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

Pros: - Viewing angle: Much better than a TN monitor: This is very important for monitors that are 24+ inches as all TNs look significantly darker at the top even when sitting right in front of them. This is very noticeable in dark areas of movies and games. All IPS variation monitors address this problem well. The Dell u2412m seems to not have quite as good a range as other IPS monitors, but it doesnt really matter if youre sitting right in front of it. - Sturdy base: Rock solid. Does not wiggle when typing or even shaking a less-than-sturdy desk. - Color reproduction: The range of colors is very good, minus blacks, once properly calibrated with a spectrometer. There might be a tad bit extra hint of blue, but nothing terrible. - No dead pixels: I absolutely hate dead pixels. It is a very common issue. Luckily, this monitor did not have a single one. Cons: - Factory Default settings: Out-of-the-box, the colors are waaaaaaaay off. Like you took a translucent blue paint brush to your monitor. Using Windows 7s monitor calibration tool is not sufficient, you will need either a really good third-party program such as EzTune or, for better accuracy, a monitor spectrometer such as the Xrite ColorMunki. - Blacks are poor: This is to be expected of an IPS monitor. I was unable to calibrate my monitor to distinguish between 96-100% blacks. - Anti-glare coating: Oh god. Where to begin? When I first turned my monitor on, the first thing that popped into mind was Wow, this monitor is really dusty. How did this happen? Upon turning my monitor off, and taking a better look at it, there wasnt any dust on it at all. I then turned it back on and looked closer. It was the Anti-glare coating that was applied to it, reflecting light produced from the monitor into the wrong directions and producing what looks like small, dull, red and green specs. I then began to speculate. Maybe they just used way too much anti-glare coating on my monitor? After-all, it received so many positive reviews on Amazon. Well, after looking around at other websites for reviews, it turns out that it is a very common complaint about this monitor. The dusty-looking screen is very distracting. Like looking through a window that had collected dust for a few years. Solid colors do not look like solid colors, bright colors look murky, and no matter what you do, you cant get over looking past the dirty screen. The Anti-glare coating itself is not very effective. I have a window to the side and it seems to somehow reflect some of the light back at me in a dull satin shine. For reference, my old monitor has a very glossy mirror-like finish and there is no glare at all on it. If the window was behind me, however, it would be a very different story. I really wanted to like this monitor. I really did. But the anti-glare coating is such an eye sore. This is unacceptable for me in a monitor. I have an old Gateway FHD2400. It was a TN medium-low-end monitor for its time, and it has a better picture than the Dell u2412m due to everything looking so clean. The only thing I liked better about the Dell is that it has a better viewing angle. Needless to say, I sent the monitor back. Out of the hundreds of purchases I have made on Amazon, 95% of them being technology related, this is the only item I have ever sent back for a refund. I had high expectations of the Dell u2412m, but was very disappointed in the end. I would like to see Dell cease use of the useless anti-glare on this otherwise nice monitor. Edit- For more information on Anti Glare with Hard Coat 3H, the coating Dell uses on their IPS monitors, google dell u2711 anti glare review.

I was a bit hesitant at first (I am a student and have a limited budget), but decided my laptop screen alone was too small for what I needed to do (simultaneously webcasting, typing notes, and having reference material up). Since the monitor was on sale, I decided to give it a go. As my first IPS monitor, after about a weeks use at 8+ hours/day, I must say it is fantastic. The colors are rich, images and text are clear, and there is a certain vibrancy/clarity that is not apparent in other monitors I have used. The stand enables the height to be easily adjusted, and there are a variety of ports to connect your computer (refer to the description - this monitor does not have HDMI). I do not notice any of the abnormalities referred to by other reviewers such as significant yellowing or distortions due to the anti glare screen. Not to mention my desk is right next to a window, yet I can comfortably use this screen without glare problems. As a long time computer user (over 15 years), I must say this is the best monitor I have ever used and I would agree its probably the best in this price range. Also realize that this monitor has a 1900x1200 native resolution which is a plus (better vertical viewing space than the more common 1900x1080 monitors).

