Gateway XHD3000 30-inch Wide-Screen

[Rob Williams]

Ahh, you are Canadian. We need more around here.

Is the Dell 3008WFP not necessarily a good choice then? It has a reasonable response rate. It would be used a lot for gaming (it would become the new benchmarking monitor), but also for other regular tasks, like photography, Photoshop, regular things like that.

I saw it at CES and enjoyed the color, but didn't get enough time to truly see the goods and the bads.

 

[sbrehm72255]

I wouldn't use a IPS/S-IPS for gaming, I've heard from friends that they were unhappy with the gaming performance in FPS with those panel types, but they might just be a bit picky, everyone has their one likes and dislike when it comes to displays, what looks good to one person might not suit the next, its best to try one out before you buy if you can and not take any one persons view as the finial word.

I'd go with one of the MVA/PVA types out on the market

 

[Rob Williams]

That's the bad thing, I can't test out this display prior to buying it. Normally I ride on review samples to test out first (because I am greedy like that), but Dell has none of these available.

If it's not for gaming, I am not sure where to go. I loved the brightness of the 3008WFP and the picture was a little more to my preference over the Gateway as well.

The sad thing is that in Canada, it's difficult to purchase an XHD3000. The only place to purchase is Best Buy (who I admittedly despise) and they are out of stock. Gateway really don't give their Canadian customers too much of a choice.

 

[sbrehm72255]

I'd just read around as much as possible then and find out all you can before you order. I've never gamed on a IPS/S-IPS myself, so all I can say is what I've read and heard from friends. But IPS/S-IPS are the top panels made, bar none and with all the new tech that they are coming out with that's included with the new displays, it might just game well for you and fit you needs perfectly.

People like my son will never be happy with such a display (or any LCD for that matter), they are all hardcore gamers (he used to game against Fatal1ty at the local Comp USA back in the day) and swear by CRT's still.

 

[Rob Williams]

I haven't read around much... and there are only two reviews available ( I could get into the reasons why that's the case, but I won't ). Our friends at HotHardware took it for a spin and had this to say:

"If you're the type of user that is has the need or is seriously considering a 30-inch LCD panel, then you probably have some fairly stringent requirements in terms of performance as well. In addition, whether you're a workstation professional type, hardcore gamer or enthusiast, you're also going to expect more from a product within the price bracket a 30" screen. In this regard, the UltraSharp 3008 WFP delivers; it just depends on what you consider to be a reasonable price of admission. The 3008 WFP will have a retail MSRP of $1999. This puts the panel well in excess of any 30-inch display on the market today, most of which are weighing in closer to the $1K range. On the other hand, you most definitely get what you pay for."

So by the sounds of things, it doesn't seem to be lacking in the gaming department. It just seems like an incredibly full-featured monitor. I'll need to check around some online forums though (something I never do) and see if I can see experiences from people who actually own it.

People like my son will never be happy with such a display (or any LCD for that matter), they are all hardcore gamers (he used to game against Fatal1ty at the local Comp USA back in the day) and swear by CRT's still.

To be honest, I don't think a 30" monitor at all would suit a hardcore gamer. It's fantastic for a single-player experience, but because mouse sensitivity changes dramatically with so many more pixels on screen, it's an entirely different experience, and takes some getting used to.

I could be wrong, however, but that was my experience.

 

[sbrehm72255]

Here's a extended thread on the Dell..............

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1245080&highlight=Dell+UltraSharp+3008WFP

 

[Rob Williams]

I have read through that entire thread, among others around the web. Even now, this has to be one of the most difficult purchasing decisions I have had to make in a long while.

Actually, instead of dragging out this conversation here, I think I'll create a separate thread in our displays forum. I seem to have really sidetracked this thread, talking about a completely different product than the one reviewed ;-)

 

[Unregistered]

Was the resolution problem under Linux solved?

Guys, do you have any update on if it is possible now to run the monitor at its native resolution under Linux?

Thank you!

 

[Rob Williams]

Guys, do you have any update on if it is possible now to run the monitor at its native resolution under Linux?

Thank you!

As long as you have an NVIDIA GPU, you'll be fine. The issue wasn't fixed in the monitor itself, but an NVIDIA driver release that came out after the review enabled the proper resolution. So... I'm led to believe it wasn't really the problem of the monitor itself at all, but rather just the available driver at the time.

 

[Unregistered]

Re: Was the resolution problem under Linux solved?

Thank you, Rob, for your reply!

I am interested in being able to connect the monitor to laptops, including my ultra portable Sony Vaio (Intel's graphics with shared RAM video memory). Do you have any knowledge on if I would be able to run the monitor at its native resolution under Linux with such hardware?

Thank you!

 

[Rob Williams]

I have no sweet clue. What distrobution are you running? I could install it quick on a notebook here that uses Intel graphics and see what happens.

Edit: Actually, I don't think I can do that. The notebook only includes VGA, and as far as I know, VGA can't handle the extreme resolution, only dual-link DVI.