Having bought a new PC with a GTX 970 video card it was time for a bigger & better monitor to replace my glossy HP w2207h 1680 x 1050 (16:10). The one thing that the HP has done extremely well is black level. I’ve read that TN panels are not supposed to be good at black but my HP is inky black and with no black light bleed whatsoever, in addition the response time has been low so no noticeable ghosting can be seen on moving images. So my requirements seemed simple enough :- a 1920 x 1200 (16:10), glossy 24” or 27” monitor with an IPS or VA screen, low response times and deep blacks. Trying to get all that in one monitor at a reasonable price isn’t easy at all. I like glossy displays – it just adds life to the picture and the monitor looks smart on your desk. To me heavy anti-glare coatings just look awful, but trying to get a glossy panel is well nigh impossible other than the ridiculously expensive Apple Thunderbolt. Dell introduced 24” & 27” glossy panels two years ago but they both failed because they were like mirrors and had poor gaming performance. So after extensive research and looking at review after review I found myself closing in on the Dell U2515H. The reviews seemed very good and although it’s not a 16:10 format I thought the QHD would make up for it.
I have just received my new monitor so what do I think now! - Well I’m very impressed although not exactly blown away.
Is it worth 5 stars – well I have given it 5 stars because that’s what most people will do but really 4.5 would be nearer the mark. 5 for value for money and 4 for performance/appearance.
UNBOXING – several people have commented on how difficult this is. No it isn’t! There is a clear picture set on the top flap that shows how it’s done – very easy indeed and a typical Dell out of the box experience – everything very well packed.
ASSEMBLING – Dell have it mastered here - superbly easy to assemble and to adjust the stand 5 stars for this.
APPEARANCE – Very thin border and if it was a glossy panel it would be very smart indeed but the screen whilst not matte has what I would call just a sheen. It's not a high sheen and definitely not semi-glossy. I was unsure if I would like this supposedly light anti-glare finish but it actually doesn’t look too bad and to be honest you don’t buy a monitor as an ornament! The main thing is – it doesn’t affect the picture - on a pure white screen I can’t see the coating at all.
This U-Tube video by jbaileypro ‘Unboxing the U2515H’ shows how easy it is to unbox and also shows the screen sheen very well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjXGKC1yf4w
SIZE - 25” It's not too big, and certainly not too small. 25" may be the perfect size for a single-monitor. I have tried a 27” and you almost have to turn your head to see the sides – this you can take in just looking at it.
CONNECTIONS - a full range here and the easiest way to connect is to raise the monitor high, turn it 90 degrees - and then all the ports are accessible for your cords. Unless your monitors faces into room I wouldn't bother with the provided plastic cover. Depending on how high you position the screen you can or can’t see your cables – the opening in the stand is useful and I used a plastic tie to lift the cables a bit which means mine are all invisible. Other reviews have dealt with all the various options for connection to various PC/Mac graphic ports. The USB3 ports being underneath are not exactly easy to get at once your monitor is in it's final postion.
SWITCHING ON – no problems with the touch switches on the bottom RHS but the power cord Dell provided must be slightly oversized as it wouldn’t fit firmly into the monitor socket meaning the power was badly connected and the monitor was switching on & off I replaced the lead with my own and it was OK. – Not a great start! I did find the power switch unresponsive - but only whilst the monitor was busy switching into standby mode.
ADJUSTMENT MENU – All seems easy enough and if you look at the instruction provided on the CD it describes everything you need to do. The CD will also install the Dell U2515H Display Manager – which promptly updates on-line to the latest version. This is worth installing as it gives easy access to adjustments and enables you to partition the screen – which might be useful for some I suppose.
PICTURE QUALITY
First look at http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2515h.htm
Colours and general picture quality - to me all seem extremely good. No defective pixels as far as I can see.
Black level - I was apprehensive because, although supposed to be one of the better IPS panels for contrast, I was expecting poor black levels but it’s not actually bad –definitely not jet black but pretty good and I am not too upset about it and I would rate it as quite acceptable. To me this is the monitors only (minor) weak point but I accept that you can’t get much better than this on an IPS panel.
QHD resolution – This is the main selling point for the U2515H and it delivers. Text is very sharp but as it’s a 25” display text is quite small perhaps QHD is meant more for a 27” You can however enlarge all text etc. to your preference using Windows own personalization menu. Using a scaling of 125% seems to restore to normal viewing - but this defeats the objective of a QHD display – just put your glasses on!
To obtain the sharpest image it’s important, as some other reviewer mentioned, that you move the slider on the Windows Display menu all the way to the left.
As an example of the extra space I have obtained I used Excel 2003:-
1680 x 1050 HP Excel at 100% view shows a display of row 51 x column Z (26)
2560 x 1440 Dell Excel at 100% view shows a display of row 74 x column AM (40)
So although the Dell is a 16:9 format this is a vast improvement and for me will make spread sheet work much easier.
Back light Bleed - On a black screen in a darkened room I can see a bit in each corner but it isn’t anything to complain about.
IPS glow - yes this is present when looking sideways on with a black screen - but who does that anyway so it’s not a problem
Yellow Tint - some reviewers have complained of this – yes I can see a very faint colour difference on the LHS but it’s so faint that it is absolutely unnoticeable.
GAMING - Limited experience of this as yet, but I have tried a few games:- Tomb Raider, Metro 2033, Dishonoured, Wolfenstein -The Old Blood - all seemed OK with no ghosting on movement that I could see – I don’t do very fast motor games so can’t comment on those. As a point of note - I did find difficulty in changing the screen resolution within Wolfenstein - for some reason it set the resolution to 1768 x 992. I had to select ‘Window’ mode before the menu would let me set the resolution to 2560 x 1440 Something to watch for! Looking at Bench marks – as you would expect everything slows down at QHD but my GTX 970 is still churning out rates all well above 40 fps and into 80 fps so no great problems there. I tried reducing the resolution to 1920 x 1080 and it produces a display almost as good – so if your graphics card is struggling at QHD then you can be completely confident that your games will look OK at 1920 x 1080.
WARRANTY registration – PCBuyIT guarantee their stock as brand new from Dell so I paid £247 whereas Amazon wanted £245 although they now also seem to guarantee their stock. The service code Dell want is printed on the label on the Dell box (not the Amazon outer box). My registration was at least accepted although it takes a few days to get feedback that it has been successful. I will wait and see.
SUM UP - You won't be disappointed and at £247 (PCBuyIT in Amazon) it’s a steal - so buy it.
| Brand | Dell |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 20.5 x 56.9 x 39.8 cm; 4.4 Kilograms |
| Item model number | FBA_210-ADZG |
| Manufacturer | KOMQI |
| Series | U2515H ADZG |
| Colour | Black |
| Standing screen display size | 25 Inches |
| Screen Resolution | 2560x1440 |
| Resolution | 2560 x 1440 |
| Processor Count | 1 |
| Computer Memory Type | DRAM |
| Number of HDMI Ports | 2 |
| Wattage | 35 watts |
| Are Batteries Included | No |
| Item Weight | 4.4 kg |
| Guaranteed software updates until | unknown |
