Help me choose a monitor set up

[fluidedge]

Hi i need a bit of help choosing a monitor set up. My options are, with my budget:

i) Get 2 20" monitors from a good(ish) brand/model
ii) Get 1 top of the range 22" monitor
iii) Get 1 cheaper 24" monitor (Acer, say)

I could do with screen space, but i want quality too. What setup would you think would be good for me? I'm using Final Cut more and more in addition to Maya, Adobe CS3 and other similar apps.

Any help appreciated!

 

[Cave Man]

If you're doing critical photo work, at least one of your displays should be S-IPS and not TN. This is the display that you'll view your images on and which you'll want to calibrate once or twice a month.

 

[wallaby]

22-inch monitors are a bad idea. Typically they're the same resolution as 20-inch monitors, just bigger (and therefore stretched/don't look any better).

I've used Final Cut along with Adobe CS3 suite this past semester, and although I used a 2-monitor setup sometimes (one 19" square LCD plus my MBP 15" widescreen), I tended toward one screen, with assorted other junk on the other screen. My setup was not ideal though. For your uses, I think two 20-inchers would be preferable. A single 24" screen would be better for watching movies and playing games.

 

[Mr.Noisy]

Hi i need a bit of help choosing a monitor set up. My options are, with my budget:

i) Get 2 20" monitors from a good(ish) brand/model
ii) Get 1 top of the range 22" monitor
iii) Get 1 cheaper 24" monitor (Acer, say)

I could do with screen space, but i want quality too. What setup would you think would be good for me? I'm using Final Cut more and more in addition to Maya, Adobe CS3 and other similar apps.

Any help appreciated!

Check the prices of 24" monitors, I use 2 x 24" dells for photographic work (hdr), great but expensive, but there are some good 24"'s out there, Samsung or HP are worth a look,
but as already mentioned, avoid 22" monitors.

 

[amik]

What is your actual budget?

 

[fluidedge]

looking at about £250 ($500)

 

[Cave Man]

For that kind of money, I'd get a nice 24" S-IPS matte display and with whatever you have left, buy the best you can get.

 

[amik]

^ x2

I was hoping to be able to recommend the samsung 244t, but it looks like the cheapest online price is around $650. Still, a S-IPS 24" would be my choice if I was looking for a photo monitor in that price range. Best of luck.

 

[fluidedge]

cheers guys. Looking around for an S-IPS is proving difficult to find one in my range.

For this reason i'm now looking at dual 20"s. Probably the Samsung SyncMaster 206BW (i can get a pair for £300/$600)

another thought has just occurred to me - sell my current kit and get an iMac 24". I'm just not sure how my high end apps will cope with this.

 

[mac2maverick]

For that kind of money, I'd get a nice 24" S-IPS matte display and with whatever you have left, buy the best you can get.

If you can find a 24" S-IPS panel monitor for that price I want one!!

From what I've read Nec makes an S-IPS 24" called MultiSync LCD 2490WuXi and it's supposed to be the most affordable S=IPS but far over that price.

The Dell 2407 WFP-HC is an S-PVA available for $600 from Dell in Canada

The BenQ FP241W rates well, has an msrp of $859 but I've found online for as low as $549 in Canada (supplies are running low I think because it's discontinued - I could be wrong on this)

These are the best quality, most reasonably priced 24" monitors I've found so far. If anyone knows of something better in the $500-$600 range please let me know.