I brought that cheap HP monitor that made a high pitch whine noise back to Micro Center today, and replaced it with a Dell, but not the cheap Dell that I had originally thought about getting. I spent a whole $245 plus tax. Fauwncy. But it’s much nicer.
To refresh: I bought an HP EliteDisplay S240uj for $145 at Micro Center after a sale and a coupon. It’s a 23.8" 2560 x 1440 monitor with USB-C video and a wireless charging pad in the stand. But in terms of being a decent monitor, there was nothing elite about it. Its speakers made that damn noise, and the panel was kinda garbage. It had a fixed-height stand that was too high for my chair.
I thought I would get a Dell UltraSharp U2412M to replace it, which is a 24" 1920 x 1200 monitor with old school chunky-ass bezels on sale for $155 with that same coupon. While it’s lower resolution, and doesn’t have HDMI let alone USB-C (only DVI and DisplayPort), on the plus side, it has a taller 16:10 aspect ratio, an adjustable height stand, and a higher quality panel.
After I returned the HP at the customer service counter, which was decorated with these hilariously outdated Titans of Computing Innovation posters...
I headed toward the back of the store to find the mini DisplayPort cable I had intended to get to go with whatever monitor I ended up with. It took me forever to find among all the different DisplayPort and HDMI cables. I’ll give Micro Center credit, while they have hilariously outdated retail sales operations, complete with commissioned sales people wearing blazers, they have a good prices and selection.
Then I headed towards the monitors and checked out the Dell U2412M. It was...fine. But the bezels looked like something I would’ve used at a computer lab when I was in college in 2003. I had also scouted a couple other Dell monitors, the U2415 for $220 which is the same 24" 1920 x 1200 but in a new bezel-less style, and the U2518DX for $250, which is the same style but a 25" 2560 x 1440.
I would’ve probably been fine with either of the 1920 x 1200 monitors, but I was drawn to the nice slim bezels of the new version. Then I figured, hey it’s only 30 bucks more to get the 1440p, and that one included a mini DisplayPort cable in the box, so that was a savings.
So, $245 after the coupon for a nice 1440p 25" slim bezel Dell monitor. I fucked around searching on my phone trying to find better deals, and B&H had been selling this Acer 25" 1440p (with no adjustable stand and maybe a just-ok panel) for $200 for the past couple weeks, but they have since run out of them, apparently.
I brought it home, set it up, and while it’s not the most mind-blowingly perfect monitor ever, it’s wayyyy nicer than the shitty HP that I tried on the first go round, and the adjustable stand is worth it to me over that Acer that I would’ve had to buy before B&H ran out of them.