Good Display for MacPro

[ozontheroad]

Hi people,

just bought a 2009 Quad 1.66 MP (stock)

i need to buy a display... any recommendations (24" would be nice)

i also need to instal windows on it an was thinking of getting a dedicated HD for it. my question regarding the extra HD is... can i go out and buy any SATA HD and put it in? any HD recommendations ?

thnx

[Tallest Skil]

2.66, right? :p

You absolutely need to tell us what you'll be doing. We can't in good conscience recommend you a monitor without knowing your needs.

Any SATA HDD works.

[Whiteyez]

And also tell us how much money are you willing to give..

[ozontheroad]

lmao.... can you imagine the reaction here is apple had actually released a 1.66 GHz MP lol

video editing... nothing fancy, not a pro here (iMovie) and i would also like to start editing my photos.

i sell DVDs with videos and photos but until now i haven't been able to do much regarding editing (no machine to do it on)

$$$ up to 500 $$$

now i have to start thinking how i'm going to secure my bungalow when i go back to koh tao (island where i live) maybe i can dig a moat around it and boobie trap my door and windows.

[Tallest Skil]

If you're not doing it for work, you don't need the best possible, but if you're doing it and care about it, you want a fairly good monitor.

You'll need either a S-PVA, S-IPS, or H-IPS panel; the latter being the most color-correct.

[ozontheroad]

it's an option to make extra $$$ in my line of work, so i would like to offer the best finished product possible.

if spending a little more will allow me to deliver a better product then i wouldn't mind paying more.

[bearcatrp]

A little more money but worth it....
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-6272

or check for a refurb unit for a little less. Awesome display.

[ozontheroad]

that dell looks nice :)

do displays specify the type of panel the use ? as in S-PVA, S-IPS, or H-IPS , how do i find out the panel type when in a store?

[shinchan72]

I bought two of the Apple 24" LED displays. I prefer the glossy look of the colors for years now so that's not a problem for me.

I've owned the 30" Dells and HP ones also and the Apple monitors are my favorite of any I've owned yet. From brightness and contrast to completely even lighting and zero problems they are great for me.

And they look x1000 better than any others I've owned also.

[Umbongo]

that dell looks nice :)

do displays specify the type of panel the use ? as in S-PVA, S-IPS, or H-IPS , how do i find out the panel type when in a store?

You can look it up online.

http://lcdtech.no-ip.info/en/data/lcd.panels.in.monitors.htm

or

http://www.flatpanelshd.com/panels.php

Basically assume everything under $500 is TN. Most stores are also only going to carry TN or maybe some S-PVA. Samsung are TN and S-PVA (their technology). Same for Acer and Lenovo and many of the brands that seem unfamiliar. Dell and HP use a mix of TN, PVA and IPS. NEC use TN and H-IPS.

One of the best value IPS displays you can get is the HP LP2475W and the best all round choice is the NEC LCD2490WUXi.

This forum is invaluable for display advice (http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=78)

[ozontheroad]

thanx for the links mate

[Tallest Skil]

Basically assume everything under $500 is TN.

That's rather sweeping and, fortunately, inaccurate.

I got two 24" M-VA displays for $500 total. I'm very happy, as the model I bought is also made with TN panels, but I was lucky enough to wrangle M-VA.

[Umbongo]

That's rather sweeping and, fortunately, inaccurate.

I got two 24" M-VA displays for $500 total. I'm very happy, as the model I bought is also made with TN panels, but I was lucky enough to wrangle M-VA.

I didn't say everything under $500 was TN. I said assume and always check before you buy.

[nanofrog]

it's an option to make extra $$$ in my line of work, so i would like to offer the best finished product possible.

if spending a little more will allow me to deliver a better product then i wouldn't mind paying more.
Take a look at an NEC LCD2490WUXi (http://www.necdisplay.com/Products/Product/?product=a46240bd-a846-4de7-b644-bd7f0b7e6ece). :)

[Jouhne]

Here is a great site :

http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/reviews.html

[Mac Husky]

Here is a great site :
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/reviews.html
Very good reference. I took the NEC LCD 2690 WUXi (http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2007/review-nec-lcd2690wuxi.html) for Photoshop and some other creative work. No regret so far.

[jjahshik32]

Definitely go for the 24" led acd.

H-ips panel + 24" + LED backlighting for $799 (student discount) can't be beat.

