Dell UltraSharp vs something cheaper (non-gaming)

[amheck]

Hi group,

I'm in the market for a pair of 24" monitors for my office setup. Here, I have my work PC and my main desktop, where I mostly do MS Office, web browsing, etc. Very, very light gaming and no movie watching.

I've always heard such great things about the Dell Ultasharp LCD's. I was looking around Amazon and came across the Asus VS247H-P, which is the #1 seller, for something like $140 after rebate. I think this means I can roughly get 2 of the Asus for the price of 1 Dell.

With no gaming and no movie watching, is there any reason to be looking at the Dells?

Thanks!

 

[gradoman]

I think you're looking at it in the wrong way, the Ultrasharp series is typically used for design work.

 

[postmortemIA]

ASUS makes some nice monitors, but that one is budget one with TN panel. Only thing comparable to ultrasharp series it has is size.

 

[KingFatty]

True, the Asus could be #1 because of an appeal to a certain market, but not because it has the best features for your particular needs.

 

[biostud]

If you just want some cheap office monitors you can use TN-panel based monitors. If you want monitors with vibrant colors and better viewing angels get an IPS or VA based monitor.

 

[amheck]

Thanks for the thoughts. So I should look for something with an ips panel? I don't think I care about viewing angles, as i sit in front of both monitors on my desk, but I do want crisp fronts and vibrant colors. I guess maybe I thought the ultrasharp models were for gaming.

 

[Cerb]

If you go for an Ultrasharp, and have a Visa, you can get 10% off the U2414H (DELLMNT), and then more from Visa Checkout (VISACHEKOUT), ordering from Newegg and using Visa Checkout, making a single unit around $235. At that price, I'd get it over the P2414H (unless you find it for <$200), which uses the same panel, and is otherwise similar, but for USB 3.0 and HDMI on the Ultrasharp, for the most part (the P has VGA+DVI+DP, the U had HDMI+DP).

The P2414H and U2414H are both flicker free, with a light AG coating, use the same panel, and come from the factory pretty close to sRGB.

An 8-bit IPS panel, matte, but without a really heavy coating, will give better colors than a glossy TN, and no visible color shift. Constant current back-lighting assures that hue will change with brightness and contrast adjustments, but can reduce fatigue, if you get any from common LED backlit monitors.