PowerMac and LCD Rumor WrapUp - Winners and Losers

[MacRumors]

Apple released PowerMacs and a new LCD monitor today. After such a release, we try to trace back to find where information was first leaked on these projects.

PowerMacs

PowerMac rumors have been relatively scarce in recent months. MacBidouille posted (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2002/12/20021231170312.shtml) information back in December 2002 that March 2003 may be the delivery time for new PowerMacs... but this diverged from Apple's historic 6-month release intervals for PowerMacs.

The first hard information (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/01/20030110072700.shtml) came in early January with (essentially) knowledge of the next PowerMac revision's top speed (stated at 1.43GHz at that time).

The PowerMac release day was hinted at in our Rumor Roundup (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/01/20030126000753.shtml) with Tuesday, the 28th being a (then) unconfirmed date for new releases of PowerMacs, LCDs and iMacs. The iMac revisions have not yet arrived...

LCD's

Rumors of Apple LCD updates have been ongoing for over a year at this time... with first word mentioned (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2001/12/20011202023546.shtml) by Railheaddesign in December 2001. At that time a 19" LCD was rumored to be in the pipeline. Whether this was based on speculation or true information, it is possible that Apple's plans were thwarted by rising LCD costs (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2002/03/20020318093544.shtml) during 2002.

Regardless, dropping the 15" LCD (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2002/10/20021021225205.shtml) in October 2002, respawned LCD updates but it wasn't until this month (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/01/20030120122007.shtml) that definitive evidence of a 20.1" Apple LCD finally emerged.

New rumor site, MacWhispers, claimed to have specs and prices (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/01/20030123081657.shtml) of the new 20" LCD with a 1600x1024 rez at $1799 with new enclosures -- but this proved to be incorrect, casting doubts on future information from this source.

Accurate pricing information came again in the Rumor Roundup (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/01/20030126000753.shtml) with a "less than $1300" price point reported for the 20" LCD.

Summary

Each introduction from Apple brings a few surprises and while minor information continues to be available, the lead time on rumors have been narrowing. iMac updates are still expected, and hints from the validity of rumors from these PowerMac/LCD revisions will prove to be revealing...

[mangoman]

GO Apple! Now give us that DLD device....Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeze?

:D

[dabirdwell]

Move the rest to widescreen format also. Use the same screen in the new 15" Powerbooks and the 15" iMacs...

[iBot]

Originally posted by Macrumors

New rumor site, MacWhispers, claimed to have specs and prices (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/01/20030123081657.shtml) of the new 20" LCD with a 1600x1024 rez at $1799 with new enclosures -- but this proved to be incorrect, casting doubts on future information from this source.

Rrrre-errrrrrr! [hissing cat fight noise]

[Mudbug]

But an interesting note (worthy of a new thread?) that was mentioned on TechTV that the rumor for the 23" price drop is that there will be a new model introduced with a HD tuner built in. How 'bout them apples?

[mac_audio_freq]

I like this site a lot, but I find this gloating to be somewhat unprofessional.

I was hoping the high-end powermac was going to have dual-1.43ghz processors so it could be lovingly called the "powermac 286".

[arn]

Originally posted by mac_audio_freq
I like this site a lot, but I find this gloating to be somewhat unprofessional.


Hmm... the rumor wrapup was never intended to be "gloating" in nature. It's simply meant for readers to follow where information has been accurate. Obviously, being written by me, there will be some natural bias... but nothing, I hope, out of line.

MacWhispers is singled out in this wrapup because 1) they are new and claim to have insider knowledge 2) they made specific (believable) predictions on specs and pricing - which were simply wrong. (Note, MacOSRumors also posted similar specs, but MacWhispers appears to be their source).

Credits are often and gladly given to sites which have provided accurate info. (See Powerbook Wrapup (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2002/11/20021107015529.shtml)). The majority of information on this site comes from other sites and are always attempted to be credited. This is a two-way street however... and sites will get credit for accurate and inaccurate information.

arn

[minimac]

Originally posted by arn

...
The majority of information on this site comes from other sites and are always attempted to be credited. This is a two-way street however... and sites will get credit for accurate and inaccurate information.

arn

My first post here, sorry if it's a little off-topic... This site is doing a great job of collecting rumors from the other sites and commenting on them. It's fantastic that you go back and review the accuracy of each of the rumors, especially when new rumor sites pop up wothout a proven track record. I love being able to open NetNewsWire to quickly check macrumors.com for updates, becuase I know if any other sites have been updated, macrumors will have a story about it.

