monitor

All posts tagged monitor

Alienware AW3418DW 34″ Ultrawide Monitor w/Gsync

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 03/14/2019

Posted in: Editor's Choice, Hardware, PC Reviews. Tagged: 34", alienware, aw3418dw, dell, g sync, gaming, gaming monitor, monitor, pc monitor, rgb, ultrawide. Leave a comment

Manufacturer: Dell

Release Date: 10/01/2017

MSRP: $1,499.99

I used to love Alienware as it was my first gaming laptop back in 2010, but now that it’s long gone and obsolete I went for their desktops and have since parted ways with that. Alienware makes slick-looking hardware, but their build quality and prices have been questionable over the last decade. I never thought I’d have them back in my gaming life with a monitor of all things. I wanted a 34″ ultrawide monitor with Gsync and Alienware just so happens to have the best on the market right now. I sacrificed HDR for Gsync as I felt it was a little more important for PC gaming.

When I received the box in the mail I didn’t realize you could park a car in it. Seriously, the thing barely fit into an SUV with the back seats folded down, and I was surprised to see most of it was foam to support this massively bulky and heavy monitor. Because of the Gsync chip and the vents on top, this monitor is the largest I have ever seen and it weighs nearly 30 lbs. After assembling this beast I plugged it in via DisplayPort (You can’t get a higher refresh rate without it) I immediately noticed the lighting zones which are freaking beautiful. Alienware has always been knowns for sleek lighting effects and there are zones on the bottom and rear of the panel. It looks fantastic, but I noticed that they aren’t bright enough on the back to really see unless you stare at them and the bottom one is more of a glow. It looks awesome, but you won’t really notice them if your monitor is up against a wall. The stand is designed for cable management and I loved this as you can hide your cables behind the monitor thanks to the nifty design. The 3 USB 3.0 ports came in real handy and expanded my USB slots and I didn’t have to run everything to the tower.

This monitor comes stock clocked at 100Hz and you have to go into the monitor settings and overclock it to 120 yourself. It’s as simple as an OSD setting on the monitor and changing it in your display control panel. There are some other settings in the OSD such as setting the lighting zones (which is pain here), displaying an FPS counter, various picture settings, response time, dark stabilization, and power saving. I didn’t really need to mess with anything as it comes very well calibrated out of the box.

Once I started gaming I noticed right away that Gsync was working. With Vsync turned off in games, you will notice how smooth turning the camera is and for games that can reach 120FPS it’s the silkiest gaming experience I have ever had. Of course for games these days you need a 2070 or higher to get anything FPS over 60 to notice the 120Hz kicking in, but the Gsync is well worth the price alone. With the monitor being curved the way it is it kind of sucks your visuals in and keeps you focused. After looking at a flat monitor again I noticed the difference right away and realized that curves aren’t just gimmicks.

While games look fantastic on this monitor there are some issues that are serious gripes, but not deal breakers. The rear IO panel is thin plastic and doesn’t slide on correctly I have never been able to make it flush with the monitor and the tabs started breaking off. I also absolutely despise Alienware’s software as they rarely ever update it and the AlienFX doesn’t work correctly. Every time I set a color scheme it resets when the monitor wakes or the PC restarts and the presets do not work and save your settings. I have to constantly go in and reset the colors so it’s too much effort and I just left it on color spectrum mode. I then later found out that the Monitor Control Center is heavily outdated and you actually need Alienware Command Center to probably set the lights correctly. Because of the Gsync chip the monitor gets really hot and there’s a lot of heat coming out of the top of the vent, this is what is supposed to happen of course, but you will notice a small room heat up a bit from it.

Overall, the Alienware AW3418DW is the best monitor I’ve ever laid eyes and there are so many reasons to spend the money on this thing. Sure, it’s a dream level price for a monitor, but it’s a dream level for a reason. Gsync alone is well worth the money and helps free up frames that your GPU doesn’t have to worry about. Great cable management, cool lighting, wide crisp display, 120hz refresh rate, 3 USB ports, and plenty of OSD options are nothing to sneeze at.

LG 32MP58HQ IPS LED Monitor

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 05/31/2016

Posted in: Editor's Choice, Hardware, Mac, PC Reviews. Tagged: 32", 32mp58hq, hardware, ips, led, lg, monitor. Leave a comment

Manufacturer: LG

Release Date: 2/1/2016

Price: $339.99

Colors: White, Black

Display Type: LED

Resolution: 1080p

Refresh Rate: 60Hz

Size: 32″

Inputs: HDMI, VGA, AUX

Monitors aren’t something I buy very often, in fact, I’ve only ever bought one type and that was the Dell S2740L and that was 3 years ago. It was my first real monitor that didn’t come with a setup and was fantastic, but it was time to upgrade to something more modern and bigger. I’m not going to lie, I’m not very savvy with monitors or TVs. I don’t buy them often enough to do constant research or keep up with trends. I usually go into a store with a budget and research on my phone as needed. I started out by looking for other 27″ monitors that just looked super clear and crisp, had a minimal design, and maybe some fancy settings. I first looked at the Asus MX279H because it had a fantastic-looking screen and was LED. I want to move away from LCD and it’s a fading technology. I then noticed larger screens that were around the same price, but then there were Ultrawide displays that were over $500. There was a $400 29″ LG monitor with AMD Freesync, but the 21:1 ratio was a little off-putting as almost everything is made for 16:9.

