27" monitors - is 1080 (vs 1440) ok for a non-gamer?

[amheck]

my 24" monitor just died and I was considering stepping it up a notch to a 27" monitor. I've been reading and see a lot of people say to go for the 2560 rez 27" monitors, and while that would be nice, they are significantly more money. I don't game much at all, if any.

Will one of the 1080 27" monitors be ok for surfing, Office, etc?

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[Stuka87]

What do you use your machine for?

I find the extra screen real-estate to be VERY nice for working.

 

[amheck]

Really just surfing and the occasional Word and Excel. I might play a game on Steam a couple times a year.

 

[Stuka87]

Then 1080 should be fine provided you sit a few feet back. otherwise text may not be as sharp.

 

[Teizo]

I was just browsing Newegg and found this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009590

I have the 23" version and love it. The screen is glossy..so if you don't like glossy screens it is a no go, but that is a really good price I think.

 

[amheck]

and crazy good ratings, too.

 

[bystander36]

If you aren't gaming, the higher resolution may be more appealing. With lots of text, the extra sharpness is more important. That said, I find 1080p 27" to be perfectly fine. Just make sure to setup ClearType. ClearType is a bit like Anti-Aliasing for text at the desktop.

 

[piasabird]

I have one computer at home plugged into a 40 inch Samsung HDTV. Its great for watching stuff on YouTube and videos on the Internet. No Video card at all. Works great for kitty cat videos also. I would not sit too close if playing a game in full screen mode. For stuff like office programs you can make the window smaller for your taste.

So what I like about using a TV is the TV has Sound and all you need is one HDMI Cable. It is kind of a waste that I am using a 2500k processor, but I never wished later that I had purchased an underpowered CPU.

I have another TV upstairs in my dining room hooked up to my XBOX 360. My daughter bought me a game console because she thinks I am just a big kid. Well a 57 year old teenager.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

I game and work on a 27 at 1080. Great for me.

I've considered 1440 but it is a want, not a need.

 

[amheck]

If the price difference was maybe $100, I would jump on 1440, but from what I'm seeing, unless you want to gamble with one of the Monoprice Korean version, they're about double in price.

 

[Irenicus]

If the price difference was maybe $100, I would jump on 1440, but from what I'm seeing, unless you want to gamble with one of the Monoprice Korean version, they're about double in price.

By "gamble" you must mean something along the lines of rolling a hundred sided die and getting higher than a 5.


It's not much of a gamble for a pretty big upside. OP I suggest going with a cheap korean 1440p panel from ebay, around 300 dollars shipped. 1440p is significantly better than 1080p at 27"

 

[Sunrise089]

By "gamble" you must mean something along the lines of rolling a hundred sided die and getting higher than a 5.

But not a 20 sided die and getting higher than a one. That would be crazy!

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Go with a Korean 27" PLS -- Qnix or Xstar.

1440 is a massive increase in resolution, sharpness, and working area over 1080. If anything I'd say it's more important for non-gaming use. Plus you get the color and viewing angle benefits of IPS/PLS tech.

Plus, you're taking just as big a gamble buying a mainstream 27" monitor. I tried and returned 9 of them (Dell, Asus, Viewsonic) for dead pixels and backlight bleed before giving up and buying an Xstar from Dreamseller. The Xstar was the best of the lot quality-wise and cost half as much.

 

[Aithos]

I would not recommend a 1080p 27" monitor, you don't get any more pixels (no more usable screen space) and at the normal distance people sit from their monitor you will start to notice pixels more. In other words: things that looked fine on your 24" will start to be pixelated and less sharp on the bigger monitor due to a lower PPI.

If you want to bump up to a 27" monitor and you don't game you have a couple options:

1) Get a major name brand 1440p monitor. This will cost a bit more but the quality control is much higher and you won't have to worry about getting a bad monitor. The warranty support is better as well. Dell, Asus, Samsung and all the major brands have solid offerings.

2) Get an Import (Korean) or Monoprice 1440p IPS/PLS monitor. These are a lot less expensive but you take the chance on getting one with some backlight bleed or some dead pixels. The risk is pretty low, but it is there and you should be aware of it. In the case of the QNIX/XSTAR monitors you should also consider a SquareTrade warranty because shipping it to Korea will cost you nearly as much as the monitor was to get it repaired. The only time you get free shipping is if it's DOA and you have to return it immediately.

In either case, I strongly recommend you jump to 1440p if you want a 27". Otherwise for 24" or smaller 1080p is fine.

 

[FalseChristian]

My bud has a 27" Samsung LED back-lit monitor at 1920x1080 and his games look real nice compared to my 1680x1050 screen. For 2560x1440 you'll need serious GPU horsepower. Nothing less than 2 3GB Radeon HD 7950 XFire or 2 4GB GTX 760 SLI. Can you afford this. Of course if you're not going to play a 1st-person shooter than 1 GPU will be enough.

 

[gamerboy]

I have a home theater with a 100 inch screen, so I'm all about huge screens - even the 100 inch screen is starting to feel small to me for movies.

So I figured that a 27 inch 1080p monitor could not possibly be too big for me.

I was very wrong.

My eyes got fatigued quickly. It got annoying that so much of my field of vision was a bright screen - there was no rest for my eyes by looking slight up or to the right/left as there is with my 24 inch monitor. The whole experience just felt tiring and not natural. Gaming wasn't that much better than on a 24 inch to be honest. The difference was negligible because the 24 inch was immersive enough to begin with.

So I returned it and went back to a 24 inch screen.

I sit two feet away from the monitor btw.

Oh and the pixel sizes didn't bother me at 27 inch. If anything, the larger text was easier to read.

 

[guskline]

I have 2 27" monitors and a 27.5" monitor. I have an Achieva Shimian 27" 2560 x1440p monitor which I now use with rig 1 below. I have an Acer 27" LED 1920 x1080p monitor I have with rig 2 below and I have a Hanns G HZ281 27.5" 1920 x 1200 monitor I use with my third rig, FX8350 with a GTX 680. I game on all three rigs and I also do non gaming functions.

I got lucky in that I have no dead pixels on any of them. The Achieva Shimian's screen is rich in color and resolution. It sure helps gaming to have 2 GTX670 FTWs in SLI. Sometimes their is so much on the screen I have to increase the screen size. In contrast on the 27" Acer and 27.5" Hanns G items appear to be very large. Obviously with 1920 x 1080 and 1920 x1200 resolution the depth of color is not as great but they are fine screens. If I was limited to one screen it would be the Achieva 27" 2560 x1440. Just make sure you have a decent video card to power it at native resolution.

 

[amheck]

As long as the GPU handles duallink DVI, I should be ok right if I don't game? I was looking at the 5450's and they appear to support the resolution and have been more than adequate for my gaming in the past. Maybe not at 1440p though.

I'm really not sure what to do. A $150 24" montior does sound attractive and it seems like a pretty big jump to get to those next few inches to the 27"

gamerboy - I have had similar thoughts, always wondering if bigger is better. The 24" is a nice size screen, I just kept thinking, well, if I can get something a little bigger for just a little more money.....