Love and hate my new monitor

mentaluproar · Jan 15, 2013

I took my mac mini off of the television and bought a monitor for it for college. It was sort of an impulse buy, but typing term papers right in front of a 32 inch tv would have been a bad idea anyway.

I bought a Lenovo LI2321S. The stand is firm, the colors are astonishing, but things that weren't blurry on the TV are a bit blurry here. And the motion blur is AWFUL! I'm considering taking it back.

What are your experiences with monitors? What would you recommend?

53x12 · Jan 15, 2013

What is your budget? Size requirement? Resolution requirements?

mentaluproar · Jan 15, 2013

I would prefer a 21.5" with HDMI input and headphone out. This one is a 23" and I can't go any bigger. 1080p is a must.

This monitor is an IPS led backlit monitor. things look blotchy rather than sharp too. I don't get it.

thekev · Jan 15, 2013

The blur sounds like an issue of pixel response time.

mentaluproar · Jan 15, 2013

it did say 14ms on the display, but I assumed that was a typo.

JamSandwich · Jan 15, 2013

Maybe the question is what you're willing to spend. I have a pair of Asus IPS screens and I really like them. They're maybe not quite on par with my old iMac screen, but for the price I've been really satisfied.

mentaluproar · Jan 15, 2013

This monitor was $220, which was already over what I wanted to spend.

RedCroissant · Jan 15, 2013

mentaluproar said:
I took my mac mini off of the television and bought a monitor for it for college. It was sort of an impulse buy, but typing term papers right in front of a 32 inch tv would have been a bad idea anyway.

I bought a Lenovo LI2321S. The stand is firm, the colors are astonishing, but things that weren't blurry on the TV are a bit blurry here. And the motion blur is AWFUL! I'm considering taking it back.

What are your experiences with monitors? What would you recommend?

Instead of buying a computer monitor, why not buy a small HDTV? Best Buy has a few that are under $200 and they have HDMI inputs in addition to other required inputs. You'll get the resolution you want, an adjustable stand(maybe), the size you want, and the blur might go away as well. You could also rely on the audio out port on your mini(but then again I don't know what your setup is).

fedorez · Jan 16, 2013

If you use HDMI-HDMI for monitor, blur is common, unfortunately... you should use the HDMI-to-DVI adapter from the kit of a Mac Mini, and switch to DVI... and may be all be nice )))

thekev · Jan 16, 2013

fedorez said:
If you use HDMI-HDMI for monitor, blur is common, unfortunately... you should use the HDMI-to-DVI adapter from the kit of a Mac Mini, and switch to DVI... and may be all be nice )))

If it's a recent mini, why wouldn't you go HDMI-->mini displayport if HDMI is bad? I also don't understand how this would be an improvement if it's still carrying an HDMI signal.

mentaluproar said:
it did say 14ms on the display, but I assumed that was a typo.

Sometimes there are more factors than the display manufacturers post. I remember the use of "overdrive" circuits causing reverse ghosting in some displays a few years ago. You have to make the evaluation by model. Can you return it without paying a restocking fee?

fedorez · Jan 16, 2013

"...The problem is that over HDMI, the Mac doesn't seem to want to allow true 1920 x 1080. It wants to use 1080P, which for our purposes isn't the same. Over HDMI > DVI, it allows the correct resolution...."
The same problems was solved here

TWO2SEVEN · Jan 16, 2013

I got a Dell S2340M 23" for Christmas. I am pretty sure Best Buy has it for under $250. It has been on sale periodically as well.

It has a very thin bezel with edge to edge glass. The monitor is extremely thin and light. The base is very sturdy, it doesnt have height adjustment, but it does have a wide range of tilt.

It has DVI and VGA inputs, I am using the supplied HDMI -> DVI adapter and have not had any problems. The colors and clarity have been great.

I upgraded from a 19.5" LCD that was at least 5 years old. The difference has been HUGE (obviously

).

TWO2SEVEN · Jan 16, 2013

A few pictures.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1358349752.317076.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1358349786.522969.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1358349809.728170.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1358349844.907941.jpg

Acorn · Jan 16, 2013

dell has a nice 21 inch ips as well under 200. I would get that over the lenovo. I say return it.

jcdamascenojr · Jan 16, 2013

TWO2SEVEN said:
I got a Dell S2340M 23" for Christmas. I am pretty sure Best Buy has it for under $250. It has been on sale periodically as well.

It has a very thin bezel with edge to edge glass. The monitor is extremely thin and light. The base is very sturdy, it doesnt have height adjustment, but it does have a wide range of tilt.

