Just got my 2 Dell 2005fpws, lots of pics.

[voodoomelon]

Well, i just got my 2 new 2005fpws from Dell for a meaty €1089 (that's $1320 :rolleyes: ).

I kind of cheated because I only need one, I only bought 2 because of Dells "buy 2 and get 50% off 1". So i'm all set to sell the other one, it's on eBay right now, it will bring down the cost of my own one.

Anyways, pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/4.jpg

Here we see the legendary backlight issue, apologies for the focus. As usual, the darkness makes the problem look greater than it actually is but I think I got off quite lightly, the screen on the right is my one, the one on the left is the one i'm selling.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/5.jpg

EDIT: I have had serious trouble with Dell over these 2 screens, the full story is here in my formal complaint to Dell:

To whom it may concern.
Please, please, take the time to read this. It's quite lenghtly, but it truely is an amazing situation.
I have all ready been on to Dell support over this issue and you could suppose it is "resolved" from Dells point of view, but I am very angry over this and I wish to make a formal complaint in writing.


This is concerning two Dell 2005fpw LCD screens I bought from you on the 21st of July 2005. They arrived a week later all boxed and well.
I was using one of them for two weeks until I got around to setting up the other screen. On powering up the screen, I noticed the panel had a backlight issue, in that the screen appeared white in the bottom left corner, a common problem with this screen.

I rang up on the Firday, 19th of August and described the problem to technical support, they were helpful and arranged for my screen to be NEXT DAY REPLACED, as my warranty stated. After days of waiting and no calls or sign of the screen, I made a call on the following Tuesday and was informed of a stock problem. They said the screen would arrive the next day, the Wednesday. Another day passes, no sign of the replacement screen. I rang again, the stock problem was solved but it wouldn't be delivered until the next few days. It finally arrived late on the Friday, problem solved.

But. I brought the faulty screen out to the courier, fully boxed, protected, documented, with cables and CDs.
He took a worn, battered, unmarked box from the van, and took out the screen with the stand attached, wrapped in 1 layer of bubble wrap.
THAT'S ALL. The replacement had NOTHING ELSE WITH IT. I had to keep my own power cable and USB cable because the replacement had nothing with it.
The courier departed and I took the screen inside.

On unwrapping the screen, I noticed SEVERAL problems. The screen was obviously scuffed and scrapped on the casing on the left of the panel. The casing on the top was cracked and creaking when touched, the rear of the screen was scratched ALL OVER the place, and there was a second scratch on the left side of the case.

I could not believe it, this was supposed to be a new screen, I was assured on the phone that it would be a new panel.
I was raging. I rang Dell support that moment on the Friday 26th of August without even turning it on and told support that I was not accepting it.
The assistant agreed that it was not acceptable and said he was sending a "high priority" memo to customer care and they would ring me back that day or the Monday after. Guess what? No-one rang.

I rang up on the Monday and asked why no-one had rung me back on the Friday or Monday. I was informed that Monday was a UK bank holiday and that someone would definitely ring me on the Tuesday.
No-one rang.
I rang up again on the Wednesday and explained for the millionth time what had happened. I got transfered from department to department, each time having to explain what happened.
At this stage all I wanted was a refund for the damaged screen. I did not want to risk getting another screen in the same condition (the replacement screen also had a backlight problem I might add). I did not want to get another screen with the same backlight issue that caused the problem in the first place and I did not want to get another screen that had dead pixels on it.

When I asked for a refund, I was intially denied as it "had been more than 7 days". I then got told I had to be transfered to the "business department" as they deal with refunds. I was on hold for 15 minutes and when I got through I was back in technical support with a woman i could not understand. I asked for a refund and explained what happened and how unhappy I was. She had to go off to her manager to ask about a refund. Her manager returned and said "Sorry for the trouble you're having" and asked what he could do. I asked for a refund and he initially said no (I found it hard to understand him most of the time), he could not do it and did not sound happy at my request. He tried to persuade me several times to accept another replacement screen and I kept saying I only wanted a refund for the damaged one.

I explained that the 3 screens I recieved all had a backlight issue and the issue with the replacement I recieved, and that I did not want another replacement.
He said that he would get customer care to ring back that day or the next.

This is the good bit.
30 minutes later he rang back and said that he could only give a refund if BOTH OF MY SCREENS were returned. He sounded almost angry at this stage, and kept saying "you got 1 screen for free, you bought 2 and got 1 for free". I said I did not, I got 2 screens and 1 with 50% off. He said "no no, you got 1 for free". He really did not want to listen.

