Recommended 24" / 27" 4K monitors to work with laptop

Hello everyone.
I have a Dell XPS 15" 9530 laptop, with the 3k (3200x1800) resolution screen. I really like the high resolution of the screen, and for my uses, I'm not having any major issues with scaling on Windows 10.

I'm interested in buying an external monitor for more intensive work, and I'm looking for 24-27" monitors available right now.

My uses:
- General document editing (Word, Powerpoint)
- Photoshop CC and Lightroom CC

I'm no gamer, so response times aren't that important. I'm going for an IPS panel for better color and angle views. I'm not using it for work, and I'm not a graphic designer, so I don't need top of the line products and super color reproduction monitors. But having high resolution monitor of 2k and 4k is very tempting.

My options right now:
- Dell P2414H - 23.8" with 4K resolution ~ 580$
- Dell U2515H - 25" with 2560x1440 resolution for ~ 550$
- Dell U2715H - 27" with 2560x1440 resolution for ~ 720$

I would really like to have a 27" 4K monitor, but they're very expensive.

4K is very tempting, but I winder if it is comfortable to use on a 23.8" screen, and whether it is better overall than the 2 other options with 2K resolution. Also, the U2715H is a bit over my budget, so I wonder if the 2 extra inches are worth the money, considering they are both good monitors.

I'll be checking them soon in a local store, but I'd like to know if you have any experience and recommendations about the optimal resolutions for such monitors.

Thanks!

 

If you want a monitor for productivity use, then forget 27" and 4K displays. What you want is a 34" 3440x1440 ultrawide display (21:9 ratio). It is equivalent to a dual-monitor 5:4 ratio setup, without the bezel in the middle. You can stack three office productivity applications side-by-side (web browsers, word processors, etc), one gigantic wide spreadsheet, or a web browser with 40+ tabs open.

I'd argue that you don't really get much more out of 27" 16:9 4K displays (compared to 27" 16:9 1440p displays). You get the same physical size; and while you do get more pixels, you're going to most likely need to use font scaling anyway, which negates the extra pixels that a 4K display will give you. In essence, a 4K display gives you sharper images and text without providing a significant increase in useable screen real-estate.

On the other hand, a 34" 3440x1440 display gives you about 33% more horizontal screen real-estate compared to a 27" 1440p display. If you're into office productivity, or watching movies, then a 34" 3440x1440 ultrawide display is the cat's meow

 

Why not a 40" 4K then?

 

A 40" display isn't really conducive to productivity work. I can't think of a use case where someone would think "Wow. Getting this work done on a 40" display is far better than a 24 / 27 / 29 / 34 inch display.

The only times I've ever heard of people connecting computers to 40" displays are:
1) for presentations in a conference room (in lieu of a projector)
2) for couch-like entertainment purposes - movies or games
3) for the pure novelty (not practicality) of having a giant screen


Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

Well, it's matter of habit. If you can find a 34" 21:9 better for showing windows side by side, you can benefit from a 40" 4K even more by snapping windows to four corners, or at least have more usable space with interfaces that are vertical in nature. It's basically a 21:9 3K extended (mostly) in the vertical direction. You don't lose anything, and depending on how you use it may gain a lot more, especially if pixel density is the primary limitation. Our eyes have about the same field of view horizontally and vertically, so if the screen aspect ratios strays too far from 1:1 some of the view is just wasted.


Personally I would prefer to focus on one large 1:1 area at a time. Since this not happening, 16:9 or 16:10 is at least closer to being ideal than 21:9.

It looks like good old 4:3/5:4 is never coming back. We might get rid of physical form factor limitations entirely with high resolution VR though.

 

If you're looking for an affordable 27" 4K, Dell P2715Q would be your choice.

 

If you can buy 27" just do it. I've bought 24" and now it is a little to small...

 

The LG 21:9 is on black friday deals (check ebay) for $500. This is ridiculous!