Best place to shop for monitors?

[Dusty Chalk]

I'm looking into getting a 2560 x 1600 30" monitor or so -- what's the best place to look up these guys? I know how to google, but someone posted a couple of good sites to look up laptops, I was wondering if there was an equivalent site for desktop components -- Tom's Hardware? I mean, I know to look at things like contrast ratio and response time, but things like color temperature are so subjective, it'd be really nice to find a place where people have more experience with these things, because most of the local shops don't have much in the way of selection.

[grawk]

I'd check with photography sites like fredmiranda.net. Honestly tho, I'd get 2 24" monitors instead of a 30 . Any card that supports a 30" will support 2 24"s

[Fungi]

AnandTech - The LCD Thread

[postjack]

32 4" Hebrew hot dogs.

[n_maher]

How many choices do you really even have? Maybe 5 or so including the Apple Cinema Display? And holy hell, I hope someone else is paying for it or you've got a damn good reason to want a ~$1500 computer monitor.

[postjack]

How many choices do you really even have? Maybe 5 or so including the Apple Cinema Display? And holy hell, I hope someone else is paying for it or you've got a damn good reason to want a ~$1500 computer monitor.

Yeah, you better be like, way into World of Warcraft. Like way into it.

[JBLoudG20]

32 4" Hebrew hot dogs.

Win

[Dusty Chalk]

How many choices do you really even have? Maybe 5 or so including the Apple Cinema Display? And holy hell, I hope someone else is paying for it or you've got a damn good reason to want a ~$1500 computer monitor.

Nope, going to pay for it myself. I just want the real estate. You do know what I do for a living, right? (I'm a programmer.) And you're right, there are about 5 different brands -- Apple, Dell, Samsung, HP, LG, Doublesight, NEC, and Eizo, looks like. (I'm sure some of those are rebranded from the others, but that's the sort of information I'm looking for.)

I'd check with photography sites like fredmiranda.net. Honestly tho, I'd get 2 24" monitors instead of a 30 . Any card that supports a 30" will support 2 24"s

(wanders off to do the math to see if this really is an option) -- I appreciate the suggestion, I will look into it seriously.

But now I want a hot dog. And we do have a hot dog vendor on the corner.

(wanders off to have a hot dog)

Edited August 26, 2008 by Dusty Chalk

[Hopstretch]

I believe there is some empirical evidence indicating that 2*24" > 1*30".

Researchers at the University of Utah tested how quickly people performed tasks like editing a document and copying numbers between spreadsheets while using different computer configurations: one with an 18-inch monitor, one with a 24-inch monitor and with two 20-inch monitors. Their finding: People using the 24-inch screen completed the tasks 52% faster than people who used the 18-inch monitor; people who used the two 20-inch monitors were 44% faster than those with the 18-inch ones. There is an upper limit, however: Productivity dropped off again when people used a 26-inch screen. (The order of the tasks and the order of computer configurations were assigned randomly.)

[Fungi]

30" is indeed huge; you have to look everywhere. I think 24" is the sweet spot for human vision. I'm at 22" and I don't feel the need to upgrade until I think 1080i/p on PC is worth upgrading for.

[Dusty Chalk]

I believe there is some empirical evidence indicating that 2*24" > 1*30".

Well, it's not just straight inches, it's also pixels. In fact, it's more pixels than inches -- the only reason I'd be getting the 30" monitor is because they're 2560x1600. So the question is, is 2500x1600 > 2*(1920x1080 or 1920x1200)? I presume that's the resolution y'all are recommending, right?

Obviously, I haven't done the math yet, so here goes:

2500x1600 == 4 million

1920x1080 == 2+ million

So yeah, it appears to be better.

Glad I asked.

Still wouldn't mind knowing the best place to shop for 24" monitors. Behardware, tom's hardware, anandtech, fredmiranda.net and other photography sites -- any others?

Edited August 26, 2008 by Dusty Chalk

[tkam]

Just get two of the 24" dell's.

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, except the max vertical resolution is 1200 on anything less than 30", whereas the max vertical resolution on the high-pixel 30" one is 1600.

Yes, I realize that's not much, so it's not a deal-killer, just a point of contention.

Porbably won't get the ultra-high-pixel one, at this point.

[Knuckledragger]

I find the Apple 30" difficult to use. It's so big that I regularly lose icons. There are brief moments when I lose the pointer. I much prefer two smaller monitors to one huge one. It's handy to be able to break up different tasks between to spaces that are permanently separated. Two monitors really changed how I edited photos (no big shock) but also other tasks like editing ID3 tags (discogs on one display, foobar on the other). I've used dual 20" (4:3) for a while now. I'm not sure how I'd like two 16:9 monitors, but if I did, 2x24" sounds very good.

$1500 is not terrible for a 30" monitor. Price out a couple Eizo panels for comparison. 30"s are good for professional video and audio editing. I think they're a bit much for home use, unless yr a well-heeled New Yorker in a tiny apt who wants one display for computing and home theater.

[ingwe]

get a couple samsungs; i have several (literally) and they're fine for what you want. i got mine at fry's with rebates.

get three; then in a couple months when they release burnout paradise for the pc:

[grawk]

dusty, just get the costco specials for 24" monitors

[Fungi]

Be sure to get Ergotron Neo-Flex stands. Those things are the coolest.

[Jeepster]

Dream Machine '08 - Page 4 | Maximum PC

Looks like MaximumPC choose the Gateway for the 08 Dream Machine.

[Knuckledragger]

This is my friend Greg's work setup.

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah! [will-smith-in-Bad-Boys-II]Now that's what I'm talking about.[/will-smith-in-Bad-Boys-II]

I much prefer two smaller monitors to one huge one. It's handy to be able to break up different tasks between to spaces that are permanently separated.

I suspect this will be the case with me as well.

dusty, just get the costco specials for 24" monitors

Pfff.

PS I've gone back and forth on the home cinema thing, and that will be a separate system, probably even a separate computer. And will probably be a 50" Samsung plasma.

The thing about vertical resolution is text -- Greg's setup is actually the sort of thing I'm going for eventually, but I tend to have the terminal windows and the IDE eidtor window(s) usually much bigger -- when I'm doing rapid prototype type work, I tend to get somewhat sloppy, and not everything is compartmentalized in separate files, so I like being able to increase the vertical row-count of a particular window to max screen size and hop back and forth between two or more areas with just eye movement. And I can't just rotate the screen 90 degrees, because the font-rendering is optimized for LCD layouts, where the anti-aliasing takes advantage of the way it is this way.

But yeah, I've decided that 1200 isn't really that much worse than 1600, so I'm definitely going incremental. Also, it lets me buy them piecemeal, rather than all at once.

[n_maher]

This is my friend Greg's work setup.

Sitting at that desk how could you ever view anything meaningful on the top row of monitors without severe neck pain?

[aardvark baguette]

I almost bought one of these this morning, but went with music instead.

link "thankyou10" for coupon ($50 off)

This is NOT a TN panel, BTW

[Dusty Chalk]

Sitting at that desk how could you ever view anything meaningful on the top row of monitors without severe neck pain?

That's what that little lever on my chair is for.

That'll take care of the neck pain, but not the eye strain. Yeah, I don't think I'd have that top row for anything but webcams (I'm thinking of getting one for my kitty, so I can watch her while I'm at work).

Edited August 29, 2008 by Dusty Chalk

[ingwe]

Be sure to get Ergotron Neo-Flex stands. Those things are the coolest.

Seriously, QFT

I have three at home and one at work:

[Dusty Chalk]

Okay

(makes a mental note of it)