Dual 24" vs Single 30"

Dual 24" U2410 vs Single 30" 3007WFP-HC

  • U2410

    Votes: 23 33.8%

  • 3007WFP

    Votes: 45 66.2%
  • Total voters
    68
  • Poll closed .
S

scanido

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 14, 2002
Messages
276
Hey all,

Looking at additional insight on my ongoing quest in replacing my 191T LCD. The 191T has been a workhorse for nearly 9yrs for me and i'm pretty sure any replacement will outdo it in performance and sheer size, but i am looking here on the merits of multi-monitor vs single large monitor in terms of productivity and occasional gaming.

So I am really at a bind in choosing a Dual 24" multi monitor setup or a Single 30" albeit it is not current. I normally purchase current hardware, but i would make an exception for the 3007WFP-HC since it is within my price and it is one of the top 30" still.

BTW, here are some other useful info:

Videocard: XFX 5850
Uses: - Programming/Debugging
- Light Video editing
- Normal PC Usage
- Occasional FPS gaming.

The price between both configurations is nearly identical so which one would you go for and why? My only draw back with the Dual monitor setup is that for gaming on one one monitor you would be off center. How are people liking duals in this case?

Thanks again!
 
Take this from someone that has used both setups a lot. I would rather have a single 30 than two 24s.

Better yet, get 3 23s for about the same price or less than the 30 and dig on some Eyefinity.
 
Got three Dell U2410f's sitting here on my desk and have no issues with lag of any kind at 3600x1920 or across a single at 1920x1200.
 
I voted the 30". Once eyefinity supports portrait,landscape,portrait you can add two cheapies to your beauty in the middle. Productivity-wise, when the 30" runs out of space, once again, a cheapie in portrait will work pretty good using as a reference screen.
 
I would pick dual 24" vs single 30 (not necessarily the 24 model you selected though)
A few reasons to go dual:

My main reason would be because native resolution of 24" puts less stress on video card for gaming in high quality modes with AA etc.

Also i like having multi monitor setup that allows me to put a full screen movie/TV show on one monitor while gaming or working on another monitor. Sure you could do that on a 30" but it would have to be windowed and not all games and programs like to run in a window.

2x24" offers more surface area then 1x30, so i would guess it offers more productivity space as well.

Also with dual setup if one breaks you have another one to keep you going while you RMA.
 
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yeah what interested said. ive been wanting to get a dual 24' inch seutp myself. just need to find an affordable stand to put them on and of course the money as well haah haaa
 
2x24 in Portrait mode will beat a single 30"
In addition you can full window two different apps on each monitor.
So in this case 2 is better than 1.
Of course 2x30 would beat 2x24 if you want to spend that much.

2x24 = More vertical pixels
2400x1920

vs

1x30
2560x1600
 
Since you list gaming as a potential use, I would recommend the 30". The second monitor isnt of much use in that scenario except for very specific games (like flight simulators).
 
vjcsmoke said:
2x24 in Portrait mode will beat a single 30"
In addition you can full window two different apps on each monitor.
So in this case 2 is better than 1.
Of course 2x30 would beat 2x24 if you want to spend that much.

2x24 = More vertical pixels
2400x1920

vs

1x30
2560x1600
Click to expand...

Keep in mind if you watch any video.. doing portrait is going to be weird.
 
One other thought, you have a 5850 so why not just go for 3x 24" That would definitely beat out a single 30".
 
Pyrolistical said:
If you can't tell, that's fine for you.

But check this out:
http://www.digitalversus.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=88&mo1=237&p1=2302&ma2=88&mo2=570&p2=6292&ph=12#
Click to expand...

Guess you have not had the opportunity to tell either since you have not given YOUR experience. I am sharing my experience and have 5 3007 and 4 U2410f in MY office.

metalsmart said:
I voted the 30". Once eyefinity supports portrait,landscape,portrait you can add two cheapies to your beauty in the middle. Productivity-wise, when the 30" runs out of space, once again, a cheapie in portrait will work pretty good using as a reference screen.
Click to expand...

