Tech Stuff - buying a new monitor.

[OZ]

I'm about to change my pc monitors. I have a old trusty Samsung SyncMaster 2232bw+ who's now is having some issues with self sleep recognition. Anytime a image with lots of dark colors gets in, it goes into sleep mode. I've checked with the repair center and due its age, its cheaper to replace it than getting it sorted.

I also have a AOC T2464M, which i loathe both for being a TV monitor and for having less pixel density than my old Samsung, resulting in less image quality.

Since i'm donating the AOC to my mom's clinic, i'll have to replace both. and this were the problem starts.


Right now, due price range and availability in this tech god forsaken land known as brazil, I've come around 2 options from LG, and i'm having a bit of issue deciding btw them.

First would be getting a pair of 21 to 22 inch monitors. The model i saw with my price range would be one these:
http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-22EA53T-P-led-monitor or http://www.aoc-europe.com/no_cache/e...ml?showUid=262

Second would be getting a single 25 inch ultrawide monitor. This model:
http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-25U...rawide-monitor

price constrains and my desk size constrains applies here, so don't really bother offering another options as I've checked most of them already and they either sit off my price range or size range. So, what would be the best, a pair of a single one?

[Cosmo°]

Choosing between one and two screens should be based on your usage and depending on the video card performance versus effective resolution ratio for 3D. For example, two screens would be fine for coding or other development work, but it might not be cool for gaming or media consumption.

I couldn't find reviews of the smaller screens on trustworthy sites like prad and tftcentral, though based on manufacturer specs I would tend towards the LG unit. The link for the bigger screen is incomplete, assuming it's the 25UM65-P model, that's a good choice.

[The Dark Shadow]

Just to expand and maybe offer a different view compared to what Cosmo said, I would say go for the pair, more screens in my experience are more useful than a single big one (even more if the bigger single has less res than the multiple monitors).

You can use the second monitor for coding, to have ref photos open while modeling, to have a chat/browser/video open while gaming and many other things.

You also have two monitors, if one breaks you still have another.

If you needed something for intense photo/image editing than a single big screen would be better but only if it was above 1080p and 16:9 at the widest.

Also looking at the physical dimensions you can see that the LG 22in is actually taller than the 25in which means that two 22in side by side would be both bigger and also have a higher res. (3840x1080 vs 2560x1080)

Unless you plan on gaming on both monitors it would also require a bit less umph to run your games and it would also be a more easily supported res, although that should be less of a concern as time goes on.

The only reason I'd go for the 25in is if you really wanted it for ultrawide gaming and for watching movies without the letter box, the two monitors would be the same but annoying as you'd have the bezel right in the middle of your view (unless you use one in the middle and one to the side rather than having them centered but still it wouldn't be the same as one wide monitor), for productivity I'd choose the two monitors though.

[OZ]

I ended up getting the pair, went to the supermarket yesterday and the monitor was marked down nearly 150brl from the competitors, just took me a while to get it running since i discovered the second dvi port on my video card is busted, had to find a hdmi to dvi cable to use.

and yeah, most what i do is modelling and a bit of gaming, i'm used to using 2 screens already, just need to update my video card later to force some games to run on dualscreen mode

[C1Rob]

Dont know alot about monitors, i was looking at a new one aswell as my girlfriend would like to use her old monitor and my old LG has been failing on me for awhile now.

I just orderd a Acer H276HL for 180 euros which i think is a pretty nice deal for a full hd 27" ips monitor...

Dont know what your price range is?

[The Dark Shadow]

Looks like OZ already got the monitors about a week and a half ago.

[OZ]

^

Got the Lg ones. good stuff, but slow on response time (14ms) but old farts like me can't see a difference

[The Dark Shadow]

14 seems pretty high, but oh well at least they are not cheapo TN panels, how are the viewing angles?

I couldn't go back to a non IPS to be honest, mine is fairly slow too compared to the "gaming" monitors at 8ms but I don't really care about being super 1337.

It's a shame thought that it's a weird (as far as physical dimensions go) format (27" 2560x1440) so getting extra monitors to use as vertical side monitors is a pain, the 30" 2560x1600 got it much easier on that regard.

I think I'll just stick whatever I find and be done with it.

Another annoying thing (sometimes) is the puny text in some programs UI, you get used to that though.

[OZ]

ugh, got some data mixed up with the older one i had, they are 5ms ones, ips display, the viewing angle is good, far better than the AOC tv i had before.

I realized that i better strap them onto some wall mount, since the base that comes with them can't line them up properly, one sits higher than the other (perhaps a difference in fitment from the factory)

my only problem now is getting a 3rd one, which i don't have space for unless i change the table here, and a new graphics card, since the second DVI port is busted already, and the performance of the card is enough to run games on dual screen, but not on triple screen...

[C1Rob]

Oops wasnt looking correctly before i posted 

Anyways, good to hear you got what you were after and they were priced down aswell.