This is a very good monitor which I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. For people that are coming from a square monitor to a wide screen monitor and wondering if it is a wise, or useful, choice I would say don't hesitate. I can do work in the wide screen in ways that I just couldn't do with my old square screen. For example, work on two documents side-by-side on the screen - really is a huge improvement. Watching wide-screen movies is greatly improved as well.
To install the basic driver for the monitor in Windows read the document "Readme_U2312HM.txt" that comes on the CD provided with monitor. That document has an error in detailing the path to the driver. In the document you are told to look for XP or Vista drivers folders. Those folders do not exist on the CD. The path you will really be looking for would be [CDDriveLabel]:\drivers\. Just get Windows to Search in that "drivers" folder and Windows will find and install the driver for you. Manually installing the driver in this way will give you all normal functions you would expect of a monitor including 'sleep mode'. If you want to use the monitor in 'Portrait Mode' then you would make that setting in the Control Panel of your graphics chip driver (which will already be installed on your system - you don't have to install additional software to achieve this). I would note that when I first installed this driver the monitor was set to refresh at a rate of 75Hz. This was wrong and produced some strange lighting effects on the screen. After you have installed the driver reboot your system, then go and double-check the monitor is refreshing at 60Hz. Once I did that the strange lighting issues disappeared. Then all you need to do is set the monitor resolution to 1920 x 1080 and you are done with dealing with the driver.
However, I would note that if you're running Windows and don't have Microsoft's "ClearType Tuner" installed on your system then go to the Microsoft website and search for it (it's free). Download and install it. It will install as "ClearType Tuning" in your 'Control Panel'. Once installed launch it from the Control Panel. You will see two tabs "Advanced" and "Introduction". Deal with the settings in Advanced first. You'll want to select that you want to use 'ClearType' and generally selecting the highest (darkest) Contrast setting works best. For 'LCD Screen Striping' you'll want RGB. Once you've done the Advanced settings click 'Apply'. Now goto the Introduction tab and step your way through the Wizard. Once you have made the settings you want you will find that text display on the monitor improves very dramatically.
There are other drivers "PowerNap" and "Entech API" that you can install for the monitor as well. These drivers provide (apparently) advanced sleep mode functions. Specifically they allow a 'dim screen on sleep' mode - so the monitor dims rather than just switching into standby for sleep mode. To install them click on "monitor.exe" on the monitor CD and follow the install procedure that is presented to you. You need to watch this. If your system is set up to 'Auto-play' CDs then on inserting the CD "monitor.exe" will be automatically launched and these drivers (not the basic driver) will be the ones you are being invited to install. However, if like me, you don't want Microsoft .NET on your system then you should be aware that installing these drivers will automatically install .NET as well. I haven't installed these drivers (only the basic driver) on my own system and the monitor works fine in every way. I looked at the Dell website for information on these drivers and one of the tech guys there reports them as bloatware - let Windows deal with the power management functions. There were also a couple of accounts there of people installing these drivers and running into problems. So, don't install these additional drivers, you don't really need them anyway.
Note that if you are buying from Amazon, and possibly other third-party sellers, you won't get a "Service Tag" with the monitor. This means you can't check your warranty status at the Dell website. I phoned Dell. (Tip: when making the call select that you bought the monitor from Dell - even though you didn't. If you don't do that you get an automated run-around that in the end gives you an automated message to contact the company you bought the monitor from regarding your enquiry.)
By the end of the call I found out that (even though I had bought the monitor from Amazon) I did have a 3 year warranty. However, there is a slight catch. If you don't have an "Order No" then Dell will start the warranty period from the date the monitor was Manufactured (this is given on the back of the monitor). If you do have an Order No. then your warranty, for 3 years, will start from the date of the "Invoice Date" on the receipt you get from Amazon. In my case I found the Order No. on a label on the Dell box the monitor came in (study the box carefully and see if you can spot that number). The woman I spoke with took that number and some contact details and then (at my request) gave me a direct phone number to contact if ever I needed to claim under warranty. So seems you do have a 3 year warranty even though you bought from Amazon (which is as things should be), but I'd strongly recommend phoning Dell and checking up when you receive the monitor.
Again, find this a great monitor and am very happy with the purchase.
| Brand | Dell |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 22.3 x 42.01 x 63.5 cm; 2.96 Kilograms |
| Item model number | U2312HM |
| Manufacturer | Dell Computers |
| Standing screen display size | 23 Inches |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 5 |
| Number of VGA Ports | 1 |
| Are Batteries Included | No |
| Item Weight | 2.96 kg |