Gateway 24" FPD2485W Widescreen Display

[Charles Wirth]

Technical Details

24-inch viewable LCD Active Matrix TFT
1920 x 1200 Resolution -Ultra-high density display for rich images and lifelike clarity
1000 - 1 and 450 nits for incredible intensity and sharp picture quality
6 input ports and 4-port USB Hub to connect to all your gaming and digital entertainment equipment
High-Definition Content Protection (HDCP) Windows Vista requires HDCP to 1080p display HD Content


I picked one up recently and was rather un-impressed with the retail purchase enough to share my experiance.

It took about a week for all the dead pixels to be found, I had about 40+ dead on the right edge of the display, they were several vertical lines that could not display the full color range, with a dark background it would display as blue in the bad areas.

Inverted shadows is one of the major problems with this display, it is the display as I am running a pair of 8800GTX in SLI so there is no excuses of underpowered at 1920x1200 resolution. I also tried other resolutions to confirm the 6ms rating is grossly incorrect. This monitor is not a good choice for gamers. The better explain the problem, lets use NFS Carbon for the example. You are driving fast and you pass a lamp post, the lap post will leave a shadowed edge as it moves across the screen. The faster you go the larger the shadow on the edge. This problem also be seen in the OS on a dark background using the mouse or other contrast object moving on the screen.

The display is very smart and autodetects the connection used as it should, the menu controls are deep and precise to meet everyones needs. Using the component in for HDTV is pheonominal for exact color reproduction.

The rotation is orientation is automatic, just turn it and the image will adjust 90 degrees to suit your viewing.

The brightness was great, overall image quality was perfect. I used the Gateway display to calibrate my other 32" LCD HDTV. It would be possible to use this display just as a 1080p display, I would suggest getting the the optional Gateway TDX Audio Sound System. My problem with this option is the audio connections are off to the side and shown in the image below. I would prefer them on the back out of site.

The display has a nice clip on the base for easy removal. This made my job easier when I had to put it back in the box.

http://www.slipperybrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/gateway-fpd2485w.jpg

[Kunaak]

I'd just stick with dells 2405/2407 if I was you.
they have a much better reputation for gaming, then the gateway monitors do.

[Brettbeck]

Dead pixels are a pain in the a$$. However, I have seen numerous programs that can supposedly repair them. As far as I know, they do it by keeping a still white image across all the screen. If you get any more it might be worth a try.

[wa77ss]

That is a lot of dead pixels for a new monitor :(

[Roger_D25]

Thanks for your thoughts Fugger, much apprecaited! I bought this monitor from a local electronics chain store (Best Buy) for $589. Although the monitor usually sells for about $679 since I bought mine the first day Best Buy had them I got a decent discount! Although they could be found cheaper online since this was an expensive purchase for me I just felt better buying it in person. Plus if there was any major issues (dead pixels, backlight messed up, etc..) I could just return for replacment at no cost!

This was my first large LCD monitor (21" was my last monitor) so I very excited about getting it! Although I am not an expert when it comes to monitors I was very impressed with it. My monitor had no dead pixels at all and the backlighting was wonderful compared to any monitor I've ever owned before. There is a small amount of backlight bleed at each corner but this only happens when first starting the monitor up aftering being shut down for a length of time. After that there is next to no backlight bleed.

One thing that was important to me was how well the monitor produced black backgrounds (sometimes monitors will not be able to product even black color throughout the screen). Well when I set the background image to all black the coloring is very even with no light spots or darker spots.

As I said above I am no expert when it comes to analysing monitors but there doesn't seem to be any ghosting whem gaming, even when action is fast paced (like in GTR2 or some FPS). I use a DVI connetion and the color reproduction is decent. It could probably be much better but I've yet to learn how to correclty adjust the monitor using the monitors settings (contrast, brightness, gama).

Last but not least, the monitors adjustment controls are fairly easy to use and play with (except it takes a bit o get used to the touch buttons). For a regular computer gamer I think this monitor is well worth the price as it is quite a bit cheaper than most 24" LCD monitors. Like wa77ss said though I would probably rather have the Dell 24" LCD but was hesitant to purchase such a large and expensive monitor onlinen or through e-bay because if you ever had an issue shipping the darn thing back to the vendor is very expensive!

[SVTSnake]

I've had this monitor for about 2 months now and the thing is awesome. I got no dead pixels, and the backlighting is perfect with just an ever so slaint light leakage in the extreme corners, but nothing as bad as my Dell 20" widescreen. I get no ghosting effects either.

FUGGER - just out of curiosity, when was your monitor made? If it was before Decemeber of 06, there was a problem with the power supplies that caused many issues with ghosting and other sorts. You may want to check it out and give Gateay a call...

[Roger_D25]

Glad to hear your also having nice luck with your monitor SVTSnake! I was a bit worried after reading Fuggers review because I didn't want my monitor to go to crap (40 dead pixels is crazy)! By the way you should update your specs since you don't use your old 2005FPW?

[STEvil]

Is it a 6-bit or 8-bit panel?

I've got an FPD2185W that I picked up quite a while ago.. its still as beutiful as the day I got it :)

I refuse to buy 6-bit panels..

[Roger_D25]

Fortunelty its' an 8-bit panel! After trying out a 6-bit I try to stay way, especially when I'm paying almost $600!

[Charles Wirth]

I returned mine and no idea when it was made, it was a new shipment into Fry's that prompted me to go with the Gateway monitor over the Apple cinema display.

I have seen other reports where users are not experiancing the ghosting, mine was horrible. The dead pixels was too much to even consider buying another for myself.

I may try another in the future but for now, I am sticking with my 22" Samsung. I have a ton of light bleeding through the edge, but other than that its ok for now.

[Roger_D25]

Did they take it back no questions asked? Like I said above that is mostly why I usually buy monitors are retail stores, just incase I need to return! I have also used the Samsung 22", like you said, besides the backlight bleed it's a great monitor! My backlight bleed on the Samsung was worse than most, all four sides blead pretty bad and the top/bottom were the worst! I had considered the Apple 23" display but the cost up here in NH was just crazy, $1299! It's a great monitor but part of that price must be the "Apple" name I think?

[Pinmod]

another vote for the dells