For purposes of comparison

The blue item on the right is my 12” powerbook. On the left, my new Dell 24 inch monitor.

For anyone else who may consider the Dell 24” wide monitor [2405FPW] for a mac, my advice is, do it. In Canada, I got this unit in three working days, delivered to the door, for $1106, including taxes, shipping and a three year warranty. Consider that the retail price of Apple’s 20” monitor is in the $950 range, with a one year warranty and no delivery and fewer pixels.

Add to that the Dell’s [as yet untested by me] ability to connect to video sources like DVD players via composite, component or s-video. This is a bit of a holy grail in a house where we don’t want TV but we do watch movies, and computers are used by everyone. This monitor really is a very good deal.

My only caveat is that the advertised ability to connect via dvi is not working on mine. I’m not sure why. The connection I’m using is via SVGA, but using the dvi on my powerbook has the computer detect the monitor, display it in the preference pane, even give access to the monitor’s characteristics. But as far as actually displaying an image goes, no joy.

Some reviews of the monitor said that its pixel pitch was coarse. Having been at the Apple Store buying an iBook the same night the monitor arrived, I can agree that the Apple monitors, besides looking more stylish, do have a better pixel size. But the difference doesn’t account for the hundreds of dollars between the Apple 23” monitor and this one.

Recommended.