Review on Dell UltraSharp 104P6: 27" 2560X1440P Monitor with Plug and Play, Built-In Speakers and Kensington Lock (Discontinued) by Daniel Odom

When I first bought the Dell U2713H Rev A02 in May 2013 everything worked fine. However, after a few weeks, the USB3 interface died with the monitor. Since I didn't really need USB capabilities at the time and the monitor was the best I've seen from Dell, I didn't call tech support. I've since seen many reports of USB3 crashes with no real cure after many exchanges with Dell tech support. Finally, a few days ago I called Dell tech support to see if there were any fixes for the ephemeral USB3 hub in the U2713H. As usual, Dell technical support staff were not notified of any fixes. Their solution was to send me a "refurbished" U2713H to see if it works better than the A02 version I had. I decided to take a chance. I asked the rep to add a note to make sure they sent me a version 04 or higher monitor and to make sure everything works including the USB3 interface. The "Refurbished" U2713H monitor arrived overnight via FedEx. It was shipped to Grove City, Ohio by DecisionOne. Received in almost new condition! No signs of previous use other than it came in a reused box. According to the label on the back, this monitor was manufactured in August 2013. The original version number was covered with a small paper label reading "Rev A06" instead of the expected A04 or possibly A05 version. I unpacked and installed it. for testing with my Dell T7600 workstation's nVidia K5000 graphics card powering a Dell 3008WFP and a spare U2713H with two display port cables. Initially my nVidia K5000 saw the U2713H but wouldn't let me add it as a second monitor. After spending some time using different DisplayPort cables and testing that the mini DP and DVI inputs work, I found that I needed to connect the nVidia K5000 DVI and DisplayPort cables at the same time. The K5000 then recognized three monitor ports, including the U2713H DVI and DisplayPort inputs. I then disabled the U2713H DVI in the nVidia control panel, leaving the 3008WFP and U2713H DP options working fine. Given all the recent complaints about the short lifespan of the original U2713H USB3, I believe Dell has outsourced the problem to DecisionOne. The Rev A06 paper label may indicate that they made a change that would replace a long-standing USB3. I was concerned about backlight bleeding issues reported on both the U2713H monitor and the U3014 monitor. But there are no signs of backlight leaks. I'll keep an eye on replacing the U2713H to make sure the USB3 issue doesn't come back.