Help out a kid: 2407fpw for college dorm?

C

C1utCh

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Messages
225
I gotta say, I love the dell 2405/7, and with the newest a02 revision, it only gets better (eg. no more problems aupposedly). Its $800, which i'm willing to spend. However, will it, in anyones experience, be useful to me in my dorm room next year?

I'll have this monitor, my current desktop (P4 3.0E 1gb ram, 6800gt) as well as a laptop (2.0ghz yonah or merom based, not sure yet)

I'm just worried that I won't get any use out of the dell 24" because i'll just wanna use my laptop (though i could just hook up the laptop i'd guess) Or that i'll be out of my dorm room etc.

Anyone have any experience? Thanks from a freshman at CMU next year

edit: oh and i'll be buying around august, laptop and monitor, so hopefully what remain of the problems will get cleared up by then.
 
I have a 2405 and a nice laptop. I used my desktop when i was at home and the laptop only when i was on campus. When I came home, I would just transfer my work to the desktop and work on that. The large screen spoils you, and you wont want to work on the laptop if you dont have to.
 
Well, keep in mind that the native resolution of the 2407 is 1920x1200. Being an LCD, running it at lower resolutions will cause "scaling" which won't look as nice as you might expect from such a high-end monitor.

For 3D (games), with only a GeForce 6800 and a laptop, I would be concerned that you wouldn't get decent frame rates at 1920x1200.

For 2D, I'm not even sure that you would be able to drive 1920x1200 with your laptop. Does the video card in your laptop support it?

You want to avoid scaling to lower resolutions if possible. So, if I were in your shoes, I'd lower my sights to a 20" monitor or wait until I was able to upgrade my computer to a point where 1920x1200 at decent frame rates is a real possibility.

Best,

H
 
i got a 2005 and 5.1 system in my dorm, works out really well for me, when we watch movies usually end up doing it in my room since most others have 20" or smaller TVs and none of em are widescreen... can only imagine a 2407 =p
 
why do u need such a large monitor when u are getting a laptop and about to go off to college

i suggest u spend the 800 towards the laptop u are getting, perhaps an external harddrive, or speakers for ur laptop... or upgrade the parts inside ur laptop

leave ur desktop at home and sell/give it to one of ur relatives, get 4-5 years out of ur laptop and when u graduate get a brandnew computer.

worst comes to worst if you are still a huge computer gamer or whatever u need such a huge monitor for, you will have a sick laptop

but if u drop an investment into such a big monitor and than sophomore year comes a long and ur more interested in ladies and alcohol than resolution and gordon freeman, ur going to be kicking urself..however...no matter how u feel a better laptop will be a wise choice in either scenario
 
i didn't bring my desktop to college and only used my 700m. i just finished my first year and i didnt miss the desktop at all. i personally am glad i diodnt have a big monitor since people will be coming in and out of your room, joking around, horesplay, whatever you want to call it and i wouldnt want my monitor broken.

id save the 800 and just use it for everyday stuff, like food and what not
 
If you do any amount of work on your laptop, the moment you get home you're gonna wanna switch to your desktop. Working for long periods of time on a laptop sucks ass. Small, cramped keyboard, touchpad, small screen. If I can I find a campus lab and use a desktop machine instead of breaking out my laptop. I use it when I'm in class to take notes, or if it's a stupid lecture to screw around on when I get bored.

Coding on a 12 inch screen and a tiny ass keyboard = most obnoxious thing ever.

However like people are saying, your video card won't drive the native resolution of that monitor all too well. So unless you get a beast of a laptop, or plan to upgrade your desktop, you'd be better off getting a smaller monitor. I'd suggest something with a native resolution of 1680x1050.

I loves the ladies, and I loves the alcohol, but I also loves me my widescreen LCD. The women may leave me, and I may run out of liquer, but I can always come home to my sweet sweet LCD.
 
I loves the ladies, and I loves the alcohol, but I also loves me my widescreen LCD. The women may leave me, and I may run out of liquer, but I can always come home to my sweet sweet LCD.
Click to expand...
:D

That is my EXACT same outlook on it.

Anyway, it really depends on the work you'll be doing on it. I know in my physics labs we often work with enormous spreadsheets (dozens of columns of thousands of entries), so it really made sense for me to upgrade from the 17inch to the 24inch. The extra screen real estate is VERY nice. On the other hand, if you don't have practical use for it, then I really would have to question whether or not you should take the plunge. Seeing that you're running a 6800gt, games won't be running full res at a good clip.

If you have your desktop there, though, and actually have the use for the space(be honest with yourself here), then it's really a no brainer. If you leave your desktop at home, however, I would have to say it's not worth it.

If you don't fall into either of those categories, no one can really tell you if it's right for you.
 
korrupted-drk- said:
Coding on a 12 inch screen and a tiny ass keyboard = most obnoxious thing ever.
Click to expand...

That's why you get a laptop with a 15.4" screen and a resolution of 1680x1050. Ultra mega sweetness :D
 
I would be careful of the computer equipment you put in your college dorm.

One of my roomates came home drunk opened his laptop and pissed all over it.

I actually puked on my old 15in NEC CRT freshman year (all over the grill vents). That was a fun Tech Support Call, unfortunately they didn't RMA it for me (user abuse or some crap like that... damnit it was the puke that abused it!)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top