Which IPS monitor for £250ish?

lolage

lolage

lolage

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Think im going to go for two of the Dell Ultrasharp U2311H however just making sure there is nothing else on the market I should be considering!

I'm going to be upgrading from a Samsung SyncMaster 223BW. It is 1680x1050 (16:10) however the Dell's are 16:9. I hear some have issues with this? I dont see the problem? More wide sounds good to me? :D Will this be a problem?

Main use for it will be design/photography work, also do a fair bit of gaming.

Thanks
 
Yup the Dell U2311H is the one to get IMHO, considering your uses and budget. Here is an in-depth review.

This page shows how the size of a 23in 16:9 panel compares to a 22in 16:10 panel of your 223BW. Not much of a problem, but you won't get quite as much height as your 22in, however the vertical resolution is slightly better - so you will be able to fit a bit more on the screen and the total viewable area is slightly bigger.

The next step up is the HP ZR24W, this is a 24in 1920x1200 E-IPS (16:10) but costs ~£320.
 
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cmndr_andi said:
Yup the Dell U2311H is the one to get IMHO, considering your uses and budget. Here is an in-depth review.

This page shows how the size of a 23in 16:9 panel compares to a 22in 16:10 panel of your 223BW. Not much of a problem, but you won't get quite as much height as your 22in (however the vertical resolution is slightly better - so you will be able to fit a bit more on the screen).

The next step up is the HP ZR24W, this is a 24in 1920x1200 E-IPS (16:10) but costs ~£320.
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Cool thanks. I think I prefer it being wider,dont see the problem personally - its not as if your loosing out on pixels. (compared to my samsung)
 
also, maybe a stupid question - but I'm assuming these will work fine in dual screen mode with my HD5770? (they dont have HDMI)
 
lolage said:
also, maybe a stupid question - but I'm assuming these will work fine in dual screen mode with my HD5770? (they dont have HDMI)
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Aye, will be absolute fine. Just use the DVI connections on your graphics card. If your card model doesn't have two DVI ports, then just use a cable like this, an adapter like this (with a standard DVI-D cable) or an adapter like this (with a HDMI cable). The video signal used by HDMI and DVI is the same - so there would be no image quality reduction using an adapter like these.
 
cmndr_andi said:
Aye, will be absolute fine. Just use the DVI connections on your graphics card. If your card model doesn't have two DVI ports, then just use a cable like this or an adapter like this. The video signal used by HDMI and DVI is the same - so there would be no image quality reduction using an adapter like these.
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Cool, whats the main advantage of using HDMI then? Some people are upset it has no HDMI.
 
lolage said:
Cool, whats the main advantage of using HDMI then? Some people are upset it has no HDMI.
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The main one is that this is what games consoles use. However, you just need to use a cheap adapter like this to get around that.

The other one is that HDMI carries sound and DVI doesn't, so if the U2311H had a HDMI port then they could also have a sound pass-throught and a connection for external speakers or headphones. This would be a big benefit for people who want to use a games console or HD video device (sky HD, blu ray player) with this relatively inexpensive, high quality dell IPS monitor. That said, you can get the sound directly from the console - so it isn't an insurmountable problem, it is just a bit more comlex and you usually have to pay a bit for the correct console audio output cable (eg AV multi out for the PS3).

If you are mainly using the monitor with a PC and have your speakers connected to your PC sound card then the lack of HDMI really isn't an issue.
 
cmndr_andi said:
The main one is that this is what games consoles use. However, you just need to use a cheap adapter like this to get around that.

The other one is that HDMI carries sound and DVI doesn't, so if the U2311H had a HDMI port then they could also have a sound pass-throught and a connection for external speakers or headphones. This would be a big benefit for people who want to use a games console or HD video device (sky HD, blu ray player) with this relatively inexpensive, high quality dell IPS monitor. That said, you can get the sound directly from the console - so it isn't an insurmountable problem, it is just a bit more comlex and you usually have to pay a bit for the correct console audio output cable (eg AV multi out for the PS3).

If you are mainly using the monitor with a PC and have your speakers connected to your PC sound card then the lack of HDMI really isn't an issue.
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Cool, that wont be a problem then - will be used with speakers/headphones most of the time with just a computer.

Just to confirm, my graphics card only has 1 DVI port- so if I get this adapater will I need to get this cable aswell or will the adapter on its own be okay?
 
lolage said:
Just to confirm, my graphics card only has 1 DVI port- so if I get this adapater will I need to get this cable aswell or will the adapter on its own be okay?
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Aye, just the adapter will be fine - the U2311H comes with a standard DVI-D cable to connect onto that adapter.

That said, looking at that adapter - it is a bit bulky, I'm just thinking it may interfere with the DVI connection or the exhaust airflow. May I ask what make and model HD 5770 you are using?

If you already have spare HDMI cable then I would suggest going for this instead - there isn't any issue with clearance on the monitor-end and it allows you to connect other HDMI devices easily to your monitor.
 
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cmndr_andi said:
Aye, just the adapter will be fine - the U2311H comes with a standard DVI-D cable to connect onto that adapter.

That said, looking at that adapter - it is a bit bulky, I'm just thinking it may interfere with the DVI connection or the exhaust airflow. May I ask what make and model HD 5770 you are using?

If you already have spare HDMI cable then I would suggest going for this instead - there isn't any issue with clearance on the monitor-end and it allows you to connect other HDMI devices easily to your monitor.
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Its a powercolor hd 5770, and I think you linked the wrong thing. :D
 
cmndr_andi said:
Ah yes, so I did - updated now. If you wouldn't mind just delete the incorrect link in the quote.

Looking at the powercolor ouput ports - the HDMI is pretty close to the DVI port. As such I would suggest either using a HDMI cable and this adapter or this cable on its own.
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Not a problem dude, edited the link as soon as I published it and realised. And thanks for those links! Will buy it all later tonight, thanks for your help!
 
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