It has DVI and VGA inputs, I am using the supplied HDMI -> DVI adapter and have not had any problems. The colors and clarity have been great.

I upgraded from a 19.5" LCD that was at least 5 years old. The difference has been HUGE (obviously ).

Hi,

How about reflections? Do you have any other displays to compare with? Can you take some more pictures (light right in front of it, etc). I'm between this and the matte one (ultrasharp).

Thanks!

mentaluproar · Jan 16, 2013

Reflections are not a problem.

TWO2SEVEN · Jan 16, 2013

jcdamascenojr said:
Hi,

How about reflections? Do you have any other displays to compare with? Can you take some more pictures (light right in front of it, etc). I'm between this and the matte one (ultrasharp).

Thanks!

It is a glossy finish. If there was a light pointed at it, it would reflect. I rarely use it with an overhead light, just the lamp on the desk or the LEDs behind the monitor.

My old display was a matte finish. I prefer the glossy look, but that's just a personal preference.

jcdamascenojr · Jan 16, 2013

mentaluproar said:
Reflections are not a problem.

Sorry, I was asking TWO2SEVEN about his monitor (sorry for the hijacking)

TWO2SEVEN said:
It is a glossy finish. If there was a light pointed at it, it would reflect. I rarely use it with an overhead light, just the lamp on the desk or the LEDs behind the monitor.

My old display was a matte finish. I prefer the glossy look, but that's just a personal preference.

Thanks

donlab · Jan 16, 2013

21' s2240m

Acorn said:
dell has a nice 21 inch ips as well under 200. I would get that over the lenovo. I say return it.

I have it, the Dell S2240M. Ordered it from amazon for $139 over the holidays. Its a great screen. I'm using hdmi to dvi adapter with no problems. It doesn't have VESA mounts, but i found an adapter from gladiatorjoe.com so now I can connect to ergotron arm. ill post pix once the parts arrive. I bought this screen to go with my new 2012 mac mini. I like the edge to edge glass, very clean design.

QuantumLo0p · Jan 16, 2013

mentaluproar said:
it did say 14ms on the display, but I assumed that was a typo.

If it wasn't a typo then its response time is horrible. IMO try to stay at 5 or less. You might also check the supported refresh rates. I have a monitor that tops at 60MHz but it works fine for my cad/cam work and gaming purposes. I don't know about your particular monitor but make sure it can do 60 Hz. You shouldn't need 100 Hz; unless you are a cyborg.

palebluedot · Jan 16, 2013

Any Dell IPS monitor will be amazing. I love the Dell U2412M, it's e-IPS (6 bit) and is 16:10, one of the few 16:10s left. It's LED backlit too and has Displayport and DVI/VGA.

You can usually find deals on Slickdeals for anywhere from 230-260ish, I think.

TWO2SEVEN · Jan 17, 2013

donlab said:
I have it, the Dell S2240M. Ordered it from amazon for $139 over the holidays. Its a great screen. I'm using hdmi to dvi adapter with no problems. It doesn't have VESA mounts, but i found an adapter from gladiatorjoe.com so now I can connect to ergotron arm. ill post pix once the parts arrive. I bought this screen to go with my new 2012 mac mini. I like the edge to edge glass, very clean design.

I forgot to mention that mine doesn't have VESA mounts either. It's not an issue for me though.

cocacolakid · Jan 17, 2013

QuantumLo0p said:
If it wasn't a typo then its response time is horrible. IMO try to stay at 5 or less. You might also check the supported refresh rates. I have a monitor that tops at 60MHz but it works fine for my cad/cam work and gaming purposes. I don't know about your particular monitor but make sure it can do 60 Hz. You shouldn't need 100 Hz; unless you are a cyborg.

Actual response time for the OP's Lenovo is 5ms, per Lenovo's website.

OP, try using an HDMI to DVI adapter and see if that fixes the blurry text. But as far as motion blur, nothing is going to fix that. If you're not happy with the monitor, return it while you can.

radiohed · Jan 17, 2013

I have this Viewsonic IPS monitor and really like it. No wobble, thin bezel, very nice matte IPS display. HDMI. 3 year warranty. Under $200.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116581

mentaluproar · Jan 17, 2013

The base on this monitor is VERY firm, and I do have VESA support, and supposedly split screen mode. I may keep it. I don't know, I have 30 days to decide. Given its current use and that I still have AppleCare, I may look into selling it and just getting an iMac.

I'm going to give this some more time before I make any decisions. Please keep this discussion going though. I like the input.

Love and hate my new monitor

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