So I said to him "So you're telling me that if I want to have just one of these 2005fpw screens, I have to give back BOTH MY SCREENS, you refund my money, and then I have to buy another one from you?" He said "yes, that is what you have to do".
I thought God almighty, what's going on here?
So now, my "refund process" has started since Wednsday the 21st of August, and will take up to 15 WORKING DAYS to complete, plus whenever Dell have to pick up my screens.

NOW I HAVE NOTHING!!!

I was delivered 2 screens, one was faulty, it was replaced, the replacement was late, faulty and damaged. I was kicked around for days with support, then to be told both my screens are being taken away!!

This is absolutely unbelievable. Have you ever heard anything like this?

Well, i don't know what to do now, if i ever get this refund.

And the worst thing off all this, is that NO-ONE APOLOGISED at any stage, apart from the lame 6 word attempt by the manager.
Everyone was acting like it was MY FAULT. There was no "We sincerely apologise for all of this", no reasons given as to why I was treated badly, no reason given as to why the screens were defective, no reasons given as to why I got a damaged replacement etc etc etc.
I am so angry now thinking back on this.
I just thought Dell should know about this issue..
Thanks for taking the time to read my complaint.

Regards, one disgruntled, former, Dell customer.

Stephen Hickey

[voodoomelon]

Here is my screen by itself. The colours are amazing, very crisp and the brightness is wonderful.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/23.jpg

The screen i'm selling has 1 stuck pixel, it's stuck on a light red colour. It really isn't noticeable, you'd have to look real hard to see it. The resolution in the picture is 1680x1050, so it really is extremely small.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/6.jpg

Here we see the well documented advantage of widescreen LCDs in gaming, the extra field of view at the sides. You loose no height, but gain the extra vision at the sides. This is Half Life 2 at 1680x1050:

4:3:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/wide2.jpg

16:10:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/wide1.jpg

There is absolutely no ghosting with this screen.

All in all, i'm very happy with this LCD. The backlight isssue is a bit annoying when the screen is black, I find myself looking at it all the time, only because I know it's there. Hopefully i'll grow out of that or else I may have it replaced.

Anyways, i'd highly recommend this screen, especially for all you Americans that can get it for the price of a Happy Meal :bang head

;)

[ajrettke]

very nice....you might be able to send back that other LCD for a refund (I know in the US you can, but Ireland may be different, might allow you to get more on ebay)

[consumer9000]

Ewww...I see a Standard VGA cable in there, along with a stock Dell DVI cable! WTF
Run two high quality DVI cables if you want the best picture...I prefer the Monster DVI400 or M500 DVI cables, but at the very least don't handicap yourself with a crappy connection...
Get a Dual DVI Videocard pronto! :p

[ajrettke]

high quality DVI has been shown to do NOTHING (except empy your wallet). It's binary, it's either a 1 or 0....0-2.5 volts is a 0, 2.6-5 is a 1....your not gonna benefit from any special cable using DVI.

VGA...yes you do get a better singal...but even then I'd have my doubts

[David]

I officially hate you :-P.

I have a 17" just now which is a 5:4. I got a good deal on it from Ebay though so I decided to spring for it.

Later on I might get a 17" or 19" widescreen and relegate this one to secondary monitor :)

[voodoomelon]

Ewww...I see a Standard VGA cable in there, along with a stock Dell DVI cable! WTF
Run two high quality DVI cables if you want the best picture...I prefer the Monster DVI400 or M500 DVI cables, but at the very least don't handicap yourself with a crappy connection...
Get a Dual DVI Videocard pronto! :p

My x800xt has only one DVI output, that's the connection i'm using right now with my own 2005fpw. I only used the VGA cable on the other one so I could compare the 2 screens side by side, to see which one was better.
The screen includes a DVI cable.

I can of course replace either screen over here If i want, it has the 3 year next day replacement warranty. Just not sure if i'll bother, i'm watching a DVD right now and the backlight is virtually un-noticeable.

;)

[blitzkrieg1110]

thats sweet......now i know what all the fuss is about with the widescreen dell moniters..... :p

[Nephewkp]

argh!!! I have to wait another 3 weeks until I get my 2005FPW from dell. (they have a crazy backorder)

[Blackmage]

A very nice Setup, arn't you tempted to keep both?

