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

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.

I bought this to replace a hand-me-down Dell monitor that had a band of discoloration. I looked online for magazine reviews of monitors and this one got high marks; after comparing several of the highest-scoring ones, I decided on another Dell because of the extra height. I didnt want to move from a 1920x1200 monitor to a 1920x1080 one and lose that extra inch or so after having been used to it for years. The colors look great, the resolution and size are what Im used to, and the anti-glare coating on this one seems better than the previous one. I sit with my back to a window and I cant see any reflections from all that light. I was concerned at first that there was not a button for switching between inputs because I have two computers hooked up to this monitor, but the buttons are customizable, so I was able to make one of them an input-switch button. Even if I hadnt done that, I could have gotten to that function fairly easily through the menus. Its slightly less convenient to not have the buttons labeled, but not enough to be annoying. I like the energy-saving features of the monitor as well. I have installed the PowerNap program that came with it on my main computer, and the screen-dimming when the screen saver goes on works just fine; there is a noticeable time for the screen to go back to full brightness after the mouse is moved/key is pressed to end the screensaver, but its worth it to me to save energy.

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 had wanted to purchase a larger monitor. My vision isnt as good as it was years ago (Im getting more and more far sighted). Im now using TWO monitors on my computer which gives me screen real estate. I had a 19 1440x900 monitor and a 22 1680x1050. I intended to replace the smaller one with a 24-27. Actually, I was drooling over those 1440P or 1600P displays. The Korean 1440P 27 units can be had for about $300, but just how GOOD are they? I did some research found many rave reviews for the Dell U2412M. At about $275 shipped its a reasonable buy. Yes you can get a 24 1080P TN monitor for about half the price. What you will end up with is a stripped down TV set panel. In fact, you could probably just go to Costco and buy a Visio full HD TV and use the darn thing as a monitor for even fewer bucks. A computer wide screen monitor should be in a 16:10 format, not 16:9 IMHO. That extra height makes working on text documents in MS word (or Libre Office) easier as you can see more of the page. I was too used to the computer based screen ratio to put a TV set on my desk. The Dell U2412 is about the most affordable monitor in this format. If you read the reviews you might come across with the idea that this unit isnt perfect. Well nothing is. Technically it doesnt have the fullest color rendition, and if you need PERFECT color you might find fault here. Ive viewed photos taken with my Panasonic G3 on this monitor and flesh tones are correct with good contrast. I havent tried to set the color balance yet, all Ive done is fool around with the contrast and brightness settings. Im not a professional photographer though, so take this with a grain of salt. After ordering this monitor I found out about a controversy involving panel version numbers. Yes, mine is version A00 with a recent 2013 date code. I dont know what Dell is doing with the version codes, it may reflect where they are buying the panels, and they may have changed suppliers many times in recent history, only to go back to the original source. Who knows? I cant see any dead or stuck pixels, there is no yellow tint or any other kind of defect visible to my eyes. The unit was packed in a very ingeniously designed cardboard insert. Some reviewers have complained about this, preferring the older method of molded white foam packing. Well the cardboard is greener and made of renewable material. That foam is made from petrochemicals, in other words OIL. I prefer the cardboard. So far Ive had this monitor for under a week. Its brighter and crisper than the 22 AOC that is now sitting to the left of it as my secondary screen. If I had an extra $275 to spend, Id buy a second U2412M to replace the AOC in a heartbeat. Cons? Well it came with a single link DVI cable that is a bit too short for my setup and Ill probably end up buying an after market 8 cable. Some would call the lack of built in speakers or an HDMI input a con. Really? If you want those, then go get an HDTV and use THAT as a monitor. This is a COMPUTER monitor. DVI and Display Port connections are what are in vogue here. Yeah some computers DO come with HDMI outputs, but those are probably intended for HTPC use. I have a good pair of full range wall mount speakers hooked up to a 30 watt per channel amp for my computer sound system. I dont need a pair of two by nothing speakers in the monitor!

