Monitor recommendations-work and play

[itakey]

I work on the computer many hours a day and just ordered a new computer so I want to upgrade my monitor/monitors. Right now I have dual 19" dell monitors that were higher end in their day running at 1280x1024.

I saw a 27.5" monitor on sale that runs 1900x1200 and was thinking that may allow me to run just 1 monitor instead of 2 but I don't want everything to be too small on the screen. Here is one that is on sale with that resolution
27.5" Hanns-G HZ281HPB 1920x1200 Widescreen LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...bles-_-na-_-na

Should I go one giant monitor, or get something like a 23" or 24", and then still use one of my 19" monitors?

For work I do a little bit of print/graphics work, web work, and a whole lot of reading on screen.

Help! And if there are any monitors you recommend share the model.

 

[LtGoonRush]

On a 27.5" monitor at 1920x1200 everything is going to look really big and zoomed in and I think that would be distracting. Larger monitors also suffer from color shifts at the top, bottom, and sides, as they are at a different angle from you than the center of the screen. I would look at monitors between 23-24" and with 1920x1080 resolution, that gives you access to the <$200 market. Avoid cheap brands like Hanns.G, they have poor reliability. Acer and Asus monitors are not too expensive so cheaping out on an unreliable model just isn't worth it. Make sure any monitor you consider has an LED backlight, they improve color, contrast, and reduce power usage. If you do work where you care about having good color you probably want to look at a monitor with something other than the regular TN-type panel, as these have a lot of color shift around the edges of the display. There's an Asus ML249H MVA-panel monitor for $200-$20 MIR=$180, or an ML239H IPS-panel monitor for $189.99-$20 MIR=$169.99, though it's currently out of stock. If you care about color it would probably be worth buying a color calibrator device, as the worst monitors when calibrated have equivalent color quality to the best uncalibrated monitors.

If your Dell monitors are new enough to support a DVI connection, you might want to keep using at least one of them. If you have a modern AMD videocard (5000-series or better) you can do triple-monitor Eyefinity with the aid of a $20-30 Active DisplayPort->Single-Link DVI adapter. A 1080p panel with two 1024p panels on either side would be a pretty sweet setup. I run a Acer 24" 1920x1200 panel I bought back when those existed with two Dell 2001FP at 1600x1200, one on either side.

 

[cantholdanymore]

Make sure any monitor you consider has an LED backlight, they improve color,

Not true:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=asus%20proart
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824002542

Usually color critical monitors don't use LED. LED help with form factor and power consumption.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

If you use your monitors for work I bet you would appreciate the full 1920 x 1200 resolution. 1080p monitors just end up feeling too cramped. Coming from your smaller monitors you may not really know the difference and could get along with a 1080p monitor just fine. But being able to look at a full-page Word doc at 100&#37; and see the whole thing vertically is nice. You can do that on a 1200p monitor, but not a 1080p monitor.

I would *not* recommend getting a 27" 19x12 monitor. The pixel pitch will be large enough to make everything look grainy. I have used dual 24" monitors for a few years now (software engineer, gamer too) and 19x12 at 24" is the perfect size.

If you have been satisfied with your Dell monitors then I would look at Dell for your replacements. I build all my own computers, but pretty much exclusively buy Dell monitors. The main reason, though, is that I've become a bit of a monitor snob. I too sit in front of a computer the majority of my waking hours and I have sworn off cheap TN panels. Dell is one of the few manufacturers that has non-TN monitors for a decent price.

The current sweetheart is the Dell U2412M. It is a 24" 19x12 IPS panel with standard gamut and LED backlight for around $300. If you want a high-quality monitor but don't need wide gamut then the U2412M is the baseline that you should shop against, if not just outright go for. Do a search on the forums here for U2412M and you'll get all the specific info on that monitor that you need.

 

[bryanW1995]

I love my 2209wa, which is a 22" with 1680x1050. The pixel pitch on a 27.5" monitor at 1920x1200 is extremely close to mine, and I can say that I love it. I also have two 21.6 " 1920x1080 monitors (one at the office and one on my backup rig upstairs). I MUCH prefer the larger pixel pitch in the 2209wa.

I strongly agree that dell montors are great, however, and the U2412M is awesome if you can stand that slightly higher pixel pitch. Any IPS is >>>> TN panels, and I'm not aware of any 27.5" IPS panels ATM.