[voodoomelon]

Nah, I have no use for two screens, not that I could afford to keep the two anyways.
I do the very odd bit off video editing but nowhere near enough to justify €595 i'm selling it for (they're €724 from Dell).

I rang up Dell at the time trying to get money off, the best he could do was offer me increased priority on my order, there was a 12 working day lead time on the 2005fpws. I got mine in 4-5 days depending how you look at it.
Well pleased with Dell's service, abeilt the barely understandable sales rep...

;)

[damarble]

There is absolutely no ghosting with this screen.




That's all I needed to hear. I'll be getting one of these for the new system then. Cant beat widescreen!

[NaNoBLaZe01]

i really wanted one :( missed out on one during the $357 sale. oh well, there's back to school coming up...

[voodoomelon]

I'd just like to add that the quality of the panel really is not good at any other resolution other than the native 1680x1050.

I'm not sure whether this applies to all LCDs not running at their native resolution (well i know it does, but to what extent), but text quality really isn't good and images etc aren't nearly as crisp. In terms of games and DVDs, well, I haven't really tested them at anything other than 1680x1050, but text in Windows certainly looses quality.

Having said all that, I see no reason to use anything other than the native resolution. I thought that 1680x1050 would be too small, but it really isn't because the panel is so big.

Everything is unbelievablely sharp and crisp at 1680x1050.

It's a joy to use.

:D

[voodoomelon]

Well, just a quick update.

I rang up Dell to report the bad backlight problem on one of the screens (left):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/5.jpg

They're replacing it with virtually no questions asked.
They should be here with a new 2005fpw on Tuesday.
When I asked him if the replacement would be a refurbished model, he almost sounded offended, lol.

He said refurbished models are only sold as just that, refurbished, and are never used as replacements if the screen is in warranty like my own.

So that's good to know, maybe they only ship out refurbished models in the US, i don't know.

Well, fingers crossed, the model I receive will have no backlight issues or dead/stuck pixels, or it'll be going right back again...

:)

[Nephewkp]

I just got my 2005FPW a few days ago and I am amazed how good it looks. It was also larger than I imagined, so that was a nice suprise. I wonder if the quality is just as good when using the s-video or composite inputs? I'll have to test that out tonight. I was really lucky to have 0 dead pixels and no backlight bleedthrough problem.

[Rattle]

I'd just like to add that the quality of the panel really is not good at any other resolution other than the native 1680x1050.

I'm not sure whether this applies to all LCDs not running at their native resolution (well i know it does, but to what extent), but text quality really isn't good and images etc aren't nearly as crisp. In terms of games and DVDs, well, I haven't really tested them at anything other than 1680x1050, but text in Windows certainly looses quality.

Having said all that, I see no reason to use anything other than the native resolution. I thought that 1680x1050 would be too small, but it really isn't because the panel is so big.

Everything is unbelievablely sharp and crisp at 1680x1050.

It's a joy to use.

:D


i want to pick one of these up but I dunno if I want to run at that high of a resolution, are you saying the quality is diminshed at lower than the native resolution?

Should I just go with LCD that has a smaller native resolution?

Thnx for the info and the review

[voodoomelon]

Hi there.
Well, of course quality is diminished on any LCD at any resolution other than the native resolution.

You see, I said the same thing, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to run at the high a resolution of 1680x1040, because everything would be super small.
But what you have to remember is that this screen is MASSIVE! Well, it's very big anyway, and 1680x1040 is a VERY usable resolution. Icons and text etc are bigger than you think, because the panel is so large.

In terms of quality with other resolutions, well, I can't really tell you because I haven't used other resolutions for prolonged periods of time, but you definitely loose the crispness and sharpness of text with a resolution other than the native one.

;)

[voodoomelon]

Well, Del didn't arrive today with my new screen.
I rang them up and they said it they had a "stock problem".

But they should be here tomorrow, Wednesday.

Fingers crossed.

:)

[ajrettke]

the 1680x1050 on the dell 2005 is just like 1280x1024 on a 17" LCD and 1152x9xx on a 16" viewable CRT....in terms of physical size.

Widescreen is simply incredibly and great for everythign from games, to word processing (with word or adobe you can have 2 full pages side by side), to graphic design (with normal 4:3 images you can see the whole image and have toolbars/icons on the sides, to MOVIES!!

