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jszrules · May 16, 2011, 06:52 AM

Hi, I am thinking about getting an external display for a 13'' MBP via Thunderbolt or USB. I wanted to see if anyone has any endorsements or warnings on the following options, which are pretty similar in terms of panel (IPS), size, flexible range of movements, price, etc.

DELL u2211h
DELL u2311h
NEC ea232wmi

Thanks!

CharlesS · May 16, 2011, 11:47 AM

I hadn't seen that NEC display before. That looks really nice. LED backlighting and everything.

cgc · May 16, 2011, 06:57 PM

My list when I was shopping although a ViewSonic was highly rated and moved to the top of my list (forgot which model):

1. HP LP2475W (H-IPS)
2. HP ZR24W (S-IPS)
3. Dell U2410 (IPS)
4. Dell U2311H (E-IPS)

jszrules · May 16, 2011, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by cgc

My list when I was shopping although a ViewSonic was highly rated and moved to the top of my list (forgot which model):

1. HP LP2475W (H-IPS)
2. HP ZR24W (S-IPS)
3. Dell U2410 (IPS)
4. Dell U2311H (E-IPS)

Are any of these LED? Doesn't seem so.

CharlesS · May 16, 2011, 11:11 PM

I don't think any of them are LED, although the LP2475w does have the somewhat unique feature of having a SPDIF digital audio out port (I assume the audio would be provided via the DisplayPort or HDMI cable). I think LG has some LED IPS displays, but they don't have DisplayPort, which makes them slightly more annoying to use with Macs. To me, that NEC panel looks really sweet, if you can deal with being one inch smaller than the 24" displays.

jszrules · May 16, 2011, 11:52 PM

Originally Posted by CharlesS

I don't think any of them are LED, although the LP2475w does have the somewhat unique feature of having a SPDIF digital audio out port (I assume the audio would be provided via the DisplayPort or HDMI cable). I think LG has some LED IPS displays, but they don't have DisplayPort, which makes them slightly more annoying to use with Macs. To me, that NEC panel looks really sweet, if you can deal with being one inch smaller than the 24" displays.

Thanks, that was my thinking, but based on the following two reviews, it doesn't seem like the LED on this monitor provides much of an advantage:

NEC MultiSync EA232WMi review | Monitors | Education | Reviews | PC Pro
NEC EA232WMi review - FlatpanelsHD

If that is the case, it may make more sense to go with a thinner, 24'', CCFL IPS. Thoughts?

CharlesS · May 17, 2011, 01:25 AM

This review reported much less severe backlight bleeding than your links, so it might have just been a bad initial batch.

At any rate, I have a Dell display (2408wfp) and I can definitely see some amount of backlight bleeding if I make the entire screen go black. It doesn't really bother me in actual use, though.

jszrules · May 17, 2011, 02:24 AM

Originally Posted by CharlesS

This review reported much less severe backlight bleeding than your links, so it might have just been a bad initial batch.

At any rate, I have a Dell display (2408wfp) and I can definitely see some amount of backlight bleeding if I make the entire screen go black. It doesn't really bother me in actual use, though.

Thanks Charles. What's your take on the 14ms response time? I'm not a big gamer, but will I see any effect on watching video? Also, would HD be preserved from the 13'' MBP?

CharlesS · May 17, 2011, 02:57 AM

Response time is something I've never cared much about, not being a gamer in the slightest, so I'm not the best person to ask about that.

I did find a review that described the EA232WMi's response time in depth: link

cgc · May 17, 2011, 05:45 PM

Why must they be LED? They are pretty solid by all other measures though I'm avoiding slower response time monitors.