DELL XPS 13 (SKYLAKE)

Opening the Dell XPS 13 immediately reveals its most prominent design trait: a barely-there display bezel. The gaps between the edges of the screen and the edges of the lid are less than a quarter of an inch thick, which means this notebook comes closer to a true “edge-to-edge” display than anything we’ve yet seen. They also help the XPS stay small, as it’s only one foot wide and eight inches deep. Acer’s 11-inch Chromebook 720P, by comparison, is only seven-tenths of an inch narrower.

Such compact dimensions may raise durability concerns, but touching this Dell crushes them without hesitation. The carbon fiber and aluminum chassis feels absolutely rigid. Even the thin-bezel display allows only the slightest flex. We feel confident the XPS 13 will handle abuse better than most systems of its size.

The exterior of the silver XPS 13 is mundane with the display lid closed. Dell could have done more to differentiate the system at a glance from the Inspiron 7000 series, which also relies on silver metallic accents. Dell’s limited gold model resolves that issue with a subtle change of color. Once open, both models reveal a uniquely textured, soft-touch carbon fiber interior that steals the show. No other laptop looks or feels quite like this.

SHAVING PORTS

Wired connectivity is not the XPS 13’s strongest point. It offers just two USB ports, both 3.0, along with a Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1 Type-C port, which handles video and additional peripheral connections. An SD card reader, and an audio jack, are also included. There’s no Ethernet or HDMI.

You may not need Ethernet, because the base XPS 13 comes standard with 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.

THERE’S FINALLY A GOOD WINDOWS TOUCHPAD

The small size of XPS 13 doesn’t mean the keyboard is rubbish. On the contrary, individual keys provide solid feel with reasonable travel and a firm bottoming action. A ton of space between individual keys leads to our only complaints: The key caps could be larger, and Backspace is too small. Still, it’s a top-notch effort overall.

Keyboard backlighting is standard. By default it turns on only when the system is actively in use. Just two brightness levels are available and a great deal of light escapes from beneath the keys, which can be distracting. A third, even dimmer setting would be preferable.

We can’t praise the touchpad highly enough. Four inches wide, and a hair more than two inches deep, it’s not particularly large, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in fluidity.

Multi-touch scroll and zoom feel wonderful, almost Mac-like, and we never had an issue with mistaken or unwanted input. The tactile left and right buttons integrated into the touchpad lack travel, but it hardly matters because tap-to-click works so well.

PLEASING PIXELS

While the standard XPS 13 comes with a 1080p display, our review unit arrived with the upgraded 3,200 × 1,800 touchscreen. That’s about 280 pixels per inch, or 60 more per inch than a MacBook Pro with Retina. Predictably, that makes for a sharp experience. While the display can’t display native 4K, there is a noticeable bump in image quality between 1080p and 4K content.

That said, low-resolution video still looks reasonably good. Why? Dell has nailed the fundamentals. We measured a contrast ratio of 680:1 at maximum brightness, low black levels across the board and a gamut that spans 97 percent of sRGB. All these figures are in the top tier of notebooks we tested.

Color accuracy is another highlight. We measured an average difference of 1.9 (lower is better), a figure that’s bested only by recent 4K notebooks like the Asus Zenbook NX500. A color difference of one or less is generally undetectable by the naked eye.

Not everything is perfect. We noted a gamma reading of 1.9, off the target of 2.2, and a maximum brightness of just 196 lux. That’s not a bad reading, but alternatives like the Asus NX500 and Acer Aspire V15 Nitro Black Edition can exceed 250 lux with ease. Glare from the XPS 13’s screen can prove distracting in bright environments.

Audio performance is a flaw. The speakers don’t sound terrible, but they can’t output enough volume to fill a room with sound. External speakers or headphones are a necessity.

SKYLAKE POWERS UP

As mentioned, we’ve tested two XPS 13 models. The $1,400 Core i5-6200U edition is not especially powerful given its price, but the gold edition ups the ante with a Core i7-6560U. That has a major, positive impact on performance.

