Ultrawide vs Dual Monitors

[Quadophile]

It is so much fun when you get a new toy!!!

 

[Ian]

Tried BL3 and it works so well on this monitor - I really do like it for gaming (much less tearing, more comfortable). However.... my graphics card can only muster 35fps in most games, so I'm rather limited at the moment.

You're painting too, eh? Join the club, ain't much else to do right now!

Haha, exactly! Got so much DIY done this past month

 

[V_R]

Soooooooooo........

Philips 346P1CRH - 34 Inch QGHD Curved ultrawide Monitor, 100Hz, 4ms, VA, USB-C Dock, Webcam, Speakers, HDR 400 (3440 x 1440, 500 cd/m², HDMi/DP/USB-C/USB 3.2) - Amazon.co.uk

Buy Philips 346P1CRH - 34 Inch QGHD Curved ultrawide Monitor, 100Hz, 4ms, VA, USB-C Dock, Webcam, Speakers, HDR 400 (3440 x 1440, 500 cd/m², HDMi/DP/USB-C/USB 3.2)

www.amazon.co.uk

Philips Brilliance 346P1CRH monitor review

Philips’ latest monitor fuses curved-panel visual pizzazz with USB-C-powered productivity prowess

www.techradar.com

I bought one of these, delivered on Friday and set up today. 34" ultrawide, 1440p, 100HZ, USB-C docking, built in KVM, PIP, PBP.

Usually just use my laptop and my old 24" Benq XL2420T monitor when WFH, but decided to finally go ultrawide after seeing this at a great price. Its £500 usually but it pops up at the link above from £358 now and again. Total bargain for that price.

The USB-C docking is fantastic, we have it at work. For those that don't know its one cable, USB-C obviously, that you connect to your laptop and that runs, your monitors, KB and mouse, and charges your laptop, all from the one cable. Its great. Come in > plug in one cable > rejoice at everything working effortlessly.

So now I can increase productivity and be able to switch between my Thinkpad and desktop while working from home.

 

[Ian]

Oh now that looks nice! Having all of those things built in would be really handy - esp with all the webcam/working from home requirements at the moment. Kind of wish I'd bought that monitor instead @£358!

 

[Quadophile]

@V_R That looks awesome!!! Where will you sit to watch a movie on that? Balcony or downstairs?

The most impressive thing about that monitor is the USB-C docking, what a nifty thing to come along.

Did not know you were a Thinkpad fan I always used Thinkpads back in the days and nothing else

 

[V_R]

@Ian Yeah I'm looking forward to giving it a full run out tomorrow!
I was a little worried the built in KVM might cause a bit of delay, as you plug in your KB and mouse to the monitor and then a USB B - A cable to the PC, but it seems fine, even gaming.

@Quadophile I specifically wanted one that had USB-C docking, in the day of working from home its a must have. We have these at work hooked up to twin 24" monitors, KB and mouse. Its great sitting down and just plugging in one cable and away you go. The Thinkpad is the company laptop so it wasn't my choice, however yes, they are very good not that I actually 'use' it much, mine is a T490 with an i5, 256 MVMe and 16GB RAM so its very capable running either the two 24's or this new 1440p beast.

 

[V_R]

First day of WFH with the new monitor, yeah, glorious! Switching between my PC and laptop is pretty seamless.

Just makes things so much easier than working with the laptop and the 24" screen and not having to mess with the USB hub for the M&KB or the HDMI cable. Still need to tweak a few settings but we're getting there. Had an interesting moment when I had to share my screen in a Teams meeting and no one could see it due to the difference in resolutions.

The webcam is ok, not going to win any awards but it gets the job done.

 

[Ian]

Had an interesting moment when I had to share my screen in a Teams meeting and no one could see it due to the difference in resolutions

Did they just get a super scaled down view of your screen?

Really pleased to hear how good this is! Does the webcam have a mechanical shutter on it out of interest? I've seen this more and more recently.

 

[V_R]

Yes, they didn't have an external screen and were working off their laptop so I can imagine squeezing a 3440x1440 image on to a 15" 1080p laptop screen would have been a bit of a squeeze. Note to self, share the window not the screen.

The webcam is a pop up style one. It retracts behind the screen when you don't need it, keeps the clean lines without the lump above the screen and good for your privacy. It's only manual, not electric.
That techradar review above has pics of it in use and hidden.

 

[Quadophile]

@V_R Thank you for all the updates and a bit of insight into its working. Enjoy your new toy

 

[V_R]

I will! Thanks guys.

 

[bodhi]

I’ve been enjoying this thread.

I have 3 screens driven off my gaming desktop machine. In the office I set up Dell USB monitors with the same idea, plug in one USB C cable to drive monitor and keyboard & mouse.

I am considering a new monitor for gaming. I have a mish mash of monitors in my desk. A Dell 24” ultra sharp, a 27” Samsung cheap thing and a really old 25” Samsung piece of crap.

I play a lot of Fortnite and I’m wondering if getting a gaming monitor will make much of a difference to the gameplay? I assume any good gaming monitor will also be fine for work too?

 

[Ian]

My monitor is designed primarily as a gaming monitor, but works great for business work - so I think you'll be fine on that, unless you need really accurate colour representations for graphic design work. I'm so pleased I got an Ultrawide monitor, it's much more comfortable on the eyes than my old dual monitor setup. That said, there are moments that I do miss having a 2nd monitor - i.e. zoom presentations where I would like to have the presentation on one screen and my notes on another (so I don't need to broadcast them!).