Dell Desktop Deals
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CNET editors' rating:
3.5 stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 82 reviews
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Product summary
The good: Extremely wide screen; highly adjustable; PIP; PBP (picture by picture).
The bad: Pivoting software not included; no printed user guide; speakers cost extra.
The bottom line: The Dell 2005FPW has decent image quality and lots of extra features. Only serious graphics pros will be disappointed.
Specifications: Color: Midnight gray; Display Type: Flat panel display / TFT active matrix; Diagonal Size: 20.1 in; See full specs
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 02/07/2005
- Released on: 11/01/2004
The first thing you'll notice about the Dell 2005FPW's design is its extreme width-to-height ratio. The display area is 17 inches wide and just less than 11 inches tall, giving the display an image aspect ratio of 16:10. This shape is sweet for DVD watching or looking at two letter-size images side by side. By contrast, architects, designers, or anyone else who needs to view an enormously long vertical image (such as that of legal documents) need only rotate the panel to Portrait mode. The 2005FPW's looks are bland, though the sparkly, matte-silver plastic stand and trim provide a touch of panache. The bezel is matte black along the top and the sides, shiny black along the bottom, and it measures a svelte 0.75-inch wide all the way around.
For its size, the 2005FPW is quite adjustable. In Landscape mode, the neck telescopes 5 inches and in Portrait mode, it telescopes about 3.5 inches to bring the panel to a towering height of 23.5 inches. The 2005FPW is slightly wobble-prone, but you can make the unit more stable by locking the display into place at its lowest height. The Dell 2005FPW tilts 5 degrees forward and 20 degrees back, and it swivels 40 degrees to the left and the right. A pair of cupped, thick rubber panels hold cords in place at the base of the neck. The cable management system works well unless the cords become twisted around each other. If that happens, it's easy to accidentally unplug the power cord when pivoting the panel.
The 2005FPW has both digital and analog inputs, as well as S-Video and composite-video ports. One downstream and four upstream ports make connecting peripherals a breeze. Speakers and a headphone jack don't come standard, but you can add both with Dell's AS500 Sound Bar. Picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture functionality allow you multitask--or play and work at the same time.
One feature the Dell 2005FPW could use is bundled pivoting software. The user guide CD-ROM has detailed information about which graphics cards are best for rotating the operating system and what to do with other graphics cards, and it points users to the Dell's Web site for updated drivers. However, it would be much nicer if the 2005FPW came with easy-to-use pivoting software like Portrait Displays' PivotPro.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 82 reviews
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 3 of 82 user reviewsSee all 82 user reviews
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18 out of 21 people found this review helpful
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18 out of 23 people found this review helpful
"This monitor while sexy and sleek has one underlying flaw that makes it hard to love"
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11 out of 12 people found this review helpful
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