Best 24" IPS for <= £250

Paradoxine · 31 Mar 2012 at 16:08

I need a monitor that will primarily be used for work I.E programming, as well as movies (for which I want really dark blacks) and a fair portion of gaming. The kind of gaming I'm going to be doing generally won't be FPS, although I have played many in the past. In the immediate future I will only be playing RPG - GW2 and as such, I would rather image quality, viewing angles rather than 120hz. If possible, for the gaming I would like a reasonable response time, but I won't expect 2ms.

Double07 · 31 Mar 2012 at 17:23

Dell Ultrasharp U2412M cant be had for less then £250 (seen it for £225). Given the price its a very good IPS monitor with adjustable stand and consistently good reviews. Might not be the most exciting thing ever but ticks all the boxes.

Disco Boy · 31 Mar 2012 at 17:26

Dell ultrasharp 2412M. I have one and love it.

Engram · 31 Mar 2012 at 17:28

I vote for the U2412M too. It's £240 this week from Overclockers.

http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-052-DE

chad · 31 Mar 2012 at 20:04

U2412M got 1 last week

Paradoxine · 31 Mar 2012 at 21:42

Thanks for the replies. I've looked into the U2412M, but there seems to be many people who have problems with the backlighting, seems to be too much "glow" when displaying blacks. Are there any other options, or could you lay rest to these concerns? I do like the stand which allows tilt etc.

Engram · 1 Apr 2012 at 14:55

I haven't been bothered by any glow. I was aware of a slight flickering from the backlight when I first started using it, but I don't notice it anymore (and I should add that I could only see the flicker if my eyes quickly scanned across the monitor, which was usually the result of me looking up at something behind the monitor).

I don't think you'll find a better IPS for the money.

Double07 · 1 Apr 2012 at 19:56

Gotta agree, for the money not seen much else that I would consider buying given the OP's criteria.

mrk · 14 May 2012 at 22:35

Just to add tot his, I've bought the 12M last week too and it sits alongside my 24" Hazro H-IPS monitor and it's a brilliant monitor. It calibrates to a better standard than the Hazro too with better black levels and I see no backlight issue watching movies or gaming. There is the IPS tinge but this becomes invisible to your eyes once you've owned an IPS for a few weeks.

Perfect monitor in almost every way.

FoxEye · 14 May 2012 at 23:41

just to add a dissenting opinion on the u2412m... it is a brilliant monitor for office work/browsing.

but the IPS glow was super-pronounced in the corners and turned black into *light* grey. it was really bad. I couldn't watch movies on it because my eyes kept being drawn to the corners and the *terrible* glow effect.

with a bright desktop (anything other than black, dark grey, in fairness), the monitor is superb. watch movies with dark scenes or do anything with dark images and you might be disappointed as I was.

mrk · 15 May 2012 at 00:04

Just to check, your brightness wasn't set too high was it? Mine is at lower brightness levels as that's what I work at but then again I've only ever really had long term ownership or IPS displays.

FoxEye · 15 May 2012 at 00:13

no I used very low brightness settings, like 16% or something. I can't look at bright screens, makes my eyes hurt

so even at brightness settings well below average, I found the IPS glow to be horrific (dark/black scenes only). I asked for and received two replacements (props to Dell for great service), before getting a refund.