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

Most PC monitors these days are 16:9, because manufacturers can steal the panels from HDTV makers for cheap. The problem is 16:9 is a terrible aspect ratio for computing - reading a web page or writing a Word doc is not the same as watching a widescreen movie. The Dell U2412M is a 16:10 monitor - a much more usable aspect ratio for general computing. Those 120 extra pixels really do make a BIG difference. But you usually only see this in more expensive professional monitors because these panels are not used in any other industry. The volume is lower, hence the prices are higher - and that means theyre usually relegated to high-end displays. This is one of the few ~$300 16:10 PC displays, and its a good one. No, its not perfect - no monitor is, and let me dispense with the monitors bad points first. Like the (16:9) ASUS PB238Q I traded in for this, mine doesnt have perfect uniformity - one side of the screen is ever so slightly brighter (and bluer) than the other. This is a common problem for LCDs, but most people would never notice it, and even a nitpicker like me only ever really sees it on a solid white or light grey background. The physical look of the monitor is pretty basic and isnt going to win any beauty awards - it has that mid-90s Dell style, with the rounded edges and silver accents they used to use. I actually liked the physical look of my ASUS monitor better, with its industrial style sharp edges and corners and darker black plastic and panel. The Dell doesnt look quite as professional. But this consideration goes away as soon as you turn the monitor on and start using it. Most of these seem to have a little bit of corner light bleed and mine is no exception, though its not noticeable at all except on a totally black screen. The only time I ever actually see it at all is when watching letterboxed movies. The bottom right (coincidentally where the power LED is) is the worst offender on mine, although oddly it goes away completely if I look at that corner dead straight-on. But then Im looking at the rest of the monitor askew. Of course, as cheap as it is and unlike previous Dell UltraSharp monitors, this one is a 6 bit panel that uses interpolation to manage 16.7 million colors, and its only got an SRGB color gamut. Thats by design and not really a criticism, but just be aware of it if youre a photographer. Dell still makes other UltraSharp monitors intended for professionals - this isnt one of them, although its good enough for me and it should be good enough for anyone not doing critical photo editing. Now for the good stuff. As mentioned, theres the aspect ratio. Already explained that. This monitors also got an e-IPS panel and has basically plasma-like viewing angles - you can turn it any which way and it looks pretty much the same (except for the corner bleed on dark scenes). Its also *capable* of very accurate colors, although youll need to calibrate it to get them. Matte screen, and the anti-glare coating is not grainy or otherwise noticeable. Its perfect. No glare, no reflections, no cross-hatch, no graininess. Insist on nothing less than matte! The stand, while not the prettiest, is functionally among the best Ive ever seen. Its got height adjustment, tilt, side to side rotation and portrait/landscape rotation - you can basically move it on any axis! My ASUS PB238Q did this too (and so does the PA248Q), but theyre some of the only monitors thatll do all this in the lower price ranges. It also feels solid and doesnt wobble, although it does sometimes get a little off-axis on its own, and you have to sort of re-center it. Its BRIGHT! IPS panels are often a little dark - my ASUS actually looked dim at 100% brightness with my blinds open on a sunny day. This Dell ships set to 75% brightness and its already brighter than that. Most calibrated settings Ive seen for this monitor end up with a brightness setting of around 35%. Its DARK! The black level is pretty amazing for an LCD monitor. Granted, the corner bleed kind of screws up the consistency a little bit, but I tested the black level side by side with my ASUS and it was really no contest. The ASUS did have a more consistent black, with no corner bleed at all, but it was really more of a dark grey across the whole panel. The Dell does have corner bleed where some light comes through, but most of the panel is BLACK. That includes the area where youd be watching movies or TV shows. Overall Im cursing Amazon yet again for not letting me give half stars, because this is a 4 1/2 star monitor. Its not perfect and it doesnt have the wide gamut of the 2410 that preceded it, but then its also about half the price so its easier to overlook its flaws given all you get for the money. Find me a better 24 16:10 monitor at this price and Ill buy it.

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.

monitor goes to sleep before the installer CD can do anything usefull setup instructions are uselss for installing any software or doing setup - all it says is to how to assemble it so much for DELL!! Dell tech support was in India I think - its Albion - they were clueless this is the only monitor I have ever had problems with I have a new ASUS Essentio Windows 8 Pc always in the past a video card would treat a new monitor ok - at least working in basic mode - not this time after much computer voodoo and plugging and unplugging and trying ito other pcs and rebooting it finally worked - I have no idea what did the trick due to this frustration it only gets 4 stars today the monitor itself seems ok now that its responding to the PC. 24 is a good size for sorting photos and doing simple editing. on a side note - I am quite pleased at the font sizes with this monitor and Windows 8. A pleasant surprise for my old eyes.

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.

