Gateway FPD2485W: 24" LCD Beauty or Beast?
by Jarred Walton on February 22, 2007 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Displays
Closing Thoughts
The Gateway FPD2485W is one of the more recent LCDs on the market, and it performs very well. Is it the best option currently available? We haven't tested a lot of other displays, so we can't say for certain, but it appears to be competitive with most other options in the same category.
For many users looking at purchasing a new display, one of the overriding factors is going to be price. That's what helped turn Dell into one of the largest display providers in the world, as given the choice between a 24" Dell LCD or a more expensive but higher-quality 20"-21" LCD from someone else, quite a few people have been more than happy to stick with Dell. The fact that Dell's LCDs are actually very good also helped.
Gateway seems to have a good understanding of the market - and well they should considering that they compete in other markets against Dell - and they have produced a product that takes a very similar approach. The FPD2485W isn't a perfect LCD, but it performs very well overall and it is available at a very attractive price. Currently, the FPD2485W is listed for $680 on the Gateway web site, while the regular price of the Dell 2407WFP is $750. Dell routinely runs sales, however, and the 2407WFP is available for $675 right now. You basically end up with two very similar monitors that cost about the same amount, although the Dell comes with a three-year warranty included making it a slightly better deal.
The small difference in price probably isn't enough to sway most people one way or the other, so it's going to come down to performance, features, and any other extras. The bottom line for the consumer is that we're getting more competition in the large LCD market from a major manufacturer, and as the AMD/Intel price wars have shown us, competition is good for the consumer. Two years ago, 24" LCDs cost nearly twice what they do now, and they have now moved from the ultra high-end price range into a more palatable high-end classification. If you're still running a CRT and are finally thinking about upgrading to an LCD, most of the 24" models will impress and the Gateway FPD2485W is one of those you should keep on your short list of options.
About the only real problem we encountered during testing is the inability of the Gateway FPD2485W to reproduce a smooth gradient scale. Banding is very apparent in such cases, and while this won't really affect gaming or to a lesser extent video content, some users and especially graphics artists are likely to be disappointed. We could also hope for a more streamlined OSD interface, but the color gradients are a far bigger concern. Overall color accuracy is good, with a relatively low Delta E score, but it seems that the Faroudja signal processor may not actually be doing as well as we would like. The image processor seems the more likely culprit, as in other areas the panel appears to be the same as that used on Dell's 2407WFP.
One final area that we haven't really talked about is how opinions differ by individuals. Some people are blessed with much better eyesight, and what we find more than acceptable might disappoint. If possible, we always recommend that you try out displays in person, and that is particularly important if you are one of the more discerning viewers of the world. Pixel response times for example are now fast enough that most people don't notice the slight blurring that is still present on nearly all LCDs, but there are individuals out there that have serious issues with pixel smearing. If you're one of those, the new Gateway LCD doesn't appear to be any better or worse in that area than earlier Dell models, so it is unlikely to change your mind in that respect.
As we stated at the outset, it has been a long time since we last performed any display reviews at AnandTech. Our goal is to rectify the situation, and we hope to have numerous display reviews over the coming months. Initially, we're going to be focusing on covering some of the more popular products that are already on the market, as they will help to establish a baseline performance metric. We're also looking for feedback from our readers, so if you have any comments or suggestions please feel free to drop us a line.
The Gateway FPD2485W is one of the more recent LCDs on the market, and it performs very well. Is it the best option currently available? We haven't tested a lot of other displays, so we can't say for certain, but it appears to be competitive with most other options in the same category.
For many users looking at purchasing a new display, one of the overriding factors is going to be price. That's what helped turn Dell into one of the largest display providers in the world, as given the choice between a 24" Dell LCD or a more expensive but higher-quality 20"-21" LCD from someone else, quite a few people have been more than happy to stick with Dell. The fact that Dell's LCDs are actually very good also helped.
Gateway seems to have a good understanding of the market - and well they should considering that they compete in other markets against Dell - and they have produced a product that takes a very similar approach. The FPD2485W isn't a perfect LCD, but it performs very well overall and it is available at a very attractive price. Currently, the FPD2485W is listed for $680 on the Gateway web site, while the regular price of the Dell 2407WFP is $750. Dell routinely runs sales, however, and the 2407WFP is available for $675 right now. You basically end up with two very similar monitors that cost about the same amount, although the Dell comes with a three-year warranty included making it a slightly better deal.
The small difference in price probably isn't enough to sway most people one way or the other, so it's going to come down to performance, features, and any other extras. The bottom line for the consumer is that we're getting more competition in the large LCD market from a major manufacturer, and as the AMD/Intel price wars have shown us, competition is good for the consumer. Two years ago, 24" LCDs cost nearly twice what they do now, and they have now moved from the ultra high-end price range into a more palatable high-end classification. If you're still running a CRT and are finally thinking about upgrading to an LCD, most of the 24" models will impress and the Gateway FPD2485W is one of those you should keep on your short list of options.
