Monitor Help (Dell Ultrasharp?)

[OrangeWolf]

Hey again people, hope you're all well since I was bugging you last

I got a card for Christmas saying that it was good for the purchase of one monitor of my choice, once I figured out which one I wanted, and I've been going over and over the possible options since then. I want to buy soon though, so here I am for a few last minute opinions.

I will use the monitor for extensive work in Microsoft Office (often having 2 Word Documents and 4-5 PDFs open at once) as well as gaming, a few movies, and web surfing. I do not do "hard core" gaming however, so from what I read in reviews the U2311h at least should perform well enough (I read one review saying it came in between a 5ms TN and a 2ms TN in response time, and I have gamed on a 5ms TN before with no issues).

Originally I had wanted >1080p resolution because the screen space is fantastic for working with a lot of documents at once, but I've sort of given up on that idea due to low availability and high costs. Next time, perhaps.

Then this forum educated me on the difference in IPS, VA, and TN panels. A distinction I had barely known existed beforehand.

So now I'm really leaning towards picking up this U2211h from eBay for $200 brand new. There is a huge, HUGE thread on the U2311h on this forum that I have skimmed through. At some point I think I recall someone saying that the U2211h wasn't as good of quality as its bigger brother for some reason, but as far as I can tell it's the same thing in a smaller package.

Can anyone offer insight on whether or not the U2211h one can keep up with the larger U2311h?

Also some folks say that that large of a resolution in a monitor that small will be hard on the eyes because of small text, or something, but is there a reason that people don't just make the text bigger? In most browsers I've used Control (or Command) + will scale it up.

And, well, I've never seen an IPS panel. No stores in town carry a single one. I don't care much about the viewing angles that seem to be great in IPS. Can you really, with the naked eye, tell a difference between IPS and TN for normal activities? I will trust the forums judgement on that.

I really don't want to ask for this "gift" to be more than $250, and really I'd prefer to keep it around $200 if only because it's hard for me to get it into my head that a screen is worth more than that (give me a few years and some more money and I'll probably upgrade to a $500 screen and use this one as a secondary, though, honestly).

I've been focused on Dell's (mainly the U2311h, U2211h, and 2209WA) because I like the non-shiny bezel and amazing swivel options. I can get a refurbished U2311h from the Dell Outlet (they've been on and off constantly for the last few days) for $200.

I am honestly not sure if a 23" is "too big" for me, given that in order to see a screen even with my glasses on I have to lean fairly close to it instead of sitting back, even if the letters are large. So I might be too close in to see the whole thing without turning my head slightly? Damned if I know -- but those large monitors are pretty, and 21.5" diagonally doesn't seem that much smaller -- or does it?

So, I know that was probably too much writing. I'm sorry for writing a "book" to read, but I just am not good at being succinct and like to try looking at every side of a purchase. It comes from being overly careful with money and buying things with the intention of using them for the rest of the eternity, and therefore wanting to get it right.

Any comments or suggestions?

I can wait a bit before purchasing if there is a reason or something amazing on the horizon, but I'd rather not put it off more than a few weeks max. I could also push the price point up a bit, but am trying not to spend more than I need to.

Thanks

P. S. I promise I try to look up and figure all this stuff out as well as I can before posting and asking all these questions! This does seem to be hands-down the place on the internet for hardware discussion and advice though.

 

[bbf]

From what I can tell, the actual LCD panel for the 2311 is not really any better than the 2211, however, the backlight is quite a bit more bright. However, for your use the extra brightness probably won't be needed since you'd probably turn down the brightness for document viewing.

Actually IMHO, if you do mostly document work, and can swing a $300ish budget, I'd get two 24" TN monitors instead. At the office I have two TN monitors side by side + my laptop for programming/documentation, and they're fine for that purpose. I don't miss the extra viewing angle nor color accuracy since it's not important for what I use the monitors at work for (I don't see color shift during normal usage, but can if I view the screen at abnormally oblique angles.) Having the extra real estate of two screens really helps especially since you're like me, a multiple document window person.

Ideally, if you can swing $400ish bucks go for two U2211's in portrait mode for a good mix between "budget" and optimal "quality". I went for 3x portrait setup of U2211's at home using the "buy back" check from my LG L246WP... It's nice reading webpages without having to scroll.

I am honestly not sure if a 23" is "too big" for me, given that in order to see a screen even with my glasses on I have to lean fairly close to it instead of sitting back, even if the letters are large. So I might be too close in to see the whole thing without turning my head slightly? Damned if I know -- but those large monitors are pretty, and 21.5" diagonally doesn't seem that much smaller -- or does it?

Actually if you have issues with having to lean in to view things on screen, you need a monitor with a LARGER dot pitch, so that means a LARGER 1920x1080 monitor would be better. The 2211 displays the same amount of pixels as the 2311 in a smaller area, so a font of the same "point" size in Word will look smaller on the smaller screen and increase eye strain. I don't really have this issue (I'm used to staring at a 15.4" 1920x1200 laptop screen) so the "smaller" dot pitch of the U2211 is not an issue considering the dot pitch of 15.4" 1920x1200 screens is much smaller.



Remember, work first, gaming later. ;-)

BTW I'm not much of a fan of 16:9 1920x1080 monitors, I liked the 1920x1200 ones much better for working with two documents side by side, but these days the 16:10's cost a mint compared to the 16:9 ones.

 

[OrangeWolf]

Haha, thanks BBF!

To summarize my monitor usage...

I'd say 35% document viewing, 30% gaming, 25% web surfing, 10% Movies/TV. I think 40% of that (Games and TV) might benefit from the "pretty" factor? I think that might be worth it, especially as those are the fun things. If it's something I'll notice anyway.

As for my laptop -- I have 1680x1050 on my T61p 15.4" and it's great (or was when the screen worked) but it was about the same distance away from my face as the monitor would be. I'm not sure bigger will help that much, as it's distance as well (I can never read menu's at restaurant when they're up on the wall -- huge or not it's so far away it's fuzzy), but then I haven't been able to try to find out -- you could be quite right.

I don't have room on my current desk for two monitors -- maybe in a few years!

The brightness thing you mention does worry me slightly -- I'll google that and see if I can figure it out. For document viewing I'd have it turned down but I don't want to be frustrated trying to play SC2 for a break and wishing it would get brighter. I did use a friend's new LG E2360 which had the same brightness and it was alright -- but I don't know if that is b/c it was LED or if I'm comparing apples and oranges.

I probably need to quit worrying and just bite the bullet and pick something. I don't want to stretch the budget too much as it is a gift and saying I'll add X amount to it for something "Better" would hurt their feelings -- and honestly, having only used cheap CRTs and laptop screens extensively, I'll probably be happy no matter what.

Thanks again!

More comments welcome!

Edit: Hmm, I have a discount with Dell and if I added that to the "sell" price of the U2311h (which will hopefully return soon) then it'd go down to $250 or so. Might be reasonable, if barely.