Dell P2417H Professional Series 24" Review

This is a gloriously adjustable stand attached to a mediocre screen. Buy it only if you need to pivot your spreadsheet, not if you want to enjoy watching it.

The Dell P2417H is a monitor that's built for one thing: sitting at a desk for hours and not hurting your neck. Forget about flashy specs or gaming prowess. This thing is a pure, unadulterated office workhorse. Its one standout feature is the incredible stand, which lets you adjust it into any position you need. The rest of the specs are firmly middle of the pack, but for basic productivity, it gets the job done.

The performance story here is simple. It's not fast, and it's not bright. Our data puts its overall performance score in the bottom 5% of monitors we track. That 60Hz refresh rate and 6ms response time means any motion looks sluggish, and the 250-nit brightness is just okay for a typical office. But honestly, for spreadsheets and documents, you won't notice. The surprise is how good the ergonomics are. That stand is in the top 3% of all monitors, and it makes a huge difference in daily comfort.

If you find one refurbished for around $100, it's a decent value for a basic, adjustable office monitor. At anything close to $190, it's a bad deal. You're paying for adjustability on a panel that's otherwise underwhelming. For pure productivity comfort on a budget, it's worth a look. For anything else, skip it.

Compared to a modern budget office monitor like an LG 24BL650C, you lose some brightness and a thinner design, but you gain that incredible stand. If you're considering a Dell UltraSharp, you're looking at a completely different league: the UltraSharp will have a much better panel, higher resolution, and better color, but you'll pay a lot more. The P2417H's real competition is other basic 24-inch IPS monitors, and it wins only if the stand is your top priority.

If you're looking for a beautiful, vibrant display for media or creative work, this isn't it. Go get an LG UltraFine or a Dell UltraSharp instead. If you're a gamer, even a casual one, skip this entirely and look at any monitor with a 144Hz or higher refresh rate.

We recommend this monitor only for one specific person: someone who needs a basic, reliable screen for office work and who values ergonomic adjustability above all else. If that's you, and you can snag it cheap, go for it. For everyone else—gamers, creatives, media consumers, or anyone wanting a sharp, bright screen—there are dozens of better options out there.