Gateway FPD2485W purchased!
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 12:41 am
Hi everyone,
Was at Best Buy the other day, and saw a Gateway FPD2485W marked down from $679 to $543. After finding out that the display model was the last one in the store, I negotiated a further 10% off and the speaker grille into the bargain, for a price of $483. At $190 off list, this was too good a deal for me to pass up, especially for a 24" *VA panel. Been using it for a few days, here are my general impressions. Unfortunately, I only have my laptop (Toshiba Portege M500 w/ VGA out) to test it on, so I'm not running it at the optimal configuration yet. DVI will have to wait till I build my next dekstop in a month or so.
Pros
1. 8-bit panel
2. 6ms GTG - haven't noticed any obvious ghosting or lag, but haven't played any games on it. No doubt "real world" response time will be closer to 16-20+. Still good for a *VA panel, though.
3. 1920x1200
4. 1000:1 contrast ratio
5. 90 degree rotation, height tilt and swivel adjustment on stand
6. Price
7. Touch sensitive controls
8. 1:1 scaling
9. PIP
10. Non-glossy (this is subjective)
11. Wide viewing angles
Cons
1. Some banding - this is not uncommon on *VA panels, and the banding on the gateway is relatively mild, but it's there*.
2. Relatively poor non-native scaling - despite boasting a Faroudja interpolation chip, non-native scaling on the Gateway is mediocre. You'll be wanting to run it at native res whenever possible.
3. Only 1 digital input (DVI). By contrast, the Benq FP241W/VW has a hdmi and a dvi in. On the bright side, it does have 2 component inputs, but this is obviated by being limited to 720p over component (so I am told, haven't got a component out device to test it on).
4. Red bias (this is endemic to LCDs, so not really a knock on Gateway, but something to consider).
5. Crappy snap on speakers (in other news, water is still wet)
6. Touch sensitive controls - as cool as they are, they are also frustrating to operate.
I've been mainly playing videos and doing some Lightroom/Photoshop work on the Gateway. It is superb for watching HD stuff (720 and 1080 res), but really shows up the failings of 480p videos, especially low bitrate videos. Properly encoded SDTV still looks great.
Overall, this is a panel I would recommend if it can be found on the cheap - Amazon lists it for under $200 atm. It's being discontinued and it looks as though Gateway is trying to replace it with the inferior TN-based HD series. At equivalent prices, though, I would still give the nod of my head to the Benq FP241W/VW. Unfortunately, the VW won't fit on my desk at the dorm, so the Gateway was the more practical choice for me.
I'll try to post some pictures later if my schedule allows.
*EDIT: By "there", I mean that I have only been able to reproduce the banding on synthetic tests. Haven't noticed any banding in real world usage in videos, photoshop or lightroom...yet.
EDIT2: Oops, got the resolution wrong. Corrected.
Was at Best Buy the other day, and saw a Gateway FPD2485W marked down from $679 to $543. After finding out that the display model was the last one in the store, I negotiated a further 10% off and the speaker grille into the bargain, for a price of $483. At $190 off list, this was too good a deal for me to pass up, especially for a 24" *VA panel. Been using it for a few days, here are my general impressions. Unfortunately, I only have my laptop (Toshiba Portege M500 w/ VGA out) to test it on, so I'm not running it at the optimal configuration yet. DVI will have to wait till I build my next dekstop in a month or so.
Pros
1. 8-bit panel
2. 6ms GTG - haven't noticed any obvious ghosting or lag, but haven't played any games on it. No doubt "real world" response time will be closer to 16-20+. Still good for a *VA panel, though.
3. 1920x1200
4. 1000:1 contrast ratio
5. 90 degree rotation, height tilt and swivel adjustment on stand
6. Price
7. Touch sensitive controls
8. 1:1 scaling
9. PIP
10. Non-glossy (this is subjective)
11. Wide viewing angles
Cons
1. Some banding - this is not uncommon on *VA panels, and the banding on the gateway is relatively mild, but it's there*.
2. Relatively poor non-native scaling - despite boasting a Faroudja interpolation chip, non-native scaling on the Gateway is mediocre. You'll be wanting to run it at native res whenever possible.
3. Only 1 digital input (DVI). By contrast, the Benq FP241W/VW has a hdmi and a dvi in. On the bright side, it does have 2 component inputs, but this is obviated by being limited to 720p over component (so I am told, haven't got a component out device to test it on).
4. Red bias (this is endemic to LCDs, so not really a knock on Gateway, but something to consider).
5. Crappy snap on speakers (in other news, water is still wet)
6. Touch sensitive controls - as cool as they are, they are also frustrating to operate.
I've been mainly playing videos and doing some Lightroom/Photoshop work on the Gateway. It is superb for watching HD stuff (720 and 1080 res), but really shows up the failings of 480p videos, especially low bitrate videos. Properly encoded SDTV still looks great.
Overall, this is a panel I would recommend if it can be found on the cheap - Amazon lists it for under $200 atm. It's being discontinued and it looks as though Gateway is trying to replace it with the inferior TN-based HD series. At equivalent prices, though, I would still give the nod of my head to the Benq FP241W/VW. Unfortunately, the VW won't fit on my desk at the dorm, so the Gateway was the more practical choice for me.
I'll try to post some pictures later if my schedule allows.
*EDIT: By "there", I mean that I have only been able to reproduce the banding on synthetic tests. Haven't noticed any banding in real world usage in videos, photoshop or lightroom...yet.
EDIT2: Oops, got the resolution wrong. Corrected.
