TOUCH-SCREEN CONSIDERATIONS

Touch-screen monitors are a bit more complicated than traditional designs, because they are active rather than passive devices. Traditional screens just have to show a picture, whereas touch-screen monitors have to feed information back to the PC. They often do this via a separate USB cable that runs next to the VGA/DVI/HDMI/etc video cable.

Some monitors support a new standard: MHL (Mobile High-definition Link). This enables you to connect a compatible smart phone or tablet to the monitor to show videos with high-resolution sound (up to 7.1 channels, including True HD and DTS-HD). The mobile device gets charged while it’s attached.

Other considerations are the usual ones: screen size and resolution, brightness, type of technology (LED, IPS etc), number of ports, whether it includes loudspeakers, and so on. Since you’re a developer, you’ll probably want to knock out a quick spreadsheet to compare all the options.

Monitors also vary according to the number of touch-sensitive points. This can range from five to 40, but 10 is usual for Windows 8. Further, different monitors may use optical, resistive or capacitate touch technology. Capacitate touch provides the same experience as using a tablet, which is what you want.

Note that touch-screen monitors designed for Windows 7 – probably with two touch-points – are less than ideal for Windows 8, where the bezel has to be flush with the display for edge-swipes. However, I don’t expect there are many Windows 7 touch monitors still on the market.

MONITOR CHOICE

I have very little experience of different touch-screen monitors, and haven’t tested any, so you will need to do your own research. I can point to some of the products that are available, but unfortunately it may be hard or impossible to see them before you buy one.

PC World, for example, only seems to offer three touch-screen monitors. These are all Acer models with Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels) and screen sizes of 21.5in (N85, 000), 23in (N105, 000) and 27in (N159, 600). These have MHL support, USB 3.0 and tilt stands that adjust from 80 to 30 degrees, so you could do worse. The 23in IPS-screen Acer T232HLA looks like the best option.

Argos stocks the 23in and 27in Acer monitors, but at higher prices. John Lewis doesn’t appear to stock any.

From my Amazon searches, the View Sonic TD2220 looks like an economical option at about N75600. It’s a 22in Full HD display. However, the 23in HannsG HT231HPB is slightly cheaper (N67200), and Amazon reviewers give it 4.6 out of 5 stars.

Other touch-screen monitors that might be worth a look include the 23.6in AOC Style i2472P (N113400), the 21.5in Dell S2240T H6V56 (N88200) and the 23inDell S2340T (N147000). There’s also a View Sonic TD2340 for N84000, apparently reduced from N189000, and a 24in Samsung S24C770TS for N195000.

I think 22-24in is the optimum size for a Full HD screen, but there are similar options in smaller and larger sizes.

One more thing …

If you have a modern Windows 8 laptop, then you can probably use Windows 8’s touch gestures on its built-in touchpad. In the same vein, you could just buy a touchpad for your desktop PC and use it with a cheaper non-touch screen. Logitech’s rechargeable Touchpad T650 is an expensive option at N47880, though the wireless T650 looks a better buy at N17000