[DohDoh]

I am currently running the Dell 2005fpw @ 1280x768 resolution and looks great. The highest resolution on this monitor looks very sweet! However, I want to get use to my current setting and as time goes by I will make the official jump.

[Rattle]

thnx guys

[voodoomelon]

Argh! :bang head

Got home from work just now, still NO SIGN of my replacement Dell LCD.

I rang them again and they said that they still have the "stock problem", in that they just got more 2005fpws in stock at 5.00pm, 10mins ago, so i won't be getting mine today.

They said it's "definitely scheduled" to be delivered tomorrow.

So much for "next day replacement".
Not impressed.

:shrug:

[deathman20]

Argh! :bang head

Got home from work just now, still NO SIGN of my replacement Dell LCD.

I rang them again and they said that they still have the "stock problem", in that they just got more 2005fpws in stock at 5.00pm, 10mins ago, so i won't be getting mine today.

They said it's "definitely scheduled" to be delivered tomorrow.

So much for "next day replacement".
Not impressed.

:shrug:

Don't they give you some tracking number for the package when they ship it?

[voodoomelon]

Nope, all I got was a reference number for the return.

Presumabley so people can ring them back when their stuff doesn't arrive...

:bang head

[lordkosc]

Nope, all I got was a reference number for the return.

Presumabley so people can ring them back when their stuff doesn't arrive...

:bang head

So it didn't come yet? :eh?:

[DohDoh]

To keep this thread happy....


if anybody is looking for a good quality monitor look no further! The Dell 2005fpw has the best of all worlds. :cool:

You can't beat the price for what you get, you sincerely get for what you pay for. Which is always a good thing. :)

[voodoomelon]

Hmm, i'm starting to sound like a stuck record.
The damn thing still hasn't come, courier rang me and said it's gonna be late tomorrow.

Dell are really p***sin' me off, it's been 1 week since they confirmed the replacement. They're gonna get a strongly worded complaint when/if ever it arrives...

:confused: :confused:

[9mmCensor]

Dell ships stuff slow... :(

[voodoomelon]

Oh my god. This is unbelieveable.

Those Dell ****************s!

After a week of waiting for Dells "next day replacement", my replacement LCD arrived. I couldn't wait, I walked out the door with the box in my hands and met the courier at the van, nice chap.

He opened the door, he said, "god, i forgot to bring it". He smiled and winked, we laughed and out he took a battered looking, unmarked box.

Hmm, i thought, what's this. Turns out it was my €724 2005fpw. It was wrapped in bubble wrap, with the stand attached , with 2 cables taped to the back of it, NOTHING else.

He wanted to just hand me the screen and take my fully boxed, accessorised an documented LCD. I said I wanted the box, he said grand. At this point I was like, WTF is going on here...

I took the box, instructions, CD, and cables back and my box. But he still took all my aeroboard padding.

I took it inside, 15 minutes later i opened it, scratched to bits!

The casing on the left is scuffed badly on the front, the silver on the top of the casing is cracked and creaking, the back of the LCD is scratched in several places, and the top left corner is scuffed really badly.

I am so p*ssed off it's unreal. I rang Dell without even turning it on and told them I wasn't taking it, they said that the state of the screen isn't acceptable and that the case is being fowarded as high priority to customer care, they have to ring me back, supposedly before the close of business today (in 10 minutes). That was an hour ago.

I'm ready to hit someone. And to rub it in, the replacement has no dead pixels OR backlight issues, in that respect it's better than my other one.

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

:temper: :temper: :temper: :temper: :temper:

[deathman20]

Damn..... Talk about bad luck, that truely sucks though. Its one thing that everythings perfectly fine with the screen itself. Ya I'd start heading a major complaint to them when you chat with them next. More like I want my full refund on this monitor, and hope they don't notice that you got one for 1/2 price.

[voodoomelon]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, very, very good point. :)

I may well do that, hee hee.
I'm so mad, they never rang back, suprise suprise.

Well, when/if they ring back, i'm going to ask for a refund.
What would be even better would be if they refunded the FULL amount for the 2 screens if they neglected to look at the order. Needless to say, they wouldn't get a call pointing out the mistake....

:-/

[jack222]

That just sucks man.

I will say that the screen does look awsome. I run my laptop at 1920 x 1024 or whatever the high high native resolution is on a WUXGA.

