Monitor Question +27/28" Choice

[DPOverLord]

Hey guys,

I am building a new system and now need to select a monitor. The system thus far is:

CPU&Mobo: i7-930/Gigabyte X58 or 875K/P55
Ram: Gskill 6gb(triple channel) or 4GB Gskill
GPU: Leaning towards a 1GB Nvidia 460
Powersupply: Seasonic 750Watt

My hiccup right now is the monitor… I was going 3d but decided the investment of $440 which makes me lose so much real estate space vs my current 22” iiyama CRT is not worth it. I want a significant improvement and I am leaning towards the +27/28” realm.

This leaves me with a new budget being adjusted from 0-$300 to $300-$450 for a +27” monitor. The Haans 28” at Newegg seemed really good but if there is a monitor with better technology &visuals I will spend more than my $300 allowance. However, I would want a significant improvement over the Haans which I was leaning towards.

What do you think? Is my choice bad or do you have some better ideas?

Thanks a million!

 

[faxon]

i have the hanns G model prior to the one on newegg which uses the same panel and has a better stock stand. quite like it myself, picture quality is as good as my LG w2252TQ i have sitting next to it and the colors actually look a bit more natural and balanced out of box, vs the LG which is a bit more yellow heavy. the newer hanns G stand isnt as good, but it has VESA mounting capability which mine doesnt, and the connectivity options in back were improved upon as well over the original 1 HDMI + 1 VGA if you get the model that costs $30 more. im probably gonna get a second one of these and a VESA mount at some point unless something better comes out soon.

ed: my hanns g model is HG281D if you wanna look it up, it came out at $700 originally back in like 07 i think, i got it when it was $340 last summer on newegg, so the newer ones are a pretty good deal all in all

 

[kalrith]

All the 27-28" monitors are TN panels, so that's something to consider. Another option would be a 26-32" 1080p TV, which would use a PVA or IPS panel. I use this TV as my computer monitor and paid $380 shipped for it about 6 months ago. It uses an IPS panel, and I've been nothing but pleased with it. I went from a 24" 1920x1200 monitor to this, and the difference is huge (literally). You can compare different screen sizes at www.tvcalculator.com

Edit: There are some 27" monitors that use non-TN panels, but they're more like $700+.

 

[smackababy]

i have the hanns G model prior to the one on newegg which uses the same panel and has a better stock stand. quite like it myself, picture quality is as good as my LG w2252TQ i have sitting next to it and the colors actually look a bit more natural and balanced out of box, vs the LG which is a bit more yellow heavy. the newer hanns G stand isnt as good, but it has VESA mounting capability which mine doesnt, and the connectivity options in back were improved upon as well over the original 1 HDMI + 1 VGA if you get the model that costs $30 more. im probably gonna get a second one of these and a VESA mount at some point unless something better comes out soon.

ed: my hanns g model is HG281D if you wanna look it up, it came out at $700 originally back in like 07 i think, i got it when it was $340 last summer on newegg, so the newer ones are a pretty good deal all in all

I have the same model, and it is pretty good for the price. You get 16:10 (which I can't live without) and a very large size. It isn't winning any picture quality awards, but it is fairly cheap. It is a TN panel, but that doesn't bother me one bit.

Also, it puts out a lot of heat. I turn it off whenever I am not on the PC and when it is back up and running, I can feel it.

 

[DPOverLord]

Yeah for $300 it seems to be a good buy, the only other one I am considering is that tv option but I thought that would not work with our systems.

 

[kalrith]

Why wouldn't a TV work with your systems?

 

[alrocky]

My hanns g model HG281D is dated Aug 2008 and I think I got for around $300 at Costco. Looks like Costco carries the same exact models as those on NewEgg and for a little bit less at $280 shipped.

 

[DPOverLord]

I was at Microcenter and I was trying to boil down my choices in the 300-400 range:
Haans 28" @ $300 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824254043)

HP 2710m 27" @ $350 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...6160&Tpk=2710m)


Then I saw the samsung 28" what do you guys think?

