I’ve recently bought a new Wide-Screen LCD monitor for myself. After consultation with my friends and reading a few reviews online, I finally settled for the Dell E198WFP monitor. It being a TN panel, I never had any high expectations from it but switching from an old 15″ Samsung Samtron CRT monitor to a 19″ WS LCD monitor is an achievement in itself. It cost me Rs. 13500.oo including shipping/handling and a cool 5-year warranty. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed with it from the very first day itself and I’m still loving every bit of it after 5 months. Given below are the excerpts from the review that I’ve posted long back at TechEnclave. You’ll still need to visit the TechEnclave Forums to read the complete review.

As clear from the specs, the monitor can have both VGA and DVI-D inputs. Obviously, you can connect to only one source at a time. If your graphics card supports DVI-D, its recommended that you use it instead of VGA. Reportedly, it makes the images sharper, crisper and more responsive. Personally, I couldn’t figure out much of a difference between the two during normal usage. One apparent advantage is that you need to make less image adjustments while using DVI-D. Installation is pretty straight forward and doesn’t need any explanations.

The overall image quality is superb. Its easily one of the best LCDs I’ve seen so far, not that I’ve seen many. The color reproduction is as good as a CRT and good enough for someone like me. I care little about whether its a TN Panel or S-IPS or MVA. Its another matter that being on a tight budget leaves me with no other choice. In case you are wondering, E198WFP is a TN panel and its relatively smaller viewing angles are the only issue. Apart from that, it has no other flaw in my book. The shades of blacks and whites are accurately represented and texts are sharp without any blurriness.

People on a sub-12k budget can get the E198WFP eyes closed. I can say that you won’t regret it. The monitor is stylish, performs well and is a good VFM. Its all black design along with a classy base attracted me. If you like a bit of silver lining to go with the black and a silver rectangular base, go for the SE198WFP. Currently, its going for much cheaper than E198WFP due to reasons best known to Dell. People on a slightly higher budget can look for E228WFP. Many members here have got the 22-inch model and its exactly the same in looks and almost the same in specs.

To read the complete review, please visit this thread - Dell E198WFP (19″ Widescreen LCD) Review