As you say it is great. I keep debating wether i should save up for one of these but i keep saying no to myself, no reason to. But 2 awsome screen would be nice.

[Nephewkp]

Wow, that is one of the worst dell stories I have ever heard of. Any pics of the damaged screen or battered box?

[voodoomelon]

I sure do, but not of the box seeing as I made the courier let me keep my box.

This is left of the panel, it is worse than it looks in the photo, its scratched vertically to the left of the obvious scuff too, it's just how the light caught it
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/11.jpg

The crack on the top left of the case, that whole area creaks when moved.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/12.jpg

The scuffed coorner beside the crack.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/13.jpg

The scratched back of the panel, again it's worse than it looks. These almost look like fingernail scrapes, they come in threes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/14.jpg

The area where the stand attaches is badly scraped as you can see. The plastic looks worn too in places.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/15.jpg

Another small scuff on the left of the casing. I only just noticed it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/16.jpg

And there are lots of other tiny nicks and scratches all over it. The panel is perfect, but the casing is in bad shape.
Dell never rang back, needless to say, so much for high priority...

Deeply annoyed....

[voodoomelon]

Well, the whole weekend has passed with not one call from Dell and they're supposed to have weekend support now... Maybe not customer care though...

Either way, i'm still p*ssed.
They're gonna ring me now tomorrow when i'm not at home, I know it.
Either they give me a refund for that panel or i'm going down to either Irish plant and kicking the door down. :argue:

:-/

[voodoomelon]

Well, Dell have really out-done themselves this time.
No-one EVER rang me back regarding the scratched screen in 4 days, so i rang and got thrown from department to hold to department and so on.

I asked for refund several times, and I was put onto a manager (who I could barely understand). He finally agreed to refund me my money and said he'd ring back soon. he rang back 30 minutes later today, and said he can't refund ONE of the screens (the scratched one), and that he has to take away my TWO SCREENS and refund me the full amount!!!.

I said f**k it, just do it, I want rid of this mess, NOW I WILL HAVE NO SCREEN AT ALL!!!.
They messed up TWO screens, tossed me around for weeks, and now they take away BOTH MY SCREENS, leaving me with NOTHING!

What the HELL?!!! He said that because my screens were a special offer, they couldn't refund one screen. I didn't get an apology AT ALL, the manager sounded really pi**ed off with me when I was looking for the refund.

He tried to force me several times to take a replacement screen, and I tried to explain to him about the backlight isssue and dead pixels, but he didn't know jack.

Oh my god, i feel so robbed...

:bang head :argue: :confused: :temper: :cry:

PS, Up to 15 working days for refund????????????????????

[deathman20]

Thats total BS, wasn't there another manager you could talk with? Or even another higher up?

[voodoomelon]

I didn't ask for anyone else, seeing as he was the manager, i dunno.
Well stuff em, i'm gonna get my refund and by a second hand 24" SONY GDM-W900 CRT for half the price of the 2005fpw.

Hope it turns out better than Dells crocks of crap. By that I mean the 2005fpw is a great screen, IF it has no faults.

:shrug:

[invisible hand]

Well it seems like we've had similar problems with dell. My first 2005fpw had the stupid backlight problem so I called dell and had them send me a replacement. What arrived a few days later was clearly marked refurbished, and came with a badly cracked base. Turned the screen on, and saw that it was slightly better, but still had a bad backlight issues.

Called dell and complained, then send me a "new" replacement, and it's nearly flawless. I found out later that the secret to getting a new unit the first time is dependant on the department you call. I can't remember (i'll try to find the thread) which one, but long story short, one department can only issue refurbs.

[voodoomelon]

Yep, I got the same impression. Some departments were very helpful (might I say the Irish & Scottish ones), technical support etc, yet others didn't want to hear my problem.

I actually rang technical support and got some Scottish guy, very helpful, yet he said he would have to foward me to the correct department for a refund. I was on hold for ten minutes and an Asian woman picked up. I said "what department is this now?" and she said "technical support, can I have your service tag please". I was going round in circles... :shrug:

Rest assured i'll be posting back about the non-refunding of these screens, mark my words...

[bchur83]

I ran through the same deal with Dell about 3 months ago. I got in on a deal for a 2005FPW for $384 + tax. It took 4 monitors to get one that was acceptable. It happens to be the one that said refurbished on the box. Oh well, I was guranteed that this one held the same warranty. Over all it took about a month to get it all sorted out. Dell lost a lot of respect during that ordeal.

