TN display? Im going back to bed.

[Zak @ Jun 19th 2008 1:42PM]

I found this, which claims it's an S-PVA panel. Don't know for sure though.

http://forum.vadim.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=36539

[rock99rock @ Jun 19th 2008 5:25PM]

Wish i could be in bed at 1:24pm. ( i know, he's probably in another country, but itd still be nice to crawl into bed at 1:24pm once in a while :) )

[SirWalksAlot @ Jun 19th 2008 1:27PM]

Umm.. wtf is with all the double comments?

[Danakin @ Jun 19th 2008 1:39PM]

the comment system has a delay sometimes, so people think what they typed didn't post, so they do it again...it is an error with the site, and with peoples' impatience.

[matt @ Jun 19th 2008 3:43PM]

Pretty much every other blogging system works, maybe they should just sack off blogsmith and use wordpress or something.

[rodsky @ Jun 19th 2008 1:28PM]

I need a bigger monitor but this may be too big

torn between a 24 or 26
any one got any recommendations?

[RD. @ Jun 19th 2008 2:04PM]

Acer makes a 25" monitor that is IPS tech.

[Syphon Filter @ Jun 19th 2008 1:31PM]

Totally lame.

My 15.4" Thinkpad has a 1920x1200 screen. At 27" you would want 2560x1600 at least surely?

[gluino @ Jun 22nd 2008 3:34AM]

I use a 2405fpw, and would like to have the same 1920x1200 resolution at 27", 28" or 30", easier for my aging eyes, easier for a few people to view at once.

[Didou @ Jun 19th 2008 1:45PM]

It's below €1000 in Europe as well. It's not as gouging as Dell's regular European prices.

[KilgoreTrout @ Jun 19th 2008 1:49PM]

since the advent of HDMI and/or Blackbox's 2 X DVI, anything bigger than 22 is too big for my desk; as secondary monitors in clone mode I opted for a 50" lg plasma and a 36 sony lcd.
Just spend a couple of hours wiring and a few bucks for an electric drill to make holes in your walls. You won't regret it

[huh @ Jun 19th 2008 2:22PM]

You forgot a few bucks for your hydro bills, too.

[naz @ Jun 19th 2008 1:51PM]

Liking the new slicker Dell monitors that are coming out

[Can @ Jun 19th 2008 1:54PM]

999$ for 1920×1200..
well, hell no.
Sorry, resolution comes before EVERTHING else for me.
make it 2560×1536 (or so) then I'm buying it right now.

[helixtimestwo @ Jun 19th 2008 2:45PM]

Doesn't 2560x16XX resolution require an SLI configuraion?

If so, the target audience would shrink considerably...maybe thats why it's 1920x1200?

[Za @ Jun 20th 2008 1:33AM]

helix, no, it doesn't. It just requires a video card that can do dual-link DVI, which is pretty common these days.

[michas_pi @ Jun 19th 2008 2:08PM]

Delicious DisplayPort.

[MikeWard1701 @ Jun 19th 2008 2:26PM]

For all those moaning about it having the same res as a 24" please stop to think about those with visual disabilities. We don't need uber-high res, we need a reasonable res on a bigger screen.

[Jack Chance @ Jun 19th 2008 2:49PM]

No offense, but i hardly think Dell's marketing team was sitting around thinking "if we could just grab the visual disabilities market ...."

I have the dell 24" WFP... i would like to see this badboy in action...see if the increased pixel size pissed me off or not.

[EvilNetworkAdmin @ Jun 20th 2008 5:31PM]

That's the worst argument for low resolution I've ever heard.

Turn the resolution down if you need to, don't encourage inferior overpriced hardware

[benjasmine @ Jun 19th 2008 3:01PM]

this is way too expensive for me...i have never bought a monitor over $400...i guess this is targeted for pro artist? well...im a amateur artist...

[Zak @ Jun 19th 2008 3:48PM]

Larger flat panels cost more money. It's just a basic fact of our existence.

[Chris @ Jun 19th 2008 3:55PM]

There's no way this is targeted at a pro market. The monitor clearly has a TN panel (the 6ms response time and absurdly high contrast ratio give it away), and no self-respecting professional (graphic/photo/etc) would use a panel that only recreates 262,144 colors over one that recreates 16.7 million colors, which is the difference between a 6-bit and 8-bit panel.

[Scott @ Jun 19th 2008 4:02PM]

I can almost guarantee this is not a TN panel. It's just part of Dell's nomenclature, no ultra sharps are ever TN panels