About the only real problem we encountered during testing is the inability of the Gateway FPD2485W to reproduce a smooth gradient scale. Banding is very apparent in such cases, and while this won't really affect gaming or to a lesser extent video content, some users and especially graphics artists are likely to be disappointed. We could also hope for a more streamlined OSD interface, but the color gradients are a far bigger concern. Overall color accuracy is good, with a relatively low Delta E score, but it seems that the Faroudja signal processor may not actually be doing as well as we would like. The image processor seems the more likely culprit, as in other areas the panel appears to be the same as that used on Dell's 2407WFP.
One final area that we haven't really talked about is how opinions differ by individuals. Some people are blessed with much better eyesight, and what we find more than acceptable might disappoint. If possible, we always recommend that you try out displays in person, and that is particularly important if you are one of the more discerning viewers of the world. Pixel response times for example are now fast enough that most people don't notice the slight blurring that is still present on nearly all LCDs, but there are individuals out there that have serious issues with pixel smearing. If you're one of those, the new Gateway LCD doesn't appear to be any better or worse in that area than earlier Dell models, so it is unlikely to change your mind in that respect.
As we stated at the outset, it has been a long time since we last performed any display reviews at AnandTech. Our goal is to rectify the situation, and we hope to have numerous display reviews over the coming months. Initially, we're going to be focusing on covering some of the more popular products that are already on the market, as they will help to establish a baseline performance metric. We're also looking for feedback from our readers, so if you have any comments or suggestions please feel free to drop us a line.
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erwos - Thursday, February 22, 2007 - link
No 1080p over component sucks - when will manufacturers realize that people want this? An additional DVI-HDCP or HDMI input would have been nice, too. That said, it's still a beautiful LCD, from what I've seen of it in the stores.OrSin - Thursday, February 22, 2007 - link
A second DVI or HMDI connection would be very usefull. Is that why you want 1080P so you can have a second 1080p connection to the monitor?OrSin - Thursday, February 22, 2007 - link
Component was never orginally spec'ed for 1080p. Alothought it can be done it being out of spec makes most compnays not put the effort in to doing it. Also it was only recently you could get 1080p from any source so why go through the effert to make something when no one could even use it. By the time 1080p showed up HDMI was almost the standard. All broadcast HD is still 720p or 1080i. So you need HD-dvd or Blue-ray for any 1080p.I dont think many people really need component 1080p, single not a single 1080p TV comes without HDMI and and high end monitors comes with DVI. Why do you want this again?
mlambert890 - Saturday, February 24, 2007 - link
My guess is people want 1080p over component for gaming. Some people probably want it to try to bypass HDMI security, but I think the majority are thinking XBox 360 or PS3 gaming and, possibly at some point, dl'd video.JarredWalton - Sunday, February 25, 2007 - link
Xbox 360 is the primary reason anyone is talking component 1080p as far as I know. I'm not sure if PS3 does component output with 1080p or not, and I somehow doubt it. Anyone with a PS3 feel free to speak up, though.questech - Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - link
I have one of these, and it is a great monitor, when it is working. I mean it has great clarity and an interesting resolution, that not all graphic cards can support.They have a big problem with the cheep capacitors they use, and my monitor started taking longer and longer to boot up until one day it wouldn't. I replaced the capacitors with their high quality counter parts and that did the trick!
Unfortunately one day the internal fuse on the power board blew. I thought that maybe it might be an anomaly and replaced it... but it was the sign of something more involved.
I troubleshot it to the point of narrowing the culprit to either the transformer, or bridge rectifier.
Then things went from bad to worst... I left the monitor face down on a rubber mat, meaning to get back to the project in a short time, but I got busy with my film business and it sat there for a few weeks. When I got back to it, much to my horror, the rubber mat stuck to the bezel of the monitor and it made a mess.
OK, that wasn't bad enough, while cleaning the monitor face, I put a scratch in it. Now I'm not sure if it's an actual scratch, a mark that can be rubbed out, or what... but I'm not touching it again for fear that I'll completely destroy it :-)
At this point I am embarrassed and have decided to sell it for parts. If anyone is interested here's a link: http://tinyurl.com/pg6s3yh
Anyway, that's my Gateway story, I hope that it will make some of you feel better about any calamities that are happening in your life!
ZxxAssAssinxxQ - Saturday, February 7, 2015 - link
love this monitor, my dad bought it in 2007 and it crapped out in 2013, pop off the back, replace a few bulging capacitors (already had the replacements sitting around the house) and voila good as new. the thing is a little dark and the colors arent so great anymore but if you see one on ebay / craigslist i highly recommend it.