Hi Folks. I haven't logged in in a while, but I couldn't find any recent threads about new computers. Let me know if I've missed one.

My wife is in training for a new position to work from home for the VA. They're going to send her home with a laptop and no monitors because apparently, they don't have any available. I asked her to send me some pics today and she's just using a little HP docking station there. The kind that is about 4"x4"x1" and she connects to it via USB-C. She also has a special keyboard that uses her ID card and it also plugs straight to the DS.

She'll be 'moving in' to the home office. Our old 32" HP all-in-one desktop has to go. Initially I thought I would look for a tower to sit on the floor and some simple way to switch between our new pc and her work pc on a couple of nice monitors. I've since decided that it's worth a little extra coin to get a laptop instead so I can snatch it if she's busy in the office.

I'm pretty clueless about pc specs these days. I do know that I'll never buy anything HP again. I don't need anything super powerful but consider that my current computer is 8 years old; I think I should buy on the more powerful side so I can expect it to last for a good while.

So my first question is about monitors. I think two 24's or 27's would be great. For as much time as will be spent in front of them, is there a type or a feature that I should look for to be easier on the eyes, or is that all hogwash? It seems one can spend whatever they want on displays.

We talked about buying from the Navy Exchange, but I have heard from people many times over the years that Lenovo is what I should be after. I like the 15" screen size and backlit keyboard. It seems like a lot of memory and an SSD is what I should be after.

Best Buy has a Lenovo that looks inviting with the exception that it's 'Alexa Ready'. Model 82DE002XUS/82DE0009US

Thanks in advance for any opinions and advice.

for easier on your eyes, faster refresh rate helps a lot.

Suggest you look to the Dell monitor offerings. I've got a 27" that's 18 years old and still puts out a pretty good image. The only thing that has failed is the mechanism that keeps the tilt in the position you put it to. It will stay there for a day or two, then gradually work it's way down a few inches. Meh, I can live with adjusting every couple of days.

link to Dell Monitors

I grabbed a Acer 34" curved gaming monitor.

I have a switch where I go back and forth between my gaming PC and my work PC. Took me a few days to get used to it. But once I did I really like it.

It's pricy but I sit in front of it for 8-10 hours a day. I figured get a nice one.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-XZ...or%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-4

For the laptop what are you going to be doing with it? Just word processing, email, web browser? Or playing some PC games? That will really determine how much GPU, RAM, Etc. you need.

YMMV. But based on what you've written, here's what I would be looking at:

1. I would not look at gaming monitors. I would look for 27" monitors with resolutions in the QHD ballpark and IPS for better view angle support. Unless you're going to watch 4K movies than maybe consider UHD resolution. I would look for monitors that allow for multiple HDMI and/or DP inputs depending also on how you're going to share the monitors between two laptops. I've been using Dell UltraSharp monitors with satisfaction ($350-600 depending on sale price). Depending on your room and ambient light levels, high contrast and brightness capability may be good.

2. Windows, I would look at 32GB of dual channel memory; definitely SSD, no question. 14" or 15" would be okay for me just because I wouldn't be carrying it around much and using the local panel - usually use external monitor. If I were to carry it around, I would likely go w/ 14". I would go for Dell XPS or Latitude 7000 series or better. I would avoid all other brands. The only possible exceptions might be a MSFT Surface or Lenovo Thinkpad or X1 (designed in Japan) model. But more generally, I would probably rule out Windows and buy an Apple device. Ipad Pro or Macbook 13"; I know they can support 1 external display, but if you need to connect to two, then check - you may need to buy an M2 based model.

Aside: look into good monitor stands like Eveo arms.

I have a Dell S2719H 27" monitor. I selected this one as it has its own on board speakers. I like it.

I believe it has been updated by the S2721H. https://www.dell.com/en-us/wor...-monitor-accessories

Consider getting 3 monitors.
I had used 2 monitors plus laptop display in the past. The laptop display wound up getting ignored.

