- Sep 15, 2014
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Disclaimer: this is a first-world problem. But given that, I have a small monitor dilemma and I'm curious what you think I should do.
So I have a 4x monitor setup (2x 4K Lenovo L28u-10 monitors which are nice but mediocre color-wise, 2x 1080p old Dells) and I decided this holiday season that I was going to replace the 1080p screens with 4Ks and, while I'm at it, get monitors with really vibrant colors. As a TH editor, I hate to admit it, but I care about image quality than gaming. It's not color accuracy per se; I just like nice color (who doesn't?)
So, a few weeks ago, I saw someone was selling a used Lenovo P27u-10, which boasts 99% Adobe RGB and 145% sRGB, for $200 on eBay. I thought "this will match my existing Lenovo monitors but with better color." With some trepidation (about it being used), I bought one, got it and it turned out to be . . . awesome. The colors are the most vibrant I've ever had on a monitor that I have owned. It's great.
Now, I needed a second 4K monitor, and I didn't see anybody else selling used P27u-10s on eBay for reasonable prices and spending $300+ on a used monitor from an unknown source seemed like a risky idea. Lenovo doesn't make this monitor anymore new and the new version, the P27u-20, is a little pricey for my budget (going for $550 on sale).
So on BF, I ordered a Dell Ultrasharp U2720QM (aka U2720Q), which has great reviews (we don't review productivity monitors at Tom's Hardware so I'm going by tests on other sites) and claims to have a wide color gamut (99% sRGB, 95% DCI-P3 and 82% Adobe, which is not as much as the Lenovo but still should be good). It normally goes for around $550 but was $349 for BF.
Yesterday, I plugged in the Dell U2720QM for the first time and put it next to the Lenovo P27u-10 to see which looked better. No contest, the old, used Lenovo monitor that I bought for $200 looks 1000x better than the Dell. BTW, both of these monitors sold for between $550 - $750 when they were the latest models. The Dell has ugly, washed out colors and, at every setting I tried -- and I tried them all, including four flavors of HDR / every color temp -- blues look like a jaundiced purple and every color looks flat. These are both IPS monitors but the contrast on the Dell sucks. Everything looks like there's an extra white light shining through it from the backlight and washing colors out.
The Dell monitor works; it's not defective. It just, frankly, has awful color reproduction, particularly in comparison to the P27u-10. I spent like 4 hours yesterday trying every possible setting but everything is washed out. Maybe it would look better next to a cheaper monitor that's not wide color gamut like the P27u-10.
I see that now there are more people on eBay selling their used P27u-10s for $280 - $300 (which seems a lot for the risk of a used monitor). I could try to return the Dell and take my chances with another used P27u-10, though I might have gotten lucky that the place I bought mine from pulled it from an office and was very reputable (they have no more). I could buy Lenovo's new P27-u20, which replaced the u10, but it's a whopping $550 and some users complain it has coil whine.
First world problems I know, but would you return a perfectly good, brand new monitor to take your chances buying a used monitor off eBay that costs around the same price but, if it works, has a better picture? Both are 4K, 27-inch monitors that run at 60 Hz. Both have lots of connectivity options (I don't care though, because it's just connecting to my desktop). It's just that the color quality on the Lenovo is really good and on the Dell, it's not unusable but really, really inferior.
I don't know if you can tell from photos, but the Dell (not as good, IMHO) is on the left and the Lenovo (better) is on the right in these images. I've posted some comparison shots on imgur.
View: https://imgur.com/a/bmN0ime
So I have a 4x monitor setup (2x 4K Lenovo L28u-10 monitors which are nice but mediocre color-wise, 2x 1080p old Dells) and I decided this holiday season that I was going to replace the 1080p screens with 4Ks and, while I'm at it, get monitors with really vibrant colors. As a TH editor, I hate to admit it, but I care about image quality than gaming. It's not color accuracy per se; I just like nice color (who doesn't?)
So, a few weeks ago, I saw someone was selling a used Lenovo P27u-10, which boasts 99% Adobe RGB and 145% sRGB, for $200 on eBay. I thought "this will match my existing Lenovo monitors but with better color." With some trepidation (about it being used), I bought one, got it and it turned out to be . . . awesome. The colors are the most vibrant I've ever had on a monitor that I have owned. It's great.
Now, I needed a second 4K monitor, and I didn't see anybody else selling used P27u-10s on eBay for reasonable prices and spending $300+ on a used monitor from an unknown source seemed like a risky idea. Lenovo doesn't make this monitor anymore new and the new version, the P27u-20, is a little pricey for my budget (going for $550 on sale).
So on BF, I ordered a Dell Ultrasharp U2720QM (aka U2720Q), which has great reviews (we don't review productivity monitors at Tom's Hardware so I'm going by tests on other sites) and claims to have a wide color gamut (99% sRGB, 95% DCI-P3 and 82% Adobe, which is not as much as the Lenovo but still should be good). It normally goes for around $550 but was $349 for BF.
Yesterday, I plugged in the Dell U2720QM for the first time and put it next to the Lenovo P27u-10 to see which looked better. No contest, the old, used Lenovo monitor that I bought for $200 looks 1000x better than the Dell. BTW, both of these monitors sold for between $550 - $750 when they were the latest models. The Dell has ugly, washed out colors and, at every setting I tried -- and I tried them all, including four flavors of HDR / every color temp -- blues look like a jaundiced purple and every color looks flat. These are both IPS monitors but the contrast on the Dell sucks. Everything looks like there's an extra white light shining through it from the backlight and washing colors out.
The Dell monitor works; it's not defective. It just, frankly, has awful color reproduction, particularly in comparison to the P27u-10. I spent like 4 hours yesterday trying every possible setting but everything is washed out. Maybe it would look better next to a cheaper monitor that's not wide color gamut like the P27u-10.
I see that now there are more people on eBay selling their used P27u-10s for $280 - $300 (which seems a lot for the risk of a used monitor). I could try to return the Dell and take my chances with another used P27u-10, though I might have gotten lucky that the place I bought mine from pulled it from an office and was very reputable (they have no more). I could buy Lenovo's new P27-u20, which replaced the u10, but it's a whopping $550 and some users complain it has coil whine.
First world problems I know, but would you return a perfectly good, brand new monitor to take your chances buying a used monitor off eBay that costs around the same price but, if it works, has a better picture? Both are 4K, 27-inch monitors that run at 60 Hz. Both have lots of connectivity options (I don't care though, because it's just connecting to my desktop). It's just that the color quality on the Lenovo is really good and on the Dell, it's not unusable but really, really inferior.
I don't know if you can tell from photos, but the Dell (not as good, IMHO) is on the left and the Lenovo (better) is on the right in these images. I've posted some comparison shots on imgur.
View: https://imgur.com/a/bmN0ime
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