I had been doing a lot of research on monitors off an on over the past year. Since the touch screen haven't caught in quality of the non-touch (color, clarity...etc) I decided to go with a non-touch. I was originally looking at 27" with 2560x1440 resolution and preferably with USB 3.0 ports. I spent quite a bit of time skimming over forums and reading about those who review monitors in great detail. Since I couldn't make up my mind at the time and I decided to wait until fall to see if anything with the touch screen would come out that was similar in quality but not so.
I hit the forums again and this BenQ BL3200PT came up. The reviews were very good. There were some complaints but they seemed few and it can be difficult to determine some times if it's the user or the hardware. I opted to go with this 32" instead as I have the real estate for it on my desk and had been reading that the 2560x1440 resolution worked better on a 32" rather than a 27". The 2560x1440 resolution seemed to be to high a res for a 27" monitor for reading and more pleasing on a 32". I'm still getting used to the size as I used a 20" for so many years. I always tend to buy up from what I need so as time goes on I tend to be happy with my purchase. BenQ has been around for a while but I admit I was reluctant at first not being that familiar with the brand. But the warranty on this was on par with other known manufacturers and it seems BenQ is making a name for themselves. For this size of monitor it has a lot of very good qualities that seem to meet across a broad spectrum of users. Seems to even do well for gamers which is unusual for this size. Colors are amazing. Transitions between colors are very smooth (this supports over 1 billion colors). Response time has been great and I have not seen any issues with anything I've done so far. I work in Photoshop, Dreamweaver, in different browsers a lot on the web, I use various apps like Quicken, Outlook and a variety of tech tools.
I'm still working on utilizing the size of this thing. The software that is provided by BenQ (Display Pilot) is handy and you can set it to divide up the screen for your apps. IE: what position and what size of windows you want. A little icon will sit in the upper right corner of the app and you can click what size and where to position it. You can customize the windows sizes as well. Currently I'm using a virtual desktop app called Dexpot. This allows you to create a few to multiple different desktops that you can flip through. This might be handier if you're concerned about being able to read as you could open an app to full screen instead of splitting the screen up with multiple windows. The location to attach video cables is much easier (on the right side instead of coming up from underneath at the bottom), the USB (all 3.0) hub is on the right which I prefer being right handed and there is a built in SD card reader. The stand is very nice and easily adjustable which can also go into portrait mode for this 32" monitor. If you do this...play with this a bit to see how it works as I found you have to tilt it a bit on its axis to go into portrait mode. Not just raise it straight up on the stand and pivot it into portrait mode. I also really like the thin bezel on this monitor. When you see the monitor is mostly all screen which is where you want to focus. As for colors the blacks are great and transition very nice. I've noticed when looking at several pics that the colors are great and, again, the transitions are very nice and especially with the blacks. There are a lot of adjustments that can be made with this monitor and after all the research I did I went with the recommendations. Based on what I read it sounds like for most that out of the box will do fine. For those who notice detail and/or have a trained eye the tweaks were easy to do and beneficial. The puck that comes with may be handy for many but since this monitor sits back a ways on my desk I just use the software that you install and access like any app and make my changes from there instead of the touch menu on the bezel (which will illuminate when your hand is near). Be sure to connect the USB cable, for this feature to work, to your PC so you can access it.
It has an attractive design and placement to different functions were thought through. Cable organizer is helpful. It does have built in speakers which I muted in the control panel and don't even have connected. Then stand is attractive and very sturdy. There is no built in camera and I already have an HD 1080P cam anyway.
Note: this is a larger monitor so consider taking it out of the box carefully and maybe assembling it on your bed. Perhaps not necessary for some but I found it helpful working with the larger monitor and working on a soft surface as to not damage it. It goes together easily. When switching a monitor this size between landscape and portrait do so gently. It's not hard to do and the stand can handle it but you may notice some wobble due to the size of the monitor. If you do this you'll understand. Also, if you plan to use the 2560x1440 resolution with DVI it works great with the provided DVI cable which is Dual Link DVI. A standard or non-dual link will not get you to 2560x1440.
| Standing screen display size | 32 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 2560x1440 |
| Max Screen Resolution | 3686400 Pixels |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 2 |
