HP L2335 to Dell U3011. Will I regret?

saiyan

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I have been looking for a 30 inch LCD monitor that is suitable for gaming, has plenty of inputs and picture-in-picture function. After a little research, Dell U3011 looks like the best choice. (U3011 appears to be the only 30 inch monitor that has PIP function).

However, I'm afraid U3011 may not live up to my expectation because my current monitor HP L2335 has served me so well. L2335 has excellent screen color for watching HD movies, scale non-native resolution very well and has no input lag for gaming. Two reasons I want to get a new monitor is because L2335 does not have HDCP (so no standalone BluRay player) and I simply would like to get a bigger monitor.

Are there U3011 owners here who also have used HP L2335 before?
How does U3011 compare to HP L2335 in terms of screen color, resolution scaling and input lag?

Thanks.
 
haven't had the monitor you speak of (hp), but the dell 3011 uses picture-by-picture, not pip (as with the gateway 30")

so far, so good w/the dell though
 
haven't had the monitor you speak of (hp), but the dell 3011 uses picture-by-picture, not pip (as with the gateway 30")

PBP only instead of PIP?
Face palm to myself. It looks like my research of U3011 was a fail.

PBP is of no use to me. I don't have a TV in my room so I have been using HP L2335 as my TV connecting to a Dish Network VIP722 DVR using both HDMI-to-DVI and components cable.. When I need to do some work on my PC and watch TV at the same time, I would simply enable a PIP window in the lower right hand corner and view the component video. Of course, when I need to watch full screen TV, I just switch incoming DVI signal from PC to my DVR (using a Monoprice two port HDMI switch box).

It looks like I will not be getting a Dell U3011.

Do you or anyone know which 30 inch LCDs monitors on the market has PIP function?

Thanks.
 
PBP only instead of PIP?
Face palm to myself. It looks like my research of U3011 was a fail.

PBP is of no use to me. I don't have a TV in my room so I have been using HP L2335 as my TV connecting to a Dish Network VIP722 DVR using both HDMI-to-DVI and components cable.. When I need to do some work on my PC and watch TV at the same time, I would simply enable a PIP window in the lower right hand corner and view the component video. Of course, when I need to watch full screen TV, I just switch incoming DVI signal from PC to my DVR (using a Monoprice two port HDMI switch box).

It looks like I will not be getting a Dell U3011.

Do you or anyone know which 30 inch LCDs monitors on the market has PIP function?

Thanks.

...i do not, sadly.

the gateway 30" did this, but build quality is not long-term. seems to be the only 'drawback' from the dell. pip does not seem to be a feature of most larger screen monitors (that consumers are willing to pay for in large numbers)...(i personally love the feature)

if all else fails, and you have the desk space, consider a smaller side monitor with hdmi/whatever inputs to be used as a second monitor and when needed, television

all the solutions i tried otherwise were not very elegant or practical

good luck
 
Why not just get a TV? Do you have to have higher than a 1080p resolution?

There are really nice low lag LED LCD TV's on the market w/ gaming modes for PC use, and a quality panel is a quality panel.

An added benefit is that when hooking up other devices like your TV signal to it, you can use the picture enhancement features which can improve smoothness over the native format thanks to advanced interpolation and other digital trickery.

A 32" would probably serve you well at average PC viewing distances, and you can get a nice wallmount for cheap at monoprice and have a really clean looking setup.
 
Why not just keep the HP??? TV on that if you need it, dual monitor when you don't.
 
Why not just keep the HP??? TV on that if you need it, dual monitor when you don't.
I would get TV if there is space in my room to put one. Unfortunately my bedroom is a bit small (about 10ft by 10ft or even smaller) and also due to the location of the two windows, the door and one big closet, there is only one side of wall where I have enough space put a TV but that is where I currently have my PC and workstation. There is simply no space for a TV which is why I wanted to upgrade my monitor to a 30in unit. As for dual monitor setup, I would prefer not to do that because I would need a bigger desk.

Thanks for all your suggestions but I guess I will continue to wait until a better 30 inch monitor is available.
 
While PiP is awesome it's also pretty limiting and can be quite annoying and cumbersome if some settings or window are behind the second source etc.

Therefor I feel that a capture device is soo much better, where you have a regular window of your second source that you can easily move around and change the size and turn to fullscreen just as any other application. Some PiP applications can do all this but thats usually with some very cumbersome UI and the fact that it's not part of the computer desktop can be quite annoying.

So I'd buy something like the Hauppauge HD-PVR (I haven't looked if it suits your needs well or if there are other better solutions but it's one solution at least)
http://www.bjorn3d.com/articles/Hauppauge_HD-PVR/1881.html

The drawback with a capture device is usually that it adds some lag which makes them less suitable (or not suitable at all) for gaming, but for TV theres no problem (a bit slow on changing the channel but other than that it doesn't matter if it all gets delayed a bit). Don't know the lag of the HD PVR but I assume there is some.
 
PiP on my HP L2335 works pretty well for me.

Yes, PiP window blocks part of my desktop but it's a very small space.
Also I can adjust its location using the monitor's OSD control.
Turning PiP window on and off requires just one press of the PiP button. (No need to even go into OSD control).

IMO, HP L2335 is probably one of the greatest LCD monitors ever created in terms of display quality and features. Too bad it is only a 23 inch display and has no HDCP.

It would be nice if HP makes a new 30inch monitor with all the features of L2335 (plus HDCP of course) and comparable quality of other 30 inch monitors. Their current 30 inch monitor does not even have OSD control.
 
I would get TV if there is space in my room to put one. Unfortunately my bedroom is a bit small (about 10ft by 10ft or even smaller) and also due to the location of the two windows, the door and one big closet, there is only one side of wall where I have enough space put a TV but that is where I currently have my PC and workstation. There is simply no space for a TV which is why I wanted to upgrade my monitor to a 30in unit. As for dual monitor setup, I would prefer not to do that because I would need a bigger desk.

Thanks for all your suggestions but I guess I will continue to wait until a better 30 inch monitor is available.

Could you not wall mount a TV? or get a wall mount/arm for two monitors? Frees up desk space.
 
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