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Monoprice 35in Zero-G Curved Gaming Monitor – 3440x1440p, UWQHD Review

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When I was offered a chance to do an honest review of Monoprice’s 35in Zero-G Curved Gaming Monitor I immediately said “YES!” They have been coming out with impressive displays and the timing was perfect since I recently sold off my Xbox One X and re-joined the PC Master Race after a half decade hiatus.

The Monoprice 35 inch gaming display is an ultra widescreen display at 3440×1440 resolution at 100hz with a 21:9 ratio. Right out of the box it was very easy to setup. I was quite surprised on how light this was when I was unpacking it. You can easily use the included stand or you can VESA mount on a wall or use a display arm. My one gripe that I have with the included stand is that you can’t adjust the height. In fact you can barely just tilt the screen up or down. If you are looking for more flexibility then you need to buy a third party VESA stand or arm. The monitor has 2 HDMI port and a display port and a 3.5 audio out. No USB-C or USB-A connectivity here which would have been nice. What I did notice though as that it has a set of red lights in the back as part of its aesthetic which looks really cool if you are into that kind of thing. Personally, I don’t really care.. what I do care about is performance and that’s where this monitor shines especially at this price point.

Since this is a gaming monitor, I of course connected my gaming PC which Windows 10 automatically detected the hardware, resolution and hertz. At 3440×1440 or 2K, it likes pretty amazing. Not exactly edge to edge but the bezels were thin enough to where it can be appreciated. The display was very responsive within Windows and being able to have multiple spreadsheets on an ultrawide was game changing. Websites, videos, and photos looked great and I just loved working on this thing all day. But you’re not really buying this for work aren’t you? I fired up Doom 2016 and set the game to the ultrawide ratio and it was one hell of an experience. I am upgrading from a 60hz display so I am absolutely appreciating the faster frame rate. Keep in mind that not all games natively support the 21:9 ratio so you will have black bars like Paladins but just about every modern title did take advantage of that 100hz which was just really smooth. When I had this connected to my MacBook Pro 2018, working with Final Cut Pro as well as other productivity software was really smooth. If you want take advantage of that 100hz on a Mac, make sure you have this connected through the display port or an adapter that supports HDMI 2.0.

Yes there are gaming laptops with the same resolution at 144hz but if you try finding one at 35-inches, they go for $650 and up. I say that this rivals the Alienware 1900 which goes for about $1000. Now compare that with the specs of the Monoprice display at you are looking at about a $600 price difference. The Monoprice 35in Zero G Curved Gaming Monitor is such a great value for it’s price, performance and display quality. Also keep in mind that Monoprice includes a 1 Year PixelPerfect Warranty so if you find a single dead pixel, they will take care of you.

Even though it’s not perfect with some shortcomings such as the lack of USB-C connectivity and very basic stand, I can confidently recommend this display for its performance, display quality and value.er whether you would recommend this product and what you like or dislike about it.

Overall Rating: 4.5/5


 

MonoPrice MP Soundstage 3 Bluetooth Speaker Review

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Bluetooth Speakers are the rage these days. You see them at the beach, you see people holding them in their hand and bumping a jam in the car, they’re in living rooms, in the park, holy crap you name it everyone you know has one. Walking around with a radio or cassette boom box just isn’t cool anymore. Bluetooth sound technology has grown over the past decade and we are at the point where high quality sound transmitted wirelessly is an expectation. These days you have portable speakers ranging from $10 all the way to high end gear in the thousands.
Everyone wants the best value for their money. Not everyone can spend $1000 for mind blowing sound, and we end up compromising cost for quality. Hell, before I had the Sound Stage 3, I had a Logitech UE Boom as my “home sound system” to stream music from my iPhone, which worked great. And you know what? For a lot of people that’s OK and great for people who like to bring their music around with them. However, if you were to spend just a little more you can get the Sound Stage 3 and sometimes for the same price. Let me tell you, this thing blew me away. I really didn’t know what to expect and was pretty set on my Bose 5 Sound Bar for my home music needs, but isn’t as practical as I like it to be.
The Mono Price Sound Stage 3 is compact enough to go on a book shelf, but powerful enough for a medium to large sized living room. It’s about the size of a shoe box but it comes packed with 120W of sound (1x80W and 2x20W) with RCA, 3.5 AUX, Optical S/PDIF, on top of the Bluetooth aptX connection.
You can also pair this with another SoundStage for a richer stereo experience. Setup was really easy. You can just plug into the outputs or quickly pair to your Bluetooth device. There’s also a simple remote that allows you to adjust the volume, bass, treble, and source which is always nice to have.
Most of us don’t care about all of the above… what we care about is how it sounds. In one word… fantastic. These sound way up there with the Sonos speakers that I’ve heard with great sound range, deep bass if you want it, and great clarity. I play a mix of alternative rock, reggae, latin pop, classical, R&B and hip hop and every genre sounded amazingly loud and clear. Even in the lower volume range was good too but these things get really loud even in a large size room.
I’m not saying this will replace your mega expensive sound system, but for those who want to spend less than $200 and have a classy looking system with excellent sound, the SoundStage 3 is an excellent value.


Monoprice Select Mini 3D Pro Printer Reivew

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I was always intimidated by 3D printing because in my mind, it sounded complicated, messy and too time consuming. All of my assumptions were WRONG. It was super easy, this took 5 minutes to setup and the printer did all of the work.

Right out of the box you get the 3D Printer, a memory card with the instructions on it along with a CAD file to print a lucky cat, and filament barely enough to create that lucky cat.

The build quality of the unit itself was pretty solid and well constructed. I’s about the size and weight of a blender and takes up about the same amount of space.

Setting up was really easy. However a printed quick start guide would have been nice and I did have to watch a few YouTube videos to make sure I was doing everything correctly.

Setting up the software was also easy. I just downloaded CURA for my Mac, added the MonoPrice printer and boom, I was set to go. Loading the filament didn’t take too much work and I was ready to print! All I had to do was pop in the memory card with the CAD file, preheated the filament and then hit print and it started.

The process of printing a 3D Lucky Cat took about 2.5 hours, which I did a time lapse on. After printing the cat, I was almost out of the the filament it came with so definitely pick some up if you intend to create more than that.

Again, this is my first 3D printer ever and the first time 3D printing anything so I can’t really compare it to anything else. But at the price point that this is at, and how easy it was!

You can pick one up here: https://amzn.to/2PJ6KS7