[PowerPaw]

Very good reference. I took the NEC LCD 2690 WUXi (http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2007/review-nec-lcd2690wuxi.html) for Photoshop and some other creative work. No regret so far.

I looked at this monitor a couple of years ago at the NEC showroom just before it was released, connected my PowerBook and calibrated it.

It had the best display for the money for PhotoShop period - much better than the ACD at the time however... for InDesign or even word processing the fonts are as blurry as hell because of the dot pitch.

Its going to be a totally personal thing, i.e. you probably won't notice it and I am not sure if the font rendering is any better with Leopard but this stopped me for going with a 25.5" display. If you can I would strongly suggest taking a look before you buy if possible and connected to a Mac not a PC.

[brendon2020]

very happy with my dell 2407, can get them under $300 new and around $200-250 on ebay. But now i'm looking at the 30 acd

[dazz]

2.66, right? :p

You absolutely need to tell us what you'll be doing. We can't in good conscience recommend you a monitor without knowing your needs.

Any SATA HDD works.

So we need to know what the person is doing with a Mac in order to recommend a monitor, but we don't care what he/she is doing for the SATA disk? I thought not all disks were equal? Sorry if I'm picking nuts. :)

[Glen Quagmire]

ozontheroad: what's your budget? If you can afford thousands of dollars, get yourself an Eizo and be be very happy. If not, look at NEC, the Apple 24" LED or, if you can stand seeing the logo, a Dell.

This (http://shop.colourconfidence.com/section.php?xSec=10158) is a commercial site, but they rank all the monitors, so you can see what kind of quality you're getting for your money. They only deal with the high-end stuff, however (Eizo, NEC, etc).

[Gamethrilller]

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&sku=320-7825

[ozontheroad]

hey guys,

thanx for all the recommendations and links. i've read some good reviews about the Dell 2408WFP, will go out tomorrow to see if i can find one (living in saudi at the moment so not sure what's available... my 2009 MP will be the first one in Jeddah :D should be here tomorrow)

i know i'm going off-topic in my own thread but do you guys recommend moving my home folder to a dedicated HD? are there any real benefits to this ?

cheers

[Tallest Skil]

So we need to know what the person is doing with a Mac in order to recommend a monitor, but we don't care what he/she is doing for the SATA disk? I thought not all disks were equal? Sorry if I'm picking nuts. :)

Probability Theory says that there will be more people that will be affected by the difference in panel types than by the difference in consumer- and enterprise-grade hard drives. :p

[ozontheroad]

one of the extra HDs is for windows, my better half needs to run some software (given to her by the company she works for). this way she can have her stuff on the extra HD and not mess about on my one.

[Boneoh]

one of the extra HDs is for windows, my better half needs to run some software (given to her by the company she works for). this way she can have her stuff on the extra HD and not mess about on my one.

You may want to give VMware Fusion a try if you haven't already. I'm running Windows 2003 Server and XP Pro in virtual machines on my Mac Pro. It's very fast, you can configure the memory and virtual processors, and make snapshots of your virtual machines.

Good luck with your new MP :)

[ozontheroad]

You may want to give VMware Fusion a try if you haven't already. I'm running Windows 2003 Server and XP Pro in virtual machines on my Mac Pro. It's very fast, you can configure the memory and virtual processors, and make snapshots of your virtual machines.

Good luck with your new MP :)

i haven't tried any of the virtualization solutions yet, this is my first intel mac, i've used virtual pc with a G5 i had at work (about 4 years ago) and it was awful slow.

i do have a copy of parallels that i can try (have you used it)... will see if they have VMware Fusion when i go pick up my MP.

[cmaier]

i haven't tried any of the virtualization solutions yet, this is my first intel mac, i've used virtual pc with a G5 i had at work (about 4 years ago) and it was awful slow.

i do have a copy of parallels that i can try (have you used it)... will see if they have VMware Fusion when i go pick up my MP.

In general you should see about the same performance with either VMWare or Parallels - and both will blow you away in comparison with your previous virtualization experience. On my MBP (santa rosa) running xp pro in vmware, i get performance that feels essentially native (at least for things like office software).

[Boneoh]

i do have a copy of parallels that i can try (have you used it)... will see if they have VMware Fusion when i go pick up my MP.

I switched from Parallels to VMware when I got the new MP a few weeks ago. I had used Parallels since the beta, almost 3 years ago on my MacBook Pro. I had a glitch about once a year with Parallels, the support wasn't very good. :( Parallels makes you buy the software again at major new releases. :(

I'm very happy with VMware, but its only been few weeks. IMO both work, but since they are the same price, if you need to buy a copy, go with VMware.