I would not count on seeing that supported any time soon.

vjcsmoke said:
2x24 in Portrait mode will beat a single 30"
In addition you can full window two different apps on each monitor.
So in this case 2 is better than 1.
Of course 2x30 would beat 2x24 if you want to spend that much.

2x24 = More vertical pixels
2400x1920

vs

1x30
2560x1600
Click to expand...

Funky for gaming....
 
vjcsmoke said:
One other thought, you have a 5850 so why not just go for 3x 24" That would definitely beat out a single 30".
Click to expand...


My suggestion was 3x1 23" from Dell. They were at $249.00 last week.
 
If your main use is gaming, 30", anything else, Duals.

I will take smaller duals over a single larger monitor any day for work. It is a lot easier to just throw things on another screen and maximize them than having to move them side by side on the same screen. Plus windows are usually the right aspect when on a second screen vs. being smashed in some direction on a single screen.

Really is personal preference though, some have no problem having multiple windows on a single monitor.
 
Dual monitors are nice, but if you FPS game, show the 30" monitor some love. You can always get some 19"-22" models to put beside it if you need more screen real estate for debugging.
 
Thanks all for your feedback!

Well I wish i had room for 3 monitors but this is not physically possible for me with my desk setup. Even the dual 24" would be pushing it with each of the sides right up against my desk so a third would be physically not possible, even in portrait.

I haven't really gamed for some time but I am definitely open in trying the newer games out, hence going for the 5850, but i would still say my primary use will be workstation related work, with occasional gaming. Another reason i may slightly be leaning towards the duals is the fact that the U2410 is newer than the 3007wfp-hc. There's just something about owning the newest versus buying an older technology.

I'd like to hear more users experiences from going with smaller duals to one large 30" monitor.

THanks guys!
 
If you really can't go with a 3x 22" or 23" setup, I suppose I'd go with the 30". Having used a dual monitor setup for about a year now (two Dell 2209WA's), having the bezel right in the middle, and being offset when gaming is a pretty big detraction. Sure, they're conducive to productivity, and being able to segregate your work to a specific display is nice, but in this specific situation, I'd rather have a couple windows open on a 30" display. Multiple window management is made especially easy by Windows 7 if you're using it.

Again, personally, I went with two smaller monitors, and plan to get a third to better facilitate gaming once I build my Eyefinity setup in a few weeks. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably go with a few less expensive 22" or 23" monitors, and use the remaining funds to buy a desk from Ikea. :p
 
30 all day.
i rarely see a person on (h) that regrets a 30 purchase...including me.
 
Just keep in mind that the 3007WFP has no scalar (hence no input lag) so it's going to be limited to computer use. Still I'd choose a single larger monitor over 2+ smaller ones because you get diminished returns when you leave a single screen, especially with games.
 
Wow looks like folks here really love their larger screens!

Yup, the plan is to use the monitor for computer use now, but I would imagine having the scaler or even more inputs would be beneficial when the time comes to demote the monitor to other duties ie: a bedroom tv!
 
my friend has a 30" and he occasionally games. i tried it out once, and it was way too big for gaming unless you're sitting a few feet away from it. it's basically a TV.

i'd go with the 24", and turn one off when you're FPS gaming. it's much more manageable on the eyes
 
My 3008WFP has 6 inputs: 2 DVI-D, HDMI, component, composite, VGA. I use it for my main PC monitor (games, work, etc.), DVD, HDTV, videos. Best LCD I've ever used or bought.

EDIT: Make that 8 inputs. Forgot to include Displayport and S-Video. ;)
 
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30" all the way. Bought my 30" last year and no regrets whatsoever. I came from a 2x24" setup btw.
 
+1 for 30". I went from 2x20" to 1x24" and was very happy. I expect I'd feel the same way about moving from 2x24" to 1x30".
 
