Monitor Advice - Two 24" LCD (which ones) or a 30"

[ElementalDragon]

i can highly recommend the Gateway FHD2400 if you're looking for a good 24" widescreen. Now.... it's not really on the cheap side (think it's like $549-ish).... but if you were looking at 30" monitors which tend to be into the $1,000 range right about now, then i don't think two $550 monitors is much of an issue, now is it?

Great display.... excellent quality. love the aluminum stand it uses, and the brushed aluminum accent along the bottom. also has touch sensitive controls on the right bezel, so no hunting around for them along the side of the monitor like the old Gateway displays, nor having them obnoxiously protruding from the bottom front of the monitor. One issue people seem to have is that it tends to have a fair amount of backlight bleeding around the edges.... but as we all know, that's not really noticable unless you're basically staring at an entirely black screen, or if you're staring at a semi-dark screen and possibly intentionally LOOKING for the bleeding. other than that, the monitor is top notch. plenty of inputs, including DVI, VGA, Composite, Component, S-Video, and new to the FHD series, HDMI. Also a 4-port USB hub (2 by the monitor inputs, two on the side of the monitor)..... tilt, swivel, portrait/landscape..... and it just looks freakin beautiful.

Here's a pic of the monitor.... along with my older Gateway FPD2185W 21" widescreen. older picture.... took it when i first got the monitor several months ago. the color reproduction differenc between the two is stunning. the new FHD2400 looks much more vivid when comparing between two identical wallpapers.

 

[kcnychief]

Cool setup there ED, like all the stuff you have on your top shelf there

 

[ElementalDragon]

what? the multifunction printer/scanner/copier? lol.

as i said.... older pic. here's the way i have it set up now. just took this pic to show on Guru3D... asking them if it was a tad overkill for the desk it's on. If i do decide to keep it.... would have to do a bit of rearranging, seeing as one of my Logitech Z-5500's speakers is tucked behind the FHD2400, and the control panel for said speakers is behind the other monitor. Sadly.... don't have any alcohol in this pic... although i DO have an empty 750ml bottle of Ciroc vodka that i wanna try to turn into some sort of light somehow.

Here's how my setup was PRIOR to trying to cram the 21" monitor onto the desk..... but still a somewhat older pic. this one was just after i got the Z-5500's if i remember correctly. and yes, my new setup is in my bedroom. hot as HELL up here.

 

[kcnychief]

That's cool, and glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't actively care about cable management

 

[ElementalDragon]

well.... i would like it to be a bit more tidy.... but don't think there's a whole lot i could do with them all. i mean.... that's a lot of wires. inside my computer though..... i tend to keep that quite tidy.

besides.... doesn't really matter if my wires are neatly tucked behind my desk.... because i can move my whole desk with ease if i felt like it. gotta love furniture sliders and hardwood floors. everything in my bedroom is on them.... even the platform for my queen size bed.

 

[kcnychief]

I would agree with you there - they are all behind my desk. I have thought about climbing back there to tidy up, but it's like "what's the point".

I don't look at it, and you can't see it really unless you are like right all up in it.

Good point though - case cabling is different.

 

[Steevo]

Mooove your sub Derek, point it at a wall. Plus if you ask really nice or tip the cable guy they will bump up the signal strength and you can have three cable boxes, a tuner card, and two TV's. And ripping out all your old cable and helping run new makes sure you get good signal.


Wanna buy high grade splitter?


And remove the unclean thing off your desk.

 

[kcnychief]

Mooove your sub Derek, point it at a wall. Plus if you ask really nice or tip the cable guy they will bump up the signal strength and you can have three cable boxes, a tuner card, and two TV's. And ripping out all your old cable and helping run new makes sure you get good signal.


Wanna buy high grade splitter?


And remove the unclean thing off your desk.

My signal is actually pretty good, and I'm still toying with putting a tuner in my monitor. What do I gain from pointing the sub against the wall?

Also, pondering a UPS - pretty sure the sub isn't shielded so is it bad to have the UPS on top of that?

 

[Steevo]

No shielding won't matter, get a good UPS though.


If you point your sub at the wall it creates a better resonancy and articulates the sound better. Put the sub in your chair and walk around the room and where the bass sounds the best, try to place the sub there. It will probably be in the corner by your PC.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102048

For a basic UPS that is not full time converting this has a much faster response time and looks nice. I use this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102051 here just for the pure sine wave and the fact we loose power a few times a year.

 

[kcnychief]

Cool, I'll try the chair suggestion.

Won't get the UPS for 1-2 weeks, but soon. I bought the lower-ended Cyberpower for a client recently and it worked out well. I'll review the other one when the time comes - thanks!

 

[dubstar]

a little late to your post, but wow, 2x2408s. nice! I keep trying to get in on a Core2Quad deal with 2408s, but they only sell the base model 24s with deals... grr!

What kind of video-card are you running?

 

[kcnychief]

NVIDIA 8600 GTS - nothing fancy but I don't game on it so it works enough for me

 

[greentea]

Hey ElementalDragon, that set up is cool .

 

[ElementalDragon]

thank you, greentea. like the name too. green tea rules.

 

[pavithren]

If you need a lot of work space, dual displays will suit you better than a single one tbh.

You can use ultramon and divvy the screen up as needed, moving important apps and displaying them on both screens.

30 is better if you need a higher resolution, but not as much desktop-space.

What sazar said is quite correct. You will have more control with dual screen.you will have greater speed and productivity.