Ive had the monitor a little over a month now. I appreciate the superior image quality, color, screen size and stand adjustment range compared to my old 22 TN 1680x1050 monitor. I use it mainly for internet use and RPG/MMO gaming. I do have a Spyder4 Elite colormeter and using that for calibration I have very clean, bright whites and deep blacks. Colors are vivid and true (99% sRBG after calibration). * Gaming response is great for the type of games I play. I see no abnormal ghosting (all LCDs have a little blur regardless of panel type or response time compared to a CRT). My RPGs and MMOs (like Skyrim and LotRO) look gorgeous. * The stands adjustment range is awesome. I daily use the height adjustment, tilt and swivel depending on how Im sitting in my chair. Its so nice to have an ergonomic monitor that accommodates me regardless how I slouch, tip back or sit upright. Every monitor should have such a stand, but sadly most dont * The screen is very close to perfect. There is a tiny bit of edge bleed, but it in general is the most uniform monitor Ive ever own. The screen is almost completely smooth and dark when the PC first boots and there are no dead or stuck pixels. Great job there on quality control there. * Unlike a few who complain about the Anti-Glare coating I have no issue with it. Unless I have my nose very close to the screen with a light background its unnoticeable. At the usual 24 I sit from the screen I really cant see it. Whites are clean, colors are true, text is sharp (use the Windows 7 Clear Type adjustment tool) and there is no undue graininess to the screen. My previous monitor was a glossy screen, so if anyone should be sensitive to the anti-glare coating it should be me. The U2412M is just fine and I think some people are trying very hard to find a perceived flaw to obsess over. Basically, its a matte screen. If you dont like matte screens, get a glossy, but be aware you will then have to deal with reflections in bright environments. * 1920x1200 resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. This is a personal preference, but I like the greater height of a 16:10 monitor for internet and productivity use. If you really need to view 16:9 material without it being stretched youll be better off with a 1920x1080 monitor since the Dell doesnt have 1:1 pixel mapping. You can set it to 16:9 in most video cards so the stretching isnt evident (my Nvidia GPU can using the Nvidia Control Panel). That brings me to one of the monitors few cons. It can adjust to view 4:3 aspect material (older games)without stretching in the menu. It uses black bars on the left and right to do this, but the problem is it then shows widescreen material with black bars as well. Most monitors (including my three year old HP) can switch back and forth automatically when using a 4:3 setting in the menu. With the U2412M you have to go into the menu every time when playing old games or watching a 4:3 aspect TV show or movie. All in all this is an excellent monitor for general use and Im very happy with my purchase. Amazon (as usual) delivered quickly and their excellent return policy during the 30 day window really put my mind at ease vs. buying from a local brick and mortar store. They double boxed the monitor for shipment and thats a rarity with most e-tailers (Newegg doesnt do that for monitors).

I wanted to find a monitor to connect my MacBook Pro to in order to have a more ergonomic home office. Im an engineering graduate student, so I spend a lot of time at my computer and wanted something that would make reading scientific articles, word processing, multiple monitor-managing, and coding more enjoyable and comfortable. I was directed to this monitor by the recommendation of a good friend who bought one for a similar purpose. This product immediately seemed like a great option; it was very large, had a display-port for connecting to Macs, had a reasonable price tag, and had several unique features that made it even more attractive. Still, as a broke grad student the price tag was a bit much - but I went ahead and found a refurbished unit through Amazon Warehouse (HIGHLY recommend going through them). I purchased the monitor along with a mini Display Port to Display Port adaptor (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TSTDI0/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_2), the unit arrived and I more or less effortlessly put it together and began experiencing the joys of owning a high definition and large screen monitor. I loved this monitor so much that I bought another through Amazon Warehouse to install in my lab office. It was just terrible trying to go back to using just my laptop screen! I will say though, that one of the pixels on the second refurbished unit i bought is dead, which was a bit annoying but I figure it will keep me from using it to watch too much TV in lab. So below I just wanted to speak in more detail about some of the features that were just super nice that make me love this monitor so much. ===Flexible Screen The screen is really, remarkably pliant. You can turn it any which way, angle it up and down, and just get it into whatever position you would possibly want. Perhaps the only thing you could complain about is that the height of the screen cant be altered. ===HD Screen The screen is great for watching any HD content, and the size of the thing makes it large enough to play to the role of a TV. Ive also found the color representation to be high fidelity, which has been very useful in my endeavors as an amateur digital photographer. The screen beautifully renders my images during post-processing and helps me in making my adjustments to contrast and white balance. ===Rotating Screen This has been really nice for reading scientific journal articles, and it allows me to have a more natural reading experience. By more natural, I mean it makes it feel like I have a copy of the journal in front of me because I can see the whole page at once. It makes a big difference for those articles where you want to see the text and the figures at the same time. On another note, it has been really handy in editing portrait-oriented photographs. Normally with this orientation you have to deal with looking at a shrunken version of your picture since the height will be limited by the height of the screen. When you rotate the screen, youre able to see the picture at its full size and you will be able to edit it much more carefully. ===Other The screen is really super easy to calibrate following the instructions given by the Mac OS, so thats nice. Also, the fact that the monitor has its own USB ports are a big plus if you want to set up a permanent external hardrive without having to connect it directly to your Mac every time you get home or to the office. ===Environmental Impact On a more important note, I think it is great to support products (especially those that perform this well) that are conscious of their environmental impact. With this purchase you are getting a fantastic monitor while simultaneously supporting the environment. And seriously, the environment needs some major supporting right now.