The 2 monitors were next to each other, and I wound up staring at the gap between the two.
With the third monitor set as my main screen in the middle, and the others on either side, no more "gap".
And I wind up using all 3 pretty effectively.

2 27" monitors side-by-side will require a pretty large desk unless you don't mind then hanging off the edges (which I don't like) and a strong monitor arm. My wife and most people I know prefer dual monitors and she uses 2 24" monitors. The higher the refresh rate the better (within budget). I prefer a single large monitor and use 1 32" flat display.

I have 2 27" Dell U2718Q on a dual arm Amazon Basics mount. One is angled at about 20 degrees. My laptop shows only email and is to the left of the 2 main. Setup works great. I really like 4k as the screen clarity allows smaller fonts for these old eyes.

 
DisplayPort inputs are a big plus, as long as your computer has DP or mini-DP outputs. DP provides the best resolution quality at the best frequencies (60Hz +), especially on larger monitors. IPS panels are the best, IMO. A 27" 1440p (2560x1440) monitor is a very comfortable size to use, with lots of screen real estate. That is what the 27" iMacs have been for years. If you can find a 27" in a 16x10 format (2560x1600), even better real estate.
 
More and more new devices are moving to USB-C ports only (or USB-C and HDMI). Some USB-C ports support DP Alt Mode (USB-C DisplayPort). With a computer and monitor that both support that, you can have the benefits of DisplayPort using USB-C only connections. Thunderbolt ports support DisplayPort, so you can go directly from a TB/USB-C port to a monitor's DP input. Newest versions of HDMI also support the higher frequencies at high resolutions (60Hz +).

Save some money and do not buy 4k monitors. The native font size is too small so you will just be increasing it to be the same as a FHD (1080p) or QHD (1440p).

I use two 24” at work and it seems about perfect. At home I use a cable to connect my laptop to the 27” monitor I have here via usb-c. I usually plug a separate keyboard and mouse into the laptop as well. If I wanted, I could make it a 2 1/2 setup at home easily, considering the tiny laptop screen the half, but that would mean dual 27” monitors which is a LOT of screen space to use.

For laptops, I searched through MANY options. I settled on the Lenovo with “Pro” in the model name. It has a much better screen (resolution and peak brightness) and sleek metal case. I don’t use the touchscreen feature.

If you decide to use a dock, note many lower the refresh rate between your laptop and monitor. This can make a gaming monitor that's beautiful and crisp at 144Hz look fuzzy because the dock can't support the higher refresh rate needed.

quote:

I don't need anything super powerful but consider that my current computer is 8 years old; I think I should buy on the more powerful side so I can expect it to last for a good while.

This statement & the laptop you linked don't really match.
That laptop has i7 processor + GPU. It's either going to be a fire-breathing battery eater that will toast your legs, or it's going to throttle the CPU/GPU until it's a waste of money.
It's not badly priced & it has a 1TB SSD. The yoga-flipping hinge wouldn't be on my want list as that's a weak point & expensive to fix.

My suggestion would be a business-class Core i5/16GB RAM/~500GB SSD from either Lenovo or Dell. I prefer Dell, but only because of familiarity. It will be a little more $$ for the same specs (or same $$ for less power), but the build quality is significantly better. My uncle bought a cheap Lenovo 17" & it's almost wet-noodle flexible if you hold it from 1 front corner. It's not a yoga but shouldn't bend in that direction anyway.

This looks like an older model, but it's a decent deal. I didn't search much. Just used Core i5/16GB RAM/~500GB SSD as a filter on CDW. There are likely better deals out there, it just caught my eye
Lenovo T15
It even has discrete GPU (nVidia 1650) that I don't really think is needed.
This will do everything you need to do up to Gaming/CAD/video editing - and it will do those things, just more slowly vs a machine built for those specific processes. It will do Windows/Office/Browsing very well, for the foreseeable future.

Business class laptops will also come with less MFG-installed nag-ware like Alexa. The consumer class laptops have all that crap to differentiate themselves since it's all the same parts under the hood.

