There is so much choice when it comes to buying an external display to use with your computer. I currently have an Apple Thunderbolt Display which is cool however the product has been discontinued. And it only works with older Macs that have a MagSafe connector which limits its usage. MagSafe lacked the versatility and convienience of today's USB-C type connections. It was only a dedicated port for power supply and Apple needed something more useful.
What type of external display do you use with your computer?
Top comments (32)
amazon.com/LG-24MD4KL-B-Ultrafine-...
I purchased two of these to run off of my MBP and they have worked very well for me. However lately I have been looking into a larger curved monitor as I no longer use everything in full screen anymore and it would be nice to have more space on my desk and I dislike having the split with bezels in the middle of the two and the hard angle of the two flat monitors.
I guess it depends on what you want to do with it. I work for a company that develops web applications for media companies so a decent amount of the time we have to change the UI so it's nice to run the IDE on one screen and see the browser instantly on the other.
For your Thunderbolt Display I bought a thunderbolt to thunderbolt 3 cord to use the above mentioned monitor with my work iMac(2015) and it works just fine, the only thing with a laptop would be it won't transfer power just the display. I would imagine it would work with any usb-c monitor as well.
apple.com/shop/product/HN8B2ZM/A/m...
Those LG monitors look so good. Yes that is one of the reasons why I want to replace the Thunderbolt Display. If it can only transfer the display but not power it then that means having to use up another power outlet. I could use HDMI and connect that to the Samsung 4K TV that I have. But I think its only 50hz because there is visible lag its not as smooth plus it cant transfer power either. Really need a new mac and an external display.
The new air/pro with the m1, or the mini look pretty quick. I have a 15" with the 2.4ghz i9 and their benchmarks are higher, also a third of what I paid last year. I have been having some small issues with Big Sur for example I had to hard set my java home location in netbeans conf file and it freezes when using in full screen mode but I just didn't update my work machine so I can use my personal laptop to figure out issues and move forward on more personal endeavors.
Yeah the new M1 Macs are what I am looking at. I see Big Sur is still causing problems for many developers. I will be sticking with macOS Catalina until Apple rolls out some updates that fix them.
DELL P2418D 60.5 cm (23.8 Inch) Monitor 🔥
Dell is always the best choice 😉
Cool Dell monitors usually have very good reviews so this would be a good potential option.
I've got two monitors, both are primary (because desktop is best):
LG one is my primary, and HP is secondary
I decided to get the LG 27UL850-W 4K UHD LED LCD Monitor. This picture does not do it justice it is truly stunning to look at in real life. It has two HDMI ports and one USB-C port. So I can connect it to computers and my PS5. lg.com/uk/monitors/lg-27UL850
Dual 24" monitors. HDMI 1920x1080. Dell is okay but their power buttons sometimes stop working. I'm currently using ASUS but you should go off of recent reviews because production quality fluctuates. If you plan on gaming on the setup, make sure the monitors can handle higher refresh rates.
Once you've used dual monitors, everything else will feel cramped. Some people go crazy and get 3 or more monitors but productivity really starts dropping on anything more than two monitors. Dual monitors allow for putting things like folders on the right screen and a fullscreen coding window on the left screen. Then there's no legit need for project folders in an IDE, which frees up about 1/3rd the screen real estate that most IDEs occupy - can simply drag and drop files from the file system directly into the code editor. Dual monitors are also useful for recording the screen for videos - put a script for reading, OBS, and whatever else on the second monitor with the action happening on the primary or vice versa, whichever makes more sense.
Oh, if you do go for dual monitors, be sure to get both at the same time so that they have a better chance of being in the same lot number. Even two different production runs of the same display can have subtle differences that can be noticeable side-by-side in a dual-monitor setup.
43" Samsung 4K TV, plus 2 Samsung 27" monitors. Multiple inputs on the TV is great to flip it for personal/work/gaming machines. They are mounted on the wall, so I can keep the desk a couple of feet back for best viewing angle.
I've recently acquired a Xiaomi "Gaming Monitor", 34 inches.
It's supposedly for gaming but is a perfect wide-screen option for developers. Programming on such a format is a breeze, especially when using a tiling WM such as Amethyst on OSX (or xmonad for Linux users).
Wow that looks pretty nice! I should mention that I am considering getting a monitor that connects to a PS5 as well as a computer. So I can sell my Thunderbolt display and TV and just replace them with one monitor. I was looking at the Samsung LC43J890DKUXEN 43" Curved Ultra Wide LED Monitor. There are many options though I am undecided.
I've been happy with this one...
Amazon link
LG 27UK850-W 27" 4K UHD
I had it in the past and damaged it and recently re-purchased it.... I'll say this though: Both times I got it for ~$275.... So look out for sales. I don't know if I'd want to pay the full price but it seems like you can bank on it dropping any time there's a "sale season" or whatever.
Nice always wanted to buy an LG monitor or TV. Good to see its not too expensive I really need to upgrade I don't think I own any USB Type-C products yet. Well other than my PS5 Dual Sense controller if that counts 😅
A 10-year old Dell 24" monitor and a 2-year old LG 24" monitor. Both are just standard monitors, nothing fancy. This is for the work laptop.
My personal computer, a mid-2011 27" iMac, has two Thunderbolt monitors.
Laptops are standalone.
Raspberry Pi is hooked onto an AOC 20in LED monitor, 1600x900 resolution. I purchased this monitor in 2012, and it's still going strong after I moved across the country.
My main complaint is that it only takes VGA input, so I have to use an VGA666 adapter.
If this monitor breaks, I'll select a model that has HDMI input and 1920x1080 resolution, but still around 20in size.
I bought a 32" curved Samsung at Costco (last year, can't recall). It was something in the $200-300 range, but now I can't believe I lived without it before. Sorta like the day when one went from dialup to DSL (look it up young'ins).
Those curved Samsung displays do look stunning.
I use a LG 25UM58-P. Honestly, all I cared about was the price and the fact that it was an UltraWide.
Now I regret, because my laptop is a Dell i14, and its screen is so good that became clear how the colors in the external display simply do not look good.
Damn thats got to be frustrating. Especially when you are doing design work and the colours look different on each screen because of the gamut level.
Generally, I used Macbook pro for all business purpose work but i have also a desktop for that i use the Dell monitors. ~ Ali Sami Farooq
Dell UltraSharp 34 Inch Curved Monitor!
Dell 27 USB-C Monitor - P2720DC -
I did the upgrade from a Cinema & a Thunderbolt Display in my home office to two of these Dell screens
Any idea if I can turn a second laptop into second screen? I don't mean Remote Desktop, or something poor performance / insecure...
I think it might be possible is it Windows or Mac? Search on google.