Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor, Black

First, let me say I really like my Dell U2412m monitor. Ive had it about a month and have thoroughly enjoyed using it everyday, and for the price point, this is a wonderful monitor with an excellent feature set. However, its not perfect. The first one I received had severe clouding in the right top and bottom corners. Of course, these come setup with the brightness at an eye searing 75%, and the clouding diminished a bit when I turned it down to a more reasonable 30%, but it was still quite evident on a dark image, and not acceptable for my main purpose of photo editing, so back it went (thanks Amazon for the easy no hassle exchange!). The second one also has a tiny bit of clouding in the corners, but only when viewed really close-up, and mostly not visible at all except on a completely dark screen. So, not perfect, but acceptable. I really like the 16x10 ratio, its a nice big workspace. The build quality seems up to Dells high standards, and I love the stand, with its easy and yet very secure adjustments. I will say that the color on my second monitor leaned toward the green, cyanish side (yuck). Unfortunately, the color controls in the main menu are not fine enough for the kind of color adjustments that were needed, but luckily for me, I found some sites on the internet that described how to carefully access the service menu, and I was able to tweak the color to perfection using some very good LCD monitor test images I found using Google. So, lets wrap it up: Pros: 1. Good build quality 2. Excellent color and picture (when tweaked correctly) 3. Easy and stable stand adjustments. 4. Works beautifully with both my new Mac Mini AND my 10 year old Mac G4 (using a USB switch) 5. Lots of inputs and USB connections 6. 3 Year warranty Cons: 1. A bit of clouding in the corners, but generally not visible during normal use. 2. Only USB 2.0 3. No HDMI input So, would I recommend this? Yes, but with qualifications. Be sure and check your screen for unacceptable clouding, and be prepared to tweak the brightness, contrast, and color. If you can live without HDMI and USB 3.0 ports, than this monitor should be on your short list. UPDATE (March 4, 2013): I really like this monitor. It has performed flawlessly over the last 5 months. The bit of clouding in the corners doesnt seem to show up in real world use. No color drift and no problems whatsoever. I leave it on 24 hours a day and it automatically goes into power-saving mode whenever I put the computer to sleep. For the price, this is quite a nice monitor. Update (Sept 5, 2013): The thing I like most about this monitor, it just works. I know that sounds simple, but in this complex world of cables, and operating systems, and weird stuff, its nice to have something that I can just plug in and it works perfectly, all day, every day. The color has been SUPER stable, with no drift. The slight clouding in the corners hasnt gotten worse, and doesnt effect my day to day photo work. All-in-all, an excellent and reliable monitor.

You *need* IPS for large-format LCD monitors. I found this out the hard way, by first purchasing and returning a highly reviewed Viewsonic TN monitor after finding the graphic quality to be severity lacking, even to my non-professional eyes. I decided to shell out an extra $50 to try out this low-end IPS monitor and am amazed by what I am getting. Out of the box, hi-res digital photos practically jump out of the screen, showing deep shadows and bright colors. 1080p videos plays almost as good as they do on my high-end LCD TV. I also find the 1920x1200 resolution to be better for computer use - the extra 120 vertical lines (compared to the typical 1080p resolution) cant hurt. The on-board USB 3.0 hub is a nice convenience. This allows me to use the monitor as a mini-docking station for my laptop and a charging station for the mobile phone. I have several peripherals plugged into the monitor, and only need to make one USB connection when my laptop is on my desk to make use of all of them. The only minor annoyance is that the monitor doesnt come with HDMI port (Dell opts for DisplayPort instead). I would think a HDMI + DisplayPort set up would make more sense than DVI + DisplayPort, since nearly all newer computers come with either HDMI or DP, and DVI is becoming obsolete. But since HDMI-DVI adapters cost almost nothing I wouldnt call this an issue.

My old TN/gamer LCD died recently and I needed a 2nd monitor to go with my LP2475w for Lightroom & Photoshop photo editing. When I first received the Dell, I plugged it in and assumed the Win 7Pro drivers would be sufficient. I calibrated it (with a Spyder3 Pro) and it looked great... for a few minutes. It kept going out of calibration and presenting with a reddish hue, notably on the mouse pointer when over a white background. The CD that came with the monitor was pretty useless. I dont know why, but I wasnt able to get anything to install from it. Probably just me not understanding the interface. I eventually downloaded the driver for the monitor from the Dell website, and now its working like I expected it to. Its holding calibration just fine and it looks great. My HP monitor has a bit more color range - and since I shoot & print via Adobe RGB, I will still probably do my final edits on the HP, but the Dell is 97% as good. Its great being able to run Lightroom in a 2-monitor setup when reviewing a couple nights worth of high school basketball photos to send off to my editor. Im not a big gamer anymore (Civ and Skyrim sometimes) so I cant speak to the refresh rate needed for high-end gaming. But for photo editing, this monitor is an amazing value for the price!