Keep up the good work, and keep the frequent updates coming. Now get back out there and find out when the new iPods/DLDs are coming! ;)

[mangoman]

Originally posted by minimac
Now get back out there and find out when the new iPods/DLDs are coming! ;)

I agree! And thanks for keeping us info junkies well-fed, Arn.

[ibjoshua]

Considering that "...lead time on rumors have been narrowing." and "...MacWhispers ... made ... predictions ... which were simply wrong" MacRumors is doing a pretty damn good job.

Arn gives us rumours and claims nothing more for them. When he does claim that info is more than just a rumour it has tended to be correct - here I refer to the last (2002) PowerMac and PowerBook releases.

So say what you will but a 'rumor roundup' is just that - a round up of accurate and inaccurate rumours/predictions.

i_b_joshua

[i_wolf]

me wants a 20" cinema display!!!

[mangoman]

Wait a sec'--is someone here b*tching about a freakin' RUMOR site? Good lord... I thought I needed to unplug.

Here's a tip: Pull your sorry ass off your chair. Drag your pathetic self to the nearest exit. Step outside. Look up. Take several deep breaths. THERE's A WHOLE WORLD OUT THERE!

<sheesh...>

[iTry]

Originally posted by dabirdwell
Move the rest to widescreen format also. Use the same screen in the new 15" Powerbooks and the 15" iMacs...

I may be mistaken, but isn't a 17" widescreen just a 15" with sides on? How do apple make a 15" ws big enough?

[drastik]

Originally posted by i_b_joshua
Considering that "...lead time on rumors have been narrowing." and "...MacWhispers ... made ... predictions ... which were simply wrong" MacRumors is doing a pretty damn good job.

Arn gives us rumours and claims nothing more for them. When he does claim that info is more than just a rumour it has tended to be correct - here I refer to the last (2002) PowerMac and PowerBook releases.

So say what you will but a 'rumor roundup' is just that - a round up of accurate and inaccurate rumours/predictions.

i_b_joshua

Hear, hear! I don't find the roundups gloating at all. Besides all that, Macrumors offers the only real community on a rumour site. Spymac has children playing with photoshop, and a few others have good community spirit but far fewer members or much less varied opinions.

[DharvaBinky]

Sooo... does *anyone* have any idea when the 15" Powerbooks will be brought into feature parity with the 12" and 17" version? I really want to buy a 15" Pbook, but don't want to get stuck at the end of a product lifecycle. I realize that if apple puts out deep discounts on 15" models, we can expect a new one soon, but... <shrug> just wondering what the wait time will be... any guesses?

[yzedf]

Originally posted by DharvaBinky
Sooo... does *anyone* have any idea when the 15" Powerbooks will be brought into feature parity with the 12" and 17" version? I really want to buy a 15" Pbook, but don't want to get stuck at the end of a product lifecycle. I realize that if apple puts out deep discounts on 15" models, we can expect a new one soon, but... <shrug> just wondering what the wait time will be... any guesses?

Next week or two is my guess.

Although lead time is still being stated as 1-3 days.

[Bregalad]

Originally posted by dabirdwell
Move the rest to widescreen format also. Use the same screen in the new 15" Powerbooks and the 15" iMacs...

I really don't understand why everyone wants a widescreen display. What do you do more often, watch a widescreen format movie or view a web page? Edit a movie or write a document?

Try browsing the web with no scroll wheel or page down button. Pain in the neck isn't it? That's because web pages, like most business documents, are oriented vertically. A good display for composing and viewing web content would be 1024x2048 oriented with the larger side vertical.

By moving to an all widescreen lineup Apple would be telling the world that the only customers they value are those who spend their days in Final Cut Pro. Widescreen displays raise a large middle finger to anyone who authors websites, writes technical manuals, or basically creates any of the world's written content.

Take a look outside the fruit company once in a while and you'll see an interesting trend, pivoting displays. They allow PC users to get more vertical screen real estate. Unfortunately the driver software is only available for Windows and, based on current trends and the attitudes I see here, always will be.

