On the fence about the AW3418DW

[Pyrii]

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/alienware-aw3418dw-34-curved-monitor-79997-dell-2977473

 

So I saw this deal on HUKD a few days ago and I'm looking for a good Ultrawide monitor because I stram/play certain games and want to upgrade from my pair of 24/23 inch CFL monitors that are over 10 years old and produce a lot of heat at night.

 

I like all the details about the AW3418DW except £800 still seems a little high, so I tried asking a sales rep if there was any additional discounts they could do and didn't get any luck. THe sales rep did confirm it is VESA compatible (I'll get to that later) and said the panel was 8-bit (This I'm not entirely sure of). Can anyone confirm or deny if the panel is 8-bit or 6-bit+FRC?

 

The included mount looks far too big so I wondered if anyone knew of any good table mounts that would work too.

 

I'm still very on the fence on putting that amount down for a monitor, it would be nice for my space/driving sims, and let me play 16:9 games with my streaming tools on the same screen (I may have to look into a 2nd monitor for that stuff since I'd like to replace both my screens at some point)

 

I'd definitely appreciate some prompt input as I don't know how much longer this deal will last.

 

[Slottr]

Recommend taking a look at https://www.reddit.com/r/ultrawidemasterrace/

 

Seems to be highly recommended over there

[dizmo]

I'd get it. That's a pretty good deal compared to what else is available.

Can your GPU push enough pixels to make it worthwhile?

[Pyrii]

2 hours ago, dizmo said:

I'd get it. That's a pretty good deal compared to what else is available.

Can your GPU push enough pixels to make it worthwhile?

Not my currwnt rig, I'm probably going to have to do some tweaks or run windowed/zoomed for a bit. I plan on upgrading layer though.

 

I prefer to think ahead with my purchases. I thought of getting the 1080 version which is £600 at the moment but would regret it later if I wanted to upgrade later. I like things to last a good long time

[Lathlaer]

3 hours ago, Pyrii said:

Can anyone confirm or deny if the panel is 8-bit or 6-bit+FRC?

Well I haven't been able to find definite answer to that because everywhere they list only color depth (16.7mil) which can be either of those but this site is the ultimate monitor database for me:

 

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_alienware_aw3418dw.htm

 

And a quote:

 

The Dell Alienware AW3418DW features an 

LG.Display LM340UW4-SSA1 IPS technology panel which is capable of producing 16.77 million colours. This is achieved through a native 8-bit colour depth.

 

They further confirm it under the LG Display specs (just search ctrl+f for LM340UW4-SSA1)

 

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/monitor_panel_parts.htm

 

 

[dizmo]

5 minutes ago, Pyrii said:

Not my currwnt rig, I'm probably going to have to do some tweaks or run windowed/zoomed for a bit. I plan on upgrading layer though.

 

I prefer to think ahead with my purchases. I thought of getting the 1080 version which is £600 at the moment but would regret it later if I wanted to upgrade later. I like things to last a good long time

When are you upgrading?
If not for a while, I'd wait for Black Friday sales. You can likely get just as good, if not a better deal than that.

[Pyrii]

16 hours ago, dizmo said:

When are you upgrading?
If not for a while, I'd wait for Black Friday sales. You can likely get just as good, if not a better deal than that.

Tempting, but the Black Friday sales here in the UK aren't that great, I'm not sure if this monitor will be discounted like this again.

 

EDIT: People on HUKD have mentioned getting discounts when chatting to sales, an extra 5-10% off, I've tried and the chat reps refused to budge. I know I'm not the best communicator but is there a good way to get a discount from them, an extra 5% would really matter to me, I could put the money towards the extra mount needed etc.

[jones177]

Hi

An upgrade to a GTX 1080 is not enough for a 100-120hz panel. It was good for my 3440X1440 60hz panel.

To fully utilize tha panel you would need a GTX 1080 ti.

In the US, DELL has the monitor on sale at $800.00.

 

The AW3418DW uses a LG.Display LM340UW4-SSA1 IPS technology panel . It is 8bit.

 

For me, the contrast ratio is too low. I like 3000:1 minium.

 

Later

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pyrii]

In the end I went ahead and got it when I remembered that I could get some Cashback via Quidco which should help towards a mount, now it's just a matter of finding a low profile desk mount that can support 8kg without sagging like some I've been recommended apparently do.