The big, cheap monitor roundup

Dell E228WFP
Price: $399
Street Price: $399
Supplier: www.dell.com.au
Features: Tilt; DVI (w/ HDCP); VGA
Pixel Policy: Class 2
Our Settings: Use the red preset – it’s better than factory

The Dell entry into this roundup was nothing short of abysmal. There, we said it. Sadly, it seems Dell has given up on the budget LCD market and figures that its brand name will solve the issue of spending money on R and D.



Out of the box, we immediately noticed that the image was overly red, but calibrating it exposed a ‘feature’ of the panel: It dithers over space rather than time. So not only is it useless for even amateur image work but it makes everything look scungy, given modern OS’s reliance on smooth gradients.

Hidden in the menus was another gem: you can set the colour to YPbPr mode, the same standard that is used in component cables even though it has no component inputs. The only conclusions we came to was either it was an artefact left over from another model with component input. That or Dell wants you to break out the solder.

Unfortunately, nothing stood out to redeem the E228WFP, and with the number of faults we found we had no choice but to give it the wooden spoon.

Pros: The stand is ok...
Cons: Terrible colour issues, overpriced

Score: 4/10