[DoctorEldritch]

Hello Legion Gamers!

Some time ago, I asked which controller was the best one to choose. Still deciding, and a huge thank you to everyone who replied, and I will make my decision in the next 2 weeks to align with Amazon Prime day (thank you @GoLLuM13!) or later on Black Friday. This is the deadline I set for myself.

But that is not the only piece of hardware I'm after. After using only a laptop for so long, I am finally getting the rest of the gear. And while headphones I got covered and the controller is in the works, there is one more component that I need to look into: a gaming monitor.

Here I have no experience at all, not even sure what to look for in one of those. The only thing that I know is that I probably do not need those curved monitors as I do not play that many shooters or racing, but honestly, I am not sure what is the point of those curves.

I am reading through the usual "best gaming monitor of 2022" selections but after all the help I got with my controller conundrum (thank you again), I have more faith in community recommendations rather than those internet lists. So, anyone knows any good monitors for gaming to recommend or even any general advice on this?

[JokerZida]

I don't have any experience with gaming monitors but for me i really recommend you to see some monitors by your physically to make a decision.
The main point for me to choose any monitors is the materials of it. You don't need any monitors that can broken at 1 time 😅 Sony Samrt TV are very strong you can punch it directly. If you find any Sony monitors it will be very good.👌

[DoctorEldritch]

@JokerZida Thank you! That may be a bit tricky, though, because stock is limited where I am, it is hard to see all options out there from this location, I may need to take a trip to a bigger city to see some monitors. But maybe if material is aluminum or something, it would be good? think that information can be found in online retailers.

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch all depends on what you are looking for. The inches of the screen are most important and I found a 27" would be sufficient enough for gaming. Are you looking for good framerates and do you want to play games in 4K?

if I would choose one at the moment I'll go with a:

SAMSUNG 27" QHD Gaming Monitor With 165Hz refresh rate

There are so many choices out there. The budget is usually the problem.

[JokerZida]

@DoctorEldritch It depend on your location
But you may find some 👌

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch to help you choose a monitor you can have a look at the following link.

https://www.pcgamer.com/best-gaming-monitor/

They rate each monitor and show most of the specifications! 😀

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot Thank you, I have lists like that, too. My problem is, I know next to nothing when it comes to specs, so I am not really sure what to look for in a good monitor. Size and framerates are important, of course, but what else should a good one have?

And I am also somewhat wary of those lists because they can be a bit commercialized. For example, that monitor you'd choose is not even on the list. So many options, hard to choose for someone like me who is not "in the know".

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch it's really a difficult decision to make. I remember buying my first HD monitor and never realized the monitor was only 720p, I then sold it and bought a 1080p also to realize the framerates were a bit off and the colour was also a bit out of sync. I ended up selling the monitor and finally bought a secondhand Alienware.

The monitor lasted me about 12 years before I upgraded to an LG. Those lists I only see as a guide for buying and if I spot something I like I'll google the specific product many times to read reviews.

I choose the Samsung because my friend has one of those and he's very happy with it and has had no problems so far.

In the end, it comes down to own personal preferences. My other bud is still using a 17" monitor. He can't use bigger. He says he gets nauseous when using bigger sizes, especially playing shoot 'em ups.

To be honest with you I will also take a while before choosing. I am a very picky person and the many options available will make me go crazy.

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot very true, I too take ages to decide, and by the time I do everyone I know is fed up with me because I keep asking them. I try not to do it as much here, though.

But your journey to find a good monitor is impressive. Might not have been the smoothest ride, but now you have more experience in choices, I hope.

And it's been a while since I had a big monitor, but I remember I liked it more than small laptop screens. I do not play many shoot em-ups. But I would not it to be too big either. How long has your Samsung bud had it with no problems now?

And I do get the trouble of choosing, all the options make it so hard. This reminds me of that David Mitchell's Soapbox sketch about choice:

So yeah, I try to hunt perfection or close enough thatof, and it takes me ages to make decisions. But with the controller, for example, the community did help a lot.

[GoLLuM13]

Hello @DoctorEldritch I was hesitant to answer at first because it made me feel uncomfortable to talk about and recommend other brands on a Lenovo Legion community 😅😜

There is a website with multiple reviews (and of course multiple lists) they are one of the best references to use among others it's RTings

Now to help you a little bit on what to choose, of course there is the allowed budget, because with screens we can easily overspend money. After this you have to choose a monitor that is adapted to your actual setup and/or maybe something you'll have a somehow near future (short to mid term) and also that is adapted to what kind of games you play with it.
Just as an example, let's say you have an GTX 1660 that you use to play competitive shooters, in this case you should stick to a 1080p high refresh monitor and don't even think about 1440p ou 2160p (4K) because the GTX 1660 is too weak to manage in good conditions those resolutions and more so at high framerates.
Another thing you'll like to keep an eye on, is the panel technology, let's be honest unless you want a very fast panel TN is garbage for anything else and there are already very good alternatives with other technologies (and we won't speak about OLED and QD-OLED that will require to sell 3 kidneys minimum 🤣) for me (and that's me) the best affordable technology with balanced performance is the IPS, good view angles, good colors, good responsiveness in mid to high-end models, but it's not perfect, there is two most important issues with this technology, backlight bleeding and the contrast level isn't very good (this is where VA panels shine compared to IPS).
And of course without stating the obvious the size of the screen, it should fit on your desk 😜 and it shouldn't be too big if you don't have enough space between you and the screen, what I mean by that you shouldn't go for a 43" if there is only 20 cm between you and the screen 😁

Anyway, to start at the beginning, you should start to know what you're aiming (what kind of graphics power you have or expect to have)

PS: sorry for the long block 😁