 

[kalrith]

Do you want 1920x1080 resolution or 1920x1200 resolution? Some don't care, and some are very adamant about having one over the other. The former gives a wider FOV for modern games and will work better with TV, movies, and consoles. The latter gives more vertical screen real estate while having larger black bars (or stretching) TV, movies, and consoles.

Have you read reviews about the specific displays you're looking at? I would start there. Also, look to see if one of the monitors has specific features that you want, such as certain ports, built-in speakers, height-adjustable stand, etc.

 

[DPOverLord]

I was thinking of going 1920x1080 just so that I have more real estate, I want height adjustments if possible other than that just the best bang for the buck.

 

[joe1946]

I purchased a refurbished Samsung T260HD 25.5" HDTV/monitor from a large distributor located in Ohio on ebay and it works much better than my 32" Samsung 1080p HDTV as a monitor because it has the same .28mm dot pitch as my 24" Samsung monitor. It also has 1920x1200 mode that looks better than 1920x1080 for games , internet etc. The 27-28" monitors have .30mm or larger dot pitch that don't look good for text. Apple and Dell have the new 27" LED monitors with small dot pitch but they cost $1,000.

 

[DPOverLord]

not sure the 2710m I saw and it looked good... but at the same time that gloss finish

 

[toyota]

I purchased a refurbished Samsung T260HD 25.5" HDTV/monitor from a large distributor located in Ohio on ebay and it works much better than my 32" Samsung 1080p HDTV as a monitor because it has the same .28mm dot pitch as my 24" Samsung monitor. It also has 1920x1200 mode that looks better than 1920x1080 for games , internet etc. The 27-28" monitors have .30mm or larger dot pitch that don't look good for text. Apple and Dell have the new 27" LED monitors with small dot pitch but they cost $1,000.

1920x1200 cant look better for games because its cutting of some off the fov which is worse. that would be like saying 1280x1024 is better for games than 1280x960, 1280x800 or 1280x720. thats not true of course since 16:9 is better than 16:10, 4:3 and 5:4 for gaming.

 

[Wag]

Edit: There are some 27" monitors that use non-TN panels, but they're more like $700+.

I have a Dell u2711 and it's an amazing display. One of the best ones on the market right now. If you wait a bit longer the new Apple 27" display will be out and that one should be about the same price. Of course you'll have to pay more for the better display.

 

[Kyanzes]

If I were you I'd seriously consider a TV with an S-PVA panel.

 

[kalrith]

If I were you I'd seriously consider a TV with an S-PVA or IPS panel.

I agree with your (fixed) statement. I will say that my 32" TV would be too big at a close viewing distance because of its low PPI (pixels per inch). I sit about 3' from it, and it looks great. OTOH, I'd want to sit about 1.5' from a 30" 2560x1600 monitor, because it has double the pixels of 1920x1080.

Basically PVA or IPS > TN. You can't find a 27+" PVA or IPS computer monitor for less than $600-700. You can find a 27+" PVA or IPS 1080p TV for less than $400.

FWIW I upgrade from a Dell 2408wfp (very nice monitor) to my Panasonic 32" 1080p TV and love the Panny so much more that it's not even funny. I would pick the Dell for general office use, but my choice for the Panny was about 80% based on gaming and media usage with which it blows the Dell away.

All my office usage works fine on the Panny too, but I could see where a really nice computer monitor could win out against a TV for general office usage. For me I wanted a gaming monitor that would also do some general usage, and the Panny was the right choice. If I wanted a general-usage monitor that would also do some gaming, then I might choose the Dell.

 

[jackace]

ASUS VE276Q 27" LCD Monitor

This thing seems to be getting good reviews over at Hardforums.

 

[joe1946]

1920x1200 cant look better for games because its cutting of some off the fov which is worse. that would be like saying 1280x1024 is better for games than 1280x960, 1280x800 or 1280x720. thats not true of course since 16:9 is better than 16:10, 4:3 and 5:4 for gaming.

For PC games, those additional 120 lines mean more viewing space for menus/overlays.

