Dia on 5/9/2013 at 01:58
Thanks dethy. I absolutely agonize over decisions like this (and the PS3, which I'm giving as a Halloween present to me, since I can't wait for Christmas) ;). I didn't know what questions to ask until I read the customer reviews so your input is appreciated. The HDMI thing isn't important since the TV I'll be hooking the PS3 up to has it, but I wasn't sure if it was necessary for any of the newer PC games, though. I was kind of bummed that Best Buy didn't have the Dell in stock, but I guess I can wait a week for delivery; afterall, I've waited ten years to replace my beloved CRT.
Thanks yet again.
heywood on 5/9/2013 at 02:03
Are you looking at the Dell U2412M for $300? If so, it's a good choice in that price range. Anything cheaper will be 16:9 and 1920x1080 while the Dell is 1920x1200. The extra vertical real estate is not essential for games, but really nice to have for other tasks.
Lack of speakers should be a non-issue for a gamer, assuming you have a decent set of external speakers or you're using headphones.
For the kind of games you play, 60Hz refresh should be fine. 120Hz is mostly for the fast twitch FPS gamers with fast high end GPUs. Plus, I think 120Hz is limited to TN panels, which have more restricted viewing angles if that's important to you.
june gloom on 5/9/2013 at 02:12
TN panels are butt. It's all toilets down there. I wouldn't recommend it on anyone.
Dia on 5/9/2013 at 12:41
Yes heywood, I've just ordered the Dell U2412M. Almost ordered one for sale on a site I usually never visit; they had it listed for $215 but down at the bottom of the 'description' it stated that there were 'frozen pixels' and 'some minor damage to the frame', so I quickly went back to the Best Buy site. Sounds like the 60Hz refresh rate won't be an issue.
The reason I've asked so many stupid questions is because the last flat-screen monitor I had went haywire about six months after I bought it and I never understood what happened - couldn't get a straight answer out of the manufacturers. It was a Toshiba and one day the graphics just went bonkers (while I was playing Thief, btw) - it looked like Picasso just enlarged random pixels, drew them to points and squares and then froze them. Mystifying. I ended up just pitching the damned thing and went back to my faithful CRT. I was never really happy with the flat-screen in the first place since the colors always looked bleached out and I could never fix that.
Thanks for your input.
june gloom on 5/9/2013 at 20:19
My first flatscreen was an Acer. It had dead pixels. It was a gift. I had a huge fucking fight with my mother over it because she thought I was being ungrateful for not wanting a monitor with dead pixels. Her then-boyfriend (the gift-giver) did replace it though, but I still hated it and eventually tucked it in a closet.
I didn't really take the plunge on a flatscreen again until my new computer arrived and I tried to play Deus Ex Human Revolution. Lemme tell ya, a CRT doesn't do that game justice.
Dia on 6/9/2013 at 12:44
My Dell U2412M arrives Monday. Looking forward to seeing what Far Cry 3 looks like on a new monitor as opposed to my old CRT. The first (and only so far) flatscreen I had definitely ended up having more than a couple dead pixel areas. Annoying would be putting it mildly; I sympathize.
I had to take the plunge since the refresh rate has been glitching and I'm getting headaches from all the wavy black lines which make everything go out of focus - it's been happening more often and seems to last longer. I got my character killed more than once because the black lines obscured my vision and I couldn't see the bad guy that kept ducking behind a tree in the shadows til it was too late or couldn't focus on the wild boar in the shadows that was attacking me. I hate to wish away the weekend, but for once Monday can't come soon enough for me.
PsymH on 27/10/2013 at 17:59
Sorry to ressurect this old thread, but I'm aware of this question: Which IPS monitor is good for dark scenes like in Thief and costs not too much? :) I'm looking for the Dell UltraSharp U2412M - any opinions about this one or should I look for another model?
june gloom on 27/10/2013 at 19:56
Can't go wrong with one of those.
Dia on 28/10/2013 at 11:41
I took the plunge (and dethy's timely advice) and am the proud owner of a new Dell Ultrasharp U2412M. I have NO complaints whatsoever; you may have to tone-down the preset brightness level though, but that's minor and easily accomplished. Crystal clear graphics color and razor-sharp resolution, though I now have to sit back from the screen farther than I was used to sitting with my old Mitsubishi 19" CRT monitor. Definitely worth owning, PsymH.
Renault on 28/10/2013 at 19:21
For anyone else looking for a 27", I did pick (
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005419) this one up, mentioned on the last page of this thread too. And I'm loving it, it's a very good monitor, great color and quality and at a super reasonable price. I got mine at Sam's for about $25 less than the Newegg price.
