After 11 years of service, I'm looking to get an upgrade for my old monitor. Would be used for browsing, gaming and the odd bit of photo editing. Plan is to spend about £300 - at this money, it looks like a 24" 16:10 panel would be the best bet. But which one? So far, I've seen the HP ZR2440w, the NEC EA244WMi and the ASUS PB248Q . All manage to scrape in under £300, all have glowing reviews. The NEC has low power consumption, the Asus has low lag. Leaning towards the Asus at the moment, but could be swayed... Any others I should be considering?
http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Acer_V2..._LCD_Monitor_UM.HV6EE.013/version.asp?PID=575 Just picked up an Acer 27 inch monitor for £160 delivered and it is the nads. VA tech, so somewhere in between IPS and TN.
As I have mentioned before, I have the Dell U2412m and couldn't be happier with it, gaming, photos, everything is excellent. It's also a lot cheaper than £300 and the warranty is second to none. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/24-d...vga-1920x1200-300cd-m2-10001-8ms-4xusb-hub-ro The newer 2413 is under £300 too. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-U241...mputerComponents_Monitors&hash=item2eca6eb530 Or for £350 you can get a 27" Dell U2713hm http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-27-i...mputerComponents_Monitors&hash=item2eca582435 A lot of people on these boards seem to rate this seller too.
If you're not looking for 120hz, then I'd be very tempted to look at DELL's offerings. Good quality products, with very good warranty service (from what I know, I've never had to claim) Either the 24" or 27" models, depending exactly how much you want to spend.
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/27-dell-s...i-dvi-d-usb-edge-to-edge-glass-screen-monitor Great Monitor for under £300
Refurb or no, that Dell is a steal! You'll notice the listing has ended, that's because it's now mine Wide gamut and hardware calibration, here I come! Let's hope NRG:IT are as good as their reputation suggests (looking good so far, they dispatched it within an hour of purchase...) Thanks to all for your suggestions!
I'm not entirely sold on wide gamut tbh. You can get some of the AOC/Viewsonic 27" 1080P IPS panels for rather cheap if you don't mind the lack resolution...
It's something that came up during my research - sRGB images won't look right if colours are stretched to fit the wider gamut. This becomes a problem when looking at websites with untagged images, etc. Seems like it's possible to fiddle with program (e.g. web browser) settings to default to sRGB colours. Plus you can always re-cal the monitor to sRGB if it's a problem; the U2413 supports both sets of colour spaces.
I have the PB248Q. It's a really nice monitor. The panel is IIRC the same as the Dell U2412 but IMO the build of the casing etc is nicer. It really feels solid, looks sleek, nice functionality (USB 3 hub, 1:1 pixel mapping, etc). For £300 you could probably get a 1440p screen. They are awesome in a lot of ways, but for gaming they require way more power for not that much improvement in quality.
SRGB emulation has always been a weak point in wide gamut screens. Recently it hasn't been that bad, but SRGB native is still better to use than Wide Gamut. Also if you're gaming, you'll want SRGB unless you have a programmable LUT.
Let them know you were recommended through Bit-Tech. All the rep the site gets helps. Who knows if we send enough people their way we may start being offered discounts!!!
If you send them a message saying you're a bit-tech member they offer a discount already Paying by Bank Transfer also helps them
Why do you tell me this after I bought the monitor? Anyway, it's arrived! Had to upload a photo to show the difference. On the left, the old and busted 17" from 2002. On the right, new hotness U2413