Add another proponent of the 30". I put it off for the longest time, saying "Oh I don't need that much screen real estate," "text will be too small," and "I don't want to have to keep $800 in graphics cards in my PC just to be able to run games.". Now that I've used 2560x1600, I really don't think I could go back.

I "upgraded" from a Westy 37" and although I lost 7" of physical size, the ability to have more windows open (and not have to scroll as much in browsers) is totally worth it.

Like Taikero pointed out, dual displays are nice for productivity but you'll gain a lot of productivity by just coming from a 19" monitor! I think the native res of that display is 1280x1024, so 2560x1600 will blow you away (I came from 1920x1080 and it was still a huge difference).

If you'll be gaming at all and triple displays are out of the question, I would totally get the single 30". If you could only afford a 27" or 28" 1920x1200 display, the decision might be just a little bit harder. If you can get the 30", go for it.
 
scanido said:
There's just something about owning the newest versus buying an older technology.
THanks guys!
Click to expand...

A lot of monitor lines have gotten worse over the past couple of years. I have the 3007-HC, but I'd rather have the non-HC version. I've mostly gotten used to the weird colors, though.

I have a 20" 1200x1600 by a 30" 2560x1600.

I wish the 20" was actually 3:4, instead of 4:3 in portrait rotation. Cleartype doesn't work right with a rotated monitor (even if if did, it wouldn't look as good as on a landscape monitor).
 
vjcsmoke said:
2x24 in Portrait mode will beat a single 30"
In addition you can full window two different apps on each monitor.
So in this case 2 is better than 1.
Of course 2x30 would beat 2x24 if you want to spend that much.

2x24 = More vertical pixels
2400x1920

vs

1x30
2560x1600
Click to expand...

Wouldn't dual 24 inch monitors equal 3840x1200 since the horizontal res is doubled.

Coming from a Dual 22 inch monitor setup I got use to gaming on a off centered monitor, it was a minor change. While being able to have one screen using excel fullscreen and second monitor running Access fullscreen made it much easier to creating databases for me. That is why dual won over a single display, if all you do is game then single monitor is always better.
 
Makaveli@BETA said:
Wouldn't dual 24 inch monitors equal 3840x1200 since the horizontal res is doubled.
Click to expand...

2400x1920 is portrait mode (monitors are long-ways vertical, then stacked next to each other).

I'm going with 3x 1920x1200's... haven't decided which orientation yet (5760x1200 or 3600x1920)... i'd need a VESA mount for the portrait version, though... much less than a single 30"er, though!
 
Well, thanks so much guys for the advice! After careful consideration and the help of this poll i am happy to say i have a DELL 3007WFP-HC on the way!!! :eek:

My reasoning was that for gaming i did not want to be offset to one side plus what really made me bite was a Black Friday sale of $999 at Dell Canada!!

I can always use my 191T Lcd as a secondary monitor if need be. Can't wait to receive it.
 
if you can still find 1600x1200 20" monitors cheaply, the 20-30-20 PLP setup is only about 51" flat vs 45" for two flat 24" monitors. Curve the portraits by 30-40 degrees. and you can cut it down to a hair under 48", which is probably the size of the space you're working with.

scanido said:
Wow looks like folks here really love their larger screens!

Yup, the plan is to use the monitor for computer use now, but I would imagine having the scaler or even more inputs would be beneficial when the time comes to demote the monitor to other duties ie: a bedroom tv!
Click to expand...

If it has a scaler, it has lots of input lag and lots of inputs. If it doesn't, it has neither.

It should not be difficult to design a 30" monitor that does pass-through at native resolution to get both benefits, but I havn't seen one yet.
 
Machupo said:
2400x1920 is portrait mode (monitors are long-ways vertical, then stacked next to each other).

I'm going with 3x 1920x1200's... haven't decided which orientation yet (5760x1200 or 3600x1920)... i'd need a VESA mount for the portrait version, though... much less than a single 30"er, though!
Click to expand...

Ahh thanks for the correction. :)
 
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