[herocero]

i hate my pc laptop. i do. i wanna buy a powermac once this dell insipron has outlived it's usefulness.
but . . . somebody check out the new wintel machines. 3.06ghz. dvd-rw at 4x. 8x agp ati 9700 pro. usb 2.0. i need a shot in the arm that my music programs and photoshop and final cut express are gonna run faster on my new powermac.
anybody have a link to some side by side comparisons? you can put mind at ease as a new mac user . . .

cdm

[MacKid]

Originally posted by iTry


I may be mistaken, but isn't a 17" widescreen just a 15" with sides on? How do apple make a 15" ws big enough?

The 17" comment is generally correct, but technically, you can take any amount of inches, make a screen shorter, then use the extra distance to make it wider.;)

[MacKid]

Originally posted by herocero
i hate my pc laptop. i do. i wanna buy a powermac once this dell insipron has outlived it's usefulness.
but . . . somebody check out the new wintel machines. 3.06ghz. dvd-rw at 4x. 8x agp ati 9700 pro. usb 2.0. i need a shot in the arm that my music programs and photoshop and final cut express are gonna run faster on my new powermac.
anybody have a link to some side by side comparisons? you can put mind at ease as a new mac user . . .

cdm

Well, since most music programs and Photoshop can utilize vector processing, the new computer will be about 1/3 faster (plus the fact that Final Cut Express only runs on Mac helps :rolleyes: :D )

[MacKid]

Originally posted by herocero
i hate my pc laptop. i do. i wanna buy a powermac once this dell insipron has outlived it's usefulness.
but . . . somebody check out the new wintel machines. 3.06ghz. dvd-rw at 4x. 8x agp ati 9700 pro. usb 2.0. i need a shot in the arm that my music programs and photoshop and final cut express are gonna run faster on my new powermac.
anybody have a link to some side by side comparisons? you can put mind at ease as a new mac user . . .

cdm

Here's a benchmark in Photoshop (http://www.apple.com/powermac/specs.html)

[achmafooma]

Originally posted by Bregalad

... A good display for composing and viewing web content would be 1024x2048 oriented with the larger side vertical.

By moving to an all widescreen lineup Apple would be telling the world that the only customers they value are those who spend their days in Final Cut Pro. Widescreen displays raise a large middle finger to anyone who authors websites, writes technical manuals, or basically creates any of the world's written content.

Take a look outside the fruit company once in a while and you'll see an interesting trend, pivoting displays. They allow PC users to get more vertical screen real estate. Unfortunately the driver software is only available for Windows and, based on current trends and the attitudes I see here, always will be.

I've honestly never seen a pivoting display in actual use anywhere. I've seen them advertised, mentioned in passing, etc. but never in use in the real world. I'm not sure that they constitute a "trend" (though I could imagine them being popular in print publishing, if it were available to them. I think they're mostly Mac houses though, so I wouldn't guess they run them now).

As far as screen real estate, with a good widescreen I can have 2 websites up side by side if I want to. Or a Word Doc on the left and a Safari window on the right. Etc,. etc., etc. I run all "old-style" non-widescreens - a 12" iBook on the road and the 17" Apple Studio Display LCD at home - but in my work with widescreens at the Apple store and on my girlfriend's 15" PowerBook I definitely see the appeal.

The 15" PowerBook monitor is barely taller than my iBook's screen, but those few extra horizontal inches make it feel twice the size.

I don't think I'd like a vertically oriented screen... tilting my head up and down to see the stuff on the screen seems a lot less natural than a left-to-right motion on a widescreen.

This is all off-subject anyway - more power to you Arn and MacRumors, I love the rumors and I love these wrapups even more. They expose all the rumor fakers out there :-)

[macdiehard]

Originally posted by Bregalad


Take a look outside the fruit company once in a while and you'll see an interesting trend, pivoting displays. They allow PC users to get more vertical screen real estate. Unfortunately the driver software is only available for Windows and, based on current trends and the attitudes I see here, always will be.


Pivots are very practical. I had an old Pivot mac monitor, it was fantastic for writing documents. I look outside the fruit company a lot and there is a lot of interesting stuff. The imac would be perfect for going vertical.

The whole thing with watching movies on your power book as about sizzle, it's a very sexy feature but has very little to do with business productivity unless you are in the motion picture business.

