We’ve got our hands on one very interesting monitor. We think it is some sort of an answer to the question; “I want one of those Samsung Ultra-Wide gaming monitors, but I do not have that kind of money. What do I do?” You get this one, the AOPEN 43XV1C P ultra-wide 32:9 aspect ratio gaming display.
It will set you back MYR 2,999 at full retail price. For that kind of money though, you are getting not one, but two Full HD monitors that is put together side by side. You also get 120Hz in refresh rate, meaning you get silky smooth gaming experience, with the right hardware. It even responds fast at 1ms response time. If you are into video editing, the IPS panel covers up to 93% of DCI-P3 colour gamut.
With all of that, it may sound like the AOPEN 43XV1C P is a good buy. It may sound like it is a sensible purchase if you want a wider than the regular ultra-wide experience. It makes a lot more sense than getting two Full HD gaming displays, that is for sure. It does not curve though, and it is an AOPEN, a sort of budget friendly badge. So, is it worth the premium asking price? If you are looking for an ultra-wide gaming experience, is this the display you should be looking for? Is it even a good display to work with? We find all those out and more in our video review of the AOPEN 43XV1C P.
A few months ago, Samsung launched this behemoth of a thing. It was made for gamers, and it was a gaming peripheral that the ultimate gamer would need. If anyone would own one, it is the ultimate statement piece. That was July 2021.
They call it the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 gaming monitor and it looked glorious. While it was more expensive than the older Odyssey G9 that it replaced, the improvements perhaps more than justifies its price tag. Not that you get a bigger display or anything, you just get a much better package than before.
The headline figures say it all. Mini LED, dual QHD 1440p resolution at 49 inches (32:9) with 12-bit colours, HDR2000 at 2000nits and 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and 240Hz. No matter how you look at it, it just sounds majestic. It also sounds like an awfully expensive television set, not a gaming monitor.
We assure you that we are talking about a gaming monitor though. The 49-inch stretches to an ultrawide aspect ratio of 32:9. It is also compatible with NVIDIA’s G-Sync, and AMD’s FreeSync Premium to take advantage of anything you already have. Unfortunately, your PlayStation and Xbox will not be able to fill up the display, this is a PC only territory. It also has something Samsung calls ‘CoreSync’ lighting. The RGB lighting at the back lights up according to the dominant colour of your display to further transport and immerse you in your games.
Of course, to look the part, it has to work the part. That is why the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9’s 49-inch Mini LED panel’s feed is fed by HDMI 2.1. At 2,048 dimming zones, you are getting a gaming and viewing experience like no other; you might as well live in the game world. It reacts quickly too at 1ms GtG response time. When Samsung says this is the ultimate gaming display, we believe it.
Unfortunately, at the time of launch, Malaysia did not get to see the Odyssey Neo G9. The hope that it would arrive sooner was bleak due to the major stock shortage Samsung faced. Halted and delayed productions of course played a part in the whole thing too.
Now though, you do not need to just dream of the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9, you can officially own it in Malaysia. The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 is now available in Samsung Official Stores and showrooms across the nation. Of course, you can get them from Samsung’s official retailers and resellers as well. How much? It will set you back MYR 9,499. We predicted that this would set you back a little over MYR 1,000 above its official asking price though. in that case, all in all, that is not a bad asking price, if you have the money.
If you have been looking for a gaming monitor or even a secondary monitor for your gaming or work from home set up, BenQ will be one of those names that should come up quite often. This brand is one of the most recognisable names in the display market. They are known not only for their value offerings though. They also make very high-end displays that is regarded to be some of the best for the competitive gaming scene. Their Zowie series monitors have been a staple in Counter Strike: Global Offensive international stages, for example.
But some might say that the Zowie series has been built to cater to a niche market segment. In that sense, the Zowie is too purpose built for some. To be fair, it is marketed as such as well with its various technologies that gives its users an added advantage. What if competitive gaming is not what you are looking for. What if you are a casual gamer that enjoys the occasional competitive online gaming, but also enjoys the vast openness of single-player games like the Tomb Raider series? What if you are willing to trade some refresh rate performance for some added features that would save you the trouble of getting extra gear?