Of the systems in the graph above, the HP Spectre x360 and LG Ultra PC represent the old guard, 5th-generation hardware. The Asus UX305CA is an new, 6th-gen chip, but part of the ultra efficient (and thus less powerful) Core M line. The Surface Pro 4, meanwhile, was reviewed with a Core i5-6300U.

As it turns out, the Pro 4 is quicker than the XPS 13 with a Core i5-6200U. But the Core i7 model of XPS 13 outruns them all, and does so with ease. Its single-core score is 28 percent higher than the Core i5 model. A pretty nice upgrade, given the price gap between it and the Core i5 version is only 18 percent.

And it’s not just the processor that’s been upgraded. Dell has also switched the older XPS 13’s SATA hard drive for a PCIe solid state unit. That results in sustained read speeds of 1,118 megabytes per second, and sustained writes of 314MB/s.

While write speeds haven’t improved much over the earlier version, the read speed roughly doubled. There are quicker notebooks, like the Asus Zenbook UX501, which hit a read score of 1535MB/s and write score of 1572MB/s — truly outstanding performance.

Still, the XPS 13 is in league with the fastest, running neck-and-neck with Razer’s Blade Stealth and Apple’s MacBook. Competitors like the Toshiba Satellite Radius 12, which has a SATA hard drive, struggle to offer half the XPS 13’s read performance.

BETTER GRAPHICS, BUT STILL NOT A GAME MACHINE

The Core i5-6200U is flanked by Intel HD 520 graphics, a mid-range version of company’s latest integrated graphics processor (IGP). The faster Core i7-6560U has a more impressive HD 540 IGP. We threw them into 3DMark to see what they’re capable of, and were pleased by the results.

As you can see, the Core i5 model of XPS 13 achieves a Sky Diver score of 3,482, which puts it firmly above older generations of laptops, and very close to the more powerful Surface Pro 4 we reviewed. The Core i7 model, meanwhile, scores a big win with its Sky Diver score of 5,260. That’s far ahead of the typical curve, and double older 5th-generation laptops like the HP Spectre x360 and LG Ultra PC 14Z950.

The Core i5-6200U with HD520 graphics isn’t up to serious gaming, despite its respectable score. Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm averaged 54 frames per second at 1080p resolution and low detail. Turning everything up to maximum slowed the game to a slideshow average of just 16 FPS.

But the Core i7-6560U is workable. It averaged 84 FPS in Heroes of the Storm at 1080p and low detail. Turning the game to maximum decreased that to 30 FPS, which is on the border of playable. The i7 is not a gaming powerhouse, but it will handle some mainstream 3D games if it must.

ALL DAY ENDURANCE

The XPS 13 starts at 2.7 pounds, and the high-resolution touchscreen increases that figure to a still-light 2.9 pounds. While these numbers are low, they’re not enough to put the system in league with the lightest available, like the Lenovo LaVie Z and LG Ultra PC. In fact, this Dell feel chunky in hand despite its low weight. That’s another effect of the thin bezels. The XPS 13 is much smaller than other laptops SPORTING a 13-inch display, and thus denser.

Battery life is strong, thanks to a large 56-watt-hour battery and the efficiency of Intel’s latest processors. In the Peacekeeper battery benchmark, the Core i5 versions of the XPS 13 lasted seven hours and 52 minutes. Our web browsing loop extended life to eight hours and 23 minutes.

The Core i7 edition lasted a fair bit less, at four hours and 44 minutes in Peacekeeper, and five hours and 23 minutes in our web browsing loop. That penalty seems the result of performance, which is significantly enhanced, as we’ve already stated. Our tests do place a fair bit of load our the system. In mixed use, though, the XPS 13 with Core i7 can last longer than eight hours.

These results are impressive, and put the XPS 13 in the top tier of notebooks. The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 only lasts six hours and 26 minutes in Peacekeeper, the Asus UX305CA lasted 5 hours and 51 minutes, and the Toshiba Satellite Radius 12 lasted three hours and 39 minutes.