[MacCoaster]

Originally posted by MacKid
Here's a benchmark in Photoshop (http://www.apple.com/powermac/specs.html)
Jesus Christ. Not another Photoshop bakeoff.

[cubist]

Originally posted by Bregalad
Take a look outside the fruit company once in a while and you'll see an interesting trend, pivoting displays. They allow PC users to get more vertical screen real estate. Unfortunately the driver software is only available for Windows and, based on current trends and the attitudes I see here, always will be.

How about a "narrowbook" then. It has the keyboard of the 12" alubook which is, what, about 9" wide, but with the 15" display oriented vertically. The hinge is on one end... the keyboard is shifted toward the front with teeny speakers behind it.

I dunno, might be kinda neat. I haven't seen any laptops of any kind with that form factor.

On the iMac, a rotating screen has been suggested many times. If they come out with it, with a 1gig processor, my credit card is ready.:cool:

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by DharvaBinky
Sooo... does *anyone* have any idea when the 15" Powerbooks will be brought into feature parity with the 12" and 17" version? I really want to buy a 15" Pbook, but don't want to get stuck at the end of a product lifecycle. I realize that if apple puts out deep discounts on 15" models, we can expect a new one soon, but... <shrug> just wondering what the wait time will be... any guesses?
I would say something like 6-10 weeks. I feel that they won't update it before the 17" ships. Besides they need to keep a professional laptop able to boot in OS9 for another couple of months...


NicoMan

[macdiehard]

Originally posted by MacCoaster

Jesus Christ. Not another Photoshop bakeoff.

Exactly, now about some specs for real things the rest of us to like.

- launching my 400 meg outlook application
- launching word
- launching anything for that matter
- searches and look ups

[cubist]

Oh and I just remembered the other thing about widescreen - the human vision system is widescreen: we can see more to the sides than up and down. In portrait mode we would have to move our head.

Makes one wonder why paper documents are always in portrait mode, doesn't it... I think that was because the columns get too wide, causing unnecessary eye tracking and confusion.

Ah, but when a magazine or newspaper or book is opened up - aha! Widescreen!;)

[littlejim]

Originally posted by mac_audio_freq
I like this site a lot, but I find this gloating to be somewhat unprofessional.


I've been reading MacRumors almost every day for well over a year now. It's great fun, it can teach you a lot and .... if you use it correctly ... can save you a shed load of money.

From what I have seen - MacRumors' professionalism is right up there with the best of them - VersionTracker, MacMinute and the BBC pages.

I for one, love the 'post mortem' articles and long many they continue.

littlejim
--------------------------------
He's fallen in the water.

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by cubist
Oh and I just remembered the other thing about widescreen - the human vision system is widescreen: we can see more to the sides than up and down. In portrait mode we would have to move our head.

Makes one wonder why paper documents are always in portrait mode, doesn't it... I think that was because the columns get too wide, causing unnecessary eye tracking and confusion.

Ah, but when a magazine or newspaper or book is opened up - aha! Widescreen!;)

I couldn't have said it better.
I also want to add that the widescreen format in those screens doesn't come to the detriment of the height: they keep the same height but add space on the sides. So you can still browse the same way. Now you are gonna tell me that you would rather have that extra space vertically, and I sort of agree, but it is only good for typing or reading long document, i.e. by putting your screen vertically you would make your Mac a typing machine... Not only is the horizontal layout much more efficient for the eyes, but I do believe that vertical layout would take you away from the digital lifestyle/entertainment center idea that 'everyone' is looking for.

Now if they made those screens pivot (under OSX) so that everyone would be happy... But I am almost sure that 80% of the people wouldn't even use it.

NicoMan

[RogueLdr]

Originally posted by Bregalad
By moving to an all widescreen lineup Apple would be telling the world that the only customers they value are those who spend their days in Final Cut Pro. Widescreen displays raise a large middle finger to anyone who authors websites, writes technical manuals, or basically creates any of the world's written content.


I don't really see a widescreen as giving the finger to web or print houses at all. The widesreen format, on a large enough screen to have a little height to it, allows a 4:3 window to be displayed all the way from top to bottom of the screen with plenty of real estate on either side for all the palettes of the application.

