Bill P.
I mainly use my 13" MacBook Pro for music production, programming, and then some general web browsing, writing, and real casual general computer work. I'm not a gamer so I don't need 120Hz refresh rates. All I needed was something that would be easy on my eyes, look good in my space, and have a nice crisp display.
This monitor is simple to set up. It's got 3 screws. You can move it side to side but there's only 20 degrees of vertical movement. That's fine if you want to look at your monitor head-on or angled slightly up at you but if you need something that tilts downward you'll have to get a VESA mount that either clamps to your desk or mounts to your wall.
22 inches is plenty big with an HD screen and just what I needed when in a dual or triple monitor situation (occasionally I use my work-provided monitor in a 3 monitor setup).
For music production it doesn't strain your eyes to be staring at it for hours on end. Same when you're programming. Any monitor will give you eye strain eventually but this one is not going to give most people any issues most of the time.
You have options for HDMI or VGA connections. In my case I had to use a VGA cable for my work monitor in the past so I got an adapter for my laptop for USB-C to VGA connections. This works fine and the quality is the same as HDMI with this particular monitor because VGA quality goes up to around a thousand more pixels than 1080p and supports a refresh rate of 85Hz (assuming you didn't get a cheap cable). This monitor has a 75Hz refresh rate so using a VGA connection is not going to reduce quality. In fact I suspect that they chose HDMI and VGA precisely because the monitor works within the VGA spec and HDMI is just a very common connector these days so they included both while excluding DisplayPort because that's mainly used for higher spec machines and people shopping for a budget monitor likely wouldn't have a DisplayPort compatible computer. Plus DP is not super common anyway outside of offices and expensive computers and has little practical benefits over HDMI to the average person right now.
But don't let the fact that this is a budget monitor fool you. If you know you need higher refresh rates because you'll be watching movies and gaming then sure, this isn't for you. If you know you're going to be doing work, browsing the web, watching YouTube videos, coding, doing regular boring average computer stuff, then this is going to be more than enough for you. This is the monitor that should be the default standard for everyone looking for an external laptop monitor or that would come with any PC bundle. I wouldn't want lower quality and most wouldn't even notice higher specs if it had them. It's in the perfect spot.
If you need an excellent monitor that isn't a thousand dollar gaming monitor that's basically a flat screen TV made for the Super Bowl then this will be as good as any other.
| Standing screen display size | 27 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 1920x1080 |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 Pixels |
Nathan Flanery