Price shop like crazy. The NEX was always bad on electronics when I was in. Like first day full MSRP on last gen tech. Best buy was my go to for computer stuff. I could get newer stuff cheaper away from the NEX And look at Micro Center if there is one near you. Or at least online.

I spent 2021 building a new desktop. It is done except for some cosmetic stuff. I picked up a Dell 34" ultrawide monitor. I can have two internet browsers open side by side with no issues. My computer does have one USB-C port on the back along with multiple USB 3.x ports. I will say I do like the -C one alot. It charges my iPhone in no time compared to the rest. Tempted to buy an expansion card for a few more in the future.

Also, consider a wide-format monitor that can put up 2 desktops (or just one really wide one), simulating dual-monitors. Not having 2-3" separating the 'screens' can be a big help if you are working on something side-by-side.

At work, I have my 14" laptop, a 23" stacked above that, and then a 32" next to those. The 32 is just shorter than the 14+23. I keep Outlook on the 23, Teams on the 14 & whatever else I'm doing on the 32. Sometimes I'll put spreadsheets side-by-side on the 23/32 & I really wish I didn't have the gap or misalignment, but it's not enough of an issue to spend the $$$ to fix.

As said previously, for multi-monitor + dock, you won't get the refresh rate to make really high-end monitors look their best. Think garden-hose connected to a fire truck, you won't get the flow you need. Cheaper docks will be worse. I have a $50 dock that does OK for 1 23", but looks like crap on the setup above (which isn't high-end). It just doesn't have the guts to push all that video info through fast enough.

Measure twice. Take a piece of cardboard and cut the measurements out to see the size on the desk.

I had two 23in in my home office and now have one 32 with the notebook screen. I am much more productive on the 32. At the office I have 2 32s on my desk.

I was going to get larger than the 32 until I measured out what a 43 in would look like on the desk.

My suggestion is to get the highest resolution, best connections in your price range.
HDMI and DisplayPort at a minimum. Those 23's were upper line and I got 9 years out of them.

Also I know people are against it, but if reasonable the extended warranty may be a good buy. The saying they don't make'em like they used to is true. I have had to LG (great rated) connection boards go. Warranty covered them.

I haven't adapted to the dimensions of PC monitors that have been marketed for almost 10 years now. I don't care for the low profiles and longer width in comparison to the height, primarily due to composing correspondence, long documents, fillable PDF's.

I am writing this on an old Dell monitor that is virtually square at 15" x 15". Huge. When this one fails, I have another in the basement to replace it. The resolution doesn't compare, which is fine for documents, but not as appealing for images. I do have a newer laptop with modern dimensions, don't like it that much.

FWIW, an associate, who is a bit of an older "boomer" than me, recently got a second monitor, uses it for the same purposes, says it hasn't helped him that much.

Having said that, we could both be blissfully ignorant.

quote:

Originally posted by myrottiety:
I have a switch where I go back and forth between my gaming PC and my work PC.

For the laptop what are you going to be doing with it? Just word processing, email, web browser? Or playing some PC games? That will really determine how much GPU, RAM, Etc. you need.

Thanks. Can you tell me more about your switch? I need to make this seamless for both of us to switch back and forth between machines. Obviously we could just plug and unplug at the docking station, but if I can make it happen otherwise, that's my preference.

Yes, just your basic surfing and MS Office for the most part. I did recently acquire a drone, so maybe some video editing in the future. No gaming going on, but plenty of Youtube.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
1. I would not look at gaming monitors. I would look for 27" monitors with resolutions in the QHD ballpark and IPS for better view angle support. Unless you're going to watch 4K movies than maybe consider UHD resolution. I would look for monitors that allow for multiple HDMI and/or DP inputs depending also on how you're going to share the monitors between two laptops. I've been using Dell UltraSharp monitors with satisfaction ($350-600 depending on sale price). Depending on your room and ambient light levels, high contrast and brightness capability may be good.