[Mr.Guvernment]

deuM! talk about luck - when i order my 20.1 i was So worried since i ordered it from dell USA and i am in central america i figure i would get some LCD with dead pixels and all - turns out i got a perfect one, ahs soem back light issues but i dont notice it erally.

Sorry to hear i would keep going to the top until you get someone who has the power to say hey full refund or we will ship you one and tyou keep that one

there is NO reason why they sent you some piece of used crap with no box - either UPS or what ever demolished the box and figure hey try to deliver it anyways! or like wtf!!!

[voodoomelon]

Well, I've made a formal complaint to Dell through their online complaint form.

If anyone wants an overview of the whole sad story, read away:



To whom it may concern.
Please, please, take the time to read this. It's quite lenghtly, but it truely is an amazing situation.
I have all ready been on to Dell support over this issue and you could suppose it is "resolved" from Dells point of view, but I am very angry over this and I wish to make a formal complaint in writing.


This is concerning two Dell 2005fpw LCD screens I bought from you on the 21st of July 2005. They arrived a week later all boxed and well.
I was using one of them for two weeks until I got around to setting up the other screen. On powering up the screen, I noticed the panel had a backlight issue, in that the screen appeared white in the bottom left corner, a common problem with this screen.

I rang up on the Firday, 19th of August and described the problem to technical support, they were helpful and arranged for my screen to be NEXT DAY REPLACED, as my warranty stated. After days of waiting and no calls or sign of the screen, I made a call on the following Tuesday and was informed of a stock problem. They said the screen would arrive the next day, the Wednesday. Another day passes, no sign of the replacement screen. I rang again, the stock problem was solved but it wouldn't be delivered until the next few days. It finally arrived late on the Friday, problem solved.

But. I brought the faulty screen out to the courier, fully boxed, protected, documented, with cables and CDs.
He took a worn, battered, unmarked box from the van, and took out the screen with the stand attached, wrapped in 1 layer of bubble wrap.
THAT'S ALL. The replacement had NOTHING ELSE WITH IT. I had to keep my own power cable and USB cable because the replacement had nothing with it.
The courier departed and I took the screen inside.

On unwrapping the screen, I noticed SEVERAL problems. The screen was obviously scuffed and scrapped on the casing on the left of the panel. The casing on the top was cracked and creaking when touched, the rear of the screen was scratched ALL OVER the place, and there was a second scratch on the left side of the case.

I could not believe it, this was supposed to be a new screen, I was assured on the phone that it would be a new panel.
I was raging. I rang Dell support that moment on the Friday 26th of August without even turning it on and told support that I was not accepting it.
The assistant agreed that it was not acceptable and said he was sending a "high priority" memo to customer care and they would ring me back that day or the Monday after. Guess what? No-one rang.

I rang up on the Monday and asked why no-one had rung me back on the Friday or Monday. I was informed that Monday was a UK bank holiday and that someone would definitely ring me on the Tuesday.
No-one rang.
I rang up again on the Wednesday and explained for the millionth time what had happened. I got transfered from department to department, each time having to explain what happened.
At this stage all I wanted was a refund for the damaged screen. I did not want to risk getting another screen in the same condition (the replacement screen also had a backlight problem I might add). I did not want to get another screen with the same backlight issue that caused the problem in the first place and I did not want to get another screen that had dead pixels on it.

When I asked for a refund, I was intially denied as it "had been more than 7 days". I then got told I had to be transfered to the "business department" as they deal with refunds. I was on hold for 15 minutes and when I got through I was back in technical support with a woman i could not understand. I asked for a refund and explained what happened and how unhappy I was. She had to go off to her manager to ask about a refund. Her manager returned and said "Sorry for the trouble you're having" and asked what he could do. I asked for a refund and he initially said no (I found it hard to understand him most of the time), he could not do it and did not sound happy at my request. He tried to persuade me several times to accept another replacement screen and I kept saying I only wanted a refund for the damaged one.

I explained that the 3 screens I recieved all had a backlight issue and the issue with the replacement I recieved, and that I did not want another replacement.
He said that he would get customer care to ring back that day or the next.

This is the good bit.
30 minutes later he rang back and said that he could only give a refund if BOTH OF MY SCREENS were returned. He sounded almost angry at this stage, and kept saying "you got 1 screen for free, you bought 2 and got 1 for free". I said I did not, I got 2 screens and 1 with 50% off. He said "no no, you got 1 for free". He really did not want to listen.

