Who has a Dell 2005FPW with *no* backlight bleeding?

S

sanitystream

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 9, 2006
Messages
144
Does such a beast exist? Is the backlight bleeding really that widespread?

(I remember hearing all the stories of defective Xbox 360s, yet mine works fine, so maybe the 2005FPW situation is the same?)
 
Yeah, it makes sense that the problems get the publicity.

I've seen pictures in threads on this forum of perfect monitors.

Mine isn't perfect, but it isn't terible either.
 
I have four of these sitting in my apartment right now, all replacements. ALL have horrible backlight problems. If I only used this for office use I could care less, but if you play games it will likely annoy you. Longer the monitor is on, the worse it gets. It doesn't look too bad when you pull it out of the box and plug it in, but an hour or two later the screen is a total wash of black and grey.

To me, not really worth it at any price. As has been shown on an italian forum, the problem lies in the case design. Using electrical tape you can fix the problem. So I'm hoping the 2007FPW with it's redesigned casing will improve the issue, but who knows. In the meantime all of these replacements are going back. Each time I tell Dell I want to stop exchanging they just send another one.
 
theoryzero said:
I have four of these sitting in my apartment right now, all replacements. ALL have horrible backlight problems. If I only used this for office use I could care less, but if you play games it will likely annoy you. Longer the monitor is on, the worse it gets. It doesn't look too bad when you pull it out of the box and plug it in, but an hour or two later the screen is a total wash of black and grey.

To me, not really worth it at any price. As has been shown on an italian forum, the problem lies in the case design. Using electrical tape you can fix the problem. So I'm hoping the 2007FPW with it's redesigned casing will improve the issue, but who knows. In the meantime all of these replacements are going back. Each time I tell Dell I want to stop exchanging they just send another one.
Click to expand...

Do you have a link to this electrical tape fix?
 
Theoryzero, thanks for the info -- and I too would like to know about the electrical tape fix? thanks.
 
I'm trying to find the link. Basically it involved opening up the casing and applying electrical tape around the entire edge of the screen. I read it on a forum after searching a few hours about the 2005FPW and backlight issues.

EDIT: Here is the link...it was a French forum, not Italian, my mistake.

TZ
 
theoryzero said:
I have four of these sitting in my apartment right now, all replacements. ALL have horrible backlight problems. If I only used this for office use I could care less, but if you play games it will likely annoy you. Longer the monitor is on, the worse it gets. It doesn't look too bad when you pull it out of the box and plug it in, but an hour or two later the screen is a total wash of black and grey.

To me, not really worth it at any price. As has been shown on an italian forum, the problem lies in the case design. Using electrical tape you can fix the problem. So I'm hoping the 2007FPW with it's redesigned casing will improve the issue, but who knows. In the meantime all of these replacements are going back. Each time I tell Dell I want to stop exchanging they just send another one.
Click to expand...
I had the exact same problem with the 2 HP L2335's that I went through. I just wanted to return the first one for a full refund due to not only a bad backlight and a stuck green pixel, but also because it had a backlight that made watching movies very unenjoyable. But they gave me the run around and after a few long phone calls I agreed on a replacement. Well the replacement had a much much worse backlight, and a stuck green and stuck red pixel. So I called them and after the guy suggested an exchange 4-5 times with me asking for a refund each time they agreed to give me a refund.

So then I get an e-mail the following business day telling me that the serial number, part number, etc are invalid. I call in and clear that up. The next day I get an e-mail telling me that I didn't buy it from HP. I send them all my e-mails, invoice, etc. So then they don't respond even though they asked me to respond in the e-mail they sent me. So I end up calling them again (after three e-mails go unnoticed by them) and after 2 hours on the phone and talking to the supervisor I got my rma shipping slip and hopefully will get my refund.

It's just funny how they always respond to your e-mails within a day as long as you aren't asking for a refund.
 
