Who knows monitors?

[AKUK]

I'd recommend either the Dell or Eizo monitors. Eizo pretty much make the best monitors about, although some of their top of the line screens cost more than most professional DSLR. They do produce models that are more in line price wise with the Dells. Well worth researching both makes and models within your price range.

 

[Buckster]

@Buckster - I see your point and a calibration device is definitely on my shopping list. But I don't think that would do me much good with my laptop. My main reason for wanting a better screen are the difficulties in brightness when using a laptop from various angles. How can I know what is the true brightness of the image? For example, I had to trash and redo our Christmas cards this year because it looked great on my laptop but the cards were very dark when I had them printed. I looked at my edited file on my friend's iMac and you could tell immediately that it was my photo that was dark, not an issue with the printer. Would a calibrator fix that? Especially when I open/close my laptop several times a day and may not open it to the exact same angle each time.

I know you were being sarcastic but my question is sincere. Also, as you can see from my budget, I have no intention of buying an expensive display.

Oh, I definitely think a separate monitor from the laptop is the way to go, absolutely. I always work with two monitors, whether I'm on my laptop or my desktop. I'd never edit on my laptop monitor for the reasons you've already recognized.

My point was to question the popular idea these days that an expensive IPS display really is a "Must Have", as though the images that were made on inexpensive displays before they existed were impossible for some reason.

No doubt, it's always nice to have the very latest, greatest thing, IF you can afford it. But - "Must Have"? I don't think so.

 

[SquarePeg38]

So, just ordered the ASUS. Have a milestone birthday coming up and the family was asking for hints at what to get me... it will be here on Thursday. Very excited. Ordered from B&H since it was the same price as on Amazon and I like B&H and try to avoid Amazon when I can since one day soon they will be the only place to shop as they are relentlessly putting all the b&m stores out of business! Also B&H was free shipping (and I'm not in NY/NJ so no tax on B&H orders here - and yes perfect people I'm aware that technically I should still pay the tax blah blah blah spare me).

GAS happy dance!

 

[SquarePeg38]

Wow, ordered this at 530 yesterday and it's here already (came at 3pm). No mail for 3 days due to the storm but UPS ground got my package here from NJ in under 24 hours. Love B&H free expedited shipping. Now to figure out how to hook this up to my laptop.

Seriously, I'm not totally technically challenged but I am not going to be joining the Geek Squad anytime soon either. Should I be using this as simply an additional screen by hooking to my hdmi cable or can I do more than that? Is it possible to use it with my laptop closed? I was planning to find all this out before ordering but didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth when the offer came up yesterday. Help!

 

[robertc]

Awesome! Just plug it in to your laptop using an hdmi cable. Your laptop should detect it right away. It may be possible to use it with your laptop closed, it really depends on your laptop. Most laptops go to sleep as soon as you close the lid unless they are attached to a docking station. You will probably need to play around with settings.

When you first hook the monitor up, your laptop may display the same thing on both screens, which usually isn't helpful. The easiest way to fix this is to right click someplace on your desktop and select "Screen Resolution" from the menu that comes up. This will open up a window that should show a graphic of two monitors on it with some options underneath. If you only see one monitor, click Detect. There is an option on the screen labeled Multiple Displays, change this from Duplicate these displays to Extend these displays. This will allow you to use both monitors independently.