Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP 24" Widescreen

This monitor replaces my Iiyama Vision Master Pro 454 19 ' CRT, which I ' ve had now for five years and served me brilliantly with excellent colour reproduction. I ' ve been thinking of replacing this for a few months now particularly since flat screens are getting so cheap these days. My concern was that the new monitor needed to meet the super performance of the Iiyama and for a flat screen that can be difficult.

After reading many reviews, I settled on a 24 ' monitor from Dell, the 2408WFP Ultrasharp 24 ' Widescreen. Its strongest features are its colour reproduction and is a favourite of photographers for this reason. My primary use for it is racing games such as GTR Evolution and the extra ' real estate ' would give me a more satisfying window on the virtual world.

I had the monitor up and running within 15 minutes of it arriving. Naturally, it comes very well boxed with appropriate cables. The stand is solid and allows movement in both the X and Y axes. The monitor is attached to my graphics card, an nVidia 8800GTS, via the DVI port to give a pure digital-to-digital input. Talking of inputs, there ' s a host to choose from and can be found by googling the specs of this monitor.

The first thing that hits you when you turn on the Dell is the sheer amount of desktop area available at the native resolution of 1,920 x 1200'looking so much more than the 1,600 x 1,200 I had running on the Iiyama. The second thing is that the Dell is bright " very bright! Whites are extremely white and blacks " while not as deep as those in a CRT " sufficiently dark for this technology. I sat there for five minutes just looking at the screen.

While the monitor is highly regarded on the technology sites, there has been some discussion about the issue of ' monitor lag '. This is where the output signal of the graphics card is not immediately displayed on the screen, and manifests itself with a slightly lethargic cursor if you wave it about. CRTs do not suffer from this problem but some flat screens do, particularly those which have high-quality panels for colour reproduction. The real concern is the effect it has in games as such lag will put the player at a disadvantage in ultra fast-paced First Person Shooters in a multiplayer environment.

I don ' t play these sorts of games although I do of course play racing simulations. I fired up GTR Evolution and took the Aston DB9R for a spin at Monza. While there is some sense of lag between when I turn the steering wheel and watch the corresponding movement on the screen, it has not affected my driving. The difference is tiny, and barely any different from the lag I had with the CRT, which indicates that there is probably some system lag somewhere in the gaming pipeline. For me, there is no lag issue to worry about.

Concluding, I love this monitor and it has transformed my gaming experience. Colours are superb, contrast exceptional and brightness is brilliant. It has improved my driving by allowing me to get a more accurate view outside of the cockpit during races.