Hellooo! Right, so I've been doing my research, and finding out about the latest monitors, their prices, their specs, etc. And I've read the "Everything About Monitors" Sticky on the forum. And you know what?.... I'm more confused than when I began. To be honest, it's now clear that the specifications of the monitor aren't what matter at all, and that two monitors identical in every specification could look completely different. So, I turn to the gurus at the bit-tech forums. I'm thinking of getting a better dual monitor set-up. I'm looking to buy 22" monitors, but if something is slightly less or slightly more I don't mind too much. I'll be connecting via DVI (dual link I think) and will be connecting my xbox to at least one of the monitors, so an hdmi port would also be a great thing to have I'm probably looking for something with (ideally) 1080p resolution (or higher) Price is a fairly major factor... I can only really stretch to £150 for each monitor. (so £300 total) however less would be much better (£100 each)! Oh, and last thing (although I don't know if this'll matter too much) I use my computer for a bit of everything. I do lots of desktop publishing, web browsing, watching of movies, video and picture editing, and playing plenty of games. So the monitor pretty much needs to be a "great all-round-er" Thank you in advance for any suggestions Matt
LG 23" IPS is your best bet! Your GPU should be fine running the desktop with two 1080p monitors but I very much doubt that it will handle gaming on one and the desktop on the other. Sadly I think you have to buy the shiny new version as the better model has been discontinued. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/23-lg-ips235v-ips-led-monitor-full-hd-dvi-vga-1920x1080-250cd-m-50000001-8ms
Ah... I should have mentioned this before: I'm updating my whole setup. I mean, I'm getting a brand spanking new PC, brand new monitors, speakers, keyboard, mouse, etc. Computer will probably have a GTX 580 in it (Although, this is to be decided & confirmed nearer the time) so it'll easily be able to handle both monitors... I'd hope That monitor actually does look really nice! I think I'm pretty much just going to have to get it unless something else rears it's head. Will the 8ms response time matter for gaming?
I have good news! the much loved, IPS231s are actually in stock. Both the 231 and 235 have the same panel, but the 231 has a far superior stand. Linky
That dell doesn't have hdmi does it. I just bought 2 benQ h2220 monitors and I thought they looked fantastic for £80 each. The next model up has hdmi but the dell ips monitors do have better panels.
Although I can see that the two (IPS231 and IPS235) have different stands, would I sound quite stupid if I asked why one is better than the other? Good to know I won't need to worry about response times It honestly looks like exactly the right monitor for me, so will put it on my shopping list. (I'm not overly fussed regarding stands, as long as it stays upright)
No one is 'better'. IPS231 has a better stand and a non-glossy bezel, but the IPS235 has HDMI with a glossy bezel and poorer stand. AFAIK, they both have the exact same panel inside them, so its purely down to whichever you prefer (no-HDMI w/ better stand vs HDMI w/ poorer stand). And FWIW, I prefer inputs over stand, as I place my monitors on wooden stands anyway (and don't currently plan to have one in portrait mode), so I would probably get the IPS235 which has HDMI.
I know the LG IPS231 has gained quite a following here because it's a good monitor, which is rather cheap. Personally I'd get a Dell U2312HM, though, as it's faster (and the build quality might be better, too). Response time for the U2312HM is 16.5ms (avg.) while it's 28.6 ms (avg.) for the IPS231. Latency (or input lag) is 9.3 ms for the U2312HM, while it's 15.3 ms for the IPS231. Now I know, that this might not matter to everybody, but it's worth being put on the table. BTW, the quoted times are from the rather exhaustive reviews of both monitors over at PRAD.de.
I agree that the Dell is the better monitor but you will not notice the response time difference when it is that small.
