Which of these is best?

[thefox14]

So I compiled a list of all the 27''+ monitors I could find: http://amzn.com/w/13YWIGJKO8PF4

Right now I have a hannsG 28'' 1920 x 1200 and was looking to get another, but sadly the monitor is discontinued so I was thinking of doing one of two things.

1. Find another hannsG 28'' on ebay
2. Buying 2 new monitors (Sadly all are 1920x1080)

Which option do you think I should go with, and if #2, which monitor looks best?

 

[MauveCloud]

I'm guessing you'd consider the Dell U2711 and U3011 too expensive, but I came across this one that's 1920x1200 and apparently still in production:
http://www.amazon.com/I-Inc-iH-282HPB-Class-Widescreen-Monitor/dp/B002YECKCQ
I can't speak for the quality on that one, though.

 

[thefox14]

Yeah I'd love to get a U3011... but its a taaaad expensive haha

That monitor looks pretty nice, but from what I've seen and read its not really high quality and has issues with dead pixels 🙁

 

[MauveCloud]

Amazon is probably not the best place to look. I checked those monitors on NewEgg, and most of them are "deactivated" there, which means they're probably out of production. The Planar PX2710MW, however, is still available from NewEgg, has good reviews there, and it's less expensive than from Amazon:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824016155
I also notice it quotes a contrast ratio of 1200:1, which is better than most for static contrast. There are a couple of more expensive LG models (M2762D-PM, E2750VR-SN) that are probably not worth the extra price unless you want a TV Tuner or LED backlight, respectively.

 

[thefox14]

Alright I'm between 4 monitors now:

HP 2711x: http://bit.ly/gToIG1
I like all the different inputs in this monitor, plus its an HP which gets a good rap for their monitors most of the time. Plus its an LED. One thing I dont like is that 5ms response time

Asus VE278Q: http://amzn.to/fYxcw0
Also an LED but has a 2ms response time, and is cheaper than the HP

ViewSonic X Series VX2739WM: http://bit.ly/eLeNt5
Not an LED but has an amazing response time, bit lower contrast ratio but Is a viewsonic which usually gets a good rap

Samsung P2770H: http://amzn.to/dZmOuR
2 ms response time, and I've heard a decent amount of good reviews about it.

So I will be getting 2 of these so I guess bezel plays a bit of a role here but i wasn't able to get much info on that. So out of those which are you guys thinking?

 

[MauveCloud]

Actually, the other monitors you list have at least as many inputs as the HP. The Asus adds DisplayPort which I think would help with setting up Eyefinity (your sig indicates you have an ATI video card). The P2770H has a sibling, the P2770HD, that adds component and composite video connections if you're interested in that.

I notice you're comparing quoted response times, but those aren't really comparable. In many cases, they don't even specify whether that's gray-to-gray or some other metric, and when they say "typical", I don't know if different companies agree on what that means. Personally, I think it would be more useful to know the worst-case response time. As long as that's less than half the refresh interval, I doubt you'd notice the difference.

As far as the contrast ratios, you seem to be comparing the dynamic contrast ratios, but the static contrast ratio is a better comparison, and the Viewsonic at 1200:1 actually has the highest static contrast ratio of those 4 monitors (since I can't find a specified static contrast ratio for the Asus, I doubt it's higher than 1000:1).