Other - Dell UltraSharp 2209WA

Menus are easy to access, understand and navigate. Seven languages are supported: English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Japanese and Chinese. Despite the excellent software for the menu, the features are lacking. There is no color temperature setting, and no sRGB preset. Gamma exponent can not be manipulated. Custom presets are not provided. There is also no option to turn off the power indicator, which can be annoying. These are very basic and much needed options, and their absence lowers our assessment considerably.

There are only 2 sizing modes: "Fill" and "4:3", both self-explanatory. The monitor lacks 1:1 pixel mode, which is a big annoyance. The "Scale" mode is missing, but can, in most cases, be emulated by the two modes that are provided.

Considering more advanced features, there is no light-sensitive diode to control the brightness. Also, the monitor can not manipulate the gamma curve, nor does it feature the built-in customizable LUTs.

Of the useless features, a digital processor is built in, which can 'sharpen' the picture, and offers various eye-candy modes: movies, nature, games etc... until you grow bored of it. In the 'video' mode, there is an option that enables you to mess up hue and saturation, if you like. There is also the 'dynamic contrast' feature which is always annoying and mostly useless on this monitor. Fortunately, it is turned off by default.

Dell is trying so hard to sell this monitor, that besides messing up the backlight brightness, they also added the 'demo' mode in the menu. Fortunately, this can be disabled and has no negative impact on picture quality.

We like the built-in USB hub, which simplifies the cable management and provides easy-to-access USB 2.0 ports.

Final note: Dell is selling this monitor for a bargain, given the quality/price ratio. Everybody rush to the shop before they change their mind.