Dell Ultrasharp 2005FPW

The thin black bezel of the Dell Ultrasharp 2005FPW makes it one of the sleekest monitors in this group test.

The omission of speakers, available as an add-on module, gives it a smart, tidy appearance that looks equally good in landscape or portrait orientations.

Despite its thin 18mm bezel, the 2005FPW finds room for dual inputs as well as composite and S-video connections and a two-port USB hub. Its picture-in-picture modes allow you to make use of multiple inputs simultaneously.

The on-screen menu is very simple to use via control buttons that are larger and easier to use than many of the other products reviewed, without being ugly or obtrusive.

With the most flexible stand of the group, the 2005FPW offers the full range of tilt, swivel, height and rotation adjustments. It’s the only monitor here to pivot through 90º. A degree of cable management is supplied via cable clips at the rear of the stand.

Our testers were a little disappointed with its image quality. The display is sharp and with very high contrast – great for word processing and spreadsheets but not so good for accurate colour reproduction, where the contrast seemed a little overdone, especially when watching video content.

Under the close scrutiny of our Displaymate tests, we noticed significant changes in black level at wider viewing angles. We also noted that the automatic setup produced a less accurate image than we were able to achieve via manual settings.

It seemed to produce an almost perfect image, only to make an unnecessary adjustment at the last moment. Colour gradations were very smooth and results were much better with manual adjustment.

The 2005FPW’s ergonomics make it great for office use, but it costs a lot more than Belinea’s 10 20 35W.

This is part of a group test looking at widescreen TFTs. For other products in the test, see:
Apple 20in Cinema Display 
Belinea 10 20 35W 
Dell Ultrasharp 2005FPW 
HP f2105 
LG M203WX 
Philips Brilliance 200W6 
TFT Technology explained 
Should you go widescreen?