2. Windows, I would look at 32GB of dual channel memory; definitely SSD, no question. 14" or 15" would be okay for me just because I wouldn't be carrying it around much and using the local panel - usually use external monitor. If I were to carry it around, I would likely go w/ 14". I would go for Dell XPS or Latitude 7000 series or better. I would avoid all other brands. The only possible exceptions might be a MSFT Surface or Lenovo Thinkpad or X1 (designed in Japan) model. But more generally, I would probably rule out Windows and buy an Apple device. Ipad Pro or Macbook 13"; I know they can support 1 external display, but if you need to connect to two, then check - you may need to buy an M2 based model.
I have a switch where I go back and forth between my gaming PC and my work PC.

Lots of great info I didn't know, koeata88. Thanks. As for ambient light, as I sit here, if I look over the monitor I see a sliding glass door to the covered back porch. So lots of daylight, but the sun cant glare at me. To my right is set of french doors to the kitchen, and to my rear is a closet. Seems like a good setup in that regard to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Patrick-SP2022:
Consider getting 3 monitors.
I had used 2 monitors plus laptop display in the past. The laptop display wound up getting ignored.

The 2 monitors were next to each other, and I wound up staring at the gap between the two.
With the third monitor set as my main screen in the middle, and the others on either side, no more "gap".
And I wind up using all 3 pretty effectively.

I'm SO glad you brought this up. My office at work is two 27"ers side by side, and I also didn't like looking at the gap between them. I've done some reading since I first posted, and at the moment, we like the the 3 display idea a lot, maybe 3 19's or 22's. That said, after looking at Dell's website, I'm going to see if their 40" curved widescreen, which apparently accepts more than one pc at a time, can truly behave like two separate monitors, as in easy drag and drop instead of manually sizing two or more windows on one large monitor.

quote:

Originally posted by cyberiad:
2 27" monitors side-by-side will require a pretty large desk unless you don't mind then hanging off the edges (which I don't like) and a strong monitor arm. My wife and most people I know prefer dual monitors and she uses 2 24" monitors. The higher the refresh rate the better (within budget). I prefer a single large monitor and use 1 32" flat display.

I agree with you completely. It is a huge desk. It's 90 degree, 30"x72" on the side we have the monitor, with the return on my right being 24" x 48". Currently we have an HP All-in-one 34" monitor, which is actually 40" diagonal with the bezel in place and I think it looks great in the room.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
More and more new devices are moving to USB-C ports only (or USB-C and HDMI). Some USB-C ports support DP Alt Mode (USB-C DisplayPort). With a computer and monitor that both support that, you can have the benefits of DisplayPort using USB-C only connections. Thunderbolt ports support DisplayPort, so you can go directly from a TB/USB-C port to a monitor's DP input. Newest versions of HDMI also support the higher frequencies at high resolutions (60Hz +).

Good stuff, Henry. Thank you. I just found out that the VA computer is a 2020 Dell Latitude 5400 P98G. I'll do a little research to see what outputs it offers.

quote:

Originally posted by bryan11:
If you decide to use a dock, note many lower the refresh rate between your laptop and monitor. This can make a gaming monitor that's beautiful and crisp at 144Hz look fuzzy because the dock can't support the higher refresh rate needed.

Thanks, I had no idea this was true!

quote:

Originally posted by snidera:
This statement & the laptop you linked don't really match.

My suggestion would be a business-class Core i5/16GB RAM/~500GB SSD from either Lenovo or Dell.

Business class laptops will also come with less MFG-installed nag-ware like Alexa. The consumer class laptops have all that crap to differentiate themselves since it's all the same parts under the hood.

Also, consider a wide-format monitor that can put up 2 desktops (or just one really wide one), simulating dual-monitors. Not having 2-3" separating the 'screens' can be a big help if you are working on something side-by-side.

Thanks much. To give you an idea of why I linked that machine, all I saw was 16GB of memory and the 1TB SSD. I was under the assumption that the gaming machines were 32GB, so I figured 16 was the sweet spot. Plus its a Lenovo. You've made great points here and a business class machine is certainly where I'm headed now.