I have been using the Dell Chat to deal with customer service. I still have to figure it will take at least an hour to get anything taken care of with them. I'm really looking forward to Monday when I have to get shipping numbers to return all three of these things. They also insist on doing the UPS pick up thing, but I am never home. Much easier for me to just drop them off at the UPS Store.

I'm going to try the Gateway 21" next. If that sucks, well who knows... I can stand some backlight bleed, but nothing seems as bad as what I've seen on the 2005FPW. We have 2001FPs at work and I don't see it on any of them. I could probably get used to it since I don't game a LOT, but on the other hand, why should I have to?

TZ
 
My second one, Rev. A03 is perfect. the backlight is a little bright, but spread evenly throughout the entire screen. Turn the brightness down to 10 or even 0 and its fine.
 
theoryzero said:
I'm trying to find the link. Basically it involved opening up the casing and applying electrical tape around the entire edge of the screen. I read it on a forum after searching a few hours about the 2005FPW and backlight issues.

EDIT: Here is the link...it was a French forum, not Italian, my mistake.

TZ
Click to expand...

Aewsome, thanks. Now, to decipher this strange tongue...
 
HighwayAssassins said:
google language tools my friend.
Click to expand...

Good old Babel Fish does the trick too. I plan on executing this mod on my 2005 when I get it assuming it has backlight problems. I will post pics and all that.
 
I'm afraid instead of perfect there is *good enough.* Just the whole concept of back light would make it not perfectly uniform. As opposed to say things that were on the drawing board like OLED. In that sense each pixel would have a backlight.... an LED. Otherwise, you are trying to get a uniform back light with a limited light source (1?). I'm sure there are some that are *good enough* though. A good one and you'd probably only find some if you go looking. Like if you have your monitor shining an empty screen at you just so you examine and scrutinize the backlight.

Despite the criticisms of the site itself from here, Toms hardware has very well done monitor reviews. This is well tested as well as the REAL response time. Meh think what you want of Tom's (not my favorite either), whoever does the lcd reviews routinely does a good... no... make that excellent job. Unfortunately this can be something that fluctuates. Still nice to see a test on a random sample.
 
The bottom left corner of mine is bleeding the rest of my screen is fine. It only bothers me on the Windows XP loading screen, the rest of the time I can't notice it.

But what a piss off in dark enviroments!
 
I'm suprized how willing a lot of 2005 owners seem to be in accepting a below average product. I use a 20" apple cinema display at work and have been considering the 2005fpw for home but honestly after all the posts on this site and the entire internet, I will not be getting one. There is zero backlight problems on the apple 20" and there is no reason why it should be acceptable on the dell.

My expectations might not be as bendable as some because of my needs for the monitor being a graphic designer. The apple is just amazing, has no backlight problems and great dark blacks, and the dell seems to fall far short. Of course I can't afford an apple display for home, so I will probably just go with a 19in dell instead, those seem to have no issues.
 
wasabichimera said:
I'm suprized how willing a lot of 2005 owners seem to be in accepting a below average product. I use a 20" apple cinema display at work and have been considering the 2005fpw for home but honestly after all the posts on this site and the entire internet, I will not be getting one. There is zero backlight problems on the apple 20" and there is no reason why it should be acceptable on the dell.
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I agree. You think they would have fixed it by now, but for half the cost and for the same panel, i went will dell.
 
Here's my question --

Isn't Dell losing a fortune in all the shipping costs for people returning defective 2005FPW monitors, and then shipping out replacements to them? And what do they do with the defective ones anyway? Or maybe those become the new replacements :)

I just can't understand how a problem that surfaced last year persists to this day after all the zillions of complaints and various revisions to the monitor? Dell seems like some giant, monolithic bureaucracy that can't respond to change. It just keeps mindlessly doing the same thing over and over -- ship out defective 2005FPW, receive defective 2005FPW back from customer, ship out new replacement (but defective) 2005FPW to customer, receive it back 1 week later... and ad nauseum.

God, they must just have billions of $$$ to burn.

Aaargh!
 
sanitystream said:
God, they must just have billions of $$$ to burn.

