Displays Need a New Monitor for Uni (Also Laptop / Tablet)

Currently I'm using a desktop PC with a 32" TV as my primary display and a secondary 20" monitor.

I don't intend on taking my TV with me to uni since it's rather big and I don't want to pay for a TV licence.
I don't really want to use my 20" monitor (as a primary monitor) since:
- It is too small (after getting used to 32")
- The resolution is too low (1680x1050)
- The quality is very much lacking

As such, I need a new monitor to be used with my:
- Desktop
- Laptop as an external display
- Xbox 360

Requirements:
- 1920x1080+
- 24"+ (larger would be better, but I don't think I can really afford it)
- IPS (or PLS? or PVA? I don't know )
- HDMI input (for my Xbox 360 (unless there is another way))
- Cheap (~£200 maybe?)

I had a look at the Dell U2412M (£215 on Scan), but it doesn't have HDMI input, so I don't know how I would connect my Xbox. There also seems to be a lot of bad reviews around the Dells recently (light bleed and wrong colours etc?)

The Dell S2740L is £199 on NRG:IT and has a HDMI port. However, from my (limited) monitor knowledge, I take it that the quality will be lower than that of the U2412M and a 1920x1080 resolution is a bit low for a 27" screen? Then again, I'm used to using a 32" TV with the same resolution, so I guess anything will be an improvement...

When it comes to brands other than Dell I don't know where to start at all...

Can anyone recommend me something suitable?

Cheers.

 

LG had production issue with the panels that Dell were using. They should be solved by now.
PLS is Samsung version of IPS. In reality, every manufacture have their set of variation of IPS panel: H-IPS, P-IPS, eIPS, E-IPS, S-IPS, and more.

Samsung could have called is Samsung-IPS. But the marketing team decided that it their IPS variation should stand out (despite being 5-10% better at some things and worst by 5-10% at others, much like all the different IPS panels), and called it PLS.

A monitor that should fit your needs would be the ASUS PB248Q.
It's like the Dell U2412HM, but has HDMI as well.
The down side is that you have terrible after sale service for RMA's and such, but it seams fine in the U.K.

 

Someone (Goodbytes) can correct me if I'm wrong but you can get an hdmi to dvi adapter pretty cheaply.

 

Yes, that is correct. You can do that too. Assuming your PC has DisplayPort.

 

Thanks for the response.

The ASUS PB248Q seems to be £90 more than a Dell U2412M. Would be better to just get the Dell and a HDMI to DVI adapter(?)

My PC has DP, but I don't think my laptop will (haven't bought it yet). But if I just move the HDMI cable between my Laptop and Xbox, that shouldn't be a problem(?)

While looking around, I also noticed:
ASUS MX279H
Viewsonic VP2765
Viewsonic VX2770SMH
As with the Dell S2740L, they are 27" and only have a 1920x1080 display, but the extra inches and the styling of the ASUS are rather tempting.

 

You don't have to pay for a TV license if you use it as a monitor :s

 

Sidetracking slightly, what laptop are you thinking of as I am also going to uni next month and am in almost the exact same position. The u2412m is a good monitor though!

 

Surely you have to pay for the license if you have equipment capable of watching live TV?
So if I have a TV and there is an aerial socket in the wall, I would have to pay?
Or as long as I don't bring an aerial cable I won't have to pay?
I didn't really want to risk getting fined

I don't really have a clue yet.

Something along the lines of:
i5 / i7
GT 650M / GT 740M / GTX 660M
8GB RAM
1920x1080
15.6" - 17.3" screen

Haven't really found anything yet though

Don't really want to spend too much on it either, since I don't think I will have much time for gaming (considering I'm gonna be in uni 9-5 and then I'm sure my evenings with be busy with other matters)

 

You only have to pay if you watch live TV, doesn't matter if you have stuff that CAN, only if you DO.

Also why are you getting such a powerful laptop if you're taking your desktop?

 

How do you prove you don't watch live TV? Or, how do they know you are(n't)?

And I wasn't gonna take my desktop (but I still might).

 

TV catchup. You can watch live TV on any computer, but that doesn't mean you will

 

That's a good point.
I would take Desktop for performance, and get Surface Pro 2 when it comes out

Why a Surface Pro 2?
-> Digitize pen allowing you to do math, graphs, diagrams with ease. Windows Vista and up comes with a variety of tools that takes advantage of the digitize pen support, like Math Input (go ahead try it now, it recognizes complex math formula even if I draw them with the mouse.

-> With OneNote (not included.. at least not with the Surface Pro 1), the ultimate note taking software with a good hand writhing recognition which can be enabled or disabled on demand, allows you to to make clear notes that you can search through, do diagrams, graphs, tables in seconds. Your notes are also sync between your computers. So you can view them on your desktop, and write them on your tablet.

As my semester is finished I deleted my notes... but here is from a early backup.



This was done with my laptop, in class, and polished a bit when re-reading my notes and completing them. Basically the way it works, is that it's not like word, where you need to follow a structure. You can click anywhere and write, or draw, and everything is in blocks that you can later move around.
You can also include mic recording if you want. And many many many more things.

-> Because it's a tablet powered by a Core i5, you can install any needed software for school.

Why the Surface Pro 2 and not the 1 which is already available?
The Surface Pro 1 while good, surfers from short battery life due to the CPU being too power hungry. Haswell will/should fix that. Also, Surface Pro 2 is just around the corner, so why buy the current one?

