(or Wizard)... For those of us who are still holding on to a desktop pc at home, the search for a monitor can be challenging. There are sooooo many out there now. A good large monitor will make the entire experience of working from home significantly better! Some of us also have home docking stations for laptops, this needs a good external monitor. A few things to consider when looking for a monitor: size, connections, resolution. Gamers and tech savvy readers, this is probably too generic for you, I am sure you have your own favorites on latency, color reproductions, size etc. I wrote this for the "others" who need to replace or upgrade a home PC monitor.
99.9% new monitors are already LED backlight, don't really have to "look" out for this. The power consumption is definitely an advantage when using LEDs. I find the sweetspot for a monitor when comparing size to cost, 23"-24" is the best currently. The cost to size ratio keeps getting better as time goes on. About 2 years ago, 21" was the best size to buy. 27" and 30" are the next two steps and the cost probably doubles as you move up to these sizes. The most prevalent 27" is the current Apple iMac and their cinema displays.
27" is not common in windows desktop PCs, since the price of these monitors are in the upwards of $700 right now. A decent 24" is $250, an awesome 24" is about $400.
Settled! 24" it is. (or 27" if you have the cash lying around), what about resolution? The most common spec is 1920x1080. This is pretty much the resolution of every 23-24" monitor out there. HOWEVER, there is a class of monitor using IPS screen (in-plane switching) = really sharp pictures. These monitors have a resolution of 1920x1200. Ok, so you may think 1080 to 1200 is only 120 extra lines, not a big deal. It is a big deal, you get to see more rows on an excel sheet, documents are easier to read, as you get more are at the bottom of the screen. I am a big proponent of dell Ultrasharp series of monitors (and NO I don't work for Dell). I've had the 20.1" and the 24" Ultrasharps from Dell and am really happy with them. Dell considers these their "premium" line so inherently the quality and service is better. The same higher res. applies to 27" as well. The Dell Ultrasharp 27" is probably the closest to Apple's 27" iMac. iMac obviously has the computeer itself built-in to it, Dell is just the monitor. You should consider the all-in one PCs if you want windows 8 and touch screen. I am a little more old school for that!
What connections to look for? HDMI or DVI is a must. They are the same, but have different connectors. If you have a HDMI out from your laptop or desktop, then look for one with HDMI (if you really like one with just DVI, you can get a cheap adapter from HDMI to DVI). All monitors have regular VGA, which is typically the blue cable. HDMI is black, DVI is white. See below, far left is DVI, then HDMI, then VGA. IF you have these 3, pretty much covered for most PCs and laptops.
There is one other connector to consider, displayport. This is very similar to Thunderbolt that Apple uses. If you want to use a mac or macbook with your monitor, then you need to double check the connections and compatibility. Thunderbolt connection is the best for Apple products, only available on newer Apple products (I think they are backward compatible with displayport), but in order to get thunderbolt capable monitors, you need to buy an Apple monitor = $$$. I am not the expert on Apple products, so do check some online reviews before getting a monitor for Apple products. The older mac's and mac mini's support displayport (and HDMI if I am not mistaken).
Soooooo, what do I recommend?
If you want a mainstream monitor, then 24" Ultrasharp (or anything with 1920x1200) for 99% of PC or windows based machines. Mac lovers, the 2013 Ultrasharp has Displayport built-in so this could be a great option.
If you have the money, then get the 27" Ultrasharp. If you laptop or PC is more than 2 years old, check to make sure it can handle the resolution. Sometimes, older video cards can't handle these resolutions (critical for 27").
If you are an Apple fan, then forget the wires and get the 27" iMac!
If you are wondering if you should get a touch capable monitor for windows 8? I haven't looked into this, I feel that it's probably best to get mult-touch screens in an all-in one PC.
If you are wondering what a monitor lizard is....
Till next time folks,
Kannan
99.9% new monitors are already LED backlight, don't really have to "look" out for this. The power consumption is definitely an advantage when using LEDs. I find the sweetspot for a monitor when comparing size to cost, 23"-24" is the best currently. The cost to size ratio keeps getting better as time goes on. About 2 years ago, 21" was the best size to buy. 27" and 30" are the next two steps and the cost probably doubles as you move up to these sizes. The most prevalent 27" is the current Apple iMac and their cinema displays.
Settled! 24" it is. (or 27" if you have the cash lying around), what about resolution? The most common spec is 1920x1080. This is pretty much the resolution of every 23-24" monitor out there. HOWEVER, there is a class of monitor using IPS screen (in-plane switching) = really sharp pictures. These monitors have a resolution of 1920x1200. Ok, so you may think 1080 to 1200 is only 120 extra lines, not a big deal. It is a big deal, you get to see more rows on an excel sheet, documents are easier to read, as you get more are at the bottom of the screen. I am a big proponent of dell Ultrasharp series of monitors (and NO I don't work for Dell). I've had the 20.1" and the 24" Ultrasharps from Dell and am really happy with them. Dell considers these their "premium" line so inherently the quality and service is better. The same higher res. applies to 27" as well. The Dell Ultrasharp 27" is probably the closest to Apple's 27" iMac. iMac obviously has the computeer itself built-in to it, Dell is just the monitor. You should consider the all-in one PCs if you want windows 8 and touch screen. I am a little more old school for that!
There is one other connector to consider, displayport. This is very similar to Thunderbolt that Apple uses. If you want to use a mac or macbook with your monitor, then you need to double check the connections and compatibility. Thunderbolt connection is the best for Apple products, only available on newer Apple products (I think they are backward compatible with displayport), but in order to get thunderbolt capable monitors, you need to buy an Apple monitor = $$$. I am not the expert on Apple products, so do check some online reviews before getting a monitor for Apple products. The older mac's and mac mini's support displayport (and HDMI if I am not mistaken).
Soooooo, what do I recommend?
If you want a mainstream monitor, then 24" Ultrasharp (or anything with 1920x1200) for 99% of PC or windows based machines. Mac lovers, the 2013 Ultrasharp has Displayport built-in so this could be a great option.
If you have the money, then get the 27" Ultrasharp. If you laptop or PC is more than 2 years old, check to make sure it can handle the resolution. Sometimes, older video cards can't handle these resolutions (critical for 27").
If you are an Apple fan, then forget the wires and get the 27" iMac!
If you are wondering if you should get a touch capable monitor for windows 8? I haven't looked into this, I feel that it's probably best to get mult-touch screens in an all-in one PC.
If you are wondering what a monitor lizard is....
Till next time folks,
Kannan
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