Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been using this display a little over a month now. Before committing to purchase, I had researched dozens and dozens of monitors before finally dropping the cash for this guy. It needed to meet a few requirements: 1080p or higher resolution VESA mounting IPS Display Do you know how hard that is to find? It seems like IPS displays lack VESA mounting. I have no idea why. I would have settled for the 24 inch version of this monitor, but again, it lacks VESA mount (which is weird). My next plan was then to order a Korean 2560 x 1440 IPS monitor off Ebay (Like Catleap) but after much deliberation I decided I didn't want to play Russian roulette and risk a getting a bad display with no warranty or dead pixels and then have to spend more money to ship it back, or even worse, be out of a warranty (which is not unheard of for those displays). So after comparing many other displays, I decided to go with this one as it was the only one that met all my requirements. The only reason I was hesitant to order it was because of the reflective screen (more on that in a minute) And I am happy I did. The colors are perfect after downloading an ICC profile for the monitor (which was calibrated with a Spyder Pro). The blacks are indeed blacks. Almost like looking down into an abyss. The whites are white. My screen has a more warm hue to it (yellows) but you can mess with the settings to change this, however, the whites are still very accurate. The construction of the display is solid. The weight is distributed evenly throughout the panel and feels sturdy. The best way I can describe it is like holding an iPad. It feels like it's one solid object instead of a cheap plastic shell housing components (like other monitors I have used). I love the Edge-to-edge glass and this thing seriously looks stylish and commands attention, as I have come to notice from friends who have asked about it. It has a powered USB 2.0 hub which I have been using. Mainly to charge my iPhone 5/iPad mini. Works great. And will still transfer/sync stuff. The HDMI port DOES use HDCP (I confirmed this through the NVIDIA control panel/HDCP) , meaning, you can watch Blu-Ray movies from either your Blu-Ray player on your PC or if you are hooking up the monitor via HDMI to a Blu-Ray player or PS3. Again, the colors, brightness, and contrast are amazing. This was a huge upgrade, as I was using a 26" Vizio TV, which of course, does not have a high end panel. Now, let's get to the cons: Reflectivity. When you hear people say this thing is reflective, they are NOT kidding. This thing is like a mirror when it's not on. If you are in a darker room, or if it will be in a corner or with its back to a window, then you will have no problems. When I ordered it, I knew I was going to be a "worst case" user. My office has 6 large windows. Two of which are directly behind my computer chair. With nothing outside of them to block the view of the sky and sun. I had orange curtains that are more for decorative purposes rather than function. So they did not do much to block the sun. With that said- when the monitor is on, and you are doing stuff, you will hardly notice the reflections unless you are stop to look for them. OR the content you are viewing is very dark. For example, I was trying to watch the "Blackwater Bay" episode of Game of Thrones. Dark, dark episode as a good chunk of it takes place at night. The glare from the reflections was distracting (this was during the brightest part of the day- and again, a giant window directly behind me). However, when I put up "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" which is a bright documentary, I did not notice or was distracted from the glare. I have since rearranged my office so there is no sunlight coming from behind me. I repeated the same viewing of "Blackwater Bay" and there was a marked decrease in reflection, and it looked great, even during the brightest day. So really, the big take away here is: Placement and content are big factors for glare. If you are in a bright spot but watching bright content- hardly any glare- but bright spot, dark content - noticeable, but not terrible, glare. The other thing people have talked about is how things will "reflect off of themselves" within the display. To explain this, pretend you are looking at a desktop icon. If you start viewing the monitor from an angle, and keep going, at a point you will notice the icon is reflecting itself within the glass. The best way to describe what it looks like is if there was a dimmer color shadow of the icon behind it. A duplicate. Almost 3D-holographic. I personally do not think it is an issue as looking at the monitor in a normal way (directly from the front) on or even at regular angle (such as maybe turned in your computer chair, or tilting your head) does not produce this hologram. But if you are deliberating moving at an angle and looking for it, you will see it. This is more of a personal preference thing, but as soon as I mounted this thing next to my other two monitors- it ruined the others for me. I spent more time tweaking the other two monitors (which are cheap $150 Acer ones) trying to get them to match my Dell than adjusting the Dell. The difference in quality between them and this one is noticeable and bothersome. And lastly, to put my money where my mouth is, I am ordering another one of these Dell monitors today to replace my other two. I am pretty excited! All in all, if you are still reading this, then you are really, really trying to find the best product for your money. The Dells2740L is a serious contender and one you should seriously consider. 2/27/2014 Update Almost a year later. I will let you all know I followed up on my promise to buy a 2nd one of these. One screen in portrait and one horizontal. Both displays have similar lighting and color consistency after some slight tweaking. The newer one appears to have a warmer tone than my original one (right out of the box), but as stated, changing the settings and applying the ICC profile I would say the colors are very similar (yet one still is slightly warmer than the other. Only noticeable when staring at two of the same website with a white background such as Google). I also wanted to update this review with another major aspect of it I left out. I play a lot of games. IPS panels are known for ghosting. There are several different types of panels for IPS displays (H-IPS, S-IPS etc.). Others are recommend over others due to latency, viewing angles, colors. I can tell you from my experience this panel has no noticeable ghosting which makes it excellent for gaming. I still recommend this display for those who appreciate color accuracy, contrast and good black levels.