Dell has made a touch screen monitor for collaboration purposes — this can be installed in an office, or used by students, or perhaps used for special purpose applications like corporate presentations, but it would be the most expensive monitor for viewing videos and photos only.
Dell 21.5 inch model S2240T is a touch screen. But you have to attach it to a CPU or a laptop to make it work, its just a monitor. It doesn’t have a built in PC or anything that will make it work independently.
We have the the Lattitude E7240 under review and this model is not a touchscreen model. We connected the 21.5-inch monitor to it and it works.
There is no need for a complicated configuration — it is a plug and play thing so anybody can just attached the required cables and then turn on the monitor and its good to go.
From your laptop, you can either configure it to be a duplicate screen, an extension, or a stand alone or second screen only, disabling the laptop’s screen.
The required cables
The 21.5 inch multi touch screen model S2240T comes with three cables — the power cable, HDMI cable, and the special USB cable that makes the monitor touch screen. You have to connect two cables to the host device, in this case the Lattitude E7240. All the needed cables are provided in the package. You have to be careful with the most uncommon cable the USB cable that enables the monitor to be touchscreen. That cable is called USB Upstream cable.
Interface and connections
Dell has prepared all possible connections for the end users, the 21.5 touch screen monitor has VGA, DVI and HMI ports. For this review, we used HDMI connection only and the laptop we used has Windows 8 version installed.
Aside from its “ergonomic stand”, the monitor is also VESA compliant — that means you can wall mount this with any available VESA wall mount. While Dell calls it as ergonomic stand, I had to disagree because one time it the monitor fell off backwards. It seems while you can adjust the stand to slant the monitor, in the default position it can be outbalanced, so be careful in setting this up.
The touchscreen is so so
Okay, its a Dell product and like what my friends in the corporate world say, its a tough brand and when its Dell it is a good product. I say, maybe the quality is really good.
I say that because while this 21.5-inch monitor is a real touch screen monitor, it is not as responsive when compared to your tablets and smartphones. So before you place your Purchase Orders to your respective Dell resellers, make your you test one first.
I was able to use the basic touch screen features like switching from one window to another, but I just can’t create a new tab in the browser. There are times also during the review that I can’t scroll down and up in the pages I am viewing. But on a separate instance, it works. So consistency is one of the concern here.
The display is great, it has the best colors, vibrant and the viewing angles are perfect. I also like it that everything is plug and play, no need to install a program or anything to the touch screen monitor working.
You can check out the complete specs of this monitor here.
Conclusion
Before you get excited and turn your old PC’s or laptop into a touch screen by getting a Dell S2240T 21 inch multi-touch monitor, I encourage you to request a test unit and try it if it will work on the application you want to use. If you are out for an external monitor, this model is not for you, but if you want to have a touch screen monitor for a certain web applications or corporate presentations, the Dell S2240T might be a good option.
Some features needs further improvement. The USB upstream cable that enables the monitor to be touchscreen might be incorporated to the display cable such us DVI, VGA or HDMI. So that you don’t have to put up lots of cables.
Dell S2240T 21.5-inch multi-touch monitor is now available with a price tag of P20,200.