Welcome to the MOBIUZ series from BenQ. The BenQ MOBIUZ is really pretty much something made of dreams. The latest EX3415R especially, packs everything that a gamer wants in their AAA gaming PC.
If you cannot tell by its codename yet, the MOBIUZ EX3415R is a 34-inch display. It is also an ultra-wide monitor with 21:9 aspect ratio. It boasts 3,440 x 1,440 (WQHD) from its ultrawide panel. Of course, ultrawide also means it must be a little curved for your convenience. It has a pretty shallow 1900R curve, but it is enough for a good immersion for yourself.
At the same time, the IPS panel boasts 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. This is not just a gaming monitor anymore; it is a content creator’s dream set-up. It boasts HDR10 at 1000:1 contrast ratio and VESA DisplayHDR 400 at up to 400nits standards too, which also means that colour grading videos on the MOBIUZ EX3415R should be a piece of cake.
Of course, colour accuracy in a gaming monitor is really more of a bonus feature than its selling point. For a gaming monitor to be a gaming monitor you really want at least 120Hz in refresh rate. This has 144Hz.
You also want it to be a fast-reacting display for not just the best competitive advantage, but for the best immersion as well. The lower the numbers are here, the better. The BenQ Mobiuz EX3415R boasts 1ms MPRT and 2ms Gray-to-Gray response times. That also means that the display reacts almost instantly to any move you make on your joystick or mouse and keyboard. All of that, on top of a tear-free experience that is the AMD FreeSync technology.
For it to be an all-rounder, it now needs a powerful speaker set-up and be a USB hub. This does both of that too. It has two additional USB 3.0 ports so that you can plug in whatever USB devices to it. It also a BenQ treVolo set-up with dual 2W speakers with an additional 5W subwoofer for the widest possible dynamic range and sound staging from a monitor. In that sense, you do not need a headphone or additional speakers for the monitor.
The BenQ MOBIUZ EX3415R 34-inch ultrawide monitor with HDRi will be available for MYR 4,688. You can get your hands on one from their own official online store, Shopee, and Lazada. The eCommerce site quotes a shipping delay of 2-9 days after you order your unit though, so be patient. For this kind of money, you might be able to get yourself a decent TV. The gaming experience that you get from the MOBIUZ EX3415R is unlike any large 4K TVs though.
Petite and powerful; Ultra wide and immersive – these may be the coup de grace when it comes to any gaming setup. We are taking a close look at the Predator Orion 3000 & the Predator X34 GS monitor in our first ever double review to find out if the Intel Core i7 powered desktop and the ultrawide monitor check all the boxes to be the ultimate gaming setup!
You can get the Predator X34GS Monitor and Predator Orion 3000 at the Acer eStore or the official Acer store on Shopee.
Gaming is in Acer’s blood. The Predator brand that stems out from the Taiwanese based firm is now one of the most recognisable names in the PC gaming community. Of course, building on a solid branding block and competitively valued gaming PC builds help cement their legacy in the gaming and eSports community.
Predator Orion 3000
Before there was eSports though, there was something called a LAN Party. A LAN Party is basically a place for gamers to come together to game together in the same space; hence, LAN (Local Area Network). People used to come together to play multiplayer games like Counter Strike and such. In these LAN parties, you are expected to bring your own peripherals and even your own PC.
In such conditions, you need a gaming PC that is compact enough to take with you anywhere in the world. You still need powerful hardware as well though, for all the serious gaming you are going to get yourself into. You might want to go wireless as well, in this case.
That is why Predator built the Orion 3000, the baby Orion. The latest Orion series hardware features a compact mid-tower case that is ready to take on the latest AAA titles without breaking a sweat. You might break a sweat carrying the powerful package.
