Dell 3007WFP-HC

Verdict: Dell's magnificent second-gen 30IN TFT

Mediocre contrast, patchy backlighting, dodgy viewing angles and extremely limited input options. That's a pretty rum calling card for a PC monitor priced somewhere north of £1,400. However, this didn't prevent Dell's original monolithic 30in monitor, the 3007WFP, from collapsing under a pile of plaudits following its early 2006 debut.

Just over a year later, Dell has unsheathed its second-generation 30in display. Surely, the critics won't be so forgiving this time around. However, in the context of the Texas-based PC specialist's somewhat punch-drunk deportment lately, it will therefore come as a relief that there's no need - with the 3007WFP-HC (the HC suffix is indicative of an improved colour gamut rating), Dell has eradicated all but one of the most serious flaws of its progenitor.

Of course, the showbiz tendencies that made the first 3007WFP such an attention grabber remain. Primarily, the sheer scale of it, which incites giddy laughter from 30in virgins upon first acquaintance with it. However, it isn't until you spend quality time in the company of a 30in LCD panel with a native resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 that you can properly comprehend its liberating impact on day-to-day desktop tasks. Viewing multiple applications simultaneously, editing large digital images without scaling, and simply cutting down on document and web page scrolling are just a few of the luxuries that rapidly become ordinary accoutrements of life with such a large display.

The super-fine 0.25mm pixel pitch is also a real boon for all kinds of multimedia malarkey, and the monstrous screen diagonal and hilariously high native resolution form a killer combination for gaming, assuming you have the graphics cards to drive it. The 3007WFP-HC demands more of your 3D hardware's pixel-pushing prowess than almost any other monitor. Still, the fact that Vista looks so fabulous splashed over 30in of screen is just gravy and, incidentally, makes Microsoft's bugtastic new operating system a little easier to swallow.

The 3007WFP-HC is one of the sexiest PC displays in town. The carry-over enclosure is a masterpiece of industrial design, and the build quality is well beyond what you'd expect from a mass-market outfit such as Dell, and a cut above other members of the WFP range, thanks to an alloy stand. The overall aesthetics are individual and light years ahead of the bland HP LP3065.

Most of all, this is the closest you'll come to a good investment in the land of PC components. Computer chip technology is in a state of permanent revolution - big-ticket CPUs date faster than a David Beckham barnet, and a month or two is often enough to turn a high end GPU into an expensive paperweight with a PCI-E bus. A one-year-old, first-generation 3007WFP, however, is still an extremely splendid piece of hardware.

The real news concerning the new 3007WFP-HC, though, is its upgraded LCD panel and backlighting. Like the LP3065, HP's entrant in the 30in LCD market, the HC sports the latest 30in S-IPS panel from LG. Dell also matches its bitter rival in terms of backlighting, courtesy of a new Wide Color Gamut CCFL tube. Consequently, the two screens are toe to toe with impressive 92 per cent NTSC colour gamut ratings. There's also little to choose between the two in terms of our objective DisplayMate metrics, where evidence of the higher-fidelity panel and backlight is plain to see.

It's no surprise, therefore, that the 3007WFP-HC is nearly identical to the LP3065 in terms of subjective image quality, right down to the slightly warm default colour balance. Overall, there's more depth, vibrancy and solidity compared with the slightly wishy-washy first-generation 3007WFP, and the backlighting is much more even than it was. The differences may not be huge, but this isn't a monitor for which you have to make excuses; the 3007WFP-HC is a truly gorgeous LCD panel with no major weaknesses, and that includes pixel response, which is rated at 8ms.

However, it isn't quite perfect. Colour inversion during off-centre viewing of darker tones remains a problem and, although the new panel is clearly a step up in terms of backlight occlusion, it can't quite compete with the best PVA panels. This makes the 3007WFP-HC still slightly sub-optimal as a monitor for nocturnal movie viewing.

This just leaves the minor matters of flexibility and pricing to consider. Hardware scaling or additional inputs beyond a single DVI port are still notable absentees. Philosophically, you can either accept this is a precision tool that only performs at its best running at its native resolution, or bemoan its inability to hook up with Xbox 360s, HD disc players or set-top boxes.

Conclusion

Something that can't be debated, however, is the 3007WFP-HC's bizarre status as a bargain. Putting aside Dell's online pricing lottery, the £950 sticker it sported at the time of writing makes this the cheapest 30in monitor on the market, and in many ways, it's also the best. Big, bold and beautiful, Dell's second-generation 30in monitor is a very polished performer and, at the moment, a better buy than the HP. Only a shortage of inputs let it down.