CONTROLLED HEAT

The XPS 13’s efficient 6th-gen Core processor seemed to help it stay cool at idle, where its maximum external temperature hit a maximum of 78.1 degrees Fahrenheit — barely above ambient. The fan was whisper-quiet, as well, and power draw was a modest 10 watts with the display at maximum brightness.

Full system load caused the XPS 13 some stress. Its maximum external temperature soared to 108.6 degrees, forcing the fan to kick in, producing a tolerable but noticeable 42.3 decibels of noise. Power draw exceeded 33 watts, which is actually on the high end for an ultrabook.

We did not record much variation between the Core i5 and i7 model. Temperature readings were no greater than one degree Fahrenheit, and noise varied no more than a decibel.

Most modern competitors are a bit cooler at load. The Asus Zenbook UX305CA warmed to no more than 100.6 degrees, while the HP Spectre x360 only hit 96 degrees. However, some do exceed the Dell. LG’s super-thin 14Z950, for example, hit a toasty 116.2 degrees.

WARRANTY

Dell ships the XPS 13 with its standard one-year “enhanced support” warranty. This is essentially the same warranty you’d expect to receive from any laptop. While it’d be nice to see a longer warranty given this model’s price, we can’t knock the company; few competitors bother to offer more than a year.

CONCLUSION

Dell’s XPS 13 is an excellent piece of engineering that combines the latest Intel hardware with a robust, attractive and portable chassis.

There are minor flaws. The speakers could be louder, the glossy display can be distracting in bright rooms, and the fan can be loud at load. But such nitpicks are outweighed by numerous advantages. Display, keyboard, touchpad, performance, weight, battery life, size; in all these areas and more the XPS 13 excels.

It’s so good, in fact, that it steals the portable laptop crown away from Apple, which has held it firmly since the release of the MacBook Pro 13 with Retina. Dell’s XPS 13 is lighter, quicker and offers better pixel density. It even has a roughly equal touchpad, though it obviously doesn’t support the advanced gestures found only in OS X.

In short, the Dell XPS 13 is the best 13-inch notebook available today. Anyone who can afford it should give it a chance, even if that means settling for the $800 base model.

Asus Zenbook UX305UA

THE ZENBOOK THAT ATE ALL THE PIES

At a glance, the Zenbook UX305UA looks a lot like its thinner cousin. It has the same overall, simple design language, with predominate use of metal bound together by some plastics components, such as the display hinge and bezels. Speaking of the bezels, they’re again on the thick side, which gives the Zenbook an old-school look.

On close inspection, the differences between the older UX305CA and the new UX305UA are obvious. The latter system is just over a tenth of an inch thicker and, importantly, is not as aggressively tapered, which means it feels thicker than the on-paper gap suggests. Weight has increased, too, with the new UX305UA ballooning up to 3.2 pounds. That’s about a half-pound more than a Dell XPS 13 (without touchscreen) and about eight-tenths of a pound heavier than the UX305CA.

Still, despite its recent weight gain, the Zenbook retains its usual strengths and weaknesses. Its matte silver metal exterior is elegant, though not eye-catching, and holds up well to use. The chassis feels durable, without a hint of flex in any body panel. Some will find the design too generic, while others will enjoy its simplicity. Personally, we tend towards the former, though there’s no denying Dell’s XPS 13 makes the UX305UA – and most ultrabooks, for that matter – look out of date.

While we loved the laptop’s look and general build quality, we did notice a slight bend in the chassis. It wasn’t visible, but apparent because the system always sat ever-so-slightly off level when placed on a table. This is a common potential defect (any metal chassis will bend), and would normally make a notebook eligible for return. We are not holding this against the system’s score, but felt the flaw should be noted.

WE’VE SEEN THIS KEYBOARD BEFORE

The design of the UX305UA is derivative of its thinner cousin, but the keyboard and touchpad are a rip-off. It’s impossible to say they’re the same without ripping both systems apart, but they look and feel identical.

hankfully, that’s a compliment. The keyboard is excellent for a 13-inch ultrabook, with a spacious layout, full-sized keys, and no oddities to trip up our muscle memory. Key travel is excellent and keys bottom out with a responsive, satisfying action, which makes touch typing a cinch.