The Predator Orion 3000’s chassis is a custom-built chassis by Predator to look the part. The chassis even features a built-in headphone hook. But it is not form without function here. The chassis is designed with upgradability in mind. In that case, you can open the case and even upgrade the GPU or any other components yourself with little in your way.
You get to work with a 10th Generation Intel Core i7 (up to) paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (up to) SUPER for good measure. The combination of the CPU and GPU, on top of a healthy 8GB of RAM should be a recipe that works with most AAA titles today. If 8GB is not enough, you can fit up to 64GB of RAM into the baby Orion. All the peripherals get a healthy dose of air thanks to two in-house developed Acer FrostBlade fans with RGB ability. Of course, ther is WiFi 6 so that you can set up from anywhere and still get a decent network connection even without wires.
Predator XB273U GX Gaming Monitor
Of course, powerful hardware must be paired to a display worthy of all its power. You want a fast display, you want pretty colours, and you want 27-inch. We feel that 27-inch is the magic number for gaming monitors. It is big enough to fit a table and for you to see everything on your desk with enough details. It is not too big too for your desk so you can just sit at a comfortable distance and take advantage of the large display area.
The Predator XB273U GX gaming monitor fits that bill perfectly. 27-inch, check. Fast, it boasts 270Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time, overclocked; so, check. It boasts HDR 400 certification and Delta E<2; pretty colours, check. You can even power it with a USB Type-C 65W power delivery output.
On top of all of that you can swivel the monitor around, tilt it, and adjust its height for maximum comfort and most efficient layout on your desk. Thanks to 99% AdobeRGB colour gamut and Delta E<2 as well, the monitor can be used in creative cases such as photo and video editing when you need to. Did we forget to mention its WQHD (2560 x 1440) resolution?
Acer CB342CK C Monitor
At home though, you might want something a little more immersive. You might want an ultra-wide display to view everything on one display. You might want an Acer CB342CK C UltraWide monitor.
The Acer CB342CK C monitor features a 34-inch display that is stretched out wide. It boasts 3,440 by 1,440 (UWQHD) in resolution. It is still an acceptably speedy monitor too with 75Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. Like the XB2783U GX, you can power the Ultra-Wide monitor with 65W power delivery too.
The ultra-wide IPS display is still a good-looking display with 99% sRGB colour gamut still. You get up to 400nits in brightness too if you need it. With AMD Radeon FreeSync, the monitor should still be reasonably good with games. The extra display real estate should allow for a more immersive gaming experience, especially with racing games.
Price and Availability
The Predator Orion 3000 comes in either a 10th Generation Intel Core i7 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER pairing (MYR 6,799) or a 10th Generation Intel Core i5 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER pairing (MYR 4,099). Both comes in the same great looking chassis. The baby Predator is now available from Acer’s authorised resellers across the nation and from Acer’s official online stores (including Lazada and Shopee).
The Predator XB273U GX monitor is now available from Acer authorised stores nationwide and Acer’s official online stores (including Lazada and Shopee). There are no colour options for the 27-incher. The Predator XB273U GX will set you back MYR 3,299.
The Acer CB432CK C Ultra-Wide monitor will be available at the end of December 2020. It will be available at all Acer’s authorised resellers across the nation and Acer’s official online stores (including Lazada and Shopee). You can get your hands on one when its available for MYR 1,799.
Customers who purchase any of these devices before 31 December 2020 will be entitled to redeem free gifts, including up to RM100 worth of Touch ‘n Go eWallet credit on their redemption website. In addition, every submission before 24 December 2020 will also entitle the customer to one entry to the Christmas rEunion Advent Calendar to stand a chance to bring back prizes from the total prize pool worth up to RM30,000. Starting from 1 December 2020 until 25 December 2020, Acer Malaysia will pick a lucky winner every day for the special prize. Winners will be announced on Acer Malaysia Facebook or their redemption website. For more information on Acer’s products, you can visit their website too.