so i'm now living back in the upside-down part of the world, my last
PC ended up being sold to my parents, and all i've got is my trusty
laptop (with some lovely blue or green lines vertically through the
screen, depending on how you bend it...)
So i'm looking for a new
PC, going to build it myself as I always have, i might still even have
wholesale accounts at dealers from my small-business i ran a few years
ago.
starting with the monitor as being maybe the most important
piece for photography, i'm a bit out of the loop for what's good these
days.
basically, my list runs like:
- more than 1920*1200. that leaves only 2560*1600 and 2560*1440. I would much rather have the 16:10 than the widerscreen.
- I would prefer smaller rather than larger for the same resolution.
-
colour accuracy is nice, i don't have a calibrator, and since i'm a
linux user i won't have many controls rather than brightness/contrast on
the monitor, i don't think i can use colour profiles but i'm going to
investigate.
- my general method of calibration is probably going
to be to find a nice printing company i like, print a few photos, and
make my monitor look the same as them.
- response time i don't much care about, and whatever plugs it comes with i'll live with.
- even lower on the list are usb ports, speakers, and card-readers. got enough. but if they're on there i won't scream.
- i don't have Eizo-money.
- i only shoot sRGB, jpeg for happy-snap memories but RAW when i know i want a good photo for something special.
-
my best bits of kit are 7D and 70-300L, if i cared that much or was
going to be a pro wedding photographer i'd go for a d3x or a
medium-format. i've got some MF lenses and may get an old body and do
some film-scanning (one day). so i don't need the 'best-of-the-best',
but better than the average as long as it's affordable. (ie, i want the '7D' of monitors)
So just a quick look at my favourite dutch comparison website, there's not much choice and it's not cheap.
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/cat/344/monitoren.html#filter:NYsxCsMwEAT_srULS06sRA8wpHDl MrgQ0hUKIjYnYQJGf8-JkGrZmd0TGwfiKVIKsNg5vjK6H1w2LsJc9kLEeJrjG3bsO2S_M c3uA3v9l6aaoUS-UFh28o-QYZ_QN_mbO1axQqeYCrGYE-qix5aHS204mEHJVCvTY621fgE
most are only 2560*1440 in 27" and 2560*1600 in 30".
frankly,
that's probably way too huge for me. my laptop is 15.4" and 1680*1050.
i'd prefer 2560*1600 in a 24", or even a 20-22" if possible.
so
first question, does anyone know of high-res, small size monitors with
decent performance? ie anything not listed in the above link, or
anything above for a price half of what's listed?
i do like the review of the dell U2711 i
found here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2922/1 and it's only AU$800
shipped (i normally steer clear of dell, being a DIY computer-builder,
but i've heard good things about their monitors). I definitely like the
lines about it being almost the most accurate not-having been
calibrated, because that's probably what'll end up happening. and i also like the 3-year dead-pixel warranty. (better than the 7-days that LG gave for a monitor i sold a few years ago...)
and the next-cheapest is the Fujitsu, but the review i found
here:
http://www.flatpanelshd.com/review.p...;id=1300192417
even says the Dell is better at the very bottom.
So
after a day of searching, i'm almost already leaning towards the dell
U2711, it's a bit more money and a bit larger than i'd like though, so
does anyone have any better ideas?
ps, if i stick my
resolution-requirements down to 1920*1200, then there's a whole range of
different options, for a lot cheaper too. but for now i'm limiting
myself to the 2560-wide versions to keep it simple, if i can't afford it
i'll cast the net wider.
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