Looking for Help Choosing between Two Monitors

Lbangiebargie on 06/09/2020 - 16:36
Last edited 07/09/2020 - 15:39 by 1 other user

Hi OB gurus,

I'm humbly looking for your help to choose a new monitor to use with my MacBook Pro (13" 2017 model) in my home office. I'll mainly be using the monitor to work on 2 or 3 documents at a time.

In short, I'm hoping for:

• Around 27" screen size
• Height adjustable
• If possible, USB-C (so I can charge my MacBook while plugged in)
• Aesthetically, not too bulky

My ideal budget is circa $500 on the basis that I'll be starting at this thing for about 10 hours a day.

The two models that have jumped out at me recently from this forum are:

• Dell UltraSharp 27 USB-C Hub Monitor U2721DE, $549 (Dell Outlet, Refurbished); or
• Xiaomi Ultrawide 34" Curved Monitor, $499 in upcoming sale.

The main trade-off between the two, for my purposes, seems to be extra screen (Xiaomi) vs USB C connectivity (Dell).

Could anyone make a recommendation between the two monitors, or recommend something else that might suit? Wary that I might be overspending if I'm not using the monitor for gaming.

Big thank you in advance,

Bangie

• 

  oscargamer on 06/09/2020 - 16:58

  +1

  If you want to work on 2 pages side by side, I would suggest a standard 32" 1440p monitor.

  I just bought an "AOC Q32V3/WS" for SWMBO for her home office, and it's cheap and works beautifully.

  • 

    AustriaBargain on 06/09/2020 - 18:36

    Just go for 4k. Each page will be only be 1280 pixels wide, which is close to the resolution of phones these days. The usual arguments against 4K don't apply if you're not a gamer, and even if you were you could upscale anyway.

• 

  MagicMushroom on 06/09/2020 - 17:21

  Viewing 3 documents side by side works well on ultrawide.

  • 

    bangiebargie on 06/09/2020 - 18:49

    Thanks, that was my thinking re the Xiaomi. Then again, I can always use split-screen view to make three docs work.

    • 

      MagicMushroom on 06/09/2020 - 20:21

      True but it will work better simply because it's wider. If you feel fine with 3 windows on 16:9, you can probably do 5 windows on 21:9 (not that you need to). I normally keep at 3-4 windows on my ultrawide.

• 

  tristanchipchase on 06/09/2020 - 20:39

  Ive had no experience with Xiaomi products lots, but Ive has 3 x 27” 4K displays and I recently purchased the Dell UltraSharp 27 4K USB-C Monitor: U2720Q so that I could charge my MacBook via USB-C. I couldn’t be happier with the experience. The picture quality is equally as good as my Acer and Samsung displays. The USB-c is plug and play as expected.

  • 

    bangiebargie on 07/09/2020 - 09:49

    This monitor looks great! It’s a bit out of my budget, sadly. But I’m leaning towards the Dell model I mentioned above.