[Frozengeek]

Hi people,

just bought a 2009 Quad 1.66 MP (stock)

i need to buy a display... any recommendations (24" would be nice)

i also need to instal windows on it an was thinking of getting a dedicated HD for it. my question regarding the extra HD is... can i go out and buy any SATA HD and put it in? any HD recommendations ?

thnx

Buy a single 22" for under $200 and add another monitor if you decide you really need it. Premium cost for 24" without that much extra screen real estate. You can almost buy two 22" monitors for the prices of some 24" screens.

[Dr.Pants]

Buy a single 22" for under $200 and add another monitor if you decide you really need it. Premium cost for 24" without that much extra screen real estate. You can almost buy two 22" monitors for the prices of some 24" screens.

In my expirience, a cheap TN panal is probably not the best thing for the job - if you read some of the thread and looked around, he wants to do iMovie and maybe make some extra cash doing it. Due to this funny thing called colour-shift, actually looking at an image and determining the exact colour is impossible on a TN. Move your head a few inches and there will be a change in colour. Not kosher.

They're awesome for gaming. I've had an Acer and a Veiwsonic running 1680x1050, and they're both amazing. However, my Doublesight (H-IPS panal) is a dream for my editing. A hair behind the other two in terms of response, but it is not as important as getting colour right.

[student_trap]

just thought i'd add that it may be worth checking out a 23" acd if you can find one, they are still great monitors and cater for those who prefer non-glossy :)

[Glen Quagmire]

i know i'm going off-topic in my own thread but do you guys recommend moving my home folder to a dedicated HD? are there any real benefits to this

The one real benefit (and the reason why I did it) is that it means you can reinstall the OS from scratch without having to back up all your junk first.

[duncanapple]

hey guys,

thanx for all the recommendations and links. i've read some good reviews about the Dell 2408WFP, will go out tomorrow to see if i can find one (living in saudi at the moment so not sure what's available... my 2009 MP will be the first one in Jeddah :D should be here tomorrow)

i know i'm going off-topic in my own thread but do you guys recommend moving my home folder to a dedicated HD? are there any real benefits to this ?

cheers

So not to totally crash your thread, but I perked up when I heard you were living in Saudi. I have an opportunity where I work to take a job that would require several 1-2 week long trips there over the course of this and next year. They provide security and transportation, but I am still curious as to how safe it really is for an American? Are you from there or somewhere else? I have done a lot of research and I hear crime is low, though there are terrorism issues (granted, who doesn't have those, but at least in the US we arent smack dab in the middle east). I am really interested to hear opinions from those that live there, especially if they aren't originally from there. Feel free to PM me too if you like.

[jmpage2]

So not to totally crash your thread, but I perked up when I heard you were living in Saudi. I have an opportunity where I work to take a job that would require several 1-2 week long trips there over the course of this and next year. They provide security and transportation, but I am still curious as to how safe it really is for an American? Are you from there or somewhere else? I have done a lot of research and I hear crime is low, though there are terrorism issues (granted, who doesn't have those, but at least in the US we arent smack dab in the middle east). I am really interested to hear opinions from those that live there, especially if they aren't originally from there. Feel free to PM me too if you like.

Maybe you should send him a PM for this part of the discussion as it has nothing to do with the thread at hand.

[Menphis]

My Philips 240PW9 is working on perfectly ...

[bigbird]

A little more money but worth it....
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-6272

or check for a refurb unit for a little less. Awesome display.

I've got the previous version to that, the 2407WFP. Couldn't be happier. I'd buy the 2408WFP if I needed a new monitor.

[vicentk]

Im using 30"ACD, it feel so good

[maria81]

wow 30" is quite big http://www.thepinoyscandal.net/img/J/u.gif

[VirtualRain]

wow 30" is quite big http://www.thepinoyscandal.net/img/J/u.gif

I had the 30" Dell 3007 panel (same as the ACD) for a year and I ultimately hated it. While it had good color and amazing screen real-estate, the anti-glare coating on the display was super distracting as if someone had stretched a lady's leotard over the screen... WTF?! Who want's that kind of mask between them and their images. Brutal! :mad:

Glossy screens (which is a complete misnomer since they are really just a screen without some interfering mask over top) are far superior in terms of actually being able to see what's on the screen without some kind of intervening mask. If you have reflections, then you are in the wrong environment and need to change your lighting or seating situation... putting an anti-glare covering on the screen is the worst compromise in my opinion... Might as well pull a stocking over your head like a bank robber! :rolleyes::confused:

[Macinposh]

If you have reflections, then you are in the wrong environment and need to change your lighting or seating situation..