Bought this for use with a 2012 Mac Mini using this cable to connect the two:

I have two of these. One I bought from Dell. The other from Amazon 3 years after buying the first one. The first one is revision A03 and the new one is revision A01. It has the yellowish tint that people are complaining about in various places online. They are sitting side by side and its fairly noticeable. The thing is I dont know if I like the blueish tint of the A03 or the yellowish tint of the new A01... Im not too sure what to do. But know that it seems fairly consistent that all the current crop of Dell U2412M monitors have a slight yellow tint to things that are supposed to appear white. Its hard to fix this with any of the settings Ive tried so far. UPDATE: Ive decided to keep the second one with the yellowish tint because Ive found some pretty easy settings to make the color pretty closely match my the older A01 version I have. Go into the color part of the monitors menu system and set it up to have custom color, and then adjust the Red and Green settings each to 93, leave Blue at 100. Then set Brightness to 95 and Contrast to 70. This has done it for me. The two versions I have of this monitor are now close enough in color that Im going to keep the new one from Amazon. The yellowish tint is enough of a tint that its visible even if you dont have two of these monitors like I do. Ah, if all my problems were this bad I would be living a truly divine life.

I bought two of the Dell u2412m monitors that Im using on a Mac Mini for software development. Since I look at a lot of code all day long, text clarity is very important to me. I also use the monitors for graphics design and editing, so color performance and contrast is important as well. I also work in an environment where I have a lot of outside light coming in (including a window behind my chair), so an anti-glare coating was critical for me. Based upon the reviews I read here, I was a little concerned about the anti-glare coating on the u2412m and how that would effect my ability to read text. At times my eyes have had a little bit of a problem focusing on the text, but my brain seems to be adjusting to them after a day or so. Its a little hard to describe, but its like my eyes initially focused on the anti-glare coating instead of the image behind the coating. When I have a problem focusing, if I blink my eyes, they seem to refocus. In any case, after a couple of days, the text appears to be easier to read and I seem to have less eyestrain after a long day of coding on these than I did with my old monitors (Acer AL2216W). The color performance and contrast of the u2412m is significantly better than my old monitors, these look very rich compared to the old screens. Out of the box I did notice that one of the monitors had a slightly warmer white color than the other. This appears to be due to how they are calibrated for the Standard setting at the factory. I found that if I switched the color settings on the monitors from Standard to Custom Color and set the R,G,B levels to 100 on both monitors, then the colors appeared to be nearly identical. I am running with the colors at 100, contrast at 75, and brightness at 20 which seems to be about perfect for me. I now have 3 monitors connected (two of the Dells, and one of the old monitors) and I can say that overall I am very pleased with the improvement. The new monitors draw less power too, about 18 watts each with my settings vs 31 watts each for the old monitors. So now I am thinking about buying a third u2412m... This may not be the perfect monitor for my needs, but at this price point it does seem like a good choice and Im happy with the purchase. The stands also have great adjustability and the extra usb ports are very nice with my Mac.

I specifically targeted a 16:10 monitor to get the extra 120 pixels of height that the 1080p does not give (1920 wide x 1080 high for the 1080p vs. 1920 wide x 1200 high for the 24 class 16:10); because I had used the Dell 2410 at work for 9 months and became very attached to the vast expanse of working area and the high image quality. Ive been waiting for the prices to come out of the stratosphere, and was pleasantly surprised that it was the Dell U2412M which was the first I could find to dip below the $300 mark. An extra $150 for only an extra 120 pixels in height (as compared to the $150 23 1080p)? You betcha! I work with and proofread documents and engineering drawings; and my wife is a consulting nurse who juggles dozens of tasks on her screens. We both LOVE our 24 monitors with the extra pixel real estate. We bought THREE (3). My wife was more than a bit skeptical about the value for such an outlay of money; but after she got set up with her 24 Ive heard no complaints. I intended to use two at work, but made the mistake of setting up one on my home computer to test it out. I hasnt moved since. Looks like I will be getting a fourth U2412M to replace the 23 1080p at work, which sits alongside my other U2412M. The latter makes my nice 23 seem like a piece of junk: The difference in working real estate between the two seems like a lot more than the numbers (1080 vs 1200) would make you think. Setup was easy. Colors are nicer than my other monitors and are easily adjustable. Instructions for setup and adjustment were clear and simple. I am not a dead pixel hunter, so cannot comment on that aspect, other than to say I dont see anything amiss and the display looks GREAT! The monitor is a few pounds heavier than the featherweight 23-inchers I have been buying lately. This could be a blessing or a curse: The U2412M is more stable, but you need both hands to lift it or adjust height (speaking of which, the height is very easy to instantly adjust). The only downside comment I can muster is that there is no HDMI connection, so DVI-D is the only way to get the excellent quality video this monitor was built to deliver. If there was a 4.5 star rating, I would downgrade to that for the missing HDMI, but it is not enough to downgrade to 4 stars. My wife and I are both using Sapphire Radeon HD video cards (one an HD6850 and one an HD7850) to run dual monitors. Either card has (among other connections) two DVI-D ports, and will run two large monitors in clone view or extended desktop modes beautifully. This is a great monitor, and now you can get it at a great price!

