Where's Dell's Ultrasharp?

You'll note that we've upped our review of Dell's Ultrasharp 3008WFP a wee earlier than normal for Maximum PC magazine content. That's because, well, it's the closest you're going to get to one of these 30-inch displays for the unforeseeable future. We've just been tipped off to the fact that Dell has stopped offering the 3008WFP for sale on its website, citing an undisclosed "technological issue" as the reason for the takedown.

According to Dell, the mystery problem started appearing in the monitors around February. For whatever reason, said problem is fixed, and in order to "manage demand," Dell has pulled the 30-inch displays from its website and will begin fulfilling orders on a "prioritized basis." So if you've already put in a bid for one, you'll get yours. Dell plans to resume normal sales of the 3008WFP at a later, undisclosed date.

So what, then, is wrong with this display? Various rumors have suggested everything from potential problems Dell's having with procuring 30-inch display glass to overheating issues. The problem could even be related to the display's splotchy backlight, as I noted in our review. An underperforming backlight could pave the way for some kind of overheating issue, and I did notice that the display itself was getting quite warm during testing--a little warmer than expected, for sure.

I've put in a call to Dell to see what's up with the monitor. As soon as they get back to me with some answers about what's crippling the monitor, and when we might see new versions of the 3008WFP back for sale again, I'll update the thread!

3:18 p.m.

Just received word from our Dell contact, detailing exactly what I just spelled out above. No ETA on when the displays might be going back up on the site, and no word (yet) as to what exactly the issue was that's extended the production process of the displays.

5:57 p.m. 

Chatting with Dell again!  Apparently, this issue only affected monitors that were shown as part of early-year demonstrations. So here's what I gather: Dell showed off the 3008WFP, realized it had a problem, and began cranking out fixed units at a frenzied pace.  However, it couldn't do it fast enough, and has now been forced to pull the monitors off its website while it fulfills initial orders.

Dell maintains that customers currently using the 3008WFP are not affected by whatever issue the monitors had in the first place.  And that's all the company has to say on the matter.