I was never a fan of having an external monitor along with my laptop; but that was until I got one. I've got my laptop plugged to an external monitor even as I am writing this article and have even got myself a cheap keyboard and mouse combo to work on those. (For those who are interested, I have Logitech MK235 combo, and it has a slight issue with the space bar; you have to tap it on the center itself to make it count, but that's not bad for the price.)
Monitors are good for both gaming and for other tasks. A larger area to work on and to watch movies or gaming is always a blessing. The extra space also means that you can keep the monitor further away from your eyes and helps your eyes relax more.
BenQ MOBIUZ EX2510
Key Specifications
Display: 24.5 inch Full HD Gaming Monitor
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels
Refresh Rate: 144Hz
Response Time: 1ms
With a refresh rate of 144Hz, response time of 1ms and an IPS display, this monitor aces the list. Ummm, but what's refresh rate, response time and what do you mean by IPS display?
Just look at the monitor, it oozes quality and is a premium offering from BenQ. BenQ has a proprietory technology called HDRi which helps in making the image better. It optimises the color and contrast of the moving image to make it look more real life.
The monitor has a 1ms MPRT. MPRT stands for Monitor Picture Response Time. This is the time between the processor/graphics card processing an image and the image being displayed on the screen. A large response time means that the image will be shown after some time only. This will result in a bad gaming experience since the opponent has a millisecond advantage.
The monitor also features AMD Freesync. This is the technology by which AMD syncs the monitor the frame rate of the game to the frame rate of the monitor. This will help eliminate screen tearing and other phenomenon that is common during gaming.
The monitor has two 2.5W speakers for exception quality audio. These speakers will help you get rid of external speakers and will help you have an immersive experience during gaming.
The monitor also supports 99% of sRGB.
ASUS TUF Gaming VG259Q
Key Specifications
Display: 24. 5†Full HD IPS panel
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels
Refresh Rate: 144Hz
Response Time: 1ms
Connectivity Ports: DisplayPort, HDMI x2, and 2W speakers
Asus is one manufacturer that makes laptops that are tailor made for gaming. They have gaming in their blood and the ASUS TUF Gaming monitor is no exception.
The 24.5" display provides you with a great viewing experience for gaming, watching movies and for other productive tasks too. One of the favourite part about this monitor for me honestly is its flexibility. You can do tilt, pivot, swivel and height adjustments and these are missing in most of the monitors. The height can be changed from 0-130mm which is a lot for a monitor. You can swivel it to + or - 90 degrees and for tilit from 33 degree to - 5 degree. You can even pivot it from 90 degree to - 90 degree. This for me is a whole lot of flex which is necessary for doing productive tasks.
The monitor comes with a display port, two HDMI ports and a headphone jack. This means you can connect multiple devices at the same time to the laptop.
Asus has incorporated technologies such as Shadow Boost (clarifies darker areas without overexposing the bright areas), GameVisual (optimised for the game you're playing), and GamePlus (hotkeys to get more out of your game) helps in making the gaming experience with this monitor a pleasure.
On more technical side of things, the monitor has a resolution of 1920x1080, and response time of 1ms (MPRT).
Overall this is a great monitor for both gaming and office tasks and I love this monitor more than the first one.
ViewSonic VX2458-C-MHD
Key Specifications
Display: 24 inch
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (Full HD)
Refresh Rate: 144Hz
Response Time: 1ms
This ViewSonics 24 inch display stands out of the crowd for being an LED display in a world full of IPS displays and that's not all. It's CURVED. :)
The display has a curved design (a curve of 1800R) which gives you an immersive experience irrespective of the task you're doing. The monitor gives you a great viewing feel with panoramic images. The curved monitor will blow you away with its look and feel.
The monitor has a resolution of 1920x1080. The monitor's resolution makes it Full HD. It has a response time of mere 1ms making it extremely fit for gaming on. The monitor has a refresh rate of 144Hz which prevents jagged display and other bad experiences during gaming. This level of performance will give you an edge during gaming.
The monitor also has AMD Freesync technology. This is the technology which prevents tearing and gives you an absolute gaming feel. This is because the refresh rate of the monitor will sync with that of the game and prevents tearing and other phenomenon which occurs due to incorrect frame rate.
