joined 2 hours ago. spammer.
Yeah I flagged him too. The nerve! Not in this hood, spammer!
And here I was, coming into this thread hoping to gain some new insight into purchasing a new PC monitor. <cue sadface>
Could I get some recommendations for a second monitor? My current one, which used to be my primary monitor and is something like 10 years old by now, has started whining at a piercing frequency when it powers on. It dies down after a while, maybe 10-15 minutes, but it’s about enough to push me over the edge and get a replacement. Since I probably won’t be gaming on it, I’m thinking some kind of relatively low-refresh IPS without anything fancy like G-sync, but good image quality and view angles.
Alternatively I could just make the new monitor my primary monitor and go 4K G-sync IPS, but I figure there’s about £600 cost difference between those two options, for not much benefit given I already have a G-sync primary.
Don’t have a specific Rec, but your logic makes perfect sense to me. I’m sure Dell or somebody has a great work monitor for 2-300 bucks.
I would like some help about how to pick a low budget monitor.
I intend to plug my MacBook on it for my work, as with my new setup, I am about 3 feet away from the screen and the tiny laptop screen doesn’t cut it anymore.
I am not concerned with size and resolution (I am guessing a 19’ with 1600x1200 resolution would be alright - if they still even exist!), but I’d love something that displays stuff properly in a very sunny environnment, for a price bellow 200 bucks if possible. I am absolutely clueless, as I haven’t bought any such piece of hardware since my Sony SFII in the 90s, so thank you for any help!
Well there are a million monitors, but in a sunny evironment the keywords I’d look for are Matte and Brightness (nits). Try to find a monitor of over 400 nits of brightness, but if you can’t find one no reason to wait for Godot until you do. Matte because glossy finishes on monitors cause reflections in sunny settings. (You may have noticed MacBook Airs are sometimes better outdoors to read than other Mac laptops).
Also be sure to check cables and ports. Apple loves stripping out legacy ports and you’ll almost certainly need some kind of adapters to hook your MacBook up with a cheap-ish monitor.
El-cheapo but el-goodo matte monitor.
https://smile.amazon.com/Asus-VC239H-Widescreen-Backlight-Monitor/dp/B0186NJGSO
Thank you so very much for the help!
I am hesitating between that VC239H and a VS247H (which is slightly cheaper here, they are both around 200$).
I have a question about the way to connect: I have a 2014 MacBook Pro with an HDMI output, is it enough for the output, or should I invest into some fancy adapter?
The latter isn’t IPS and has much thicker bezels. While my TN Dell G-sync monitor looks great, I wouldn’t necessarily expect super-cheap TN panels to follow its lead. Much safer with IPS at this price point.
Your laptop probably has a mini-HDMI port, so you’ll need a mini-HDMI to full-sized HDMI adapter or cable. Otherwise sure it’ll work fine.
Thank you very much for all the explanations.
Ordered it!
Just got my VC239H, and it is great! Exactly what I was looking for: the screen is perfectly readable even in the middle of the day, with four window bays lighting it on. Thank you again!
Great!
Hey guys, looking for advice.
I’m thinking of getting a nice g-sync display to use as my main, and last years Dell Ultrasharp 27" (1440p) to use as my secondary (and gifting my current secondary, a Dell Ultrasharp 24" 1200p, to my daughter or son, I’ll break a pool cue in half and let them sort out who gets it).
The question is, what monitor to go with, and will it really be better than the ultrasharp I’m using already? The picture/color/contrast on my Ultrasharp is fantastic, that’s why I bought it last year.
So I am torn between going with a 27" 1440p from ASUS or Acer (either one seems like a good way to go, my preference will probably end up being the Acer as it sounds like it is the most reliable in terms of build quality) or going with a 34" Ultrawide from those same vendors.
I like the idea of an ultrawide, as it would actually feel like an upgrade, as opposed to getting a monitor that’s the same size as the one I already adore but with gysnc. Well, every monitor I’m looking at has g-sync. But given all my games run at 60fps and I have v-sync on, how is that different than running at … 60-90 fps but with gsync? I guess I’m asking someone to sell me completely on gsync, because on paper I don’t get it. My games don’t tear, look fantastic, and run buttery smooth as is.