This is a review based on my experiences between the Asus PA248Q and the Dell 2412M monitors. I am focusing on the aspects that no specs webpage will tell you. Introduction: I started out with two Asus PA248Q monitors. One fell victim of the known flickering issue, so I returned it and paired it with a Dell U2412M with the intention of using both. However, I am now returning the Asus PA248Q mainly because I discovered that it has more input lag than the Dell. Input lag: I cloned both displays and started a timer which tests input lag and took a photo with a DSLR camera of both screens, and the Dell was clearly faster. I even hooked up my old Dell ST2010F TN monitor and compared it to the U2412M and they were equal with input lag. Apparently input lag is not a statistic that is advertised. At any rate, while the Dell U2412M may have a higher response time than the Asus (as a negligible difference), the Asus has more input lag. When dragging a window up and down, split between the bezels of the Asus and Dell, the Asus lags behind causing a kind of catapillar effect between the two. The adjustable stands: Both Dell U2412M and Asus PA248Q have adjustible stands, but the PA248Q is built far more solid. The base is larger and heavier and does not wobble. Both monitor stands, however, function normally on a stable desk with no difference after the designated adjustment. Color quality: The Asus PA248Q looks better out of the box. It is apparently pre-calibrated from the factory, even comes with a calibration certificate, and it shows; both Asus PA248Q monitors I had looked 100% the same. The U2412m allegedly has a possible yellow-tint problem, and while I feel I may have received such a monitor, I was able to adjust the yellow tint away (when comparing it to the PA248Q). Both monitors have color quality that I could consider completely equal, after adjustment. IPS glow: Both the Asus PA248Q and the Dell U2412M have equal amount of IPS glow, but the Dell has warmer glow on the left and cooler on the right. The Asus seems to be fairly equal on both left and right sides, but regardless, the glow is the same amount. There is a lot of glow, but that is to be expected from an IPS monitor of this price range. Anti-Glare Coating: both the Asus PA248Q and the Dell U2412M have negligible difference in terms of AG coating. Popular opinion claims the Dell has more but I cannot see that whatsoever. Physical Body: The Asus is far more rigid with sharp edges and is fully black while the Dell is smoother with more rounded edges, including the corners of the bezels, and has a gray accent color. The Asus looks more industrial overall. The Asus has some measurement indicators etched into the face of the monitor which I would consider useless considering you would be utilizing a programs on-screen measurements for measurements. This seems like a gimmick that exists solely for the ProArt name that the Asus wields. OSD Menu: The Asus PA248Q has a little joystick to use in the menu, and while that seems brilliant for navigation, it seems to be a needlessly complicated piece for such a simple menu. The Dell has unlabed buttons that are labeled once the OSD menu is open and on-screen and is extremely simple to navigate with no possibility of pressing the wrong button. For this reason I see the Dell having a much cleaner menu and physical set of buttons. Aspect ratio control: the Asus PA248Q has an ability to display 1:1 aspect ratio while the Dell U2412M does not. BUT THE QUALITY IN THIS SETTING WHEN ACTIVELY DISPLAYING A NON-NATIVE 1:1 RESOLUTION IS HEAVILY REDUCED ON THE ASUS PA248Q. When 1:1 is activated and the PA248Q is displaying as such, say 1920x1080, the monitor automatically loses the sRGB setting and defaults to Standard (and must be manually set back to sRGB when finished). In addition to this, the quality of the screen becomes blurrier and a little unstable. It is a complete joke of a 1:1 setting and is only useful if youre either sitting very far away from the monitor or simply dont care. I have had 1:1 aspect control on other monitors that did not have this loss of quality. For this reason, the fact that the U2412M does not have 1:1 aspect control is not a factor since the PA248Qs might as well not exist. Power-indicator. The Asus PA248Q has the option in the OSD menu to completely shut off the power-indicator light on the bottom-right corner of the monitor. The Dell does not have this option, but the light is not intrusive. I would still prefer the option, however. Conclusion: out of the better-packaged box, the Asus PA248Q offers a higher quality display in terms of colors and a more uniform IPS glow, at the expense of more input lag than the Dell U2412M. The Dell is better for gaming simply because of the lesser input lag and the Asus is better for accurate photography editing because of its pre-calibration from the factory, although you can calibrate the Dell as well if you have the hardware. The Asus PA248Q may have a flickering problem (search for this problem and youll see) which is a big defect while the Dell U2412M may have a yellow-tint problem which I seem to have yet to discover. Purchasing monitors is full of risks left and right, with advantages and disadvantages on various models and the possibility of stuck pixels on any of them. Good luck out there. UPDATE: I have purchased a second Dell U2412M; still no yellow tint but the monitors colors definitely do not match and require tweaking settings to get them similar. The Asus PA248Q monitors are pre-calibrated and matched absolutely perfectly out of the box.