Category Archives: Hardware

Upgrading My Laptop’s External Display

I bought a 1080p HP monitor back in 2009 and I must say it’s not that bad. 10 years later it still works. But I’m looking at upgrading.

What I have versus what I want:

Have 22″ -> Want 32″

I have been “stacking” my external display on top of my monitor. Because the 22″ is not that tall, it looks fine sitting above my laptop. I tried side-by-side and found that gave me a sore neck. So I don’t really want an ultrawide monitor for that reason. And for long, uninterrupted pages of code they are not really ideal either–too short.

Stacking a much big monitor above a laptop is not really ideal either for ergonomics. I think the solution is to just use one screen at a time and switch to a Bluetooth keyboard. Benefits are:

1. One big screen directly in front of me is easier to use and ergonomically better than two screens.

2. Don’t have the “warm wrists” problem of feeling heat from the CPU.

As far as what kind of screen I want:

1. I don’t want to spend much more than $300.

2. I want a bigger screen with 4K resolution for sharp text. At 1080p, text is not really sharp enough for writing software with a lot of windows/terminals open.

3. I want a clear screen, not non-glare. My Dell laptop is glossy/reflective (not non-glare) and everything is so much clearer. My current external display is non-glare and it’s much more blurry compared to my laptop and phone. This makes buying something online rather difficult, because usually this is not something manufacturers advertise, and it’s not really something you can see or appreciate online. Most people think they want non-glare when they’re researching monitors, but seeing a glossy monitor in person, in the store, that’s where you see the comparable difference in clarity. I’m looking more at Samsung because I feel they are better at manufacturing really clear glossy screens.

Overall, I think I’ll be more productive with a larger screen, and that’s important for my work. And if that saves my eyes some fatigue, that’s worth something in the long run too.