The monitor has 85% NTSC color coverage which makes it great for editing photos and other creative tasks. The monitor comes with DisplayPorts, HDMI ports and even DVI ports making it best to connect devices to. The monitor has two 3W speakers for giving you a great audio for gaming, movies and music. It also has a blue light filter which helps in using the monitor for long hours.
Overall a great monitor which I love for being curved in particular.
Lenovo G27c-10 Curved Gaming Monitor
Key Specifications
Display: 27 inch FHD
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels
Refresh Rate: 165Hz
Response Time: 1ms
Another curved monitor that just blows the competition out of the water. This monitor is huge at 27". In comparison, the ViewSonic was just 24". The monitor has a curve of 1500R which is more than that of the ViewSonic monitor. The monitor is a VA FHD display. VA stands for Vertical Alignment.
VA panels are sort of compromise between TN (Twisted Nematic) and IPS (In-Plane Switching) panels. VA panels are not necessarily better than either IPS or TN but strikes the balance perfectly. That is to say that IPS panels are excellent at showing dark parts of the display whereas TN panels are terrible. VA panels sits somewhere in between and offer a balance.
The display has a refresh rate of 165Hz which is more than what most of the monitors in this list offers. Most displays at this price range comes with a refresh rate of 144Hz. The response time is also great with it being 1ms. The monitor also has AMD FreeSync technology which helps in preventing tearing and other phenomenon during gaming.
For ports, the monitor comes with 1 HDMI port, 1 Display port and 1 audio port. One of the minor complains with this display is the lack of two HDMI ports, but not at all a deal breaker.
The height and tilt of the monitor can be easily adjusted. It can be lifted by 130mm and it has a tilt from -5° to 22°. The VA panel is also Low Blue Light certified offering flicker free visuals and minimizing eye strain.
Dell Professional Series P2419HC
Key Specifications
Display: 21.2 Inches
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels
Connectivity Ports: Power Connector, HDMI Port, Stand Lock Feature, DisplayPort (In), DisplayPort (Out), USB-C Connector, USB Downstream Ports, USB Downstream Ports
This is a professional monitor which is in contrast to the rest of the monitors in the list which are gaming monitors. But this was a monitor whose specs couldn't be just ignored.
The thing that makes this monitor stand out is the USB-C cable in the monitor. This means you can connect even your iPad to the display and make it useful. The single USB-C cable can do both the charging bit and the display bit for the monitor making it easy to use and less clutter on the table.
The charger is a 65W charger which is protected with Dell's built in surge protector in case of some electrical shock. The screen has ultra thin bezels on three sides and you can connect two monitors together to make the display huge.
The IPS display provides you with a huge viewing angle and helps in having a great experience using the monitor. The stand on the monitor is flexible and you can pivot, tilt, swivel and adjust the height of the monitor for a comfortable setup.
The monitor comes with an HDMI port, a display port, a USB-c port, and even USB downstream ports. The advantage of the USB C port is that you can connect to your MacBook to the USB port and it does both the charging and the data transfer for you. This is a brilliant and thoughtful gesture from Dell.
Also if you have another Dell monitor, you can connect both the monitors together via the display port. All in all a perfect fit for all your professional needs.
I wouldn't recommend this laptop for gaming as the response time is 8ms which is a bit too much for gaming. If you don't game, you can choose this laptop to suite your needs perfectly.
A few FAQ
Refresh Rate
Refresh rate is the rate at which the screen updates itself. This means that you can change the image upto that many times per second. Refresh rate is measured in Hertz. So if the refresh rate is 144Hz, then it means that the image refreshes itself 144 times per second.
What is IPS Display?
IPS stands for In-Plane Switching. IPS displays are also LCD displays but uses liquid crystals to provide more rich colours. The liquid crystals also helps in creating better viewing angles.
What is sRGB?
sRGB defines a range of colors that can be displayed on the screen. So if a screen supports 90% sRGB means the monitor can show only 90% of the colours accurately. The higher the percentage the better the colour accuracy of the monitor.
