Which resolution monitor to buy for Macbook?

[redryder]

Hi guys,

I’m looking for an external monitor to plug my macbook into. Mainly working on Aperture, Microsoft office, and web surfing. Not watching movies or gaming on it.

With my budget, the only IPS monitor I can afford is the 22” Dell ultrasharp. It comes with 1680x1050 resolution (or close to that). Also, its non-glossy, and I prefer glossy.

Alternatively I can get a plain vanilla 24” TN monitor with 1920x1200.

I do need the extra screen estate, which is why I decided to buy a monitor in the first place. I frequently have to refer to multiple documents at the same time while working on Microsoft office, and Aperture would certainly benefit from more space.

All these resolutions are new to me, my current desktop PC is still running on 1200x1024. Is there a significant difference moving from 1680 to 1920? Is it justified to lose the IPS feature (which gives better color and viewing angles, I’ve been told).

 

[BlueRevolution]

I'd buy the Dell, personally. If you're working with photos, you really should be using a matte rather than glossy monitor, since the colour reproduction is more faithful.

In my experience, whenever you add new screen space, it feels like a whole new world has opened to you. Even adding a 17" Dell monitor to my 20" iMac made a huge difference. So I'd focus on getting more, rather than the "but I could have even more" aspect of the thing.

Bottom line: quality > quantity.

(All of that said, I will hopefully be in the market for a 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 display pretty soon.)