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Searching a monitor for my new mac mini

J

James2McGill3

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 9, 2019
66
3
Gonna buy a monitor for my new mac mini, need usb-c and 4k minimum. I have 2 options one is samsung smart m7 for 375usd and LG 27ul850 for 400 usd (both second hand/refurbished). Which one would you recommend me?
Do you have any other suggestion for 400 usd or less?
 
I would avoid the M7 because of its inferior VA panel. LG's is probably the best option especially for a secondhand purchase. I would have also recommended a refurbished Dell Ultrasharp U2718Q or newer but both monitors are very similar and as good as it gets for the price.
 
Make sure whatever you buy has a no questions asked return policy within 30 days.
I scoured the net looking for a suitable monitor and found one with lots and lots of great reviews (on Amazon).
The thing was horrible. Led backlit. Seemed to shimmer when I was looking at it. 1.9 million pixels shimmering on & off.
Returned it.
 
We have a Mac Mini M1 16gig RAM, 1 Tera HDD, Logitech MX Keys and MX Mouse with a unifier receiver, using the LG monitor you're considering. I Bought both the Mac and the monitor new, and have been using them for the last 10 months. Definitely go for the LG model monitor. Its a great combination for your Mini.
 
Dell U2722 here.
HDMI and DP,
last few years I am using mostly Dell displays, all work great with Mac
 
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Agree with the Dell comments here. The displays are great and work well with Mac. Ultimately replaced my ageing thunderbolt display with the Dell UltraSharp 2415, as I needed a 16:10 workspace. Suspect it will last until the new Apple displays are launched. Not sure if the newer models have all the connectivity you need, however (4K, USB-C). The colors and brightness are awesome though!
 
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hollydill said:
I would avoid the M7 because of its inferior VA panel. LG's is probably the best option especially for a secondhand purchase. I would have also recommended a refurbished Dell Ultrasharp U2718Q or newer but both monitors are very similar and as good as it gets for the price.
Click to expand...
Make sure if you purchase the U2718Q that the panel has been replaced/serviced during the refurbishment. Have this same monitor and the whole edge of the monitor has a glowing edge around it. Lots of examples of this issue on the Dell Community forums. Of course this only started occurring right when my Dell warranty ran out. ? Great monitor otherwise...
 
I have the LG mentioned earlier with USB-C. I dunno how it stacks up with the Dell and others but it works for me.

LG 27UP850-W Monitor 27” UHD (3840 x 2160)​

 
Panther61 said:
I have the LG mentioned earlier with USB-C. I dunno how it stacks up with the Dell and others but it works for me.

LG 27UP850-W Monitor 27” UHD (3840 x 2160)​

Click to expand...

Just got 2 of these, running great on a Mac Mini 2018.
 

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I recently got the BenQ EW3270U, 4K, UHD, USB-C/HDMI and DP. I am liking it very much coming from Dell 38" 4K. It was $400 on Amazon.

IMG_2320.JPG
 
hollydill said:
I would avoid the M7 because of its inferior VA panel. LG's is probably the best option especially for a secondhand purchase. I would have also recommended a refurbished Dell Ultrasharp U2718Q or newer but both monitors are very similar and as good as it gets for the price.
Click to expand...

I have U2718Qs and a U2720Q and would recommend the U2720Q for USB-C which the OP specifically requested. No idea if you can get it for under $400. Monitor prices are nuts these days. I've used a number of Intel and M1 Macs with these monitors and I can always recommend Dell Ultrasharps.
 
4GBiPodNano said:
Make sure if you purchase the U2718Q that the panel has been replaced/serviced during the refurbishment. Have this same monitor and the whole edge of the monitor has a glowing edge around it. Lots of examples of this issue on the Dell Community forums. Of course this only started occurring right when my Dell warranty ran out. ? Great monitor otherwise...
Click to expand...

I have two of these and have not had this problem. Dell has sold these for quite a number of years and they may have had some bad batches over the years.
 
Scipster said:
Agree with the Dell comments here. The displays are great and work well with Mac. Ultimately replaced my ageing thunderbolt display with the Dell UltraSharp 2415, as I needed a 16:10 workspace. Suspect it will last until the new Apple displays are launched. Not sure if the newer models have all the connectivity you need, however (4K, USB-C). The colors and brightness are awesome though!
Click to expand...
That is really good news! I have read several times people saying that their Dell U2415 wasn't working with the M1 Mac Mini. You don't have the fuzzy text problem? No strange colors, etc.?

I have a Dell U2415 - 24" - 1920x1200 - 16:10:

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/cty/dell-ultrasharp-24-monitor-u2415/spd/dell-u2415

I want to buy an M1 Mac Mini and use it with the U2415, which I like a lot. Reading about all the people having problems connecting a monitor to the M1 Mac Mini I am getting concerned. I would prefer to use HDMI so that I don't use one of the USB-C/Thunderbolt ports.
 
gradi said:
That is really good news! I have read several times people saying that their Dell U2415 wasn't working with the M1 Mac Mini. You don't have the fuzzy text problem? No strange colors, etc.?

I have a Dell U2415 - 24" - 1920x1200 - 16:10:

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/cty/dell-ultrasharp-24-monitor-u2415/spd/dell-u2415

I want to buy an M1 Mac Mini and use it with the U2415, which I like a lot. Reading about all the people having problems connecting a monitor to the M1 Mac Mini I am getting concerned. I would prefer to use HDMI so that I don't use one of the USB-C/Thunderbolt ports.
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if there were problems on the monitor side with the WUXGA Dell displays as I've been buying them since around 2005 and they are really old and reliable.
 
pshufd said:
I'd be surprised if there were problems on the monitor side with the WUXGA Dell displays as I've been buying them since around 2005 and they are really old and reliable.
Click to expand...

I would be very surprised about monitor problems too since the interfaces, I thought, were standardized. I have owned several monitors over the years and connected them to various computers, switched between computers, etc. and everything just worked. Unfortunately, the M1 Mac Mini seems to fairly often have problems. Here is someone with problems with the Dell U2415:

https://www.reddit.com/r/macmini/comments/nhalnt

I have found lots of stuff about monitor problems with the M1 Mac Mini. This is a long 29 page thread that started in 2020 and the most recent posts are in 2022:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...play-fuzzy-fonts-colors-ypbpr-vs-rgb.2276345/

Another one:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...win10-soft-on-m1-mini-is-this-normal.2277483/

https://www.reddit.com/r/macmini/comments/nhalnt

Another one:

https://www.howtogeek.com/358596/how-to-fix-blurry-fonts-on-macos-mojave-with-subpixel-antialiasing/

Video from a guy who bought the M1 Mac Mini. He spent days unable to use his new computer because of trouble working with his Apple monitor. The monitor worked fine on his other Mac though. After trying everything, including working with his contacts at Apple where he used to work, searching the internet, etc. he found a kludge that got it working. Other people not as lucky. A nightmare. He was about to go buy a new monitor and hope that it would work with no guarantee that it would since there was no way to know why his monitor would ONLY NOT work with the M1 Mac Mini.

I Bought the M1 Mac mini and Couldn't Get it to Work


These links are just a few. If you search you will find many more. It makes me nervous about ordering the M1 Mac Mini, but I may go ahead and do it anyway.
 
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