Yeah,right...

Try using a glossy display+light/wight desktop or pictures in a blackened room...you are going to end up staring at your own face...

And most of the working enviroments are not totally closed sets.You will have light sources and reflections,wich renders the glossy displays unusable.
Period.


For normal/civilian use they are ok:ish.

[rylin]

Try using a glossy display+light/wight desktop or pictures in a blackened room...you are going to end up staring at your own face...

Say hi to your optician for me.

Hint: dark room + staring at the only available light source = bad.

[ozontheroad]

So not to totally crash your thread, but I perked up when I heard you were living in Saudi. I have an opportunity where I work to take a job that would require several 1-2 week long trips there over the course of this and next year. They provide security and transportation, but I am still curious as to how safe it really is for an American? Are you from there or somewhere else? I have done a lot of research and I hear crime is low, though there are terrorism issues (granted, who doesn't have those, but at least in the US we arent smack dab in the middle east). I am really interested to hear opinions from those that live there, especially if they aren't originally from there. Feel free to PM me too if you like.

hola amigo,
it's very safe here, granted there are some "cultural" customs you must be aware of, mainly regarding interaction between men and women. You will find that everywhere you go will have a "men only" and a "family section" it's a big "NO" if you try for example to sit down in the family section of starbucks and you are not accompanied by a woman. you will find this everywhere you go.
it is not advisable to talk to a woman, specially if she's alone, and if you are talking to a saudi and there's a woman with him you are supposed to address him only.

Under no circumstance go out without your passport (this is very important) even saudis must carry ID at all times.

another thing to note is that everything, and i mean everything closes 5 times a day for prayer, so if you find yourself in a store you will have to leave for the 20/25 minutes of prayer time. supermarkets are an exception and so are the main public areas of malls, however no one will serve you.

and unless you go to an embassy party you wont find alcoholic beverages anywhere (very very illegal) makes sure you have nothing (consumable) that contains alcohol when you are coming over.

As for safety.... well it's very safe, they are very hard on criminals here so the crime rate is very low. I sometimes go for a walk since i find it the best way to see a city and it's no different than going out anywhere else in the world, it is infinity hotter though :)

i hope this helps a little.

PS: take the job
PS2: i'm from argentina
PS3: i just want one of these :D

[ozontheroad]

now on topic...:)

after two full days of hunting i have been unable to find anything without a TN panel :(

so i'm going to recycle my LG M2294A (TV monitor) as my MP display for the time being. i'll have to wait until september when i go to europe and get something over there

thanks to everyone who replied, I got some good advice here

[rylin]

so i'm going to recycle my LG M2294A (TV monitor) as my MP display for the time being. i'll have to wait until september when i go to europe and get something over there

Considering the same thing actually.
I'm itching to get a Sony KDL-52w4500, but I also need a good screen for my MP.
If a good screen is $1000 (blame currency fluctuations), I might as well just get the TV which is "only" $2700.. or $1700 depending on how you look at it :-p

[ozontheroad]

Considering the same thing actually.
I'm itching to get a Sony KDL-52w4500, but I also need a good screen for my MP.
If a good screen is $1000 (blame currency fluctuations), I might as well just get the TV which is "only" $2700.. or $1700 depending on how you look at it :-p

be sure to check the max resolution before you buy (some of the TVs have lower resolutions)

My LG is 22" and has a max resolution of 1680 x 1050. it's a TN panel but it beats the pants off any of the offerings i saw while looking for a 24incher. The absolute worst i cam across was HP.

[rylin]

be sure to check the max resolution before you buy (some of the TVs have lower resolutions)

My LG is 22" and has a max resolution of 1680 x 1050. it's a TN panel but it beats the pants off any of the offerings i saw while looking for a 24incher. The absolute worst i cam across was HP.

The kdlw4500 is a 10bit 1080p panel ;)
Right now, it's one of the best 1080p displays on the market.

[ozontheroad]

The kdlw4500 is a 10bit 1080p panel ;)
Right now, it's one of the best 1080p displays on the market.

just had a look.... nnnnnnice