Like its cousin, the UX305UA does not have a keyboard backlight. That’s a more significant flaw here than it was with the thinner Zenbook, as the UX305UA is more expensive and competes directly with mid-range ultrabooks, almost all of which have backlit keyboard.

You may forget that problem, though, once you start using the touchpad. It’s spacious, responsiveness, and easily handles Windows 10 multi-touch gestures. It doesn’t feel as smooth as a MacBook, but it’s close, and it’s certainly better than average among systems in its price range. It may even beat the XPS 13, which has excellent touchpad feel, but a smaller touchpad surface.

A BEAUTIFUL, NON-GLOSS DISPLAY

The display is another component the UX305UA seems to share with the thinner UX305CA. It’s once again a 1080p non-gloss panel without touch functionality, and once again achieves average scores in our benchmarks.

We found the screen can product 95 percent of the sRGB color gamut, and 71 percent of the AdobRGB gamut. These numbers are middling. They easily beat alternatives like the LG Gram 14, but come in a bit behind Dell’s XPS 13, which hit 97 percent of sRGB and 73 percent of AdobeRGB.

Contrast fares better. We measured a maximum ratio of 820:1 at maximum brightness. That beats the Dell XPS 13’s ratio of 680:1, and nearly matches the more expensive Razer Blade Stealth, which produced a ratio of 840:1.

Other areas fall behind, however. Gamma is the best example. We measured a curve of 2.4, which is off the ideal of 2.2. In practice, this reading means the UX305UA’s display looks noticeably darker than it should. Images sometimes lack shadow detail, and the images that should appear vibrant look colder and less inviting than they should.

On balance, though, the UX305UA does well compared to other mid-range ultrabooks. Your jaw will remain firmly in place, but the scenes display with respectable color accuracy, and excellent sharpness. The use of a non-gloss display helps tremendously in bright rooms, too. Nothing short of full sunlight will reduce the screen’s readability.

DO THE DOWNWARD FACING SPEAKER

A pair of speakers are hidden underneath the Zenbook UX305UA, which means sound is easily muffled by the surface it’s placed on. When they’re unobstructed the speakers sound strong, and even produce a slight hint of bass. The positioning makes them unreliable; depending on the situation, they can sound strong and clear, or weak and muddy.

CPU PERFORMANCE

As mentioned, the Zenbook UX305UA comes with an Intel Core i5-6200U processor. This is arguably the most mainstream of the current mobile dual-core chips from Intel, and we’ve seen it in numerous systems already. Still, it’s interesting to see how this model compares to the Zenbook UX305CA, which is just $50 less expensive, and has an Intel Core M3-6Y30 processor.

The Zenbook UX305UA’s Geekbench multi-core score of 6,045 is a tad bit higher than the Dell XPS 13 with Core i5 processor, which scored 5,960. And the new model easily exceeds the thinner UX305CA, which only scored 4,249. The 7-Zip benchmark and Handbrake showed even larger victories. In Handbrake, the UX305CA needed over an hour to encode our test clip, a 4K trailer of Elysium that runs four minutes, 20 seconds. The new UX305UA model did the same in under half an hour.

That’s a huge difference. Neither Zenbook is ideal of serious number-crunching, but it’s obvious the Core i5 is superior to Core M when significant processing power is needed.  If you edit photos and videos, for example, the UX305UA’s processor will save you a lot of time.

HARD DRIVE PERFORMANCE

Our review unit arrived with a 256GB solid state drive from Micron, connected over the SATA3 interface. SATA drive performance is often limited by the interface’s capability, and the UX305UA is no different.

As you can see, the UX305UA and UX305CA perform almost identically, which makes sense. There’s no reason these two models should have different hard drives. Both Zenbooks come in behind the quickest competitors in Read speeds, but they fare well in write performance. We did note, though, that in HD Tune – a sustained transfer test – the Zenbook started to slip up.

The Micron solid state drive is certainly snappy enough for day-to-day use. It isn’t the best choice if file transfer speed is trait you care about, but most users will find it adequate.

