What's the best way to upgrade my work monitors?

January 16, 2024 9:55 AM

I am thinking of upgrading my work monitor situation. What's the best path forward?

During the pandemic, when I started working from home, I bought two 24" inch monitors. They're...fine. I want more real estate, though, so I'm thinking of upgrading. My thoughts are to either get two 28" or 32" monitors or one ultrawide monitor, but I don't know which one would be better/best.

These monitors would be used solely for work, so:

- Web-based apps (primary usage)
- Excel/Word
- Notepad/text editors
- Occasional YouTubing

Currently, I generally have one of my monitors dedicated to a browser running my primary system of work (Workday) in several tabs, and the other monitor running a browser with tabs holding other apps I need in order to do my work.

So for monitors, I don't need the cutting/leading edge, I don't need the latest video tech with 18 bazillion colors or a ton of bells and whistles. I need clarity, I need to be able to connect these monitors to my Dell Wd15 dock (this part is non-negotiable and non-changeable, as that's what my work supplies), and I need more real estate and...that's about it really. Price isn't not an object (I'm paying for these myself), but it's also not my main concern at this point, until I figure out what the better approach for me is.

I just don't know whether a single, wide-screen monitor is worth it for the way I would use it, or whether the two-monitor approach I currently use, but with bigger monitors, would be fine.

posted by pdb to Technology (8 answers total)

"Real estate" is generally described as "resolution" in the monitor world. If you're looking for more pixels to show more information, simply buying a larger monitor won't necessarily help - you could end up with same resolution (or possibly less!) as your current monitors but just with a larger screen. You would end up with the same (or less!) amount of work space, with a larger image.

What make and model (or resolution, ie 1080p, 1440p or 4K, or something else) are the two 24" monitors?
posted by eschatfische at 10:09 AM on January 16

Response by poster: These are the current monitors.
posted by pdb at 10:40 AM on January 16

Best answer: OK, thanks. Your current effective resolution is 3840x1080 at 60hz.

So, the WD15 docking station supports a maximum resolution of:

One 3840x2160 monitor at 30hz

or

Two 1920x1080 60hz monitors, providing 3840x1080 at 60hz (which is what you currently have)

In a dual monitor configuration, the WD15 is not able to provide more real estate than you already have, unless you simply wanted larger monitors to enlarge the image.

In a single monitor configuration, you could replace the two monitors with a single 28" or 32" 4K monitor - keeping the horizontal resolution the same, but doubling the vertical resolution, meaning that you would end up with more vertical real estate - with the catch that the refresh rate (how quickly the screen is updated) would be halved from the standard 60hz. This might make things seem "stuttery" or "choppy" when dragging files or watching videos. I'm not sure I'd make that trade.

You might be able to get an ultrawide with a resolution of 3440 x 1440 working with the WD15 at the typical 60hz, but that would reduce the amount of horizontal workspace you have while somewhat increasing the vertical workspace. I'm also not sure I'd take that trade.

Other docks can facilitate substantial upgrades; you're already largely maxing out the capabilities of the WD15. If moving away from the WD15 is truly a dealbreaker, I probably would not update your configuration unless you wanted the existing workspace to simply appear larger.
posted by eschatfische at 11:04 AM on January 16 [4 favorites]

Ditto. Unless you need larger monitors, I wouldn't bother. I am currently running 3 x 24 inch monitors on my desk, and it felt a bit... overkill. And I'm on a desktop with RTX (with 3 video outs). You're pretty maxed out on the dock as eschatfische said. If you change to 28 or 32 you'll have to change your seating config (different distance to monitor) too. I'd say keep things as is and maybe upgrade your seating instead.
posted by kschang at 11:21 AM on January 16

Response by poster: Good to know about the limitations of my dock. I can't just ask my work for a new one without this one malfunctioning, so I guess I'll just make do with my current setup for now; when and if this dock stops working, who knows, they may be provisioning more robust docks (this one was issued to me 5 years ago).

Thanks all.
posted by pdb at 11:43 AM on January 16

I have 2x 24" LG 24UD58 4K displays for 180+ dpi don't-see-the-pixels clarity and 2x scaling in Windows / retina scaling in macOS.

You'll need a better dock. I understand it's not negotiable, even if money is no object?

(Does your work device only talk to the D-SUB analogue port? I get that there's digital return channels on DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort and USB-C connections, but parsing the monitor's own document listing its capabilities, the EDID -- where the security vulnerability starts -- happens even with a D-SUB analogue connection. Ofc it's corp security that's non-negotiable.)
posted by k3ninho at 11:55 AM on January 16

We got my spouse an LG 29" widescreen monitor and added the Virtual Display Manager app. This lets us slice up the screens into what function as separate displays.

She likes it because she's able to keep her VoIP app open in its own mini-window on the side, while using the rest of the screen as its own monitor. This gives her her three most commonly used apps (VoIP, email, browser) on their own windows without us having to worry about the limitations of her computer to support more than two screens.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:57 AM on January 16

Good to know about the limitations of my dock. I can't just ask my work for a new one without this one malfunctioning

My workplace at home has two 28" screens, 2560x1440, DVI and DP inputs, hooked up via DVI to a 4 port dual channel KVM (because of three other systems, my own).
When my workplace went through its upgrade cycle and bestowed a new laptop on me, they offered after much hemming and hawing one USB-C to DVI and one HDMI to DVI to go with it. That would work, but it would require a) inconvenient cabling on both sides of the laptop and b) eat up all its ports (network and keyboard/mouse would take whatever remained). So, a big fat Meh.

Pulled a matching dock (HP) off the local second-hand marketplace for the horrendous price of 25 Euros, performed the arcane rituals including 683 reboots to get Windows to recognise the dock, its network interface and the screens as separate entities and at the desired resolution, and called it good. And now it's just one cable from the laptop to the dock. Especially convenient since going into the office would mean unplugging what would otherwise be a nice bowl of Cablesalad.

TL;DR: get a better dock, in your case preferably by Dell, and second-hand is fine.
posted by Stoneshop at 9:34 AM on January 17