Best 23/24 inch monitor

Warren's Spectre on 2/10/2011 at 01:45

Hey guys,
I'm looking to buy a new monitor for use with my PC/360. My budget is £150, I could stretch a bit further if it was justified but certainly not to the £200 mark. It will need to have HDMI and also a stereo/headphone out for taking the audio out of the HDMI to get it into my amp. As this is to be used primarily for gaming I'm lead to believe that a good response time is the most important thing and I don't understand how they test contrast ratio so I really don't know what the right one is for gaming.
Thanks

june gloom on 2/10/2011 at 01:53

You can't go wrong with the Dell Ultrasharp series, but you might have to pay a little extra for a little less. I went $250 for a 21.5" U2211H- though it lacks HDMI, sorry.

Vernon on 2/10/2011 at 03:06

Dell Ultrasharps are very nice. My personal recommendation is anything from the Samsung 50 series. They have 23- and 24-inch models too.

I have a couple of (http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/pc-peripherals/monitor/led-monitor/LS24B5HVFH/XY/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail) these and absolutely adore them

Ostriig on 2/10/2011 at 11:31

Another recommendation for Dell Ultrasharp units, but if you're adamant on 23'' your budget is just a bit short. If you are willing to wait it out a while and save for around the £200 mark, check out the (http://www.pcbuyit.co.uk/dell-ultrasharp-u2312hm-58cm-monitor-vgadvidp-1920x1080-black-p-1662.html) U2312HM.

If you can't stretch that far price-wise but would be willing to take a 22'' instead, there's the (http://www.pcbuyit.co.uk/dell-ultrasharp-u2212hm-545cm-monitor-dvidp-1920x1080-black-p-1664.html) U2212HM for around £170, or, if you're like me and hate rounded corners, you could look to see whether the previous iteration (http://www.pcbuyit.co.uk/dell-ultrasharp-u2211h-widescreen-flat-panel-monitor-p-1155.html) U2211H which they still have in stock has any actual disadvantages compared to the new crop.

None of these units come with HDMI ports and audio-out, but I think it's worth putting up with the extra cable to get the advantages of an IPS panel in terms of colour reproduction, blacks, and viewing angles. It's worth noting that the response times on this sort of panels are slower than the 2ms getting trotted out by marketing as "gaming" monitors, but after three years of using one I honestly can't say I've ever had a bother with it. And, for what it's worth, the Ultrasharps also have a couple of nice perks to them, like the highly adjustable stand (vertical, swivel, tilt and pivot), cable management and USB ports.

Warren's Spectre on 2/10/2011 at 23:53

Although those monitors look really nice I have to have HDMI and a headphone out because it will be used 50/50 PC/360. So far the best thing I can see is the LG E235

HTML:

http://www.ebuyer.com/237708-lg-e2350vr-sn-lcd-tft-led-23-hdmi-monitor-e2350vr-sn

. What do you guys think?

Vernon on 3/10/2011 at 06:58

The BX2450 that I mentioned above has 2xHDMI

Inline Image:

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/7844/06large1.jpg

They have 2ms response times. I honestly don't know of a better quality monitor at this price.

Analog RGB/DVI/HDMI Video Signals
Separate H/V/ Composite/ SOG Sync Signals
D-Sub/ HDMI x 2 (Audio out) inputs

Warren's Spectre on 3/10/2011 at 11:01

Vernon that looks like a great monitor, however, I can't find it on a single UK site. Are you sure they are still being manufactured?

Vernon on 3/10/2011 at 12:28

Australia is a bit behind. These are still widely available over here. I had a quick look for you on some sites but yeah, doesn't look like there are any around

edit: seems like they are still being manufactured. (http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/pc-peripherals/monitor/led-monitor/index.idx?pagetype=subtype_p2) At least they appear to be current, since they are listed outside of the Samsung archive section

edit 2: (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=samsung+2450&x=0&y=0) Looks like some other variants on the 50 series are quite common, but I can't really vouch for them tbh, other than knowing how nice Samsung's monitors are (outside of the business range, which can be nice, but aren't necessarily super-great for gaming)