 

[toyota]

For PC games, those additional 120 lines mean more viewing space for menus/overlays.

how can that be true? the aspect ratio NOT the resolution determines that. 16:9 simply adds more to the sides so 1920x1200 actually has less fov than 1920x1080.

 

[kalrith]

how can that be true? the aspect ratio NOT the resolution determines that. 16:9 simply adds more to the sides so 1920x1200 actually has less fov than 1920x1080.

This is exactly right. There was a huge thread on this a few months ago (which got locked), but I can't seem to find it. Here's a list of aspect ratios from smallest FOV to largest FOV

5:4 < 4:3 < 16:10 < 16:9

Any modern game will take the widest aspect ratio (16:9) and then decrease the horizontal view while maintain the exact same vertical view. Some older games like Diablo 2 would increase FOV with resolution, but that's not the case with modern games. i.e. 1920x1080, 1600x900, and 1366x768 resolution will all have a great FOV than 1920x1200 in modern games.

 

[DPOverLord]

Ok so if we look back at this now....

I can get an IPS / PVA monitor for $800 at 27" while an HDTV 1080p tv would be 32".

If I am going to play some games do office usage, what makes more sense. If I can get a TV at a larger size and use that I do not see why I should just not do that since it makes more sense. More Real estate for less money as long as it is good. I plan to play some games, watch movies, and do some Financial work when I am on it for my business. I did see this one setup but it did not make much sense considering they are 17" monitors @8ms. I do want to have a good monitor for movies and games and will be easy on my eyes like my iiyama 22"
http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp?switch=23

PVA or IPS > TN. You can't find a 27+" PVA or IPS computer monitor for less than $600-700. You can find a 27+" PVA or IPS 1080p TV for less than $400.

 

[narsnail]

I have a 25.5 inch Samsung T260, 1920x1200 res, and it is a spectacular monitor. I would suggest looking it up, mine was $400 at the time I bought it (cost at Best Buy ), which was over a year ago, may have gone down. The Hanns-G is good too from what I have seen.

 

[kalrith]

First of all, screen real estate refers to the number of pixels rather than the size of the screen. So a 32" 1080p TV has the same amount of screen real estate as a 22" 1920x1080 monitor and less (but no much less) screen real estate than a 24" 1920x1200 monitor.

With some programs (Microsoft Word, Firefox, etc.), I can zoom out and make better use of a 32" 1080p screen than I could with a 22" 1080p screen. However, that's not quite the same as screen real estate.

No one can really answer this question for you. Some people think their TN-panel monitors look amazing, whereas others think TN looks like garbage. I'm somewhere in the middle, but certainly wouldn't spend $300+ on a 25-28" TN panel when I could get a 32" 1080p TV with a PVA or IPS panel for close to the same price.

Others will say they hate the way text looks on a TV, which is true with some TVs. I recommend finding user reviews of people using a specific TV as a computer monitor before buying it, or buy it from somewhere with a good return policy. www.hardforum.com has a displays forum with lots of good info on that.

 

[DPOverLord]

First of all, screen real estate refers to the number of pixels rather than the size of the screen. So a 32" 1080p TV has the same amount of screen real estate as a 22" 1920x1080 monitor and less (but no much less) screen real estate than a 24" 1920x1200 monitor.

With some programs (Microsoft Word, Firefox, etc.), I can zoom out and make better use of a 32" 1080p screen than I could with a 22" 1080p screen. However, that's not quite the same as screen real estate.

No one can really answer this question for you. Some people think their TN-panel monitors look amazing, whereas others think TN looks like garbage. I'm somewhere in the middle, but certainly wouldn't spend $300+ on a 25-28" TN panel when I could get a 32" 1080p TV with a PVA or IPS panel for close to the same price.

Others will say they hate the way text looks on a TV, which is true with some TVs. I recommend finding user reviews of people using a specific TV as a computer monitor before buying it, or buy it from somewhere with a good return policy. www.hardforum.com has a displays forum with lots of good info on that.

Any TV's you know that would do the job?

 

[kalrith]

Any TV's you know that would do the job?

I'm not sure what's currently on the market. I'll look into it a bit later though.