I'm still pretty lost on understanding the horsepower range I guess. This retiring 2015 HP 34" all-in-one machine is PAINFULLY slow, and it has been as long as I can remember. After a reboot, it just grinds and grinds and grinds. I even reinstalled Windows back in 2020 and didn't see much of a difference. But based on your reccomended specs, it would seem that this should still be a reasonable computer. (It's gotta go regardless; she needs the multi monitor experience with her laptop, and you can't connect another machine to this display anyway.)


Device name DESKTOP-634FVUO
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6400T CPU @ 2.20GHz 2.21 GHz
Installed RAM 12.0 GB (11.9 GB usable)
Device ID E50837E2-2464-4481-B074-B7AD2F0E98E4
Product ID 00325-95895-35046-AAOEM
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display


Edition Windows 10 Home
Version 21H1
Installed on ‎11/‎20/‎2020
OS build 19043.1826
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4180.0

quote:

Originally posted by Patrick-SP2022:
Consider getting 3 monitors.
I had used 2 monitors plus laptop display in the past. The laptop display wound up getting ignored.

The 2 monitors were next to each other, and I wound up staring at the gap between the two.
With the third monitor set as my main screen in the middle, and the others on either side, no more "gap".
And I wind up using all 3 pretty effectively.

I would second this advice to get 3 monitors that are of the same size. 2 monitors is great but having a third monitor is better. What happens with two monitors is that you end up working on one monitor with email and calendar on the second monitor. With three, you can actually work between two monitors and have the third on email and calendar plus you have the option to use the 3rd monitor for additional work space.

If you need the desk space, go with smaller monitors. my two 15" monitors match my laptop's 15" monitor (it helps the laptop is a 2-in-1 and I can flip the laptop so that the monitor is in line with the other two.

It's not like your wife is so poor sighted she needs the larger monitors, right? So 24" would be more than sufficient. You do need to ensure the graphics card can drive the two extra monitors. My laptop has the onboard graphic chip and it works well with how I use it - mostly data and not video.

The switch is called a KVM switch (for “Keyboard, Video, and Mouse”) google KVM switch and you will get a bunch of results. MAKE SURE IT HAS THE INPUTS/OUTPUTS YOU WILL NEED!

Another vote for the Lenovo business class.

quote:

I'm still pretty lost on understanding the horsepower range I guess. This retiring 2015 HP 34" all-in-one machine is PAINFULLY slow, and it has been as long as I can remember. After a reboot, it just grinds and grinds and grinds. I even reinstalled Windows back in 2020 and didn't see much of a difference. But based on your reccomended specs, it would seem that this should still be a reasonable computer. (It's gotta go regardless; she needs the multi monitor experience with her laptop, and you can't connect another machine to this display anyway.)


Device name DESKTOP-634FVUO
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6400T CPU @ 2.20GHz 2.21 GHz
Installed RAM 12.0 GB (11.9 GB usable)

I'm typing this on a laptop that has 2 generations older i5-4310 CPU, 8GB RAM & the cheapest 256GB SSD I could find. It runs CAD (fusion360) well enough, no lag on launching browser/excel/etc & reboots in less than a minute. I consider myself to be a fairly heavy computer user & I by no means have patience.
I have Excel, Fusion360, ~10 tabs in Brave, qBittorent & my 3Dprint slicer running and I don't notice any speed difference vs having just 1 app open.

Basic computer usage - web browsing, office apps, etc - are not really taxing to CPU/RAM/SSD. You could double the processor speed & a lot of software will only gain a small amount of quickness, if any at all. I have Excel macros that take 1:30 to run on a desktop core i7 & a laptop core i3 (and the laptop fan sounds like a jet engine)

That HP is still VERY serviceable, but if it's from 2015, it's a toss up whether it has SSD or HDD - that is a HUGE difference in speed capability. There is also likely something wrong with windows if you are having slow reboots (windows updates have been known to take a dump at times). Nuke & pave windows (not a 'restore') and upgrade to 250-500GB SSD if it doesn't have it already and you will have almost as fast of a machine for <$100 as the T15 I linked for $1100. I've never really like all-in-ones, but that one has decent specs.