Dell SP2309W hits for $379: your old display is marked for death

If you're in the market for a reasonably sized, widescreen flat panel monitor, Dell just added one more choice to the platter. The SP2309W, which we saw officially announced back in September, is now available on the company's site. The screen boasts a 2048 x 1152 resolution, 300 nits of eye-searing brightness, a 80,000:1 contrast ratio, and all the DVI, HDMI and VGA ports you could ever need (well, one of each actually). The display retails for $379, and don't even think about stealing it. Seriously. Steven's watching, wise guy.

[Thanks, Lee]

[bartoron @ Nov 18th 2008 3:30PM]

Cockpuncher.

[Testies, Testies, 1, 2... 3? @ Nov 18th 2008 5:12PM]

If a Moose does it for you, then happy birthday...

[bartoron @ Nov 18th 2008 5:42PM]

http://www.cockpunchermovie.com/

[OneLove @ Nov 18th 2008 6:18PM]

got to love skinny seagal! ok, enough with the cockpunching!

[CockPuncher @ Nov 18th 2008 6:25PM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-1hI2tyxOU

[Kevin @ Nov 18th 2008 3:31PM]

Another TN panel?

[Jason Litka @ Nov 18th 2008 3:43PM]

It sure looks like it from the viewing angle.

[catter12 @ Nov 18th 2008 3:55PM]

Argh, i'm getting sick of everyone whineing about TN panels being this, and TN panel that. Get used to it, buster, because if it were a IPS, or VA panel, it would probably be twice as much. Yes, the viewing angles are so much better on a IPS panel, but you're going to pay a mighty king's ransom for one. TN panels are cheap, and the viewing angles aren't THAT bad.

[Hold McGroin @ Nov 18th 2008 4:06PM]

Where the hell are people sitting that a computer monitor needs to have a huge viewing angle?

Buy a TN panel and a TV instead of spending $800 on an IPS and pretending that your computer is a TV.

[Knives_Out @ Nov 18th 2008 4:09PM]

need a better viewing angle.

[Schwinn @ Nov 18th 2008 4:14PM]

Or you could just stick to a CRT... I'll give up my 21" CRT when it's dead. You can't beat the color accuracy of a CRT with any LCD, much less a cheap one... even for basic photo or video editing, I just don't get the big fuss over LCDs. Heck, CRTs are significantly cheaper, too!

[yida @ Nov 18th 2008 4:20PM]

I don't understand all the hate/love with TN, IPS. It it does what you need it to (gaming, photograpy/art editing, internet) then it's a good product. Sure TN and IPS have different specs but if no one told you which was which and you compared brandless monitors side to side can you tell that minute difference?

[Yem @ Nov 18th 2008 4:22PM]

catter12: the commenters above you aren't complaining. This thing has more pixels and nearly half the pricetag of the 2408wfp. What I DO want to see is manufacturers being up front about the panel type instead of leaving us to infer it from viewing angles and the response time. 6-bit vs 8-bit resolution and colour gamut is a big deal to some people.

[Mike Cerm @ Nov 18th 2008 4:22PM]

TN panels actually look better than IPS when you view them straight on. IPS improves viewing angle, but the view from the sweet spot suffers slightly as a result.

If you're buying an LCD TV, you'd definitely want IPS. If you're always viewing the monitor while seated directly in front of it, there's no reason not to get a TN panel and save some money.

[pyro @ Nov 18th 2008 4:49PM]

Yem is the only one that isn't completely clueless or making things up (like mike) here.

[CraigJ @ Nov 18th 2008 4:58PM]

@yida. yes, I can. But if I was buying a new monitor for my photography work flow I wouldn't be buying this, but for day to day use, coding, etc, this would be a good monitor to have, especially for the price, which seems pretty damn cheap to me. I'll probably have to spring for one a few days before Christmas when the retailers start getting desperate and offering deep discounts. I can always use another PC to load Linux on...

[HelloUser @ Nov 18th 2008 10:31PM]

catter12: because some people, seeing how you fail to realize, actually use computers and monitors for professional and creative purposes, not just watch porn or spending hours on world of warcraft with your e-girlfriend.

TN panels do suck. They are terrible, try using one while designing posters or editing the very faintest differences of colours, say, 1% difference in black? This is a nightmare for designers, so much so that I specifically promised myself to never buy another TN panel and payed $380 CAD (after taxes!) for an LG L246 @ 24" with a P-MVA panel. I can finally do work on this thing, and all my colours look pretty accurate. And 380 for non-TN aint bad.

[EdZ @ Nov 18th 2008 10:26PM]

I'm sitting in front of an S-IPS panel right now, and the viewing angle isn't significantly different from a TN. HOWEVER, there is a significant improvement in the colour. I might trade my curent montiro (HP 2335) in for one with a TN panel, but only if there were a significant resolution increase to offset the loss in colour reporduction.

[Macdelaney @ Nov 18th 2008 10:36PM]

What are you people talking about? i have a 2408wfp and a e248wfp and you can definitely tell the difference, both in terms of color reproduction and viewing angles. I cant lay back in my chair without noticing the TN go all fuzzy on the top

[Eh @ Nov 19th 2008 12:57PM]

TN viewing angles not that bad? People cant tell the difference between IPS and TN? Augh. TN sucks, everyone who has used both knows that TN sucks. The viewing angle changes the picture dramatically, and no its not because people are using their computers while hanging from the ceiling, the viewing angle sucks even when sitting directly in front of the monitor. With TN the "sweet spot" where colors are accurate is only a few inches regardless of where you sit, with IPS its the entire screen. Most people dont "need" an IPS but most people do convert to IPS once they realize just how much better they look than TN, I guarantee that all the people who bitch about TN on engadget are not graphic designers. If you dont care about picture quality then why care about the size? Why care about the response time? Why care about the contrast ratio? People DO care about how their monitor displays images.

