Quandary: Dell 2405fpw vs. Samsung 213T (1 Viewer)

I purchased the Dell 24" widescreen display several weeks ago and I have no complaints with the quality whatsoever. It is very well built, has no dead pixels, and looks great on my desk. The problem is that the native resolution (1920 x 1200) makes text hard for my aging eyes to read from my usual sitting position. I've tried changing some of the DPI settings, with little improvement. My wife and I both seem to get slight headaches after browsing the Internet, which never happened with our previous 21" Dell CRT monitor.

I'm thinking that I should perhaps look at one of the standard aspect ratio (non-widescreen) LCD monitors from Samsung. The 213T is a 21.3" monitor that has the same vertical resolution (1200) as my new Dell. But whereas the Dell display is only 12.75" tall, I think the Samsung is several inches taller and would therefore offer larger pixels for the same resolution.

Am I thinking about this logically or am I missing something? Also, can anyone tell me what the exact display dimensions of the Samsung are? I've seen 18" x 18.5" on the spec sheets but I assume that includes the bezel. That also sounds too "square" as the stated resolution of the Samsung is 1600x1200 indicating a 4:3 aspect ratio.

By the way, the monitor is used mainly for web-surfing (60%), office applications (30%), and DVD watching (only 10%). In hindsight, I probably overestimated my need for a widescreen monitor as my DVD watching is mainly done on other TVs.

Thanks

Brian,

Have you tried enlarging the text size in your browser?

In Firefox ==> VIEW / TEXT SIZE / INCREASE

In I.E. ==> VIEW / TEXT SIZE / LARGER (or LARGEST)

John,

I will try that -- I didn't know of that option.

Thanks!

By the way, it appears that the Samsung 21.3" monitor may not actually be taller than my Dell. Using a 4:3 ratio, I calculate that the screen is probably 17 x 12.75, which would yield the same dot size.

Are you using the DVI connection? If you aren't, with a resolution that high, everything might be just slightly off, leading to headaches.

You may find it hard to get the 213T as many vendors have discontinued it from their product lines. It is a great monitor, but is starting to get hard to find. Many people are waiting for the new version of the 21" that Samsung is likely to release in the next few weeks.

The dell 2405 has a dot pitch of .27mm, and so does the samsung 213T.

Brian, does turning down the brightness or contrast of your Dell monitor help? It might just be too bright, causing you eye fatigue! The Dell 2405 is one of the brightest monitors out there - the chief complaint from photographers trying to proof photos with it (hard to calibrate because of the brightness).