Like all Microsoft software, there is a student discount on it as well.
If your school department is registered to MSDNAA/DreamSpark, you have Windows, Visual Studio, and a pretty much all Microsoft software ready to be downloaded for free, including OneNote, sadly not Office (I guess Microsoft needs to make money somehow.. unless they include it with the Surface Pro 2 )

 

But if I were to - hypothetically speaking of course - use TVCatchup, would they know?

 

That does sound like a good idea...

Since I'm gonna be doing Electronic & Electrical Engineering, the Digitize Pen and Math Input sounds like it will be really useful.

Would any gaming be possible on a Surface Pro (2)? Just in case the occasion arises that I want to play something away from my desktop.

Any idea on a release date for the Surface Pro 2?

 

I am like you I want the Surface Pro.. well 2. Battery was too short in the 1 for me. If it included a keyboard with a battery that would be a different story.. maybe in v2.

While no information is given. It is expected that Microsoft releases it with Windows 8.1 or shortly after, but definitely before the holiday season. So in October or November, about 1 year after the first Surface line came out. I just hope that we will see a simultaneous release, unlike the Surface Pro 1, where the U.K too forever to get it. But I am sure you can live with pen and paper for 1 semester.

The Surface Pro uses Intel integrated graphic HD 4000, so it's very weak, but the best from Intel at the time (haswell is faster, I'll get to that). You can't expect a smooth 60fps gaming experience with this graphic card, I am afraid. 30fps on minimum settings, and low resolution, is what you are looking at.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 at medium settings at 1366x768 will be running at around 30fps. So you can probably get 40-50fps at low settings. And that's an old game.
(performance mentioned is not from the Surface Pro, but other laptops using the GPU, based here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4000-Benchmarked.73567.0.html)

If we check reviews of the Surface Pro

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2028...-torture-test-the-tablets-gaming-prowess.html

Basically, you can play old console games under emulator fine, or many indie games. But for more intensive games, you are looking at 30-40fps, and a few games in the 20fps.
You can't overclock anything on the system, if you wonder, and the Intel GPU really cannot be overclocked in any way.

Check reviews to really know you games, and how they perform.

Haswell, has the promises to be more powerful. In fact it is, but it's more of the same story with newer games. So the older ones will run better, indie games should run better, but for new games.. 20-30fps.

While the Surface Pro has a 1080p display, you definitely not going to game at that resolution. Will it be a problem? Well this is interesting. I don't know. But the monitor does have a high DPI as it's 1080p on 10inch... sooo does mean it will not half bad, and playable just fine? That would be interesting to see.

I would definitely keep it as Indie game and emulator system on the go. And for the big games, play on your PC. My laptop has a Quadro NVS 160M 256MB, it's like a GeForce 9300M but with 256MB of dedicated memory instead of shared. Back in the day (5 years ago) it was not bad. It is kinda like the Intel HD 4000 of today in most games. So games the Intel one is a bit faster, others it's the reverse.

What I can say, is that I rarely ended up playing on my laptop. Not because of power, it's just not the same experience. Laptop mouses aren't great, the display is small, despite 14inch.

And what I learned form observation from friends:
-> 15inch laptop are not laptops. They are too big, heavy and bulky. 14inch is like MAX I would go.

-> GPUs on laptop get outdated REALLY fast. They are much slower than the desktop version. I guess you can push it, if you aim getting high end laptop GPUs, and play fine for 2 or so years. But you are looking at heavier and bulkier, and larger laptops, which will be a pain to carry

-> 5h of battery life is my minimum I would go. Remember that battery life drops over time. So a 3h laptop battery life, will quickly become 1h and half, and 30min after 2 years. Especially a as student where you'll take your system EVERY day.

-> My laptop has 9h (with Vista), 10h (with Win7), and almost 11h (with Win8) at absolute best. I changed my battery twice, not the battery is broken, just that it doesn't give me enough battery life anymore. At least for me, 5h is not enough. The worst that happen is 2 classes of 3 hours in a row, and the classes don't have power plugs everywhere. I could be like others and carry power adapters, but it's annoying.

-> Gaming laptops power adapter is HUGE and heavy.

 

Oh, for info. When I was looking for a laptop for school. I actually wanted a convertible tablet (as tablet didn't exists back then). The ones with a good digitize screen, were 3000$, and you had an ultra low voltage Core 2 Duo, slowest model, really slow HDD of special size, where you can't even assume to put an SSD later on, shorter battery life, and Intel integrated graphic solution which had trouble handling Aero in Vista (even Win7 when it came out).

So I went with a 2000$ system (which I negotiated price down to ~1800$ after taxes). Must be noted that the system I bought and the tablet is a very solid system, magnesium alloy body, backlight keyboard, LED backlight screen (this was new back then), slim and small power supply, and 3 year warranty with 3 year next business on site service. I had the Quadro and the tablet has a good digitize screen where you didn't have to fight with (those were new back then). So the price was justified.

 

As far as I'm aware they won't/don't know. Obviously anyone can watch live TV on iplayer, so it's difficult.
I think I remember at one point it being legal to watch live TV on iplayer on a laptop that wasn't plugged in due to some technicality, no idea if it was actually true/is still true.

I personally wouldn't have found a tablet useful for lectures, there are these amazing things called pens and pencils, when used with paper which can create notes without you spending hundreds of pounds, crazy right? (I've just finished my third year of Electronic and Computer Systems Engineering)

 

But paper notes:
-Are more likely to get lost / damaged
-Take up more physical space
-Are harder to organise / sort through / find
-Are harder to make backups of
-Are harder to transport

 

-Don't look as cool
-Are sooo 2009
-Can't magically offer you 3D gaming by pressing them twice during a particularly boring lecture

 

That being said, a tablet / laptop doesn't make a very good aeroplane.