This is a better alternative than having to have your palettes hidden, or worse, your palettes covering your work space. The widescreen is handy for anyone creating anything, film or not. And this is Apple's primary audience for their PowerMac line.

RL

[MacKid]

Originally posted by macdiehard


Exactly, now about some specs for real things the rest of us to like.

- launching my 400 meg outlook application
- launching word
- launching anything for that matter
- searches and look ups

That's the only thing I had (and anything to sell one more PowerMac to a switcher:cool: :D ;) )

[Dave Marsh]

:eek: Way back in the early Mac desktop publishing days (in the '80's?), Radius addressed this need with a product they called the Radius Pivot. You can still check it out by searching Google. You simply rotated the screen from portrait to landscape mode, depending on what you were doing, waited a couple of seconds while the screen blacked out and then redrew for the new layout. Its resolution was 640x864 in vertical (portrait) mode. Monitors started getting larger and the need waned, so the product died. I find it amusing that the Windows world now finds this so novel. I saw one of these new generaton Windows pivoting monitors recently and tried rotating it to see if it would automatically redraw the way the old Radius Pivot did, but it didn't. So, I don't know if I was supposed to reboot Windows, or run some utility to force a redraw to the new orientation.

[centauratlas]

Just FYI, Apple is shipping iLife as of Jan 29...

[JGowan]

Ok... lemme get this straight. Apple takes a monitor that, until just a couple of days ago, would bring them $3499... and then drops the price by $1500! No, no no! There is something to this.

Here's my take...

There will be TWO TIERS of monitors. There will be the 17", 20" and the 23" panels for the moderate buyers and then (soon, hopefully), Apple will offer a second tier of Monster panels... perhaps 26" HD ($2,499); 29" HD ($2,999) and 32" HD ($3,499).

This is just me speculating (especially the prices [God only knows what these sizes would/will cost]), but it seems odd to quit making $3,500 with nothing in the works to replace it.

The whole BIG LCD panel started out with the 22" which sold for $4,000! And they sold a lot of them. And every time they dropped the price, the sold even more. Now, obviously the 23" HD will now sale quite briskly, but Apple KNOWS that there are the Rich people out there that WANT to spend $3500 on a monitor. And they're going to cater to them.

[dongmin]

Originally posted by JGowan
There will be TWO TIERS of monitors. There will be the 17", 20" and the 23" panels for the moderate buyers and then (soon, hopefully), Apple will offer a second tier of Monster panels... perhaps 26" HD ($2,499); 29" HD ($2,999) and 32" HD ($3,499).

A 32" screen sitting on my desk--now THAT would be something. Your neck would get a major workout...

[MacKid]

Originally posted by dongmin


A 32" screen sitting on my desk--now THAT would be something. Your neck would get a major workout...

Unfortunately, some people in the PC world might comment that Apple was taking a cue or trying to follow after Gateway, because I think I read that they make some huge 42" LCD's.:o :rolleyes:

[PretendPCuser]

Bregalad,

I see your point if you design or view mostly corporate websites. Have you ever seen a side scrolling website on a widescreen? It looks nice. Try it, you might like it. Pivots are cool, i believe that they did make those for Apple once upon a time.

Now, the real deal is having a CRT and LCD side by side so you can have the best of both worlds. (and be really anal about web site consistency).

Sorry Arn, for being off topic, i do enjoy the rumor wrapups. They're Not offending me!

By the by, who else besides me was totally bowled over by the new announcement? I hadn't been following rumors for awhile and one day opened up explorer and BAM!! New macs! Life is good.

Peace love and unity!

[jettredmont]

Originally posted by MacKid


Unfortunately, some people in the PC world might comment that Apple was taking a cue or trying to follow after Gateway, because I think I read that they make some huge 42" LCD's.:o :rolleyes:

They make 42" Plasma HDTV displays ... just the latest in their "Monitor/TV" Destination series.

Which would be nice if we had the pixel density of Apple's 23" in a 42" model ... couple thousand pixels across ... But Gateway's units have mega-size pixels like all other big-screen TVs and are not suitable for up-close usage ...

[Nermal]

Originally posted by Dave Marsh
:eek: Way back in the early Mac desktop publishing days (in the '80's?), Radius addressed this need with a product they called the Radius Pivot.

I've still got one of those!

