Review: Dell UltraSharp 1704FPT LCD Monitor

I bought my first LCD monitor — Dell LCD monitor, which is one of the items in my 2006 gadgets wishlist . Here is my review.

Getting a Dell UltraSharp 1704FPT 17-inch LCD Monitor

I was planning to get the DELL E176FP 17-inch analogue LCD monitor, which is sold at RM888 only. But I later realised that the UltraSharp version received many good customer reviews. Plus, it has 4 USB 2.0 ports and both analogue and digital video input. These are the reasons I spent more money to get the Dell UltraSharp 1704FPT 17-inch LCD monitor.

Ordering process

27 Dec 05 – I placed my order through www.dell.com.my. Unlike purchasing a Dell notebook, there were not many options to customize an order. Simply accept the default will do. Total cost: RM999.

28 Dec 05 – I received the order confirmation via email. Since I did not have a credit card (and my debit card did not enough have money), I bought a bank draft, the total cost was RM1004.50 (RM999 + RM5 commission + RM0.50 stamp duty).

29 Dec 05 – Dell’s carrier came to my house to collect the bank draft. A receipt was given.

5 Jan 05 – Received a call from Dell informing me that they will deliver the monitor within two days.

7 Jan 05 – Received a call from Dell’s carrier, asking the directions to my house. A few hours later, a van stopped in front my house, and a guy stepped out with a big parcel. It was my Dell LCD monitor!

What’s inside the package?

It was a big and heavy, well packaged box. A small box with a power cable inside was also included. Simple installation instructions were printed on the big box. There were only a few things inside the box: a stand with adjustable height, an LCD monitor, a D-Sub (analogue) cable, a DVI-D (digital) cable, and a USB cable (for the USB hub). Besides, a colored installation / documentation poster was also included.

Brief review

I love the black color. It has only four small buttons at the lower right corner. The 17″ LCD monitor is very heavy and BIG! Suddenly, my 12″ Apple iBook became so small… :P There are two USB ports on the left of the monitor and another two are at the back.

The Dell UltraSharp LCD monitor is very bright, even after setting the brightness to zero! The factory default color did not look right, and there was too much red color. I had a hard time calibrating the monitor colors. I took a few hours to adjust the monitor display color, yet it was still not perfect. Am I picky? :P

Monitor spanning with Apple iBook, controlling WindowsXP through VNC

I am using the LCD monitor with my Apple iBook. After trying a few different positions (left, right and above), I decided to put the LCD monitor above my iBook. Thanks to the adjustable height stand, it is easy to adjust the monitor’s height. The monitor is able to turn 90 degrees until it reaches the vertical mode, which is good for viewing long documents or web pages.

Dell LCD monitor in vertical mode

My two cents

The Dell UltraSharp 1704FPT 17-inch LCD monitor is my first LCD monitor and I am satisfied (after spending a few hours calibrating the monitor colors). Thanks to everyone who recommended it to me.

I won’t say it is of has the best quality but it has high value. With only RM999, you get a dual input 17 inch LCD monitor with build-in USB hub! You can’t get this from other monitor manufacturers!

Check out the latest price for a Dell UltraSharp 1704FPT 17-inch LCD monitor.