If manufacturers would make more IPS monitors then the prices would drop. A few years ago when the 2005fpw put Dell monitors on the map they were not very expensive, I paid only $50-100 more for a 2005fpw than I would have paid for a TN at the time. IPS manufacturing has dropped off sharply since then and prices have gone up as companies try to increase their margins and fake-out consumers with bogus specs that dont really make anything look better.

[Nick @ Nov 18th 2008 3:32PM]

ooo i like it!

[tom @ Nov 18th 2008 3:40PM]

+1 me too.

1 inch less in display size + iSight camera + Magsafe + logo of half eaten fruit =
5 Benjamins in my pocket

COOL

[jiggajayd @ Nov 18th 2008 3:32PM]

I'm sure you've all seen this but i'll post anyway
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkskuSXqUD0

[KeatMP @ Nov 18th 2008 4:01PM]

hahaha

[Ian @ Nov 18th 2008 4:53PM]

Steven Seagal Runs Like a Girl - funny stuff.

I never noticed that before. Thank you, you kids on the internets with too much time on their hands.

[Unique Gift Ideas @ Nov 19th 2008 12:18PM]

How did I miss this comedic gold? I thought I covered my bases on the last Segal marathon. Awesome

[Nick @ Nov 18th 2008 3:33PM]

uhh.. i just looked up the specs on the website, and they are nothing like this http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&cs=cadhs1&sku=320-7641

[rock99rock @ Nov 18th 2008 4:06PM]

"The screen boasts a 2048 x 1152 resolution, 300 nits of eye-searing brightness, a 80,000:1 contrast ratio, and all the DVI, HDMI and VGA"

Looks pretty spot on to me? Unless you are talking about the $, and you forgot you were on a canadian site.

[Nick @ Nov 18th 2008 4:37PM]

they fixed it :P

[rock99rock @ Nov 18th 2008 4:59PM]

Sneaky Bahstads :)

[Nomi @ Nov 18th 2008 3:35PM]

Ok with that price in mind...can someone please explain to me why the cinema displays are 999?

[Jakob @ Nov 18th 2008 3:40PM]

*$899 (€899 - yeah what's the freakin' difference?)

Yep because it's Apple. You pay for the beutiful design. Granted I think this Dell-screen look very cool (even together with my new MB), but it's still plastic, and did I mention it was Apple?

[Jason Litka @ Nov 18th 2008 3:43PM]

Because Apple doesn't use TN displays in its good monitors.

[Filmguy15 @ Nov 18th 2008 3:54PM]

I really hope you're not trying to compare it to the new cinema display, which is LED, not LCD. If you are referring to the old ones, I have no idea.

[Cei @ Nov 18th 2008 3:59PM]

@Nomi

Because Apple use the much better IPS panels in their screens, and it's also LED backlit rather than CCFL. That adds up to an expensive screen, no matter who stuck the logo on the front.

[Josh @ Nov 18th 2008 4:10PM]

@FilmGuy: It's still an LCD screen. The LED part is the backlight, used in place of the CCFL like Cei stated.

[NewsGuy @ Nov 18th 2008 5:41PM]

Apple may use a better panel but they're monitor isnt even HDCP compliant, such great technology but they cant even add HDCP into their monitors - my 2 year old Dell 2407HC monitor is HDCP compliant and NONE of apples so called 'better quality' stand alone cinema displays even support HDCP.

No wonder blu-ray is such a bag of hurt. Apple is missing the software and the capability to even display blu-ray movies on compliant screens. Blu-ray and HDCP isn't the problem; its Apple inability to go with industry standards; everything they do is locked down and proprietary.

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Nov 18th 2008 7:21PM]

Newsguy:
The new Apple 24" is HDCP compliant.

[StalematE @ Nov 18th 2008 3:37PM]

who do you think would win in a fight? mr steve here, or chuck norris... discuss...

[Jinto @ Nov 18th 2008 3:57PM]

Chuck Norris. I would ask for your reply, but Chuck has already killed you... within a nano-second of your posting. Good bye.

[Patriks7 @ Nov 18th 2008 4:24PM]

"How about Chuck Norris with a BB gun?"

[Ian @ Nov 18th 2008 4:53PM]

This TV needs a good viewing angle of Chuck Norris.

[Neil @ Nov 18th 2008 3:37PM]

I think you've made a mistake. This monitor is supposed to have 2048 x 1152 resolution not 1920x1080 isn't it?

[Valicore @ Nov 18th 2008 3:39PM]

I think they did too:

US Specs page for the SP2309W: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=320-7641

[Matthew Castillo @ Nov 18th 2008 3:40PM]

And.... What size is it again? Cuz that's either a really good deal, or the SUCK.

[giantenemycrab @ Nov 18th 2008 3:51PM]

I think it's a 23". Hint: Look at the first 2 numbers in the model number.

[WeakGeek @ Nov 18th 2008 3:44PM]

What size is it? Oh, I get! Size doesn't matter...

[John @ Nov 18th 2008 4:09PM]

I think pretty much anyone who's ever bought a monitor could figure it out from '2309' there, buddy.

[European @ Nov 18th 2008 4:19PM]

That's what she said...

[Lowest Ranked @ Nov 18th 2008 4:53PM]

Its obviously 2309cm.