GRAPHICS PERFORMANCE

The Intel Core i5-6200U equipped by the Zenbook UX305CA comes with Intel HD Graphics 520. This is the most common of the current Intel HD incarnations, but quite far from the most powerful. Still, can it handle basic games?

The 3DMark Fire Strike score of 821 more than doubles the thinner UX305CA, which once again shows this new, thicker model has its perks. However, the score essentially ties other Core i5-6200U notebooks. You’ll find no advantage over other ultrabooks here.

We also fired up Counter-Strike: GO and Heroes of the Storm at 1080p resolution. Both games were playable if detail was set to low. Counter-Strike was even smooth, as it averaged a decent 73 frames per second. Heroes of the Storm averaged a choppier 45 FPS, and the most intense bursts of actions dropped the framerate below 30 FPS. Both games dipped below 20 FPS when detail was kicked up to maximum.

BIG BATTERY, GOOD BATTERY LIFE

Plumping up this Zenbook isn’t just needed to stuff in quicker hardware. Asus has also crammed in a bigger battery. While the thin Zenbook UX305CA has a 45 watt-hour unit, the UX305UA has a 54 watt-hour battery. This is very close to the Dell XPS 13, which has a 56 watt-hour battery.

The question, of course, is if that will offset the new Core i5 processor’s higher power draw.

And the answer? Not quite. Our Peacekeeper web browsing benchmark loop sucked the battery dry in about five and a half hours, while the the UX305CA lasted almost six hours. Still, we think the trade-off between performance and portability is a good compromise. As shown earlier, the new model is substantially quicker than its thinner cousin.

The Zenbook also compares well against its rivals. While the Dell XPS 13 lasted much longer, the Razer Blade Stealth and Lenovo ThinkPad 13 – both with smaller batteries – can’t touch the UX305UA.

And buyers should note that our Peacekeeper loop is demanding. Our more mundane web browsing test, which is not as strenuous, extended the UX305UA’s battery life to almost nine hours. A full charge should last most users an entire workday.

Dell's Massive 43-Inch 4K Monitor Gives You 4 Screens in One

acebook

• Twitter
• Linkedin
• Pinterest
• Reddit

Need a bunch of monitors in your face at all times to efficiently do your job? Dell wants to elevate your workstation.

The company just released a 43-inch monitor that delivers four separate Full HD-resolution screens without the interruption of bezels. Priced at $1,349.99, this thing obviously does not come cheap, but was designed for high rollers: financial institutions, trading floors, and software developers.

The Dell 43 Multi-Client Monitor (P4317Q) offers support for up to four independent clients in a single view, and the ability to switch between them in full-screen mode. It also features a matte finish that promises to reduce glare and eye strain.

"This large, single-screen display allows traders to quickly focus on content from any one of the connected clients and zoom in to the full screen," Dell said in anews release. "Whether it's a spreadsheet, a financial model or the latestSTOCK PERFORMANCE, users are able to view and zoom in on the information they need in one place."

The company said it's also perfect for software devs who need to concurrently view development, test, and production environments from different systems on one display. You can also view multiple pages of source code on one screen to easily compare them side by side.

Another perk: it simplifies multi-monitor setups, cutting down on the number of cables you have to deal with, and we all know that fewer cables = fewer headaches. It's also designed to be energy efficient, and offers 30 percent energy consumption savings compared to running four separate monitors.

Dell 43 Ultra HD 4K Multi-Client Monitor P4317Q

The Picture-in-Picture/Picture-by-Picture (PiP/PbP) settings are where you go to determine how you want the P4317Q to display images from up to four input sources. You can use the four PbP presets that offer side-by-side and split-screen options, or you can create your own custom-sized windows using the Dell Display Manager utility that comes with the monitor. If you use the four-screen default setting, you can view content from four sources in full HD (1080p) in windows that are equivalent to 21-inch monitors. The Display Manager software also allows you to adjust monitor settings using a keyboard and mouse.

The monitor comes with one HDMI cable, one Mini DisplayPort–to–DisplayPort cable, one full-size DisplayPort cable, and one upstream USB cable. Dell covers the monitor with a three-year warranty on parts, labor, and the backlight.

