I'm planning on getting a MBP 13" for college and I wanted to complement it with an external monitor because the 13" screen can get annoying. I'm planning on using the monitor for web browsing, microsoft word, etc. I've been looking at some dell, samsung, and hp monitors but the ones I'm looking at seem overkill. What would be a practical monitor for me (i don't really game also)? Also, I wanted a good amount of workspace so please recommend some 22 or 24" ones.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
External Monitor For MBP 13
- Thread starter speedviper
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I have BenQ E2400HD as my secondary monitor with iMac. I've liked it a lot. Good quality for low price
The best price to performance monitor is probably the Dell 2209WA. Unless you really need 1920x1200 resolution, I would highly recommend you take a look at it. IPS panel, plenty of inputs, and a very good price for what it is.
I've been looking at screens with 1920 x 1080 resolution, but would this look weird and stretched. I want to have clear text and pictures. Should I only look for 1680 x 1050 or 1920 x 1200 monitors?
Monitors with 1920x1080 won't look stretched, since you can set the resolution of the display to the native. You are just gonna have a 16:9 ratio compared to the "computer standard" 16:10.
As far as 1680x1050 vs. 1920x1200, that's totally up to you. Are you only connecting your macbook to it? 1680x1050 will at least give you 720p, so if you are watching HD stuff off your computer, you'll be semi-covered. Also, depending on the size of the monitor, the resolution dictates how small/sharp the text will be, so keep that in mind if you have bad eyes or whatever.
its awesome.i bought an acer 21.5" (1080p) that i bought from target for about 180.. to me, it's been great, has hdmi, dvi and vga (you can have all three different sources plugged in at the same time and switch them).. has some OK speakers and a matte screen.
i love it for what i do, which isn't graphic intensive...
when i get home, i'll post the model number..
i love it for what i do, which isn't graphic intensive...
when i get home, i'll post the model number..
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I'd recommend the 24" Apple LED display, it's $799 for you under the education discount. That display is made for the MBs! Charges while connected, can use your MB screen at the same time with display, clean and neat with display's cable. Read the speakers are good for monitor speakers, much better than the MB speakers. Has iSight built-in. Many reviews have said it's worth the price, only downside is that it takes a miniDisplayPort but that's what you have in your MB. The screen is also glossy which some people hate.
No offense, but to a lot of people (especially a college student) paying $800 for a 24" screen is a "downside." I had a few people thinking I was nuts paying $250 for a used 23" Apple Cinema Display.
BenQ E2400HD is 1920x1080 and has HDMI. That's why I chose it. It's great for watching 1080p movies
I'm using the BenQ G2410HD
Love it. Nice, big & cheap. It doesn't have HDMI, but I don't have anything that uses HDMI anyway.
I chose E2400HD over others because it has HDMI and built-in speakers for my PS3. There were no other displays with those