New Toy

 I think I shall call it Moskit (because it's giving me a Sunburn).

 I've been using a Samsung TFT (2343BW) display on my computer for nearly two years now and I've been, well, content with it. It was a big step up from the CRTs I was using before even though they were themselves decent enough kit (22-inch Iiyama and Mitsubishi Trinitrons). Regular use of the Samsung screen revealed its shortcomings, notably that of it using a Twisted Nematic (TN) panel. This meant a limited colour and contrast range and fading when viewed off-axis. It made up for this with lots of pixels on a 23 inch diagonal, indeed it had the highest number of pixels of a modern 22-24 inch display[0] at 2048x1152.

 I've had my eye on a replacement screen for some time now and I had decided on a Dell U2711 for various reasons, not least of which is its increased resolution of 2560 x 1440 on a 27-inch diagonal. It uses an IPS display panel rather than the cheaper TN technology resulting in noticeably denser colours covering a wider range (gamut) and very much improved off-axis viewing. It's also bright -- my first adjustment was to turn the brightness control down quite a bit. It did cost a chunk more than a TN screen would have but on first viewing at least I think it was worth it.

 Impressively it plugged into my old desktop's DVI-out port using the supplied dual-link cable and Just Worked on WinXP; the ATI drivers picked up the screen resolution and self-configured automatically and I was feeling the skin on my face prickle from the luminous intensity no more than five minutes after unboxing the display. It also has a wide range of connections -- 2 DVI ports, a DisplayPort for Macs, HDMI, VGA, component and composite video as well as being able to read SD cards via a built-in USB hub. The one thing it lacks is the ability to rotate the panel into portrait mode which I think I can live with.

 There were logistical problems getting the bank transfer payment to the supplier and more problems getting it delivered due to things like our door buzzer quitting on us during heavy rain yesterday but the company I bought it from, a Dell reseller called NRG-IT kept me informed by email all the way to help sort things out. I hereby commend them for your attention if you're in the UK and looking for factory-refurbished kit from Dell and others as they seem to have their act together more than some of the bigger box-shifters do, or maybe they're just small enough to care about their customers as individuals.

[0] Yes I know about the IBM T221 but I did specify "modern". The T221's limitations in terms of contrast, colour rendering, refresh rate etc. mean that even though the Dell U2711 doesn't match its image resolution it far exceeds the older design's image quality and general usability. The U2711 is a lot cheaper too.