So I said to him "So you're telling me that if I want to have just one of these 2005fpw screens, I have to give back BOTH MY SCREENS, you refund my money, and then I have to buy another one from you?" He said "yes, that is what you have to do".
I thought God almighty, what's going on here?
So now, my "refund process" has started since Wednsday the 21st of August, and will take up to 15 WORKING DAYS to complete, plus whenever Dell have to pick up my screens.

NOW I HAVE NOTHING!!!

I was delivered 2 screens, one was faulty, it was replaced, the replacement was late, faulty and damaged. I was kicked around for days with support, then to be told both my screens are being taken away!!

This is absolutely unbelievable. Have you ever heard anything like this?

Well, i don't know what to do now, if i ever get this refund.

And the worst thing off all this, is that NO-ONE APOLOGISED at any stage, apart from the lame 6 word attempt by the manager.
Everyone was acting like it was MY FAULT. There was no "We sincerely apologise for all of this", no reasons given as to why I was treated badly, no reason given as to why the screens were defective, no reasons given as to why I got a damaged replacement etc etc etc.
I am so angry now thinking back on this.
I just thought Dell should know about this issue..
Thanks for taking the time to read my complaint.

Regards, one disgruntled, former, Dell customer.

Stephen Hickey

[thefly]

eheh nice. did you include some of those photos of the screen they tried to give you as a replacement? That might get someone over at dell thinking a little.

There is no way that they should send you a refurbed screen as a replacement for a brand new one. That's insane. :(

[voodoomelon]

Hola.

No, i didn't, there's no option to attach any pics etc. Maybe I should have emailed them, but hey, I doubt it will make much difference anyways...

:rolleyes:

[voodoomelon]

Well, things are on the up.

I got my refund there on Monday i think it was, and Dell currently have 20% off all 2005fpws in Ireland, so i put an order in today over the phone and got one for €572.00.
He wouldn't let me have anything off, so I just asked him to increase the priority on the order considering my previous misfortune. And this is quite important, because there is a 3 week + waiting list for these screens. I 'm expecting mine in about a week and a half.

Anyways, please god pleaseeeee, let it be okay, or there will be WAR!

:cool:

[Wiggles]

For all that trouble, they should just give you one for free. It'd be a pocket-change loss for Dell to do something like this for you.

[ajrettke]

For all that trouble, they should just give you one for free. It'd be a pocket-change loss for Dell to do something like this for you.

And if they did it for everyone?

[voodoomelon]

Lol, very true. Altough i wouldn't be dissappointed if they gave me one for nothing!!! Some chance... :p

I explained my previous experience with Dell and the salesperson seemed unconcerned with my somewhat irrelevant dealings with Dell.

I said that I had been offered a discount previously with the two previous panels, but he said that he could not offer me a discount on one panel.

Hmm, seems to me that I should have hung up and rang again, but I doubt that I would have got more than €20 off.


:)

[voodoomelon]

Hello to all!

Update time.
I got my new 2005fpw to replace the 2 that I had to send back. It arrived, fully boxed you'll be glad to hear, in about a week, which I was pleased with seeing as there was a 3+ weeks lead time.

Well, take a look for yourself:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/1la.jpg

There is a small amount of backlight bleeding in the top right, and a medium sized amount of bleeding in the bottom left corner. But I think i'll live, just.

It's not that noticeable when watching DVDs that have an aspect ratio that is close to 16:9, because the black bands are so small, example:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/2la.jpg

Even when the ratio is large, like 1:2.40, it's tolerable, altough it still annoys me...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/3la.jpg

There are no dead pixles, which was a big worry for me, but we're okay on that front.

The LCD looks very well in my new room, so i'm well pleased with the way it looks:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/4la.jpg


But it eats me up inside that I STILL dont have a fault-free screen, bare in mind that this is my FOURTH 2005fpw, and they have all had a backlight problem, in some shape or form. The panel I have now is probably on a par with one of my original ones, all the others were worse, and one of them had a dead pixel too.

But i reckon i'm gonna have to live with it, the chances of me getting another 2005fpw with no dead pixels and no backlight bleeding are extremely slim, so I think I might leave it.

