[Review] msi Optix MAG342CQRV
I replaced a display with larger one.
Precaution
- This post is my personal opinion.
- This post includes some of the complaints but I have no intention to criticize the product itself. They are due to my own fault and the product itself functions according to the specification.
What I bought
Why I bought
The following were the deciding factors for my purchase.
- UWQHD 34 inches
- I had been using FHD and wanted a more detailed screen.
- I had been using two displays side by side, top to bottom, and I had felt it is difficult to see when the screen was high, so I focused on width rather than height.
- Curved Display
- If I was going to buy a wide display, I wanted it to have the curved surface that only a wide display can have.
- In addition, since the visibility of LCD monitors, especially inexpensive VA displays, changes depending on the angle, I was concerned that a wide display without a curved surface might make it difficult to see the edges.
- VESA mount
- PBP1.
- In this time, since I would replace from a multi-display system to a single large display, it make me feel relieved to be able to split as two displays in case of emergency (whether or not I would actually use it).
- Price
- This was the only product I could find that cost about 60,000 yen and was in stock. (At the time of purchase in May, 2021)
How did it work in practice?
Spacers for VESA mount
According to the official website, the VESA mount is supported with spacers, but I was worried because I couldn’t find any pictures about it.
So here are some pictures.
There is round hollow part in the back, originally the attached stand should be mounted on there. VESA screw holes are located bottom of the hollow, so I need to use attached spacers.
There are two types of spacers: long and short, and the long ones need to be on top and the short ones on the bottom . I put them on by mistake once.
There’s a bit of space between the display and the monitor arm, and I’m concerned that this may cause the center of gravity to move forward, making it difficult to support the monitor, but at least it’s not as bad as the monitor arm I’m using ( Ergotron – LX Desk Mount Monitor Arm Official page Amazon(Ad) ) was supported without any problem, which is good.
No volume adjustment.
I can’t find the volume setting. Even though it doesn’t have a speaker, it does have an earphone jack, so not being able to adjust the volume was completely unexpected.
When I thought about it, I just didn’t know because this is the first time I’ve bought a display without speakers, and it’s probably not unusual for this type.
The volume was too loud to use directly with headphones, so I’m using headphones around my neck for now, in this case, the volume is just right.
No automatic brightness adjustment.
I thought this is a standard feature too because my former two displays has this function, but it’s not on this one.
However, so far I haven’t felt any inconvenience if it didn’t have it. on the contrary, the visibility is much better with no noticeable reflections from lighting than in past displays, I think the reason is not only the non-glare (because my former displays were non-glare too,) but either because of the curved surface or because of the higher resolution.
PBP is difficult to use regularly.
I had used multi-display, so I’ve thought it’s convenient if I can use it as a multi-display as necessary, but as it turns out, I didn’t use it.
In the first place, I was planning to play games on one screen while displaying a PC screen on the other to take notes or look up strategy information.
But as a result, I stopped using it for the following reasons
- Due to personal reason I hardly play games recently.
- While FHD graphic from game consoles are still not bad, but UWQHD graphic from PC are too small to fit PBP without changing the aspect ratio.
- However, if require to change the output display size in PC, there is few problems as below
- The PC can’t detect if PBP is on or off, so it need to be switched manually.
- If the output display size is changed, the position of the window and the setting range of the pen tablet will shift.
Finally
I know I’m complaining a lot, and it may seem like I’m dissatisfied. But in fact, as below, for the affordable price range, I have no problem using it as a display and it is comfortable to use
- The wide screen makes it easy to work with multiple windows 2.
- The visibility is also very good thanks to the curved surface or the resolution.
It was a good purchase with no regrets, which is unusual for me as I tend to make mistakes in shopping.
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The ability to divide a wide screen into left and right, and display two separate input sources as two screens. In the case of this UWQHD(3440x1440) display, it can use as two 1720x1440 screens, which is half of it. ↩︎
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When I write a blog or work on a server, I need to open multiple editors and terminals, and also open reference materials, so UWQHD’s space that can display three windows is very helpful to increase productivity.
However, It has been two month since I started using it until I post this, so it’s not very convincing.↩︎