Q1: While a power LED is important, it should be as dim as possible while still being visible. It should provide status information without being distractingly bright.

Q4: An external hub takes up more space and increases clutter. A simple hub on the side of the monitor is convenient and does not take up desk space. My current monitor (which the Spectrum would replace) has this feature. While dual-display use is not important to me (at home, that is, I have three monitors at work), the USB hub on the side of the monitor could work in this configuration if the monitor has a symmetrical appearance from the front such that one of the two monitors could be flipped upside down, so that the USB hub of each monitor would be accessible on the left and right sides of the pair.

Q5: Pros: None, the actual power socket on the rear of the monitor is not visible to begin with, and if a slim connection is required, IEC 320 C5 or C7 connectors are quite compact, though IEC 320 C13 connectors are much easier to replace. Cons: the problem with hardwired connection is that a single accident or incident of damage to the power cord can ruin an expensive monitor.

Q6: I see the monitor as primarily a display, but as I want a USB hub integrated, the ability to plug in a USB storage stick or charge a phone/tablet is useful. Integrated inductive charging sounds nice, but would seem to conflict with the desire for a universal VESA mounting solution that could allow customers to use their own stands if they don’t like the default option. Inductive charging feels like putting too much into the monitor when that could just as easily be provided by a charging pad. A headphone jack on the side of the monitor (along with the USB ports) could also be useful, since many devices that you connect via HDMI may not have any speakers or headphone jack (such as a game console). An SD card slot is useful since my current monitor (Dell U2711) has one, but since a USB SD reader could be connected, a USB port is more important than an SD slot.

Q7: No, I don’t move my monitor (apart from maybe adjusting things like tilt/pivot/etc on the stand, they’re far too large to be considered as portable devices.

Q8: I voted for concept 3 (clean slate), but 2 and 1 seem quite clean and normal too, so perhaps decent options. I like the clean slate design (which I would prefer in black) because it seems like it would distract the least from the most important thing: the image on the display. Concept 1 (big eve) seems to have fabric, which is a very big “no” to me. Textured (matte) metal or plastic, please! Preferably black.

Q9: I voted against 6 (carry away), 4 (little furniture), and 5 (control center). 6 and 4 seem like they are trying to make the monitor an attention-grabbing piece, eschewing the simplicity that I desire. 5 seems like it’s trying to cram too much into the monitor that takes it away from my goal, a high quality yet affordable monitor that is great for gaming and media consumption, but does at least a passable job at semi-professional tasks.

Q10: The VESA mount for the stand found in concepts 1 and 2 is a must, as it allows the most flexibility to the user, by using the default stand, or a third-party stand, or a wall mount, or a movable arm. A removable power connector is important, otherwise it is too easy for damage to the $5 power cord to ruin the monitor that costs a hundred times as much. The clean and “normal looking” aesthetic as seen in concepts 1/2/3 is appealing because I want a monitor that doesn’t stand out, that is functional but appealing. I don’t want my monitor to make a statement, I want it to blend in.

On the subject of controls, Linus Tech Tips has referenced controls (both good and bad) often when they review monitors. Bad controls are usually an array of buttons that are out of sight (so it’s not clear which buttons correspond to which action in the UI) or awkward to use. They usually praise as the best controls a little 4-way-plus-click joystick, which is often recessed on the bottom edge of the monitor, as this is typically very intuitive and it provides obvious directionality to cursor movement or option changes in the menu. Please take a look at all the monitor reviews on LTT for examples of what they liked and disliked about monitor controls.