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 purchased this monitor after hearing positive feedback from a couple of my friends who have this monitor as well as my own positive experience when testing this monitor on their PCs. The primarily glowing reviews here and elsewhere online confirmed the positive impressions that I had already developed for this monitor. So my expectations were high. Im going to begin this review with a problem that I had and end with the good stuff. If it wasnt for the flaw described below I would have given this monitor a solid 5 star rating. I cant recall reading any other reviews detailing the flaw that Im about to describe so I thought it wise to mention it in the event that anyone reading these reviews may encounter it themselves. The monitor it had a subtle flaw. A portion of the right hand 1/3 of the screen was slightly dimmer than the rest of the screen. It looked like a very subtle gray tint. It was probably an uneven distribution of brightness / luminance, possibly a backlighting problem. I understand that some unevenness in brightness / luminance can be expected but it should only be noticeable when testing / measuring with calibration software and not to the naked eye. The dimmer area of this monitor was visible to the naked eye. There was no way to adjust the problem away. It was most noticeable on a white background. I spend most of my time in Excel, Word, etc. so I always saw that slightly dimmer right hand 1/3 of the screen. I also use a live real-time stock quotation system that has numerous charts with white backgrounds so the charts on the right portion of the screen always appeared slightly dimmer with that grayish tint compared to the other charts. The problem was also noticeable on light colors. For example, if a light yellow or pink color filled the screen, the section of the monitor on the right 1/3 of the screen that was dimmer gave the light yellow and pink colors a slightly very subtle grayish tint. If the screen was filled with a fluorescent green, the same portion of the monitor with the problem had a slightly duller less bright fluorescent green color. The problem was not as obvious on really dark colors or video, but colors were less vibrant and rich. However, I played a couple of videos where there was a white background and paused the image and if the image was paused you could see the dimmer right hand portion of the screen even with a video. If it wasnt for this problem of a slightly very subtle dimmer section of the monitor, the positives were everything that I had experienced when testing this at my friends house and everything positive that I have read in all of these reviews. But since I hadnt read anything negative in these comments about the particular problem that I had experienced I decided that hopefully it was simply a flaw in this particular monitor that had been shipped to me. So I returned the monitor. I was willing to give this monitor another chance and simply wanted to exchange the flawed monitor for the exact same model. Well, upon receiving the replacement monitor I found that it had an uneven distribution of brightness / luminance on both sides of the screen. Less so than the original monitor on the right side but now the left side of the replacement had a touch of the same problem. I decided the original looked better and decided to keep it and return the replacement. Now the good stuff. If it wasnt for the flaw that I just described, the following comments would have warranted a solid 5 star rating for this monitor. I have not made any adjustments to the image at all because everything looks perfect to me right out of the box, at least to my naked eye. The colors are vibrant, rich, and natural. There is no greenish or bluish tint or any other color tint that some people seem to have noticed with their monitors (when using the color setting Standard preset mode). The movie mode setting gave the screen a bluish tint and the multimedia mode setting gave the screen a slightly yellowish tint. The text mode setting was much too dark for my personal liking. Text is crisp and sharp. I have no dead or stuck pixels. There is no backlight leakage visible to my naked eye. And there is no color bleeding. I quickly decided the Standard mode setting configuration was best for me. I made absolutely no adjustments and even video looks stunning in Standard mode. In fact, I prefer videos in the Standard mode rather than the movie or multimedia modes. Unlike most of the reviewers here who turn the brightness down to about 35, Im one of those people who like a nice bright screen and find the factory pre-set 75 level to be just perfect for my eyes. The anti-glare hard coating is typical of what you would find on most anti-glare monitors and does what its supposed to do without degrading the image quality. You can see a touch of the anti-glare coating on an all white screen background, but otherwise it is unnoticeable. If you spend all day in Excel with a white background like I do you will slightly notice it if you stare hard at the screen and think about it. But if you have previously used anti-glare monitors you wont consciously be aware of it or notice it. If you are currently a glossy screen user, you may be slightly conscious of it on a white background, but as I said it wont degrade or diminish the quality of your screen image. The stand is excellent. Very sturdy and offers a full range of height, tilt and swivel adjustments. As previously mentioned, I use this monitor primarily for business applications. If I were to use this for professional photography or video editing I would probably want to be sure I had the most accurate settings possible and would have the monitor calibrated or at least use one of the ICC Profiles for this monitor on the TFT Central web site. I did look at the test images on the lagom.nl/lcd-test/ web site and this monitor tested very well on most of the images. The only images that showed possible adjustments are necessary were the white saturation images and the gamma calibration. But this Dell monitor tested extremely close to