What Monitor?

I used an LG 23" with my MBP ($139 at BestBuy) and it was exceptional. These days you can goe a really good 1920X1080 LCD display for less than $130 Currently I have two AOC 2269W monitors on my Mini. They were $119 each and max at 1920X1080.

The thing I discovered about using an external display with my MBP was that, after about a month, I added a shelf under my desk and put the MBP down there and ONLY used the external display (as my primary monitor). The only time I ever used the MBP display was when I was meeting with clients and took the MBP with me somewhere.

The LG I had was a 16:9 and the display "adjusted" for it. The display preferences will set each display according to size and ratio - 16:10 for the MBP and 16:9 for the external. Then you can choose mirroring or extended desktop, and pick which one you want your menu bar and dock to be in.

As to AOC or LG. it's six of one and half a dozen of the other. I couldn't tell any difference in quality of display. All I was really concerned with was resolution. A lot of 22 inch monitors only go to 1440x900. I wanted 1920X1080 and the AOC hit that for $20 less than the 23" LG, so I went with my wallet and chose the cheaper one. BOTH have DVI or VGA input, so there was no difference there. BOTH can be wall mounted with the proper hardware.