Tell me which monitor to get...

Etuj · 13 Oct 2011 at 09:47

As with most things I cannot make up my own mind, hence the post on here.

I'm building a new pc soon with a friend who has more knowledge than me, but my priority is the monitor as I don't currently have one - I'm using a small old flat screen TV and have been for some time.

Main uses

Possibly ocasional gaming
Day to day use
Watch iplayer on (daughter loves to watch Cbeebies!)
Playback of video, photos etc

Something within the region of £200 and 23-24 inch, nothing bigger is needed I don't think.

The main brands I have been looking at are Dell, Iiyama, Samsung, HP. Lower ms the better, I notice some of the Iiyama are 8ms

Things to consider

Stand quality - some stands are so poorly built and the screen appears top heavy
Dead/stuck pixels are a massive concern, although unless I go directly to Dell to take advantage of their no dead pixel policy (as stated by OC sales) on their top end monitors, such as the Ultrasharp, there is no escape. I queried this policy with sales on here but was told it had to be bought directly from Dell for this.

Please help me choose - also does the size of the screen (output quality) depend on the graphics card I have or intend to get?

Emphacy · 13 Oct 2011 at 10:05

As I have many times, I'm going to recommend the BenQ G2420HD. Again.

You'd think with it being so cheap, it's going to be a pretty poor monitor, but I'll tell you how suprised I was when I got it. The quality of the display is excellent and there wasn't a single dead pixel. Has HDMI too!
OcUK I believe only sell the G2420HDBL (Backlit Version) but it's a little more expensive. Same great quality and everything though!

There's many people on these forums with the same monitor and they would agree.

cmndr_andi · 13 Oct 2011 at 10:14

For that budget and usage I would suggest the Dell Ultrasharp U2312HM at £210 .

This is a really nice monitor using a 1080p 23in E-IPS panel. Even though it isn't as fast as a TN monitor for gaming, it is still perfectly usable for gaming (due to the response time compensation technology and very low input lag) It is also covered by dell's excellent 3 year warranty (even if you buy from OCUK) so if you have any issues - just call dell up.

Finally, the Dell stand is really well put together and offers lots of movement options.

Here is an in-depth review of the Dell U2312HM.

Etuj · 13 Oct 2011 at 14:44

Great, thanks for the replies which have helped.
I like the Dell and this was one I had looked at previously, one small concern is that the review makes reference to some users experiencing a slight buzzing sound coming from the screen and I know that would bug me.

PCM2 · 13 Oct 2011 at 15:46

Ah the TFT Central review. Having heard the occasional user report of 'buzzing' at certain brightness levels we explicitly checked this at 5% brightness invervals from 0-100% and I found no problems even with my ear to the top of the monitor. The only noise came from the fans of my PC! Any severe buzzing is more likely to indicate a faulty power supply or a power cable fitted too loosely - these monitors don't suffer from the kind of buzzing you used to get on some CCFL models with high-voltage inverters. It would be quite a faint buzzing if anything and difficult to hear above the noise from the computer so I wouldn't worry about it. And as stated by TFT Central after their contact via Dell community - it's an occasional issue.

Etuj · 13 Oct 2011 at 17:02

Thanks - just squeezed the order in for the Dell!

PCM2 · 13 Oct 2011 at 17:22

I'm sure you'll love it for your uses and I hope you don't have any bees stuck in your one!

Etuj · 15 Oct 2011 at 11:11

PCM2 said:
I'm sure you'll love it for your uses and I hope you don't have any bees stuck in your one!

Well got the monitor yesterday and pleased with it, no dead pixels which was my biggest fear, having been stuck with a bright green one on my Viewsonic for 4 years - the pixel only recently became unstuck but then some of the caps went pop.

You're right, I can't here the 'buzz' but it is there (if you listen closely) and goes at 99-100% brightness. My current pc is old and quite loud so is the loudest thing. I read someone on the Dell forum saying they could hear it in the other room, it isn't that loud. I guess they all emit the noise (similar to a dimmer switch does) and some are louder than others.