New Monitor needed ~£200? NOW UPPED TO £300!

You certainly can't judge how a curve works by glancing down at a screen in a shop. Or indeed spending such a brief period of times looking at it, even if you're eyes are at the correct level. I have considerable experience with curved models of various sizes and certainly feel it's easy to adapt to. It becomes a subtle but welcome addition - I agree, though, that it is most beneficial on relatively large and wide screens. That's not to say it's useless (refer to my Samsung review linked to above) on a 24" model, though.
 
PCM2 said:
You certainly can't judge how a curve works by glancing down at a screen in a shop. Or indeed spending such a brief period of times looking at it, even if you're eyes are at the correct level. I have considerable experience with curved models of various sizes and certainly feel it's easy to adapt to. It becomes a subtle but welcome addition - I agree, though, that it is most beneficial on relatively large and wide screens. That's not to say it's useless (refer to my Samsung review linked to above) on a 24" model, though.
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What would your recommendation for the OP be of all the monitors mentioned, the Samsung?
 
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southernorth said:
That's fair enough. From what I've read the curve is a bit odd at first, but your eyes quickly adjust and it just becomes a regular monitor in your mind (slightly more immersive also).

I do wish Samsung just made it flat though, curves are much more beneficial on larger monitor, not so much on 24inches


For the 27in monitor, that size is a bit large for only 1080p in my opinion. Gaming is also 'better' on a 24inch screen, as you don't have to move your eyes around the screen so much.
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Yea the more I read up on monitors the more I see 24 inch is the 'sweet spot' for 1080p

I get the idea behind the curve screens, in fact when we upgraded the lounge tv a few months back I wanted a curve screen for that very reason (immersion) but her-indoors, much like me with the monitor couldn't warm to the idea.

PCM2 said:
You certainly can't judge how a curve works by glancing down at a screen in a shop. Or indeed spending such a brief period of times looking at it, even if you're eyes are at the correct level. I have considerable experience with curved models of various sizes and certainly feel it's easy to adapt to. It becomes a subtle but welcome addition - I agree, though, that it is most beneficial on relatively large and wide screens. That's not to say it's useless (refer to my Samsung review linked to above) on a 24" model, though.
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I agree wholeheartedly, 15 minutes staring at a screen from the wrong angle is not the best way to judge its merits. Sadly I'm a stuck in the mud, limited spare time 40+ year old, so 'change' scares me :p I just want to buy a screen I can 'jump into' without having to adjust.

Edit: I appreciate the time and effort with the advice btw.
 
Thekwango said:
Looked at one in a bricks and mortar shop a while back (can't remember the make/model) and it just didn't feel right, visually looked great but just the whole curve thing felt weird! Hard to explain really!!
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The 1500R curvature of the Samsung 34" monitor (21:9) that I owned was in my opinion very "acute". Providing that the game you were playing didn't stretch the image, so that trees and other objects looked stretched in your peripheral view, it looked fine for games.
For general Windows work and use I simply could not adapt to such a curve. It was like looking into a reverse goldfish bowl, being so concave in shape. Whilst the 21:9 and 34" were good for applications etc which needed a timeline the curve itself was very distracting, emphasised more with straight lines.
Perhaps curved screens, especially when I had the Samsung with the 1500R curve, are a little like 21:9 monitors, a marmite thing. You either like them or you don't, guess I didn't.

As a broad generalisation providing that you get a good IPS panel, although it is an absolute panel lottery when buying a monitor, then I would prefer that for general use over a VA.
Also be prepared to potentially needing to return the monitor, so find a dealer who is pretty good at accepting returns and issuing refunds.
 
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southernorth said:
What would your recommendation for the OP be of all the monitors mentioned, the Samsung?
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Yup. But it's the kind of monitor a user needs to see for themselves and be prepared to return if unsatisfied. All monitors have their pitfalls, I know I don't need to explain that to users here ;). But it's a truly unique model that delivers a very different experience to its competitors (such as the ViewSonic you mentioned).
 
Sorry for the delayed reply! Cheers for all the comments advice. Though I fear it's just made my decision all the harder!! Lol
 
Thekwango said:
Sorry for the delayed reply! Cheers for all the comments advice. Though I fear it's just made my decision all the harder!! Lol
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I'm in exactly the same boat... Swaying towards the Samsung curved and seeing PCM2 recommending it too pushes me further that way as well. I've heard good things about the view sonic and their new model only just released. It seems to of sold out most places though
 
Thekwango said:
just noticed the lg is now down to £199, after nearly settling on the viewsonic i'm stumped a bit again. - is the viewsonic really worth ~60 quid more?
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No, the Viewsonic's image quality looks very similar but doesn't have a strobing backlight like the LG. Also, subjectively it looks too 'gamery' in my opinion.

I'd say just order it mate, see how you like it and return if it's not for you. It's a great price.
 
southernorth said:
No, the Viewsonic's image quality looks very similar but doesn't have a strobing backlight like the LG. Also, subjectively it looks too 'gamery' in my opinion.

I'd say just order it mate, see how you like it and return if it's not for you. It's a great price.
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I think you're right. Im only gonna flaff round not making mind up and buy something in a 'fit' some night!!
Coming from a ~7 year old monitor and currently having to use a 'borrowed' 21inch non gaming monitor from work I doubt I'll fail to be impressed. Plus as you say if I am I can just return it.
 
so the monitor arrived today as expected.

must say it's very impressive, no daft 'go faster stripes' or such nonsense.

out of the box the picture is very very impressive, but as I say coming from a ~7 year old monitor I guess it was always going to be. unfortunately after about an hour of use it has developed a stuck blue pixel. I've tried all the usual fixes without joy so unfortunately back it goes. :(
 
Thekwango said:
so the monitor arrived today as expected.

must say it's very impressive, no daft 'go faster stripes' or such nonsense.

out of the box the picture is very very impressive, but as I say coming from a ~7 year old monitor I guess it was always going to be. unfortunately after about an hour of use it has developed a stuck blue pixel. I've tried all the usual fixes without joy so unfortunately back it goes. :(
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That's good, and bad, to hear mate. Are you going to get a replacement or get a different model?
 
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southernorth said:
That's good, and bad, to hear mate. Are you going to get a replacement or get a different model?
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Just gonna get a replacement, shame the price has gone up 20 quid though. Definitely worth it even at the higher price. It's a lovely piece of kit with a multitude of options to play with if you want to tweak the image. PUBG plays so much more smoothly even though I'm at the lower end of the freesync with my current gpu.
 
Thekwango said:
Just gonna get a replacement, shame the price has gone up 20 quid though. Definitely worth it even at the higher price. It's a lovely piece of kit with a multitude of options to play with if you want to tweak the image. PUBG plays so much more smoothly even though I'm at the lower end of the freesync with my current gpu.
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I'm sure OCuk would honour that original lower price for the replacement. Did you try the strobing backlight in a game like CS:GO or Overwatch?
 
southernorth said:
I'm sure OCuk would honour that original lower price for the replacement. Did you try the strobing backlight in a game like CS:GO or Overwatch?
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Only played pubg so far. No idea yet how to turn on the strobing backlight!

Decided not to play about too much once I saw the stick pixel :(
 
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