Veritas
I bought this one when it was on sale for $799. Im happy with it, but there at least one very, very serious issue with it. 1) Prior to this, I had (still have) an Asus P278Q. The Asus is a perfect monitor. After 4 years or so of use, its still in perfect condition and runs without any problem. 2) Why I bought the Alienware: - I wanted a widescreen. I had no intention of buying 2 screens, let alone having a system with 2 graphics cards -- especially in those days of Nvidia playing a really dodgy game with RRPs for gaming cards. - I wanted G-Sync... because I read its great, and I have a Nvidia GPU. - I wanted higher definition -- but wasnt (still not) interested in 4K. - The price was attractive. I didnt really care that it was on sale. However, $799 is a really attractive price for a widescreen 32 inches GSync monitor, coming with Dells warranty. 3) Did it meet my buying expectations? - Widescreen use. It looks great but to be honest, the screen size is still too small. Now, I used to play 1080p on a 55inches Plasma TV (works great by the way), 1080p on a 250 inches Mitsubishi projector (thats when I was living by myself, LOL -- this is the best experience ever), 2K or thereabouts on the Asus. So while widescreen is really cool -- especially for RPGs like Fallout and FPS like BfV and PUBG -- 32 inches in widescreen is actually small. - G-Sync... is a bunch of BS. Apologies, but honestly, I dont see any difference. There probably is one, but it is so lightly noticeable, that I really dont care. - Higher definition: lets be honest here, Im playing on a 980 GTX. Okay, thats a bit old, and I cant play 4K or max res on it. Im fine with that, for the moment. Point is, if you want to make the best use of a machine like the Alienware, have at least a 1080 GTX otherwise keep your 2K / 1080p monitor, you wont miss much. - Price is attractive, Im happy with the purchase, though I know the monitor wont be worth much in a year or so. 4) My installation. - I hold the monitor on a 70 inches stand. Because the monitor is heavy, Im using a piece of styrofoam to hold the bottom of it so itll stay at an angle Im happy with during gaming. 5) The problems. Many problems have been reported for this monitor, theyre pretty much always the same, and theyre apparently typical of Dell monitors. However, Im personally upset Dell isnt putting a little more support into developing proper drivers with Nvidia for it to make it work as it should -- ie perfectly. My Asus cost me $500 at the time of purchase, and it never let me down. The Alienware has let me down from Day 1, and Ive had to search the web for long hours to solve / understand the problems. - The BIGGEST PROBLEM: Power Saving Mode. Even if you deactivate it, this switches on all too often. Now, Ive had that problem when using DP (necessary if you want to use 100hz by the way), not with HDMI. For some games, this is killer: the most recent one I purchased (Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice) has almost killed the entire computer. It crashed so many times, that I decided for the time being to use HDMI only. This problem is a recurrent one with Dell monitors apparently, for a great amount of years. It has never happened to me when I used the Asus (both in HDMI or DP modes). This is a shame that Dell isnt supporting this with proper driver development -- and shows how much Dell actually cares about gaming and gamers in general (apart from our cash). - Whitening on the corners of the monitor. A lot of people report this -- I do have a little bit of whitening in the corners. But frankly, this is really not a problem and, in my case, doesnt discolor anything during gaming. My only concern is: does it mean the monitors shelf life wont be long? No idea. - The besel. There is no besel so to speak. The problem here is that you can actually see some backlight around the edges of the monitor because the screen isnt properly fixed on the backplate. For the price, even at $799, this is really poor quality construction and control. Shame. - Finger prints: this monitor leaves fingers prints all-the-time! This is crazy. And theyre so visible that you have to clean them asap. Theres an upper screen on top of the actual screen: this upper screen minimizes daylight reflection, but it gets dirty very easily. - I/O access. The power input in particular is hard of access -- I understand why its done like this -- ie Dell must be using a standard or slightly modified motherboard made by some OEM in Taiwan or South Korea -- but this is a real pain at times. - The lights fx around the monitor are useless. Ive actually deactivated the whole thing after a few months. - The onscreen menu... will never switch on when the monitor is on Power Saving Mode. So imagine the frustration when you want to change some importants settings from the onscreen menu. 6) Overall Satisfaction. Day 1: 30% happy with the purchase because of the confusing onscreen menu and the Power Saving Mode problem. Day 30: 70% happy with the purchase. I corrected the power saving mode for most applications / games. It does bring a superior gaming experience compared to the Asus, but it isnt that much more better. Day 120: 65% happy with the purchase. That would probably be superior if I was wishing to spend $1300 on a new motherboard / CPU / RAM / GPU combo, with a 2080/2070 RTX at its core. Most of the dissatisfaction I have with the monitor is that: 1) Dell isnt Asus when it comes to gaming products. Asus is vastly superior in quality construction, control and applications (drivers and product application eg OC). 2) Im concerned about the shelf life of the product given its poor quality construction. This is no surprise that Dell have discounted this item for about 50% of its original RRP so quickly after its original market launch. If you absolutely want a WS 32 inches Gsync (Gsync fwiw?) experience and your budget is limited ($799 is high, $1299 is stupid), then this is a good monitor. However, you have to have the proper installation to justify the purchase, dont be like me and make the purchase of an improved GPU an afterthought or youll regret it.