Aaargh!
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You just answered your own question. And very likely, the cost to make their Dell LCD's in China and Malaysia is dirt cheap. Not to mention, most of their customers don't have a clue about "backlight bleeding" or dead pixels for that matter. We make up a small portion of their revenue, even if we exchange alot of panels. Most of them are refurbished and resold.
 
I could never be happy with bleed. Bought a samsung and am exceptionally happy.
 
Looks like I'm stuck with a 2005FPW...Dell won't process the return and refund my money. Last time I said I wanted to return all the monitors and get a refund, they insisted on sending a replacement. New one still has terrible bleeding problems, but now that I'm outside of the 21 days they won't process the refund. Guess I may have to do the electric tape mod, this monitor is junk to me otherwise.
 
Like I've said in many a 2005FPW thread, you people are too dramatic.

I have had my 2005FPW since they were first released back in November 2003 and I have loved every minute of it. From DVDs, TV, Games, browsing the internet, the infamous "bleeding" really is a non-issue.

The favorite argument is "I paid good money, I should have a perfect product." News for you, nothing is perfect. And let me tell you, I'm the type of person that feaks out when I get a scratch on my sunglasses or my cell phone. Get over it, it's still a great product at a great price.
 
You know, maybe we are too dramatic.

1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg


A quick comparison of the Dell 2005FPW and the Gateway FPD2185W. Both have bleed, there is no perfect display. However, I find the bleed on the Gateway to be more than acceptable.
 
I received a 2005fpw on Monday...I shipped it back on Wednesday. I think the bleed on mine was more restrained than on others (just the upper right-hand side of the screen), but it also had dead pixels and the right lower corner of the bezel (near the buttons) looked like it was detached and you could see a metal strip between the screen and the bezel.

I didn't want to play the swap game, so just requested a refund. I'll wait and see if their new panels have these QC issues and look at other monitors in the meantime.
 
What so many people don't realize is that backlight bleeding is pretty common among all LCD's and not just Dell. Higher-priced LCD's tend to have much less bleeding than lower-priced one. Why do people buy Dell LCD's? Is it because they are the best? Of course not. No way in hell. They buy Dell LCD's because they are much cheaper compared to other brands. There is no competition when it comes to price especially when you factor in their 3 year warranty. If you bought 2005FPW or 2405FPW thinking they are the best LCD monitors out in the market, well... I don't know what to tell you. I mean... you paid anywhere between $150-400 less than other brands like Samsung, Sony, NEC, etc.

It's so annoying to see so many people on this forum lie about the monitor they don't even have or have never owned a different LCD. My 2005FPW has almost no backlight bleeding. My Samsung 171N had almost no bleeding. My Syntax 27" LCDTV had pretty bad bleeding. My Envision 19" widescreen had absolutely terrible backlight bleeding. It varies by monitors and how much they cost. Stop being so stupid. You guys are so easily pursuaded. A Dell fan boy makes a thread about how good Dell LCD's are and it goes to like 4 pages with people talking bout how Dell makes the best LCD's in the world and another person makes a thread about how much they suck, it goes to 4 pages with people saying they are the worst.

Anyway, here's my 2005FPW. You also gotta realize that backlight bleeding looks a lot worse in pictures. When you actually see the monitor, it's very hard to see these backlight bleeding even in pitch dark unless you get a really bad one.
IMG_1698.jpg
 
theoryzero said:
You know, maybe we are too dramatic.

1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg


A quick comparison of the Dell 2005FPW and the Gateway FPD2185W. Both have bleed, there is no perfect display. However, I find the bleed on the Gateway to be more than acceptable.
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Interesting, my new Viewsonic VX2025wm has the same "X" pattern in the corners.

bleeding8el.jpg
 
IQJUMPuw said:
Anyway, here's my 2005FPW. You also gotta realize that backlight bleeding looks a lot worse in pictures. When you actually see the monitor, it's very hard to see these backlight bleeding even in pitch dark unless you get a really bad one.
IMG_1698.jpg
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Ummm...Isn't your monitor in standby mode in that picture? Otherwise, you have no bleeding I can see.