Performance
The P4317Q delivered very accurate colors out of the box. As shown on the chromaticity chart below, red, green, and blue colors (represented by the colored dots) are closely aligned with their ideal CIE coordinates (represented by the boxes). Colors appeared rich and uniform in my test images and while viewing Marvel's Ant-Man on Blu-ray.

Grayscale performance was also good. The P4317Q had no trouble displaying every shade of gray on the DisplayMate 64-Step Gray-Scale test and provided intricate shadow and highlight detail. My UHD (4K) test images also appeared crisp, with excellent detail and good contrast. Viewing angles were wide, with no noticeable color shifting or fading when viewed from an extreme top, side, or bottom angle.

See How We Test Monitors

I connected the P4317Q to two desktops and two laptops using all four digital inputs and selected the default four-way PbP setting. Each window maintained a perfect aspect ratio and delivered a sharp 1080p image. The panel's 8ms pixel response produced noticeable ghosting in my Crysis 3 (PC) and Grand Theft Auto V (Sony Playstation 4$348.49 at Amazon) gaming tests, and its input lag (the time needed for the monitor to react to a controller command) of 27.5 milliseconds, as measured using a Leo Bodnar Video Signal Lag Tester, is on the long side, but this is a business monitor and likely won't be pressed into heavy gaming duty.

The P4317Q isn't exactly a power miser, but it's not a power hog either, consuming 68 watts of power in our tests while set to the Standard preset (it doesn't offer an ECO mode). The 34-inch HP Envy 34c Media Display$799.99 at HP used 61 watts (in sRGB mode), and theBenQ XR3501$779.99 at Amazon used 50 watts.

Conclusion
The Dell 43 Ultra HD 4K Multi-Client Monitor P4317Q doesn't come cheap, but if your work requires a quad-screen configuration, it's not much more than you'd pay for four individual 21-inch monitors. It provides excellent UHD performance in single-screen mode, and sharp 1080p performance when running in PbP mode, and you can create custom windows sizes to suit your specific viewing needs. It also delivers accurate colors and solid grayscale performance, and offers a robust feature set. All of this earns the P4317Q our Editors' Choice for big-screen business monitors. That said, if your business absolutely requires multiple big-screen monitors, the 30-inch NEC MultiSync EA305WMi$922.37 at Amazon, another top pick, is worth a look. It's a stellar performer and is loaded with ports, including a DisplayPort output for connecting multiple monitors. It also offers NEC's ControlSync technology, which allows you to control up to six monitors, and is packed with features, including a fully adjustable stand, a USB hub, and a generous selection of image settings.

Choosing a Monitor for Your Home Office

You'll be looking at it all day long so it's important to find a desktop display that's right for you. Our home office columnist helps you tell HDMI from IPS.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Linkedin
• Pinterest
• Reddit

I'm thinking about buying a new laptop. That's nothing unusual; every morning I get up, brush my teeth, and think about buying a new laptop. But the Lenovo Yoga 900S, the model I'm considering, is an ultraportable with a 12.5-inch screen, which is great for travel but rather small for desktop duty. (Have I mentioned that I wear bifocals?) So it looks as if the next addition to my home office will be an external monitor.

Between my notebook collection and a couple of all-in-one desktops, I haven't bought a standalone monitor since the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) days. If you're in the same boat, then it's time for a refresher course. Let's begin with the basics: size, resolution, interface, stands, screen type, and speed.

Size: Measured diagonally, displays range from 14 or 15 inches for USB-based laptop add-on screens to 34 inches or more for panoramic or wall-mounted models. (I checked one e-tailer's listings and found entries ranging from 2.5 to 75 inches, which somewhat exceeds the mainstream.) Generally, you can judge your available desk space and choose a small, medium, or large monitor—about 21.5 to 22 inches, 24 inches, or 27 inches, respectively.