those images right out of the box. The other test images showed the monitor was very well tuned. But as I said, to my naked eyes, colors look accurate and the image is absolutely beautiful right out of the box! Photos that Ive taken are displayed with accurate colors on the monitor and look just as they should. However, if youre a professional photographer the higher end Dell U2410 offers better color management with the color space having a wide gamut (102% NTSC) and this Dell U2412M having the standard gamut / sRGB (71% NTSC). Essentially, I was actually shocked that the image looked so good right out of the box and had fully expected to spend time calibrating or doing some sort of minimal tweaking to perfect the image. Thankfully, that was not necessary. Its almost as if the monitor was factory calibrated. Of course your monitor image is only going to be as good as your graphics card allows so be sure that you have a reasonably high end video/graphics card installed in your PC with the most current drivers. Since I use this monitor primarily for business, I run my stock quotation system and Excel all day long. One of the primary considerations in buying this monitor was the higher screen resolution of 1920 x 1200 since I need to maximize and make the most efficient use of my screen real estate space in order to display as much data and as many charts as possible at the same time. This monitor is perfect for providing that additional screen space. Most of my Excel spreadsheets are zoomed down to 80% with font sizes averaging 8 to 10 points. Even with worksheets zoomed down to 80%, the 8-10 point font sizes are crisp, clear, and sharp. I did make one change to how Windows handles font displays however. I was previously using windows font smoothing set to standard, which is probably the default setting. At this setting the text is crisp and sharp but I found it a little thin. So I changed the smoothing to ClearType, which made the text look a little fuller and darker, but still sharp and crisp. I prefer this setting on this higher resolution monitor. Its a matter of personal preference. So this monitor is perfect for investment managers, traders, technical chart analysts, or financial analysts in general. Its also great for people who spend considerable time in database applications. If you think you need a 27 monitor for these purposes plan on spending a minimum of $1,000 for the same specifications or better, and the features and customization capability of this 24 Dell U2412M. Do the extra 3 inches justify the big jump in price? But one distinct advantage of a larger monitor would be the ability to run at an even higher resolution than this Dell thus providing even more screen real estate space. When playing a video on this monitor either on YouTube or from any other source, a HD video will fill the screen width but you will see black bands on the top and bottom of the screen since it is a higher resolution than a standard HD monitor with a resolution of only 1920 x 1080. If you watch a movie shot with anamorphic widescreen lenses (usually Panavision) at a 2.39:1 aspect ratio or a movie shot with spherical lenses and cropped to a 2.35:1 aspect ratio (Super 35), you will notice much larger black bands on the top and bottom of the screen than you would see on a lower resolution monitor. The letterboxing effect is more noticeable on this higher resolution monitor. Thats not a negative; its just the result of a higher resolution. Movies shot with the best equipment (Panavision cameras and lenses) look stunning and sharp. Videos shot with a RED digital cinema camera and lenses, or even better with Panavision lenses, also look stunning and sharp. Movies shot anamorphically look the most stunning when Panavision anamorphic lenses were used. Other anamorphic widescreen lenses dont seem quite as sharp and can display a few moderate visual distortions, but then that is most likely the quality of the lens and not the fault of the Dell monitor. YouTube videos shot with reasonably high end HD cameras also look fairly sharp. Of course most of them are not professionally shot so YouTube videos are not the best judge of video images on this monitor. But for those YouTubers who take a professional approach and know what theyre doing and use high end software for editing and color correction, such as Final Cut Pro X, the images look great on this monitor. Of course the video quality for DVD and Blu-ray will also depend on the quality of the mastering of those disks. Im not a big gamer so I havent yet tested any video games on this monitor. I would definitely recommend this monitor. If youre looking for a reasonably priced IPS panel LED LCD 24 monitor with good viewing angles this monitor fits the bill. If you need extra screen real estate space, the higher resolution 1920 x 1200 gives you much more extra space. If you want a monitor with a slightly higher brightness capability of 300 cd/m2 versus the average 250 cd/m2 for this price range or lower, then this monitor will give it to you. If HDMI is a requirement for you, this monitor does not have that connection. It was not an issue for me so I cant give this monitor a reduced rating for its lack of HDMI. If you must have it, splurge for the higher end, higher priced Dell U2410. And hopefully if you buy this monitor you will end up receiving one with an even distribution of brightness / luminance. Bottom line, the Dell U2412M monitor provides a beautiful display for a moderately priced IPS monitor with many easy options for adjusting the OSD should you find it necessary to tweak the image more to your own liking. Finally, the actual vendor for this monitor was WeSellForLess, through Amazon. They were a great vendor. I simply sent an e-mail explaining the problem with the monitor and they immediately shipped a replacement monitor and e-mailed a UPS return label for the original monitor. Everything was handled smoothly and quickly without any hassles. Ive purchased products online for years and have never actually had to return anything for a refund or exchange until now. I guess Ive been lucky.

