Dell monitors - still any good?

[cotswoldcs]

Dell monitors used to have an (arguably) excellent reputation for quality and value for money. I am looking at buying a new (possibly Dell) PC and have several options for monitors:

IN2010N - 20" - 1600 x 900 [included in price]
ST2210 - 21.5" 1920 x 1080 [extra £50]
ST2310 - 23" 1920 x 1080 [extra £70]

The 20" looks poor and cheap and only has a 1600 x 900 resolution. In the past I've bought a 2009WFP 1680x 1050 monitor and have been very impressed. I'm tempted to go for the 23" but don't know anything about it. Is it worth the extra £

One concern I have with the 21.5" is that it seems a high resolution for a small monitor. I would have said that 1920 x 1080 pixels is better suited to 24" and higher monitors - would you agree? My hesitation is that the monitor and PC is for a lady who suffers with poor eyesight. Whilst a high resolution is great for most people, others find a high resolution brings text, icons etc that are too small to view comfortably. I know that Windows 7 offers DPI scaling like Vista but it's not quite the same. Any views on this?

Any thoughts?

[arthurleung]

For anyone with eyesight problem I would recommend go for the 27"

General browsing doesn't need 1080p resolution, certainly 1600x900 is suffice. Note that many laptops only have 1280x800 resolution and no one complained.

[Pob255]

Actually I'd recomend a 19" non-wide screen 1280x1024 or a 19" widescreen 1440x900 (16:10)

I'd avoid a 20" 1600x900 for the reason that it's 16:9 wide screen, great for wide screen movies but for web browseing and such I find them terrible, you need height not width, physical as well as pixel count.

Main issue now is that non-wide screen is more expensive than widescreen

The thing with Dell monitors is that there high end ones are good but there cheaper one are no better than other cheap monitors but a bit more expensive.

Benq G920WA 19" £96 1440x900
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174412
Pritty sure that's the a WGA panel

next size up
Hanns-G HI221DP 22" £111 1680x1050
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173911

[Valvo]

I currently have the Dell 20" wide screen and it works amazingly. I think dell monitors are still pretty good. In my opinion i think anything more than 23" is overdoing the size your monitor should be, because more than 23" starts to get uncomfortable. Here's my monitor:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/20-De...5ms-LCD-Monito

[nibbler]

24" works fine for me...

[McPhee]

I'd go sans-monitor if possible and source the monitor separately. I doubt they're giving you that great an offer for buying the base unit with the offer, and a greater choice could make up for any extra costs anyway.