I don’t normally spend much time on hardware in this blog, but I gotta tell you about this new LCD monitor that hit my office last week. When a hardware company gets something this right, they should be rewarded by people lining up to buy the product. The display in question goes by the typically-unmemorizable-computer-industry-product-name of Ultrasharp 2209WA, and it’s sold by Dell. It’s a 22-inch LCD panel with a native resolution of 1680 x 1025. The dot pitch is a little bit wide, but works well if (like me) you prefer a little bit of distance between your monitor and your eyeballs. The big news is that it’s an IPS panel instead of the ubiquitous TN panel.
If that’s Greek to you, then here’s the quick summary on LCD technology as it has been explained to me by the cognoscenti. TN panels make up 99% of the market; they’re cheap, they’re fast, but their color fidelity is poor. PVA panels (like my gorgeous old Samsung 204T) are more expensive, not as fast, but have excellent, rich color and wide viewing angles. IPS panels are (usually) super expensive ($750 on up), can be almost as fast as TN panels, have excellent color, and very wide viewing angles.
The 2209WA is $300, which is pretty much unheard of for an IPS panel. Its height adjustment range is totally inadequate (why is this so hard for companies to figure out?) but that’s the only flaw I’ve found. And it’s got a 3-year warranty. Good on ya, Dell.
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