Best Ultra Wide Monitor for M1 mac mini

[patearrings]

I am going to be buying a new mac mini if one is revealed in the event on Monday. I have spent all morning researching the world of ultra wide screen monitors and it seems to be a total minefield as there are so many factors to take into consideration with specs ips/va/tn, contrast ratios, nits, resolution, response times etc.

Currently i use a 2019 imac with 5k retina and a second 27" monitor (2560x1440). This would be replaced by the mac mini and an ultrawide of around 34" or higher. I am looking to spend not much more than about £500 ($700) on it and know it wont be as good as my retina display.

I wondered if you good people here could recommend a good monitor for the mac mini in that range. It would be used solely for work (not graphics/design based) and to play WoW Classic.

Many thanks for any advice you can give or your personal experiences of the monitors you bought.

 

[Juicy Box]

I have been using this monitor:

SCEPTRE C305B-200UN 30" 200Hz LED Curved Gaming Monitor - Newegg.com

Buy SCEPTRE C305B-200UN 30" UltraWide HD 2560 x 1080 2K Resolution 200Hz 3 x HDMI, DisplayPort Built-In Speakers FreeSync Technology Backcover Anti-Glare LED Backlit Curved Gaming Monitor with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

Definitely not the "best" performing monitor, but good for having documents side by side for when I am working.

It is currently connected to my M1 Mac Mini, and is connected to the 165Hz HDMI port.

and to play WoW Classic.

Just my opinion, but I initially thought I would prefer an ultra wide for WoW, but after getting one, I prefer the ratio of the 27" iMac over the ultra wide.

 

[Juicy Box]

Oh yeah, the speakers on the one I posted kind of suck, but for the price, I think it works out pretty well.

 

[jazz1]

I have been using this monitor:

SCEPTRE C305B-200UN 30" 200Hz LED Curved Gaming Monitor - Newegg.com

Buy SCEPTRE C305B-200UN 30" UltraWide HD 2560 x 1080 2K Resolution 200Hz 3 x HDMI, DisplayPort Built-In Speakers FreeSync Technology Backcover Anti-Glare LED Backlit Curved Gaming Monitor with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

Definitely not the "best" performing monitor, but good for having documents side by side for when I am working.

It is currently connected to my M1 Mac Mini, and is connected to the 165Hz HDMI port.


Just my opinion, but I initially thought I would prefer an ultra wide for WoW, but after getting one, I prefer the ratio of the 27" iMac over the ultra wide.

I’ve got an M1 MacMini and two 27” Dell monitors on a dual monitor stand. Both are in landscape mode on a small desk. The only reason it works for me is that I use the right monitor for most of my active work. The right monitor is a “dashboard” that I have a music app, text app, and mail app running. I only turn to the right hand monitor when I need to use those apps.

I’ve considered using the right hand monitor in portrait. But even adjusted so the monitor almost rest on the desk, I’m not sure swiveling my head up and down is better or worse than turning my head far right to the right and monitor.

I’ve considered a large curved monitor, but I’m not sure if it really would do much for me. I’m not a gamer. And of course then there is the cost of a large screen, curved monitor

 

[patearrings]

I know there was problems when the M1 mac mini first released with some wide screen monitors not working. Is that still the case or does pretty much every monitor work fine now?

Would also be interested to see what other monitors people are using.

 

[cawsllyffant]

I had some issues early on with my CR49... not coming up properly, having to restart the computer after trying to wake it. All that stopped with the third (i think) Big Sur update. It's been great since then... although I use a usb-c to displayport cable. IIRC, people using HDMI were having more issues and I'm not sure if that got resolved or not.

 

[patearrings]

Do you think going down from 2 x 27" monitors to just 1 ultrawide say 34" or 35" monitor i would notice a big loss of screen space?

 

[cawsllyffant]

I went from two 21.5" ultrafines (so 4K each) to 1 49" ultrawide. You don't notice how much space you loose to the screen bezels or how much they interfere with what you are doing.

It definitely "feels" bigger, as you can divide that space up much more freely... I usually treat it as 3 monitors -- two smaller monitors on either side ( for communication apps or documentation) and a big one in the middle (for what I'm working on).