27" Monitor Confusion

ICEx21

ICEx21

ICEx21

Associate
Joined
27 Apr 2007
Posts
2,251
Location
Edinburgh
Evening folks,

I'm looking to finally upgrade my 24" NEC monitor which has been excellent but I just fancy moving up from 1920*1200 to 2560*1440.
The replacement monitors I've singled out are:

Dell U2713HM: I've heard some horror stories regarding the quality control which is really putting me off but if I get a decent one it looks great.

Asus PB278Q: this has a faster response time but a lower contrast than the Dell, once again there are a few qc issues but nothing as bad as the Dell.

Viewsonic VP2770: this is supposedly the best monitor out the 3 I've been told, the stand is the only thing that let's it down and I think the contrast isn't as good as the Dell.

These are the ones I've narrowed down but I can't decide on which one, what's important to me is image quality and an adjustable stand, a decent warranty is a must as well. The monitors primary usage will be gaming (BF4) and movies.

My current system is an I7 2600k at 4Ghz, 8 gig of ram, an SSD and an 290 gaming edition so I'm hopeful I should be able to play most games at max settings but if that's wrong feel free to correct me.

Anyway any advice is much appreciated.
 
I replaced a DGM IPS-2701 with the Asus PB278Q.
I am really pleased with it. The AG coating is very light. Response times seem good for a PLS panel. Good contrast. No dead pixels and tiny patch of backlight bleed which I hardly notice at all.

I do suffer from migraines so I was worried about the PWM backlighting but it has not affected me.

I'm spending most of my time in Titanfall at the moment and it looks great!

I did consider the Dell U2713HM but their quality control issues were a big concern so I gave it a miss. I actually bought an Iiyama XB2779QS but the backlight bleed was terrible so I swapped it for another one which was just as bad, so that's why I got the Asus.
 
Thanks for the response mate, how do you find gaming on that monitor with your single gpu? Do you play most games maxed out?

To be honest my brain keeps telling me to go for the Asus monitor but for some reason I really want a Dell monitor and I keep trying to convince myself I'll get a monitor with no problems at all.

Seriously I don't understand how these companies have issues with QC on any products never mind a £400+ product, a company like Dell should not have these issues!
 
I recently upgraded to the R9 290 so that I could play Metro Last Light in 1440p with everything maxed out. Initially I was disappointed with the framerates being really poor until I realised that the nVidia "PhysX" option was enabled by default in the game options. I disabled it. Now I get around 40fps which I think is pretty good, especially as I am running on an old i5 750 running at stock speed.

I have everything maxed out in Titanfall but that's built on an enhanced version of the Source graphics engine so it's not pushing the R9 290 as hard as Metro.
Skyrim maxed out looks beautiful and plays smooth.

I also maxed out the settings for Elder Scrolls Online (beta) and that plays nice and smooth too.

I was the same as you in terms of getting a Dell monitor. There was a time when the name "Dell" was a guarantee of quality but those days are gone.

When I drove up to the OcUk store last December to swap out my second Iiyama (in less than a week) because of the backlight bleed, I asked the support technician which 27" monitor to buy and he would not commit BUT then I asked him which one was returned (as faulty) the least. He answered straight away - the Asus.

So after my bad experiences with Hazro (dead after 3 weeks), DGM (psu dead after a few months / dead pixels / backlight bleed) and Iiyama I decided that it had to be Asus.
I have not regretted it.
 
Last edited:
I got one of these Asus screens, really happy with it, seems fine in games (no lag or ghosting that I can see) and has a nice stand and plenty of inputs.
 
I've only bought a Dell monitor once but i cant fault the service, they sent a new screen the next day and let me compare its light bleed to the one i complained about...then picked up the original a few days later.
 
Thank you for all the replies and advice, it looks like I'm now heading towards getting the Asus, I have a few final questions.
What is the warranty and support like for Asus and do they have a no dead pixel guarantee like Dell? The stand also needs to be solid and pretty flexible have you guys found any problems with it?

Thanks
 
I've only had the monitor since Christmas so I can't comment on the warranty/support.
According to the OcUK product page, the Asus has a "Premium Panel Guarantee" but I haven't been able to find a definition of what that actually means.
Also, I've just noticed that the OcUK specification includes an "8-in-1 Card Reader" but I'm sure that's wrong. I can't find it on my Asus and the TFTCentral review refers to a "...lack of extras like card readers ...".

The stand is robust and rock solid. You can set the height/viewing angle and even rotate it to portrait mode if you want to.
 
Last edited:
Right thanks for your input mate, I think you've made my mind up and it's the Asus monitor I'm going for, now I just need to find someone to purchase my current monitor or I may just use it as a 2nd monitor although lack of desk space is going to be a problem.
 
Well assuming you do buy the Asus, please post your thoughts back here.

The last person I convinced to buy the PB278Q was slightly disappointed because he said that he was used to a glossy monitor. (The Asus has a light anti glare coating.)
Personally I don't mind it but some people do.
 
Ok I'm not that clued up on the difference between glossy and anti-glare, is this something to do with the actual screen? As when you said glossy I thought you were talking about the frame lol.

Also I thought my mind was made up with this monitor until I just found out about the new Samsung and AOC 4k panels that are set for release soon.

Right back to square one now!
 
I've decided I'm going for the Asus but just waiting for the price to come down, for some reason OC seem to be really expensive compared to others.
Giblets is there a deal coming for this monitor soon?
 
wapcatlet said:
I recently upgraded to the R9 290 so that I could play Metro Last Light in 1440p with everything maxed out. Initially I was disappointed with the framerates being really poor until I realised that the nVidia "PhysX" option was enabled by default in the game options. I disabled it. Now I get around 40fps which I think is pretty good, especially as I am running on an old i5 750 running at stock speed.

I have everything maxed out in Titanfall but that's built on an enhanced version of the Source graphics engine so it's not pushing the R9 290 as hard as Metro.
Skyrim maxed out looks beautiful and plays smooth.

I also maxed out the settings for Elder Scrolls Online (beta) and that plays nice and smooth too.

I was the same as you in terms of getting a Dell monitor. There was a time when the name "Dell" was a guarantee of quality but those days are gone.

When I drove up to the OcUk store last December to swap out my second Iiyama (in less than a week) because of the backlight bleed, I asked the support technician which 27" monitor to buy and he would not commit BUT then I asked him which one was returned (as faulty) the least. He answered straight away - the Asus.

So after my bad experiences with Hazro (dead after 3 weeks), DGM (psu dead after a few months / dead pixels / backlight bleed) and Iiyama I decided that it had to be Asus.
I have not regretted it.
Click to expand...

Luckily for me my DGM has been fine, had it for a year now no dead pixels or PSU but the stand did let it down but got a new stand now :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom