1440p or 1080p monitor to use with a laptop?

[Berzeker]

I've been thinking about buying a monitor to use with my laptop, but I can't decide if 1080p is enough or if I should go for a 1440p monitor.
My laptop isn't that powerfull, it has a quad-core i7 and a nvidia GT740M, so I will have to downscale to 720p to play games will that affect anything? ( my laptop's screen has a resolution of 1366x768)
It might sound stupid to buy a 1440p monitor if my laptop can't handle it, but I work a lot with coding and one thing that annoys me a lot in my laptop's screen is that it can't fit that much stuff, and sooner or later I will build a pc capable of 1440p or even 4K and my idea was to instead of buying everything at once I can buy now the peripherals, wich is something that I can use while I don't have the pc, and then I just have to buy the pc.
I've been thinking in an IPS monitor between 24" and 27", preferebly with VESA mount so I can buy a clamp monitor arm, since my desk space is limited. I will put a list of monitors below so you can tell me your opinion about them and suggest another ones.

Dell S2415H - 180€
Dell Ultrasharp U2414H - 250€
Asus VX24AH - 300€
Dell UltraSharp U2515H - 350€

 

[firefoxx04]

Your laptop will handle 1440p just fine over hdmi with anything other than gaming. Resolution does not require a lot of horsepower unless you are doing 3d imaging.

I would go 1440p if you can afford it. The resolution is much better and you will not regret it.

edit: besides, when you replace the laptop you will still have the nice display for whatever you buy next.

 

[captaincharisma]

1440P means its a 4K monitor and there are only a handful of laptops out right now that have the capability to do anything in 4K. so your laptop will not be able to do the resolutions a 1440P monitor can

 

[JamesSneed]

Your laptop will be fine supporting 1440p as you already know gaming at that resolution will be a no go mostly unless you run at 720p and let the monitor scale it up.

If you move up to 1440p my suggestion is to go with a 27 inch monitor if you stay smaller then stick with 1080p. Since you use this for work, I do as well, you don't want to jack with scaling and DPI issues which is to say 1440p on a smaller than 27 inch monitor if you have DPI issues the text is insanely small.

I really like the Dell UltraSharp U2715H that I have its a good compromise for work and play. This is a bit higher priced monitor but is a very good value today since its a bit older the price has come down.

 

[SBMfromLA]

Your laptop was probably optimzed to work well with that lower resolution. Adding a 1080 monitor would surely tax it a bit but moving up to 1440 might be a bit too much. It would work... surely... another thing you could do is... get the 1440 monitor for the extra screen space and see how everything is working and if you detect any problems you could always just lower the resolution of the monitor or return it, paying the restocking fee, and getting a 1080p.

 

[JamesSneed]

1440P means its a 4K monitor and there are only a handful of laptops out right now that have the capability to do anything in 4K. so your laptop will not be able to do the resolutions a 1440P monitor can

You are very confused, 1440p is not 4K. A 1440p monitor is considered 2K. I run a 1440p monitor and dock a crapy work provided laptop to it. I dont play any games on the laptop but it will do 2K youtube just fine, this is with Intel built in graphics mind you.

Resolution name Horizontal x Vertical pixels Other names
UHD 3,840x2,160 4K, Ultra HD, Ultra-High Definition
2K 2,048x[unspecified] none
WUXGA 1,920x1,200 Widescreen Ultra Extended Graphics Array
1080p 1,920x1,080 Full HD, FHD, HD, High Definition

 

[JamesSneed]

Your laptop was probably optimzed to work well with that lower resolution. Adding a 1080 monitor would surely tax it a bit but moving up to 1440 might be a bit too much. It would work... surely... another thing you could do is... get the 1440 monitor for the extra screen space and see how everything is working and if you detect any problems you could always just lower the resolution of the monitor or return it, paying the restocking fee, and getting a 1080p.

I'm not sure why you said any of this can you explain? The GT740M was made to support up to 4K resolutions. For non gaming it will be fine if the OP wanted even a 4K monitor. For gaming that is another story as we are dealing with performance not with what is sported of which the OP is already fine with scaling back to 720p. I run a much weaker GPU for work using a 1440p monitor and its lovely.

 

[SBMfromLA]

Your laptop was probably optimzed to work well with that lower resolution. Adding a 1080 monitor would surely tax it a bit but moving up to 1440 might be a bit too much. It would work... surely... another thing you could do is... get the 1440 monitor for the extra screen space and see how everything is working and if you detect any problems you could always just lower the resolution of the monitor or return it, paying the restocking fee, and getting a 1080p.

I'm not sure why you said any of this can you explain? The GT740M was made to support up to 4K resolutions. For non gaming it will be fine if the OP wanted even a 4K monitor. For gaming that is another story as we are dealing with performance not with what is sported of which the OP is already fine with scaling back to 720p. I run a much weaker GPU for work using a 1440p monitor and its lovely.

It was gaming I was referring too...

 

[Berzeker]

Your laptop will be fine supporting 1440p as you already know gaming at that resolution will be a no go mostly unless you run at 720p and let the monitor scale it up.

If you move up to 1440p my suggestion is to go with a 27 inch monitor if you stay smaller then stick with 1080p. Since you use this for work, I do as well, you don't want to jack with scaling and DPI issues which is to say 1440p on a smaller than 27 inch monitor if you have DPI issues the text is insanely small.

I really like the Dell UltraSharp U2715H that I have its a good compromise for work and play. This is a bit higher priced monitor but is a very good value today since its a bit older the price has come down.

But when running games at 720p will the image look weird?
I though about the problem of having a 1440p resolution in a 25" but the price of the 27" Dell is quite high, it costs 500€, 150€ more than the 25", and I don't want to spend that much. I might buy the 25" inch and test for a week or so and if I find it hard to read I can always return it and buy a 1080p monitor

 

[Berzeker]

Your laptop will handle 1440p just fine over hdmi with anything other than gaming. Resolution does not require a lot of horsepower unless you are doing 3d imaging.

I would go 1440p if you can afford it. The resolution is much better and you will not regret it.

edit: besides, when you replace the laptop you will still have the nice display for whatever you buy next.

But when running games at 720p will the image look weird?

 

[JamesSneed]

Your laptop will handle 1440p just fine over hdmi with anything other than gaming. Resolution does not require a lot of horsepower unless you are doing 3d imaging.

I would go 1440p if you can afford it. The resolution is much better and you will not regret it.

edit: besides, when you replace the laptop you will still have the nice display for whatever you buy next.

But when running games at 720p will the image look weird?

No the image will be fine. Scaling from 720p to 1440p has 1 to 1 mapping so most monitors will do this nicely.

 

[JamesSneed]

One last note if you have a place you can go to that would have various monitors(even if they are not the ones you want) that you could use to view various resolutions in various sizes that may help you decide. I personally cant take 1440p on anything smaller than a 27 inch.