Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP

Design

We rather like the styling - it's sleek and minimalist. It's not exciting, or flashy - in fact, it rather fades into the background, allowing you to focus on your display image.

The Apple Cinema Displays are clearly attention-grabbers, but this really isn't - aside from the size, which is still unusual to most people.

One thing we love about the design is the flexibility of the stand. The base rotates (without physically moving the stand relative to the desk) and the height adjustment is smooth and varied.

This enables inch-perfect monitor placement on your desk, something that not enough TFT manufacturers take into account. We see far too many monitors without proper height adjustment, and it can really cause issues for those who care a jot about their posture. Full marks here.

Controls and inputs

We had no qualms over the on-screen display on the Dell. The menu system is accessed by buttons on the bottom right, and it's very easy just to scroll through. The OSD gives you cues as to which input is currently connected when the display switches, and overall it's very slick. Adjusting picture quality is a clincher, although there isn't quite as much control as we would have liked over colour temperatures and tints - you're going to need to put in some work in your graphics card control panel if you're not one for just unpacking the monitor and letting it be.

There is a large range of inputs, although we're vaguely disappointed not to see HDMI on the list. There are enough inputs to have a PC hooked up to DVI (handily using Vista and HDCP to play HD-DVD content), have a Mac connected to VGA, a PS2 connected to S-video and an Xbox 360 connected to component for high definition gaming. Can't complain about that.