34" Ultrawide monitors - bargains?

[Buttery Ken]

I need to buy a couple of these for work purposes. I can't believe how relatively cheap these are now. Seems you can get a decent-ish screen for £350, and in some cases even cheaper.

All 34", 3440x1440:

Samsung Odyssey G5 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Odyssey-LC34G55TW... - £350
Samsung LS34C500 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BSNL9JFY/ref=twister... - £300
Philips 346E2CUAE - https://www.ebuyer.com/1138122-philips-e-line-346e... - £320

At this point I'm just about to order two of the G5's as I like the idea of the higher-refresh rate, should I ever need it.

Both will have MacBook Air M2's connected to them via a dock/HDMI @60hz initially.

Am I missing anything obvious? I know they're not OLED or even IPS, but for general 'office' work I'm sure they'll be fine.

[esuuv]

Not an expert but - connect with USB C and you don't need a dock, the Philips appears to have that.

[Buttery Ken]

esuuv said:

Not an expert but - connect with USB C and you don't need a dock, the Philips appears to have that.

Yeah I quite like that feature, but already have the docks!

Thanks

[Tymb]

Another one to possibly look at.

https://www.novatech.co.uk/products/iiyama-g-maste...

I think you can go usb-c to displayport directly so would not need a hub.

[mmm-five]

They're all VA monitors, but if you want an IPS one, then LG have the 34WN750P for about £300.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-UltraWide-34WN750P-com...

In general, IPS offers better colour reproduction & wider viewing angles, VA offers better contrast ratios/black levels.

But you also want to look at the type of backlighting each offers...be it low zone, edge-lit, or high-zone FALD...depending on your use case of course.

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 2nd April 14:05

[al5x]

Having recently been experimenting with a M1 Mac mini on my 34" ultrawide, I would recommend trying before buying with 1440 and MacOS (ultra-wide or otherwise), due to the way MacOS handles text aliasing, scaling, PPI etc.

To my eyes, its 'not great' vs Linux or Windows at the same native res, I've tried some of the recommended work-arounds/solutions (BetterDisplay etc.) and none really do the job (IMHO), but YMMV and all that.

[esuuv]

I run my MacBook Pro (intel) on a 34" ultra wide at home and in the office - both running 3440 x 1440, they look fine to me........

[Terry Winks]

esuuv said:

I run my MacBook Pro (intel) on a 34" ultra wide at home and in the office - both running 3440 x 1440, they look fine to me........

Running 1 is fine.... the second one is a pain in the ass to get right.

[Buttery Ken]

Thanks everyone.

al5x said:

Having recently been experimenting with a M1 Mac mini on my 34" ultrawide, I would recommend trying before buying with 1440 and MacOS (ultra-wide or otherwise), due to the way MacOS handles text aliasing, scaling, PPI etc.

To my eyes, its 'not great' vs Linux or Windows at the same native res, I've tried some of the recommended work-arounds/solutions (BetterDisplay etc.) and none really do the job (IMHO), but YMMV and all that.

I've been running my Macbook on an LG 34" ultrawide for a year or so. Admittedly the picture isn't amazingly clear when working in text but I always put that down to the monitor being a bit 'cheap', but maybe it's the reasons you mention. When the new monitors arrive, this LG will be getting moved to a Windows machine so I'll see if it's any better.

I ordered the Samsung monitors, and an iPhone 15 Pro from E*uyer who I've used in the past. I paid extra for NDD and I've just been told the order is delayed and might not even be here tomorrow. Really frustrating as I thought I'd use a smaller business rather than Amazon. So i've cancelled the order and will get all the kit via Amazon!