Debezel-ing my 3 Dell U2412M's (Pics/Guide)

So after purchasing 3 dell U2412m's for eyefinity, I promised myself to not void the warranties for at least a year. But alas, I just couldn't help myself...

The bulky (well, my slightly OCD definition of 'bulky') black bezels were a bit too much for a portrait eyefinity setup, so out came the tools and gaffer tape.

Although I did this with Dell IPS monitors, a lot of the info in the post will be applicable to most flat-panel monitors.
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The before shot, with bezels abound... (sorry about the dark image, I got a bit trigger-happy with getting started and forgot to take a proper photo)

A few guides I've read recommend using a screwdriver or similar to pry off the front part of the bezel, but I found it was easy enough to use my fingers (which also avoids damage).
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The front bezel is held on by clips, which are easily undone by gently using 3 or 4 fingers to pull from the inside edge as shown in the picture. My jazz guitar fingernails came in handy here, I was happily able to pull the things off while barely touching the panel. Some clips needed more force than others, but none felt like they were close to breaking.
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The OSD buttons are connected to the front bezel with 3 small screws.
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Front bezel removed, buttons unscrewed from bezel.

At this point, there was a bit of a fun problem... The panel was actually completely supported by the front bezel. You know, the one I just removed. So now I had a loose display hanging by its data cable... not awesome.
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The back casing is held on by the four mounting screws, so removing those granted access to this:

Yep, the panel and power supply unit are just sitting there.

So what's the go when something moves and we don't want it to?

Gaffer tape. A long strip on each edge was enough to stick it down real good.
I re-routed the cable for the OSD buttons so it runs near the I/O panel, for easy access once everything is back together.
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The back casing has a grey plastic edge running around it which sticks out almost as much as the original front bezel, so I had no choice but to remove this too. Unfortunately the geniuses at Dell decided to forgo the much too mainstream fastening technique of simply using clips, in favour of melting bits of plastic into the holes. A bit of a slap in the face for people like me who like to bastardize every piece of hardware they own, but it was too late to go back now... out came the pocket knife.
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After a fair amount of pulling, twisting, and swearing, the damned thing was off:

And with only one or two broken clips (oh yeah, there were clips too) for all three monitors.

Happily, I put the back casing back on, routing the OSD buttons through the hole for the I/O section:

Note that the back casing must be put back on if you wish to use the stand supplied with the monitor, however it isn't essential if you are using a VESA mount.
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And I'm done! Despite a couple of hiccups, it's a fairly smooth process and the result is very worthwhile:

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Obviously there is still a bezel, but it's a lot less distracting. (The blue lights under each monitor are the OSD buttons, which are just hanging there at the moment. I'll probably mount them properly one day...)

Original bezel: 18mm
Debezelled: 12mm

So that's 1/3rd narrower, and a half inch narrower gap between monitors. On another point, the silver bezel seems to be a lot less distracting than the black; blending in to the picture better, level with the panel rather than sticking out, no glossy metallic 'Dell' logo... Of course the silver inner bezel can be removed and sprayed black if desired. Overall I'm very happy with the result, naturally a smaller inner bezel would have been nice, but 12mm is very respectable.
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I hope you guys found this post helpful, hopefully it's enough to encourage a few more of us to take the plunge. Feel free to post questions, and report in if you're doing this yourself

 

If you stagger the monitors somewhat so that the middle monitor sits forward about a poopteenth you can over lap the bezels - so only one bezel instead of 2.

 

how much usable LCD is under the silver bezel ?? Is it possible with a steady hand to cut out the silver between monitors so it butts LCD to LCD

 

I have tried that, but I just can't deal with them not being straight and in line... however probably a good solution for most sane people haha

Unfortunately the silver bezel covers electronics and part of the backlight; it is possible to remove the metal but that would only remove <1mm bezel width and would cause the backlight to shine through. Not worth it in my books

 

Looks good!

I've recently just bought myself 3x U2412m monitors and have been thinking about doing this also

 

Im planning on doing this with my 23" ultrasharps, however not taking the silver plastic side bit off, just running the monitor without the back plastic.

Up until you broke that melted plastic bit off and taped up the back, would there be any indication it had been taken apart? So if your careful enough warranty shoudnt be an issue?

 

Thanks
Go for it! There's very little room for error and the result is a huge improvement. Good luck and post some pics if you end up taking the plunge.

Yep, until I got the knife out and had to cut off the damned plastic things this procedure is very easy to reverse. Your warranty should be fine if you don't cut those bits.
However, from what I've read only the 24" model has the melted plastic (lucky me) so you might be fine removing it with the 23"
Good luck, let us know how it goes

 

Also, Just wondering... do the four screw holes where the vesa mounts are actually attach to the panel?

Don't really like the idea of the whole thing just hanging from gaffer tape later on when I get a proper triple monitor stand. (Although I'd probably still go for it anyway lol)

Only had the eyfinity set up for a week or so and still trying to decide if I'm gunna keep it before I take the plunge and pull the monitors to bits

 

Hey, just did the first one of my 23" tonight, doing the other two tomorrow

It is screwed down not melted like yours, so it is nice and simple.

@ self slaughter, the screw holes only go into the loose powersupply/input box, it is only held to the panel itself via tape. When the bezels are in place, those are what hold the monitor together, so it is not ideal, but use enough of the right tape to do the job

 

Hmmm, I think you may be mistaken, OSD stands for On Screen Display, not quite the right use here.

 

looks good... i myself would hack the front bezels up and frame the outside of the monitors now.. make it look like a picture frame.

 

Awesome mate! Makes me wanna change my setup to multi-monitor (again)

 

Im not seeing a problem here... as they are the buttons used to control the OSD.

 

Nice work.

Great shot of Victoria Harbour too
Yours?

 

Sweet! Post a pic of the final result if you can, I'm curious to see the difference between the 24" and 23" (23" supposedly has much less bezel on the inside)

I have considered something along those lines... Steampunk eyefinity setup, anyone? http://steampunkworkshop.com/images/xM18.jpg.pagespeed.ic.V19zTNqvry.jpg

Sadly no, Hong Kong is up there on my post-uni checklist though...

 

Yeah, it looks much smaller than the ones in your pics.

mine are 10mm for each screen.

 

Thanks, this looks really nice. Would love to do this with my 2 24" screens at work, but don't think they would take a liking to that .

The lining up/having a monitor forward slightly drives me nuts. I get my screens (which are not even the same model so don't line up very well..) just how I like em and them someone moves them like a cleaner or a random bumps them, aghh! I will then be annoyed at the screens all day trying to get it aligned just right. --> Rear vision mirror anyone?

Do you have a higher res pic of the final result?

Also that background is sweet, got a link?

 

Wallpaper: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/5389474121_f5184b7e4c_o.jpg
Full-size pic (still not great quality sorry, point-shoot camera): http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6573/p1040225.jpg

Cheers! Pity about the whole 'work' dealio... There is a special place reserved in hell for those who bump monitors (both video and audio monitors)...