Monitor Buying Guide: Buy Once, Cry Once...
I’ve been advising people with their computer purchases for nearly 20 years now, and one piece of advice has remained constant: Spend money on a decent monitor. It’s the gateway to the data on your system, and you’re using it 100% of the time you’re on your computer. Not only that, but most people will use a monitor for 10 years, which means it will last you the average of 2 computers. That doesn’t mean a cheap monitor isn’t the best option for you, but for many users, spending a few extra dollars can result in less eye fatigue, time saved working with multiple windows, and additional flexibility when working with certain data. Here are a few tips for picking the right monitor for your use.
Size matters. That being said, size isn’t everything, and like many things in life, what’s best for you isn’t best for someone else. This also depends on your workspace ergonomics, and a variety of factors such as your eye health, and the applications you use. For general users, a 23-27” monitor is the “sweet spot” in terms of price to productivity/comfort.
Resolution matters. If you have poor eyesight, a lower resolution is going to result in less eyestrain, so a 27” 1080p display might be perfect for you! If you’re a general user, 1080p can start to feel “blurry” once you hit 25” or so, again depending on how far you sit from the monitor, etc. But if you are working on media creation, having a high resolution display can be essential to spotting errors/flaws in a photo, video, etc. So a 4k/5k/8k monitor can start to make a lot of sense.
Ergonomics matter. A cheap monitor will typically allow you to tilt the monitor up/down at a fixed height, but this likely isn’t the “right” height for you. As an example, a basic 24” monitor might run $120 (https://amzn.to/35KuQnQ ) but if you’re tilting your head down all day due to your desk height, you might need to visit the chiropractor weekly to deal with the neck pain. Or you could spend another $80 to get a monitor with a fully adjustable stand (https://amzn.to/35Huhv7 ) and avoid the pain and discomfort you face when spending hours in front of your workstation. Anticipating a 10 year service life, that’s an extra $8/year, so skip a coffee twice a year and avoid the fatigue and stress of a sore neck.
There are many other factors to consider, such as Color Gamut (critical if you’re creating media and output to various mediums), connectivity (Thunderbolt/USB-C can save tons of hassle with a laptop based office), and panel type (IPS/VA are ideal for most users, TN might be an acceptible compromise if you need low latency).
Here are some general recommendations to consider if you’re finding yourself working at home and need a new ‘window to your Windows’.
General Desktop Use: $200 https://amzn.to/2WBOLRG
You get a display with an anti-glare coating to reduce reflections, Displayport and HDMI inputs, a Displayport Output (so you can connect 2 of these to your desktop/laptop even if you only have 1 monitor output on your computer), and a fully adjustable stand. Special Mention: The 16:10 aspect verion of this display costs a bit more, but works better for most office work (https://amzn.to/2LeIoyk ). Dell covers most of their Ultrasharp monitors with a 3 year warranty which can add your piece of mind as well, although monitors in general fail infrequently in my experience unless you’re buying the cheapest garbage out there (and even then they typically run more than 3 years…)
Photo Editing/Media Creation: $600 https://amzn.to/3cj6yUe or $1100 https://amzn.to/2WiL0lo
How much resolution do you need? Color is king, and both of these displays will give you near 100% Adobe RGB coverage, allow for calibration, and are well suited for video and photo manipulation. I think 32” is the minimum size for general purpose 4k use, so the 27” option here is at a more usable 1440p resolution for general office productivity as well. But if you’re working on 4k video, or high resolution photography then save up your pennies and grab the $1100 4k display instead. A quick note on 5k/8k monitor options: Keep in mind compatibility can be an issue when you get to high resolutions like this, so make sure you know your system will support the resolution before purchasing. Neither of these resolutions are common or standard yet, so 4K remains the general recommendation for high resolution use at this point