We have been exceedingly impressed with the U2412M monitor thus far. Without rehashing (too much) what other reviews have said, heres what we like: 1) Aspect ratio: the screen size is perfect for working with documents, excel files, email and presentations. Yes a smaller screen will do the job but the extra vertical resolution is nice to have. 2) Highly adjustable: Dell UltraSharp panels have always been great in this regard, and this monitor is no exception. We love that the swivel (both left to right and horizontal to vertical) is effortless, and that its easy to adjust the vertical height and pitch of the monitor to help you achieve the best ergonomic viewing angle. This has really helped to reduce neck strain for both of us who use this monitor. 3) Great colors and image clarity: Im sure there are professional photographers and others who need nothing but the highest levels of color accuracy, but for normal office/web/photo use this monitor produces crisp, clear, pleasing images which are more than good enough for us. 4) USB side ports: USB ports on the bottom and side of the monitor have been a feature on various Dell monitors over the years. While this feature is easy to overlook, the convenience of being able to quickly access USB ports to pop in and out a flash drive has become a luxury that I dont want to live without. No more having to reach behind the PC, or twisting to reach strangely angled ports that manufactures put on their computers for some reason. Its also great if you keep your CPU on the floor and dont want to have to get down on your knees just to plug in a USB device. As always, Amazon customer service is great. The first display we received had a dead (dark) pixel. Amazon quickly shipped out a replacement and the new one was perfect. I highly recommend thoroughly checking out the pixels right after you receive it. There are helpful test patterns that you can play on YouTube and similar sites that make dead and stuck pixels easier to spot.

Pros: + Nice 1920x1200 resolution. I dislike the recent trend of making computer monitors 16:9 instead of 16:10. + Extremely bright on full blast + Great and sturdy adjustable stand with a 90 degree swivel (great for coding or web use) + Anti-glare coating isnt as noticeable as other reviewers claim + Matte screen. I hate glossy screens with a passion. + Convenient USB ports on the side and back + Have yet to see a single dead pixel. + Decent response times. Ive done some gaming on it and havent noticed much (if any) ghosting. Cons: - Backlight bleed. Mine isnt as bad as others Ive seen, but its still there. Lowering the brightness seems to help; you can turn it down to zero even and still have a bright picture. Its really only noticeable if the entire affected area is black. Im not too upset with it, and I dont feel like playing the RMA lottery to see if I get a better one and then end up with a worse one instead. The bleed is my only real complaint. If youre looking for a quality monitor in an affordable price range, I would definitely encourage getting this. Dells monitors have always impressed me with their quality, and a cheaper off-brand monitor wont look as good (even if its the same actual panel).

I initially was in the market for a 27 IPS but couldnt seem to find one for a price I felt comfortable paying. I decided to go with this UltraSharp as it had good reviews from other photographers. I am very happy I did. The 24 is plenty of room for editing large images especially with a smaller monitor working in unison that I use for menus and tools leaving almost the whole 24 area available for the image. I know it may sound strange, as it did for me in some other reviews, but it really is nice having those extra pixels. 1200 vs 1080. I havent tried watching widescreen movies or anything on it so I cant speak to that formatting but for photo editing, web browsing or just any other general use its really great to have that real estate. The colors on the monitor were awesome right out of the box and I havent needed to do any adjustments or calibrations. The viewing angle on the IPS is awesome. I catch myself still moving my head around (to adjust for various brightness levels from different viewing angles on my old macbook pro) while editing only to find that I dont need to anymore. The flexibility of the monitor is great and easy to change and adjust. The USB port on the side is convenient. Editing on this display is so much more pleasurable than my old MacBook Pro 17. I can tell this is going to be a productive relationship.