Resolution: This is the number of pixels (p) on the screen, which determines how much information or how many applications you can see at once. High Definition (HD) usually means 1,366 by 768—as seen on low-resolution laptops, only enough to show 720p (1,280 by 720) videos. Full HD (FHD) is 1,920 by 1,080, the resolution of 1,080p videos and HDTVs.

Wide Quad HD (WQHD) is a 2-by-2 grid of 720p areas, totaling 2,560 by 1,440; it's an excellent choice for office productivity buffs who are seeking more elbow room than FHD can offer. Ultra HD (UHD), also known as 4K, applies the 2-by-2 treatment to full HD, yielding 3,840 by 2,160.

There are also the stretch limos of the monitor world: 34-inch curved displays with 3,440 by 1,440 resolution. Gamers love these pricey panels for the wraparound or immersive sensation of seeing enemies sneak up from the sides during a game. But home office workers with ample desk space love them, too, for the convenience of arranging multiple apps in front of you like cards in front of a blackjack dealer.

Interface: Unless you're using Intel's wireless display (WiDi), which is aimed more at living rooms and corporate meeting rooms than home offices, you'll need a cable to connect your monitor and PC. Plus, the display will need an input connector to match one of your computer's video outputs.

A few consumer PCs still offer Video Graphics Array (VGA or sometimes called D-Sub) or Digital Visual Interface (DVI) ports, but those connectors are past their sell-by dates. Today, you're more likely to encounter High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) or DisplayPort. The Apple MacBook is a rare example of an ultraportable that has no video ports except the petite new USB Type-C port; it requires a USB-C to HDMI adapter or dongle.

Stands: Virtually all monitors come with stands that let you adjust their tilt, moving the top of the display from vertical to a few degrees toward or away from you. Bonus points to a stand or base that lets you swivel the monitor Lazy Susan-style, rather than grasping and moving the monitor base and all.

Even more bonus points to a stand that lets you adjust the screen's height for ergonomic comfort (with the top of the display at or slightly below eye level, so that you're looking slightly downward when looking at the center of the screen). And all remaining points to a stand that pivots, letting you rotate the monitor 90 degrees from landscape (horizontal) to portrait (vertical) mode, which is useful for reviewing webpages and word processing documents.

Screen type: As with laptop displays, In-Plane Switching (IPS) screen technology offers sharper contrast and wider viewing angles than old-school Twisted Nematic (TN) flat panels, and IPS has become ubiquitous and affordable enough that you shouldn't have to settle for a TN LCD. A few monitors use indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) technology, which is also excellent. Even better image quality is coming in the form of Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) monitors, but they're likely to be prohibitively expensive for their first year or two.

Speed: If all you do is word processing and bookkeeping, you won't care about your monitor's pixelRESPONSE RATE, which is the time in milliseconds (ms) it takes for a pixel to change from black to white or from one shade of gray to another. Gamers and YouTube junkies care about a low (under 5 ms gray to gray) response rate because it means fast-moving video or animation will be free of blurring or ghosting.

By the way, I haven't mentioned brightness and contrast because adequate brightness (250 nits or more) is almost a given with today's displays, and contrast ratios have become meaningless numbers like 1,000,000:1.

Extras: If you don't have room on your desk for separate speakers, then you'll appreciate a monitor with built-in units (ideally rated at 2 watts or more per speaker). But you usually won't get enough volume and bass for satisfactory music listening and game playing. If your PC doesn't provide convenient USB ports for your flash drives, then look for a monitor with a USB hub onboard, typically with side-mounted ports.

Some displays offer a mode that reduces the amount of blue light. This can help ease eyestrain for all-day work sessions, but you may not like how it changes backgrounds from white to off-white.

Going Pro: If your job involves image editing, then you're in the market for a monitor with professional features such as a 10-bit lookup table, which delivers a palette of more than a billion colors versus the usual 8-bit table's 16.7 million colors. Check how much of your preferred color gamut the monitor delivers, such as standard RGB (sRGB) versus Adobe RGB, and whether or not it comes with a calibrator to match on-screen colors to those of your printer. Do note that, whenbuying a monitor, that matte screens not only reduce reflections but tend to show truer colors than glossy displays.