Which monitor for PC is best?

Beenie

I want to upgrade from my Dell 24 inch (10 yr old) monitor and have just spent ages looking at what's available and coming to some conclusions..
A - 34 inch looks attractive but maybe too big. One review said when only looking at one thing - say your bowser - it can seem too big. Also takes up a sizeable footprint on your desk. My desk is 130cm wide so it would take it ok. What do 34 inch users think of just using it for browsing.

B - 27 inch. Is this wide enough for using in split screen with say browser in one window and excel in other ?

C - Reviews seem to suggest IPS screen better than VA. Better viewing angles, better colour accuracy. Gamers OK with VA as only one person and looking for big immersive screen and accuracy of colours not critical. I am not a gamer and think colour accuracy is important when working with photo editing.

D - I want integrated speakers and USB - C in order to keep cable clutter down. Any comments ?

Neil_Jones

A) You can change the zoom in Windows if its too big - the default in Windows will try to be clever and blow it up, which may be too big for your needs.  As for physical size - well get the physical dimensions off the website, measure it up and see it looks.  Can't advise on the physical fitness unfortunately.

B.) Everybody is different, but most people will argue a separate screen is better than trying to split things on one monitor if the space is available.

C) Viewing angle only becomes important if you want to look at it from anything other than straight on.  If you're going to sit in front of it, its irrelevant.  If you want accurate colours you're not going to get it with the cheapest monitor you can find.

D) Integrated speakers in monitors are almost always cheap pieces of junk with limited range and hardly any bass.  Get a separate speaker set, even a cheap and cheerful speaker system won't be great, but will be better than the built in speakers you end up with.

RumRat

I have moved from a 27" Asus monitor to a 32" Samsung M8, (also available as a 27") It's surprising how much smaller a monitor looks a couple of months after you buy it.. I really wouldn't worry about it being too big for viewing.
The large size is great for side by side stuff and all the other multi-tasking layouts Windows now has. The Asus had a 2K IPS screen and the Samsung has a 4K VA panel. Both look really good and as I have the monitor on a desk and view head on, there is no problem with the VA viewing angles and the colours are excellent.
The added bonus of the M8 is it's a complete media centre with all the facilities of a Samsung smart TV. Not what everyone wants/needs, but, it comes in handy in my office, especially if my Wife is hogging the TV... The speakers are better than most monitors, not too big in the bass department, but, not at all tinny. Connections are USB C and HDMI.
It's not exactly 'Money Saving', but, anyone can only give you recommendations from what they have or have used, so sorry, but, you didn't mention a budget...

victor2

I have a 24 inch monitor and was given two more. I wall mounted all three side by side and apart from having a workspace that looked like I could land aircraft  , and a graphics card that could handle them, it was too much. Now I just use two and really get on well with the arrangement. I frequently have a spreadsheet or document open on one screen, with emails and/or a web browser on the other.

facade

Don't waste your money on a 4k monitor if a 1080 is cheaper, you will never be able to read any of the writing on a small 4k monitor unless you use the "scale & layout" feature of windows, which simply reduces the effective resolution back to 1080 or less*, so you might as well stick with 1080 in the first place.

Size wise, 27" is useable, 32" would be better.

*use a tool like speccy to view your desktop resolution for a surprise   If you are supposedly set to 1080 and you have "scale & layout" on 150% the resolution is 720.

RumRat

My 32" is set to 125% which gives a resolution of 3072 x1728 (Speccy) making everything perfectly readable in fact at 100% it's usable, but, I went for comfort . This doesn't affect any of the media functions which run at full 4k.
As you say, on a smaller monitor pc work may be a problem unless set at higher scale reducing the resolution.
The OP may get different answers in the other forum they posted on.  

Beenie

The OP is a question raised by my husband ( he isn't a user on either this or the other website). He's out at present but I will show him your replies. He might come back with further queries. Looks useful info so far!

Chickereeeee

Instead of built in speakers, or even stand-alone speakers, a small sound bar is neater and uses less desk space, as it is mounted under the screen. Many are USB powered, so one less psu and mains plug to worry about.

getmore4less

Check out HUKD for monitor deals, loads with opinions on any offers found.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/tag/monitor

Another option is just get another 24"

I have a main 24" and a second mounted above for extra screen space.