 

[Will Robinson]

The Dell Ultrasharp 2410 is a beauty,I'm very happy with mine both for gaming and for work stuff.
If you have the money...grab one.:thumbsup:

 

[Borealis7]

Samsung has the S23 series, i think the A700D is what you're looking for (model: S23A700D, a similar model was reviewed on Anandtech). see if that fits your needs.

 

[itakey]

Thanks for the great feedback guys.

Right now I'm running 1280X1024 and the screen text size is what i'm used too, so which would run at about the same text sizing? I don't want to go too small and then have work harder to see the small text. My monitors now may be the dell ultrasharp 1905fp if I remember right.

I work from 2 locations, so my plan is to buy 1 new monitor for each location, and then use the 19"'s I have as secondary. So i'll basically have a 24" if I go that size, and then a 19" at each location.

The Dell Ultrasharp 2410 looks like a sweet monitor but I don't think I can swing the $550+ price tag, but I could spend the $300+ on the Dell U2412M. Is the U2412M worthy? I do print work but not a lot of it, but I do like my monitor to be as accurate as possible.

The recommended Samsung S23A700D seems more like a gamer monitor for people interested in 3D, but I don't game at all so I'm most interested in 2D. I also don't use the monitor to hook directly up to a DVD player or gaming console.

Anything else you guys can add will be great!

 

[Ferzerp]

U3011...... 2560x1600 goodness.

 

[LtGoonRush]

Not true:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=asus%20proart
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824002542

Usually color critical monitors don't use LED. LED help with form factor and power consumption.

I'm aware that monitors for graphics professionals don't use LED backlighting, but that's more of an artifact of those monitors being technologically conservative. On consumer monitors LED backlighting DOES offer better color compared to models with fluorescent backlighting.

 

[itakey]

Anyone else care to share their recommendations or the monitor they love?

 

[*kjm]

Anyone else care to share their recommendations or the monitor they love?

I have the HP ZR24w and think it's great. I use the Dell U2410 at work and like it but went with the HP at home because to me the coating on the screen looks less grainy.... I got it from Cost Central.

http://www.costcentral.com/proddetail/HP_ZR24w/VM633A4ABA/11110138/froogle/

Both are great monitors and anytime people ask about 24" IPS screens they are both mentioned and liked by thier owners.

Oh and I still use my old 20 lcd on the left side of my 24"... never enough real estate

 

[cantholdanymore]

Right now I'm running 1280X1024 and the screen text size is what i'm used too, so which would run at about the same text sizing?

I use two monitor setup at work: 1280x800 (14.1 inch laptop) and 1920x1200 (24inch HP) and font size its about the same in both.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

I had the U2410 at a previous job and the U2412M at the job after that. The U2410 is a wide gamut monitor, so if you need color accuracy in Photoshop or another color aware application, then you would do well to go with a wide gamut monitor.

The U2412M is the little brother. It is standard gamut with LED backlight (the U2410 is CCFL), as well as a few less connections (you still get VGA, DVI, DP). As I mentioned, I am a software engineer, and the U2412M is nearly the perfect monitor for me. Crisp text, great contrast and colors, LED backlight (green, plus low heat). Yes, it's a very worthy monitor.

EDIT: If your existing 19" monitors are in fact the 1905FP then your pixel pitch is 0.294. The pixel pitch of almost all 24" monitors is 0.27. The 2209WA mentioned above is 0.282. Smaller pixel pitch does translate into smaller text and stuff. I used to use 19" monitors with larger pixel pitch as well, and have had zero problems with the 0.27 pixel pitch on all the 24" monitors I've used. It is, of course, a very personal thing and the only way you're going to know for sure is to find a monitor with the same pixel pitch and sit in front of it and see if you like it.

 

[pitz]

Yeah I love my U2410. Picked up a second one today for $167.50.

Resolutions on high end monitors are set to rise considerably in the next year or two -- so I wouldn't advise sinking a ton of money into the existing stuff unless you can find a steal of a deal like I did...

 

[itakey]

I'm still considering all monitors mentioned, or just getting another 1905FP dual monitor setup for my other location.

Pitz, where did you get a U2410 for $167.50!!!???

 

[birthdaymonkey]

I'm a U2412M owner and have no complaints.

 

[Concillian]

You can't go wrong with most of the 24" IPS panel monitors b(Dell U24xx, HPzr24w, etc...) they're all decent in the midrange. Each have slightly different trade-offs, but to someone who doesn't study the differences like it was a mid-term, you probably wouldn't be able to even tell.

I have a U2412M, but have seen the HP 24" and if they were in the same bezel and such, I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference unless they were side by side.