Hi all, recently i've been shopping for a basic budget monitor for my mum.
Currently looking for a 27 inch monitor to pair to a M1 Mac Mini or soon to be M2. (Monitor first while waiting to see if the M2 will release)

Back to the question,
I've notice the budget monitors are pretty similar
75mhz, 4-6ms respond time, few ports here and there and no speaker

In fact, im facing a decision fatigue not knowing which to pick best for my mum.
No specific requirement as she do not game and what no, just basic paperwork and youtube here and there.

I'm looking for the best bang for the buck but monitor prices has come down quite alot.

Here's a list of monitor i was initially looking, all in the range of 550-650

Samsung lf27t350fhexmm
Hp v27i
Philips 271E1D
AOC 27B1H
Acer ED272A (abit old release in 2018)
Philips 275EIS
Asus VY279HE
Viewsonic VA2732H
Asus VZ279HEG
AOC 27G2E5

and the list goes on if i really want to continue researching.

I got so tired until i feel like settling for a Dell S2721HN for the fact that it has two hdmi ports and audio jack. (extra hdmi for her cctv)

Any input will be great. Thank you in advance

Get one with build in speaker
Don't sound great but easy to use.

that was my initial idea, until i remember my own asus has a built in one.
it's so bad that i rather use earphones or an external speaker

Coincidentally I am looking at the exact same setup..
Waiting for the M1x to be launched, and shopping for a monitor, in preparation for it.

Seems like the go-to are the Dell monitors. Will likely go for the S2721HN.
I'm looking at the NB arms also.

unfortunately, not getting much response from the rest

i did abit more research and some say 1080 is not enough for 27 inch. Im using one myself (didnt really find any problem with daily usage.

However i did stumble upon one of the cheapest 1440 27 monitor, Armaggeddon Pixxel+ Elite EF27QHD

mixed reviews, cheap for its specs but obviously quality is questionable.
built was one of the issue for this monitor, flimsy stand and cheap power cable.

On the fence for it, on one hand you can get a 1440p monitor for 1080p price range, on the other is it's built quality

Sounds like a trade off. The only reason I am looking at a 27" is the screen estate. Mostly for work and docs.
In this aspect, 1440 vs 1080 doesnt really matter to me. I can make do with 1080 for leisure web surfing, as long as it's within budget.

The only reason why I opt for a mac mini + external monitors is budget, of course.
Else might as well go for the 24" iMac

On a side note, which option are you looking at, 4gb/8gb ram and 256/512ssd?

not sure what do you mean by trade off.
you should have a look at the Armaggeddon Pixxel+ Elite EF27QHD, would like to hear your thoughts!

its around the price point of the 1080p that i listed above.

for the mac mini, would probably go for a base model, 8gb 256 ssd. bit overkill for my mum. LOL

the only down side is the memory swap issue, which is a turn off for putting extra wear on the ssd.
you?

No experience with choosing monitors, so not exactly fair for me to comment.
Quick googling and saw this :
https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/5093050

I think there's no good or bad, but for that price, I would rather choose a more tested, smaller screen sized monitor.
This is what I meant by trade off, lower/budget price but with more screen estate, since I just want the space, and the resolution is good enough for me.

On the mac mini, I was thinking to up the ram to 16gb, since it's soldered on, and maybe an external HDD later on.

hahahah, fair. i guess we're pretty much on the same boat looking for budget monitors will large screen estate.


true, 16gb ram should be fine lahh, if it wasnt for my mac pro, i would have gotten the 16gb too, and yes external hdd will be fine.
I've even though of adding the mod for mac mini where there's an external hdd that comes with additional ports. Not sure if you've seen that
i was even thinking to add a NAS for family use and as a remote storage. Not sure if it's abit overkill

Hopefully some sifu can come and comment on the budget monitors..
By the way, are you looking to buy from lazada/shopee? No experience with buying big electrical items from shopee before.

On a totally unrelated topic on the mac :
Do you mind pointing me the link for the mod? Sounds interesting. One problem with the mac mini is the # of IO ports.
With just 2 usb, there's a strong chance will need to get an external hub for extra usb slots. No clean way around this I guess.

+1 for the NAS, I did consider it at the start of mco1.0 , but haven't gotten to it yet cause I'm lazy. Addon vlc/kodi.

yea, fingers cross a sifu will come and give his 2 cents

I buy from shopee all day. as long as the price is right. Shipped to your door step

https://shopee.com.my/k%C2%B7Type-c-expande...512.11606688537
this is something i mention before about the dock/ expansion hub
pretty neat i would say