Sometime about two weeks ago, I mentioned I had asked my desktop group to get me a 4K monitor. Now that I've been using it for two whole days, I figured I'd say a word or two on this monitor, since I know some other people are considering getting one.
First, the slightly less important stuff: Thanks, Asus, for including multiple HDMI cables. Also, thanks for having this thing attached to a monitor stand that tilts, rotates, and moves up and down -- It's a nice enough stand that if I wasn't committed to having everything off my desk (and using a monitor arm), I'd be very tempted to keep it. Nice call.
More important: HOLY COW LOOK AT THE DESKTOP. The amount of desktop space available on a 4K monitor is the sort of stuff that makes me -- having had to work on 17" 1028x768 monitors not all that long ago -- giggle madly.
Sure, sometimes in order for something to be easily read by me (remember, old guy with glasses here) I have to increase the font size. But not always -- for example, right now I'm writing this in whatever the native font size Chrome uses. I also seem to be able to code well with the standard font size.
Minor downside: In the absence of a Thunderbolt hub, I now have to connect three, rather than two, cables to my laptop -- power, USB, HDMI. So far it's not a huge drain on my productivity and happiness. If it becomes such ... well, for one thing, First World Problem[tm]. For another, even if I end up spending another $200 on a Thunderbolt hub, that's still going to land me at $850, about $150 less than the Apple Cinema Display (ACD).
So, final verdict: Is this profoundly, amazingly, materially, better than the ACD? Maybe not. It's maybe trivially better (for me). But it's also 2/3 of the price. What would I get if I was buying a monitor for home? Definitely the Asus PB287 rather than the ACD, any day of the week. I *heart* this monitor.
