DoubleSight DS-277W (27" IPS)
DoubleSight is a smaller company specializing in high-end displays. The company doesn't sell Dell's the same volume as Dell, so you'll typically find its 27" DS-277W priced a little higher than the U2711 (although a quick scan through our price engine reveals this isn't always the case). Additionally, we've seen rebates and promotions that make DoubleSight monitors even less expensive.
With that said, there's nothing cheap about the displays themselves. DoubleSight opts for an industrial design; the DS-277W is encased completely in a black brushed aluminum bezel mounted on a plastic base.
The connectivity suite is very similar to Dell's U2711, except that you get one more VGA port in lieu of a second DVI-D connection, and there's no DisplayPort input.
More noticeably, DoubleSight uses an external power brick, which adds another component to the list of cables to manage. In practice, this isn't much of an inconvenience, since the monitor is stationary. However, the implementation itself is somewhat lacking. During a brownout, all of the monitors powered themselves back up except for the DS-277W. It seems that any power interruption trips a circuit in the brick, requiring that you unplug the adapter for a moments before you plug it back in. We like that DoubleSight adds an additional layer of protection, but the process shouldn't require manual intervention.
Configuring the DS-277W through its OSD is easy, but a little unnatural. The buttons located on the bottom edge of the display are incredibly sensitive due to DoubleSight's use of capacitive sensors. You only need to brush your finger over them to bring up the menu. Ideally, we'd like to see sensitivity dialed down. If you touch a button even slightly outside of its outline, there are times when the screen picks up an incorrect command.