But ultrawide would be a real, measurable upgrade for sure. However, I have concerns there - what about when a game doesn’t support it? Does it play stretched and terrible looking? I assume I could play in a window, but not all games (even modern games) have a window option and I don’t want to have to fart around with user mods (which won’t even exist day one, when I play a lot of my games) to make things “mostly work”. Does anyone with ultrawide displays have some advice or insight? Also, it seems from the dimensions that the ultrawide displays are “shorter” than the 27" displays, including my Ultrawide, and I worry that will bug me having a shorter/more squat display next to the 27" behemoth I am used to playing games on.
If I went with the safe play, like a 27" Predator, I’m still concerned it’s not enough of an upgrade to make it worthwhile just for the g-sync (and would the color and picture be as great on the Predator as my U2715H?, so I look back at Ultrawide and grow concerned about what I don’t know there, too. So I’m sort of gripped by analysis paralysis and could use some advice or feedback.
Maybe I should just get a second U2715H, which would be awesome and “safe”?
Depends on the game. WSGF will be your friend - http://www.wsgf.org/
Most modern stuff will render in 21:9 as a video option, but may not actually provide you an improved FOV. Mostly this may just depend on what games you like playing. FPS or older titles are a bit annoying, particularly competitive if a developer takes stand that 21:9 is an unfair advantage (Blizzard, I am looking at you). Then how it renders can come down to game settings or monitor settings. Overwatch renders 16:9 nicely with black side borders, other games may require putting the monitor into a different viewing mode, or adjusting desktop monitor profiles to achieve the same, or running the game borderless windowed. Some titles, like PUBG, just don’t like doing 16:9 on 21:9 at all that I have found on my X34. Other game types - modern RTS, RPG, ARPG I have for the most part just found to work nicely. On the whole it is not as much as a pain in the ass as I am making it sound. Support is improving all the time, so if you are mostly playing modern titles, you’ll be fine, aside from the odd developer not wanting to support it for ‘reasons’.
You will need a 34/35" 21:9 to match the typical vertical dimensions of a 27" 16:9 display.
As to G-Sync, well it’s good, it does what it says on the box. I am a little susceptible to tearing and would rarely run with vSync on, with only an aging GTX970 to drive things. G-sync will also avoid the input lag issues that vsync can introduce. G-Sync works on the desktop, so even general usage and video content looks great all the time.
21:9 is awesome, awesome for productivity as well, particularly at 3440x1440. Two web pages/documents comfortably side by side is a dream. I’d love a 40" 4K, but I still think we are couple of years away from general g-sync/high refresh monitors of that size. Plus I don’t have card to drive it without faffing with custom resolutions, hence the UW purchase for the next few years.
Can’t really comment on picture quality compared to the Ultrasharp. I don’t have monitors of that caliber to compare against, but I find the X34 pleasing enough and they seem to review well enough. I don’t have any design/graphic work considerations, though, so YMMV.
FYI - X34 with flanking LG and Philips27" 1080p monitors:
https://forum-cdn.quartertothree.com/uploads/default/original/2X/3/3c29218d0071afef2e8aa8fca47937002f54d7b6.jpg
I love my predator because of the above. Sounds like you are fine as is.
I had a Dell 27 Ultrasharp (1440p) and made the change to a Asus Swift PG348Q over a year ago. I am extremely happy and would do it again in a second (my Dell was old and the screen coating was starting to yellow). The extra width is fantastic for games, the color is great and runs smoothly on my 1080. The negatives for me is the slight bleed in the corners, a common issue but once the game gets going I don’t notice it. For some strategy games when there are icons in the top corners you need to move your head a bit to see them.
Yeah, I also have the ASUS 34", and love it. Most recent-ish games use the extra space seamlessly, or at least will pillarbox a 2560x1440 view. Once in a while there’s one that doesn’t play nice, but they’re definitely the exception.
Besides that, it’s just the ideal size and shape as far as I’m concerned. It fills my field of vision, and has the room to comfortably work on two things side by side.
The biggest issue with ultrawide is the number of games that put the hud in the corners :)
Big fan of mine.
Once you’ve tried 90Hz and above, you’ll no longer settle with butter. Try silk - it’s like the jump from 30-60 all over again. Go high refresh! :)