Full HD, QHD or 4K? Computer upgrade?

Will James

Will James

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Hi All,

I can’t decide on my hardware setup as I keep going round in circles so would love your advice...

Currently I have a late-2012 13” MacBook Pro (non-retina), intel i7, 2.9 GHz, 750gb HDD which has done me well since I bought it new and has only slowed down slightly when using LR etc. I’ve been meaning to buy a new monitor to help my photo editing for a while, so have recently done lots of research. Turns out my laptop can only output maximum full HD 1920 x 1080, which makes me wonder whether it’s worth spending ~£200 for a good full HD monitor now when we now have plenty of QHD and 4K on the market to take advantage on.

So my choices are as follows:

1. Buy a full HD monitor (I would go for Dell Ultrasharp 24”) with a view to upgrading my laptop later down the line such as getting an iMac two years from now. The plus is this is the cheapest option of all three. The negative is I feel like I’m investing in old tech buying full HD now.

2. Sell my MacBook Pro and upgrade to a newer one which outputs at higher res (second-hand one) and buy a QHD 27” monitor. However, lots of faff, uncertainty associated with buying second hand. Could be viewed as a ‘halfway house’ step since I still wouldn’t have the latest tech but also wouldn’t need to fork out £££ for it.

3. Buy a new 21.5” iMac now. Plus is the beautiful 4K screen, however I do question if this makes full HD movies and vids less enjoyable to watch with them being more ‘pixelated’.

The cost of each option of course increases from 1 to 3. I can ‘afford’ any option but the only caveat to option 3 would be that I don’t feel my MacBook is that ‘old’ and it isn’t sluggish enough yet for me to be frustrated at it. Does it matter?

Wondering if you all had any view which could help me decide? Main question revolves around do I go full HD, QHD or 4K at this point in time? What are the pros and cons?

Also just to mention: I don’t feel I have any particular need for a laptop/mobile computer. I mainly use my computer for photo editing, life admin / spreadsheets [emoji4] and that’s pretty much it.

Thanks in advance
Will.
 
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The uncertainty of buying second-hand can be mitigated by buying from the Apple refurb store.

You could get a refurb iMac plus a decent 27" monitor. However, as I don't watch videos on my computer I can't help regarding output quality.
 
Yes true that’s an option, I’ll have a look.

I guess I’m really after advice on whether to go for full HD (option 1), QHD (option 2) or 4K (option 3), based on people’s experience of using them...
 
I'm sure your macbook can output to a higher res using the displayport. My old (late 2008 unibody) macbook would happily run a 1920X1200 Dell screen, and would go larger AFAIR. Don't go HD - 1920 X 1200 is nicer for all round use, whether processing or just generally working/playing.

FWIW My Dell XPS 15 has a QHD screen, and DVD playback is nice on that.

What would I do in your position? Probably get a 24" 1920 X 1200 screen for now unless I had money to burn.
 
Nawty said:
Your macbook should have intel HD4000 graphics, which can output 2560x1600

https://support.apple.com/kb/sp649?locale=en_GB

FWIW, if you're happy with the speed of your current machine I would just get a 24" monitor for it (and I'd probably look for something second hand so that I don't feel bad about paying new money for 'old' tech).
Click to expand...

Well the mac mini from 2012 probably has the same card and has been running QHD 27" monitor + a 20" one all its life....

24" full HD will look very pixelated. 20" would be just about acceptable, not 24".
 
Thanks for the replies everyone.

That’s strange about my MacBook because I went to a store recently to try out some QHD monitors and my MacBook wouldn’t support the res beyond 1920x1080. I used a Mini DP to HDMI which supports up to 4K res...I’ll try again on the weekend.

So if my MacBook does indeed support 1440p, would you recommend I get a 1920x1200 or a 1440p/QHD display? Is the extra real estate worth it on the 1440p? Would it give me any issues with text being too small?

I could get a Dell 24” U2415 (1920x1200) for £235 or a BenQ 27” QHD for £265 as examples.
 
Larger size (inches) will give you more 'real estate' but higher resolution will not. A 1440P screen will just have a finer dot pitch, so that details, text etc appears crisper, and photos don't get as large when you zoom to 100% (which can fool you into thinking an image is sharp because you simply aren't zoomed in close enough to tell).

What is the relative quality like between the Dell and Benq screens - I'd use that as a guide more than size.
 
Option 1. You have been happy with what you are doing for a while and will feel the upgrade to the Dell ultrasharp. Also:

1) It gives you a new toy
2) You have £££ in your pocket
3) you can treat yourself to another toy/upgrade in a few years
4) if you dont like the monitor, sell it and choose one of the other options. Nothing lost, only peace of mind gained.

Stay with Full HD for a little while longer and let 4k develop properly. Then switch. No point buying QHD now really.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Larger size (inches) will give you more 'real estate' but higher resolution will not. A 1440P screen will just have a finer dot pitch, so that details, text etc appears crisper, and photos don't get as large when you zoom to 100% (which can fool you into thinking an image is sharp because you simply aren't zoomed in close enough to tell).

What is the relative quality like between the Dell and Benq screens - I'd use that as a guide more than size.
Click to expand...

Ah my mistake, I thought the higher resolution gives more ‘real estate’ since you have more room to play with (relatively) due to the extra resolution
 
nick16 said:
Option 1. You have been happy with what you are doing for a while and will feel the upgrade to the Dell ultrasharp. Also:

1) It gives you a new toy
2) You have £££ in your pocket
3) you can treat yourself to another toy/upgrade in a few years
4) if you dont like the monitor, sell it and choose one of the other options. Nothing lost, only peace of mind gained.

Stay with Full HD for a little while longer and let 4k develop properly. Then switch. No point buying QHD now really.
Click to expand...

Good advice, thanks.

Any others going to fight the corner for QHD before go for a Dell Ultrasharp full HD?
 
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