Seeing as the U2412M is so highly regarded, my expectations were quite high. I was originally set on the U2415, but was turned away due to many complaints about issues with daisy-chaining. 27 is too large for my desk, and I wanted an IPS over a 120Hz TN. I seriously considered the ASUS PA248Q, but felt it was targeted more so for artists. So I decided to go with this tried-and-true monitor. Obviously its better than most (all?) TN panels. The colors are great, and really shows off photographs well. If anything its a bit warm for my tastes. The matte screen does not appear to be thick or grainy at all. My biggest annoyance with it is the glow, which is very noticeable in the lower left and right corners on black and dark pictures. I suppose it is just an unfortunate characteristic of these types of monitor, although Ive seemed to have gotten used to it. I kind of wish it had HDMI and USB 3.0 ports, but I knew they were absent when I purchased it. The bezel is fairly large by todays standards, and not really ideal for multi-monitor setups. Im currently using it in a dual monitor setup with my older Acer 19 TN panel. By comparison, the Dell is very bright, even on lower levels, and the colors are far more accurate. Im really enjoying the large screen real-estate. I cant imagine working on one small screen again. All in all Im happy with it, but just not as impressed as I thought I was going to be.

All the recent negative reviews had me sweating. Against all of my typical OCD overzealous not wanting to be disappointed instincts, I went ahead with an order through Vernal.Tech via Prime. I figured if I was not happy Amazon would make it right. All of the angst was unfounded. The monitor arrived promptly with some superficial damage to the box, but the device itself was flawless. Even prior to anything resembling calibration I could see I was not one of the unfortunate to receive a poor quality version. There were zero dead or stuck pixels, minimal light bleed (subtle on the right side), and none of the dreaded yellow/warm tint I was very worried about. What I received: Model: U2412Mb Rev A00 Made in China Manufactured November 2013 I am a picky S.O.B. with a very strong background in (film) photography with an eye for color and utter contempt for anything poor in the way of visuals or optics. This monitor isnt flawless or the top of the line by any means, but for the money I had to spend I am absolutely elated with the quality so far. If the monitor maintains its current performance for several years, I will consider it money well spent.

I am a professional photographer and look at 100s images a week. My previous Samsung burned out and I needed a monitor for clear and and good resolution but at a budget price. I looked and after reading the reviews of monitors, the Dell 2412 certainly surpassed all the others out there in the below $300 price range. I received the monitor ( even sooner than Amazon estimated...Thanks Amazon) opened it and had it up and running in under 30 minutes. It came right up and looked great right out of the box. I did calibrate it later as it did need some tweaking but nothing dramatic.The GUI is well positioned, very easy and logical to use. The stand I think is certainly strong enough and it rotates, extends, and tilts very nicely. Found no bad pixels and the 1980X1200 is extremely nice compared to the 1980X1080. Overall I am VERY Satisfied. I gave it a 4 vs. 5 star because it had no hdmi input or 3.0 USBs. Actually very minor but just thought it should have had a hdmi for an IPS panel. The DVI output is just as good as an hdmi unless you need sound or you have a much larger display. Read a few complaints about the stand, bad pixels, too bright, poorly made, unattractive material used for the matte screen causing an unpleasant look.................but IMHO this is an excellent monitor for the price and I experienced none of shortfalls others have mentioned. I am running Vista and this review was written after only 3 days of use.

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.