I agree that people shouldn't expect the Dells to be perfect at these prices. In fact, I only bought the 2005 (even after all the hub-bub about backlight) because it was so cheap ($360 before tax). Still, I figured I would give it a shot and see if I got a good one. I didn't, so I returned it. I'm only out the $12 return shipping.
 
BoBoish said:
Ummm...Isn't your monitor in standby mode in that picture? Otherwise, you have no bleeding I can see.

I agree that people shouldn't expect the Dells to be perfect at these prices. In fact, I only bought the 2005 (even after all the hub-bub about backlight) because it was so cheap ($360 before tax). Still, I figured I would give it a shot and see if I got a good one. I didn't, so I returned it. I'm only out the $12 return shipping.
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No it's not in standby mode. I can take another picture and post it if you want. It's hard to notice but there is a slight backlight bleeding on the top if you look carefully.
 
IQJUMPuw said:
It's so annoying to see so many people on this forum lie about the monitor they don't even have or have never owned a different LCD.
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Is this directed at me? All I am doing is relaying my experience. I think the pictures I posted explain a lot. I've had four 2005FPWs shipped to me and the one pictured is the best one so far. If I had one like yours I'd be overjoyed, I can't see any bleed at all in that picture.
 
theoryzero said:
Is this directed at me? All I am doing is relaying my experience. I think the pictures I posted explain a lot. I've had four 2005FPWs shipped to me and the one pictured is the best one so far. If I had one like yours I'd be overjoyed, I can't see any bleed at all in that picture.
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It wasn't directed at anyone particular. You actually posted pictures and explained your situation. I'm just tired of people just saying Dell's are prefect and another group of people trashing and saying backlight bleeding only show up on Dell's.

Here's another picture. I'll get another camera from work and post some more pictures later. It's almost impossible to see backlight bleeding on mine but a little bleeding on the top right does show up on digital cameras. I guess I got really lucky and got a nice one on my first order.

IMG_1700.jpg
 
May I ask when your build date was? All of mine have been Rev A03 and build date of January 2006.
 
theoryzero said:
May I ask when your build date was? All of mine have been Rev A03 and build date of January 2006.
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I ordered my 2005FPW on 2/28/06. Got it on 3/3/06. Rev A03 and manufactured in February 2006. Got it when Dell was having that crazy sale. $354 shipped. I think it's still going on actually.

*EDIT 25% off sale is now reduced to 20% off on the 2005FPW.
 
The one I got on Tuesday was a Rev A03 that was made in December. Had bleeding and got another one delivered this morning and it's also a Rev A03. Havent opened it up yet but will test it later on.
 
OK, got home and hooked it up. The second one they sent me has significantly less backlight bleeding but there is still some there. Id like to keep it but the colors on it are noticably off when compared side by side. I like the colors on the first one better. Also, but button that switches between D-SUB, DVI, etc is very hard to push on the second monitor.

Should I try for a third one? The one on the left is what I got on Tuesday. The one on the right is what I got this morning.

IMG_0301%20(Large).JPG


To show how it was.
IMG_0311%20(Large).JPG


More of actually what I see. I think the camera was 1/4 shutter.
IMG_0316%20(Large).JPG
 
I like the colors on the right one better. The first one looks a bit too washed out. If what you see in the pictures is what you see in real life, I would definitely return it for another one. That would really bother me when I watch DVD movies. I can live with backlight not being perfectly uniform but I can't live with terrible bleeding that actually make the black look like grey.

My friend just received his 2405FPW (manufactured in January 2006) and there is a slight backlight bleeding problem in the middle, but none in the corners.
 
Ive been playing CS for the past hour to let the monitors warm up (100fps at 1680x1050 btw) and the second monitor shows a lot more now. Im gonna return it also.
 
Wow I can't believe how much patience some of you have. I would exchange once and if that didn't work forget it.
 
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