Anyways, it's good to be back in widescreen again! :)

PS, Boo Dell, boooooo, hisss :-/

[shard]

Hello to all!

Update time.
I got my new 2005fpw to replace the 2 that I had to send back. It arrived, fully boxed you'll be glad to hear, in about a week, which I was pleased with seeing as there was a 3+ weeks lead time.

Well, take a look for yourself:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/1la.jpg

There is a small amount of backlight bleeding in the top right, and a medium sized amount of bleeding in the bottom left corner. But I think i'll live, just.

It's not that noticeable when watching DVDs that have an aspect ratio that is close to 16:9, because the black bands are so small, example:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/2la.jpg

Even when the ratio is large, like 1:2.40, it's tolerable, altough it still annoys me...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/3la.jpg

There are no dead pixles, which was a big worry for me, but we're okay on that front.

The LCD looks very well in my new room, so i'm well pleased with the way it looks:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/voodoomelon/OCForums/4la.jpg


But it eats me up inside that I STILL dont have a fault-free screen, bare in mind that this is my FOURTH 2005fpw, and they have all had a backlight problem, in some shape or form. The panel I have now is probably on a par with one of my original ones, all the others were worse, and one of them had a dead pixel too.

But i reckon i'm gonna have to live with it, the chances of me getting another 2005fpw with no dead pixels and no backlight bleeding are extremely slim, so I think I might leave it.

Anyways, it's good to be back in widescreen again! :)

PS, Boo Dell, boooooo, hisss :-/


FYI, Nothing is perfect. :D

[voodoomelon]

Well, I would have expected to get at least one screen out of four without a backlight problem.

Dell obviously haven't fixed the issue like they said they had, and have no intention of it either...

[shard]

Well, I would have expected to get at least one screen out of four without a backlight problem.

Dell obviously haven't fixed the issue like they said they had, and have no intention of it either...

Almost all LCD's on the market have backlight problems. Even high end HDTV's do. Dont sweat bud. Now dead pixels though, thats a big issue, and I wouldnt blame you for being angry about that.

[voodoomelon]

Didn't want to start a new thread just to ask this, so bit of a revival.

Has anyone that has a 2005fpw used a DVI cable other than the one that came with it? Or would it make the slightest bit of difference using an expensive cable?

I have no intention of buying another one, i'm just wondering why some DVI cables are so expensive... :shrug:

Obviously some use higher quality components, but does it actually make a difference??

:)

[deathman20]

Na it won't make a difference unless it was some poorly shielded DVI cable and you'd get interference. Otherwise, digital signal is a digital signal, weather you send it on a $1 cable or a $100 cable, one might just have a better name on it thats all.

I'm using the basic DVI cable that game with my Dell monitor and it works just fine.

[ajrettke]

death's right....small issues like this are not the cable...if you had totaly whacked out colors then it would be cable. digit is digital, it's iether close to +5 or 0V. some people have trouble believing it, but even with high end audio equiptment (where the argument first kinda got started) someone showed that a coat hanger was as good as a 100 dollar coax as a 1 dollar coax.

[shard]

Didn't want to start a new thread just to ask this, so bit of a revival.

Has anyone that has a 2005fpw used a DVI cable other than the one that came with it? Or would it make the slightest bit of difference using an expensive cable?

I have no intention of buying another one, i'm just wondering why some DVI cables are so expensive... :shrug:

Obviously some use higher quality components, but does it actually make a difference??

:)

Actualy to a point yes it would make a difference, mainly on how much sheilding, and material in the cable, like pure silver or whatnot.

[voodoomelon]

Ah, cool.
I thought as much. No point in spending bucket-loads on a cable that makes no difference. The Dell cable is nice and thick so I presume it's well shielded.

:)

[TheReds]

Got my 2005 with some rebates to replace a 7 year old 15" crt that my dad found laying around in his office on day :eek: Talk about change! This was the most noticable upgrade ever, i have no words to express my love for this monitor. And best off all, no dead pixels, and on a complete black screen i need 10 minutes to try and indentify any sort of backlight issues.

I deeply regret any of you who have had problems with this monitor or dell in general. Hopefully you all will get the stuff resolved and may your next purchase be as good and successful as mine was.

^^ what the hell? i sound like.....i dunno, not me. Love does that to ya.

Good times

[Alchemy1]

Got my 2005 with some rebates to replace a 7 year old 15" crt...
I made the same leap and I have not looked back since.