That was my major dilemma; do I sacrifice dual monitors for an Ultrawide or just get another 27″ monitor? My next thought was I just want a 1080p monitor as most gaming above that requires multiple GPUs and I don’t have the money or set up for that. So here I was looking at 1080p monitors that were bigger than 27″. I never thought in a million years I would ever get a 32″ monitor as that is the size of most entry flat screens. 3 years ago a 32″ monitor was close to $1,000. I was also switching to a new brand that I don’t own anything from LG. So, I settled on the 32MP58, and no I didn’t know what IPS was at the time, but it’s for the most true-to-life color you can get. Comparing an LED monitor next to an LCD is a huge difference, and the size is perfect for gaming.

So, I took my new monitor home and took down one of the 27″ Dells, and plopped it down. It takes up a lot of desk real estate, so be prepared to have a large desk or nothing else on it. I had to slide my other 27″ Dell all the way to the edge of the desk to make them both fit. I can now use the LG for gaming and video and the Dell for tasks like web browsing and file management.

The setup was easy enough, and I’m shocked this monitor is VGA or HDMI — both extremes. Either go fully digital or full analog. I don’t know why in 2016 anything has VGA anymore, but it’s there. I was surprised to not see DVI-I or DVI-D at all which I had my Dell monitors set up as. Either way, most new GPUs come with two HDMI ports and two DVI. After installing the curved stand (which is minimal and sleek) I plugged it in and on it went.

The monitor detected the video right away and turned it right on. The OSD button is a four-way switch underneath the power light which is awkward and weird. There are many settings and most of these are universal across all of LG’s newest monitors. I chose the Gaming preset and for the most part, this monitor needs very little adjustment. I used the Windows Color Calibration and nothing needed adjusting. I then did a little research on some LG-exclusive settings like SuperResolution. It sounds awesome on paper, but this is for anything that doesn’t render or display natively in 1080p and needs upscaling. This is great for older game consoles, but not necessary for PC games as it just makes everything overly sharp and ugly. There are so many settings in this monitor such as adjusting every single color under the sun, not just RGB. There’s a great black stabilizer that keeps everything from getting too dark and washed out which is a nice feature. I also found this to be an extremely bright monitor and as the sun went down I had to change it from the already bright 75 down to around 47. 100 brightness is just not ideal and not needed at all.

There are other features like Response Time for fast-moving objects (games in 60FPS or 60FPS movies) and some other features, but mostly not many need to be touched and that’s how it should be. There’s no software involved with this monitor like there is for Dell which is just fine as most people don’t like that kind of thing. So settings-wise and physical design there isn’t much to complain about. I wish this was an edge-to-edge display, but the bezel is embossed which isn’t awful, but the back is bulky. There’s also a headphone jack in the back that allows audio to stream through and can be controlled via the monitor OSD which is also awkward and bizarre. I also have to mention this is a very wobbly monitor if your desk isn’t quite stable. I had to push my two monitors together to keep each one balanced. If you have a wobbly monitor issue you need to buy a stand that has braces for each side.

Overall, the games and video looked amazing on this monitor. Some of the best picture quality I have seen on any monitor to date. With my older Dell and this side-by-side, I can see the difference and even the size makes a huge difference. Should you go larger than 32″? Maybe 34″, but that might be pushing it. I won’t be purchasing another monitor anytime soon, probably not for a few years, but I am very happy with this purchase and $300 is quite fair for what you get. With a sharp and crystal clear display, beautiful colors, and great physical design you can’t go wrong here.

Dell S2740L 27″ LED Monitor

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 08/14/2013

Posted in: Editor's Choice, Hardware. Tagged: 27", dell, led, monitor, s2740l. 2 Comments

Manufacturer: Dell

Release Date: 9/20/2012

MSRP: $369.99

Colors: Black

Size: 27″

Ports: VGA, DVI, HDMI, 2x USB

A good monitor doesn’t just look good and every monitor looks different to other people. You need features, stability, and clarity. A very bright monitor isn’t exactly good. The models in the store are in torch mode which is the contrast and brightness set all the way up. This is to make the monitors look bright and vivid, yet when you come home with it it isn’t so. The Dell S2740L is all of the above. Crisp, vivid, and full of features. When I saw the install disc I rolled my eyes. Some crappy buggy software is thrown in as a gimmick or to “help” control the 2 USB slots that are underneath the unit. I was surprised that the software auto-controls the presets for when each program is opened. This shocked me. You can drag exes into the window and decide what preset you want for it. You can also turn it off, but I prefer this method. The monitor is crystal clear through both DVI and HDMI. However, the factory settings are terrible. Turning the image enhancer on makes everything look like it was overly sharpened in Photoshop. I actually thought something was wrong with the monitor, I had to switch out the DVI cables to see. Once that was off the monitors looked so crisp and clear.

The software allows you to arrange grids on each monitor you have. When you drag a window into that region it will auto-resize it for you. This is great if you are dragging and dropping around folders or switching between programs a lot. The software also allows you to easily make separate settings for each monitor. Even with great software, a monitor can still suck. This monitor was tested on movies and games and the colors just popped. They were so bright and colorful. Once you get used to the brightness you can start turning it down bit by bit to save energy. There is an energy meter when you turn the brightness and contrast down. Eventually, you can get it down to 60% without it bothering you.

One thing that did annoy me is that the ports are too hard to get to. They are directly underneath the unit in the back so you need to crouch down, pull the monitor towards the edge of the desk, and fiddle around until you get the plugs in. This was a bad spot for the USB ports as well, why couldn’t they be on the side? One thing you may wonder about is the gap between multiple monitors. It isn’t seamless like an edge-to-edge display, but it isn’t so bad either because the monitor is completely flat without a plastic bevel to bother you. There aren’t many issues here except the initial setup and the ports are in weird spots.

For the price, this is a damn good monitor and I highly advise you to get 2. I have two myself and they are gorgeous. I can’t explain how beautiful this monitor is unless you get one yourself. This may be one of the sharpest 27″ monitors out there.