24inch - Difference between £200 and £350?

Ollie's Gadgets · 25 Nov 2008 at 18:05

Hey, so after getting used to the 23inch apple displays at work I have come to the conclusion that my old Samsung SyncMaster 913N is no longer cutting the mustard (once you get used to something better you can never go backwards!). I have got used to the extra space of the 23" at work and find my 19" at home "limiting".

So I started investigting the 24inch TFT market. The Apple is nice but I think I would be paying a lot for the style. What is confusing me is that I can pay £200 for a high rated Samsung e.g.

Samsung SM-2443BW £229.99 inc VAT (includes 2.5% VAT discount)

But then I can pay over 50% more for the same size monitor e.g.

Samsung SM-2493HM £321.99 inc VAT

I will be hooking this monitor up to my MacBook and be using it primarily for web development work, (note not design or graphics), and watching the odd video. Is it worth me paying extra to get a higher quality screen. How much of an improvement will it be? Not playing games, will I even notice?

jimmy29 · 25 Nov 2008 at 19:18

Go for the 2443, you won't notice any difference. They are both TN panels anyway, you do get HDMI with the 2493 but from what you've said that isn't required.

Ollie's Gadgets · 26 Nov 2008 at 10:59

The other one I was looking at was the BenQ V2400W. Again I don't know if I would notice a quality improvement, but I think this is a very stylish monitor.

So in my case would I just be paying for style with the higher price tag?

philjohn · 26 Nov 2008 at 14:07

Ollie's Gadgets said:
Hey, so after getting used to the 23inch apple displays at work I have come to the conclusion that my old Samsung SyncMaster 913N is no longer cutting the mustard

If you want something on a par with the Apple display you'll be wanting an IPS panel - these cost in excess of £400 for a 24" monitor. The Hazro HZ24Wi or the HP LP2475w (if you don't mind the wide-gamut) are your best bets, or a 23" ACD.

Ollie's Gadgets · 26 Nov 2008 at 14:39

philjohn said:
If you want something on a par with the Apple display you'll be wanting an IPS panel - these cost in excess of £400 for a 24" monitor. The Hazro HZ24Wi or the HP LP2475w (if you don't mind the wide-gamut) are your best bets, or a 23" ACD.

Well let me put it this way. What I like about the apple screen is that it is very crisp and sharp, which means I am perfectly happy reading large documents on it for long periods of time. By comparison my old 19" TFT at home seems to look blurred.

The designers in my office say that the Apple Display has great colour accuracy but this isn't something that affects me in any way, or that I would even appreciate, as my work is normally in a text editor or terminal.