[MacKid]

Originally posted by jettredmont


They make 42" Plasma HDTV displays ... just the latest in their "Monitor/TV" Destination series.

Which would be nice if we had the pixel density of Apple's 23" in a 42" model ... couple thousand pixels across ... But Gateway's units have mega-size pixels like all other big-screen TVs and are not suitable for up-close usage ...

My mistake ;) , I was just checking out the competition, and took one look at Gateway.com and left. :p

[Rocketman]

Originally posted by Bregalad


I really don't understand why everyone wants a widescreen display.


When I switched to a TiG4 with it's "wide screen" my usage habbits changed a bit from tileing windows vertically to tileing horizontally more often. I find it more intuitive. Not sure if that was the intended consequence, but it was the result. If you open 50 images in photoshop, it tiles horizontally as well.

Rocketman

[eric_n_dfw]

Originally posted by jettredmont


They make 42" Plasma HDTV displays ... just the latest in their "Monitor/TV" Destination series.

Which would be nice if we had the pixel density of Apple's 23" in a 42" model ... couple thousand pixels across ... But Gateway's units have mega-size pixels like all other big-screen TVs and are not suitable for up-close usage ...
FYI - the Gateway 42" Plasma monitor (which, I belive is a re-branded Samsung) is not a true "HDTV". It's actually what is commonly referred to as EDTV. It's digital, it supports HDTV signals, but it's spec's show a resolution of, "852 x 480 native pixel with progressive scan" To me, if you can't do 1080i, why bother?

That's why it's so cheap.

[macdiehard]

Someone mentioned viewing a web site and having a word document open at the same time. I a lot of web site reviews - I get paid to tell people why they sites suck :D :D

Is 1280 by 1024 enough resolution to that? Thinking of getting a 19 inch at that resolution. Hopefull I can view a site and type confortably on a word doc next to it.


P.S. Did they use a PC or a Mac to save the world in Independance Day, a Mac right, enough said.

[FlamDrag]

Anyone who hates scrolling - get a PowerMate, I just got one and they're awesome.

What's really funny to me is that most of the people I've seen who type long documents tend to scroll to the top 1/3 of the screen. This is even more true for reading in my experience.

If you had an 11x17 paper in front of you, full of text - would you hold the paper perfectly stationery while you moved your head from top to bottom? No, you'd move the paper up as you read. Screen - same thing.

However, I won't argue the usefulness of having that extra space for reference - especially when writing code and looking for functions etc on up the page.

I frequently span my monitors top/bottom (one closer to me, one farther away and elevated) on my Pismo and I always keep the menubar on the bottom one. This allows me to have the mouse anywhere on the screen and get quickly to the menu.

I can't imagine having the mouse at the bottom of the 17" portrait monitor and having to go ALL the way to the top to change the font.

The roundups are great!

[herocero]

http://a784.g.akamai.net/7/784/51/542bf2ee280d41/www.apple.com/powermac/pdf/PowerMac_TO_012003.pdf

answers such questions as "is airport extreme and bluetooth integrated on the mobo" and the like.


cdm

[JGowan]

I just had to share!

I bought a 22" panel in mid FEB'02 (paying $1999 after receiving Apple's $500 rebate which came in about two weeks [I had bought a Dual 1GHz Tower at the same time]) ...

... in AUG'02, I went back to CompUSA and for $109, bought a two-year warranty that protects for damage or for Technology upgrades, locking in the price of $2,499 (which the 22" retailed for then) ...

I'm going back to CompUSA tonight and trading up for the 23" HD Display and they're going to issue me a gift certificate for the $500 difference!

I don't even have to pay tax because I am graphic designer and with a state form given to those who create multimedia projects to be sold, no tax is taken!

Of course, I plan on buying the $109 plan again tonight again. I'll give you an update on another trade-up in a year or so if all goes well!

This is so Friggin' BOSS!!!

[JGowan]

Well, all things went great last night... I traded up from my year-old 22" to the 23" HD -- only snag was that the associate that told me that I'd be able to get the $500 difference (from $2500 to $1999) on a gift card was mistaken and they would only do the swap on the monitors. I was still super-thrilled!

I am so jazzed as this thing is just utterly beautiful- so awesome.

Of course, I gladly gave them another $109 for a 2yr warranty on this new one (locking in the 2K it retails for now)...

Too sweet!