Recommend a new display.

Samsung S27A850D, Dell U2713HM and ViewSonic VP2770-LED are what I would be looking at.

Read reviews on tftcentral and find the threads for them on hardforum.com's display subforum to help you decide.

Personally I feel that the Samsung is one of the best choices out there. Better than the really cheap 27" panels in terms of quality and with its light AG coating the right balance between glossy (Apple, cheap 27"s) and the heavy coating found on Dell, HP etc. The ViewSonic also has this and sort of sits between the Samsung/Dell models I listed and their more professional solutions.

I am in the market myself but luckily my crappy Dell display will do for now. The current ACD has tons of selling points but the glossy screen gives me pause. As the new iMac got USB3 support and a "reduced glare" screen and the current Apple Cinema is long overdue for a refresh, I'm betting those features will carry over.

I've had great success with several of Crossover 27q IPS from Korea. All 5 have arrived in about a week and have been perfect since June.

link

ClassObject said:

I've had great success with several of Crossover 27q IPS from Korea. All 5 have arrived in about a week and have been perfect since June.

link

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I read nothing but bad things about those.

Only 1 input, DVI. Ships from Korea, no US presence for customer support, returns, or warranty support. Up to 20 dead pixels is considered normal, but who will care anyway because there's no real warranty or customer service to contact. High display lag. Cheap flimsy stands. No OSD. Built with low grade panels (A-) that are basically ACD rejects (too many flaws to sell to A and A+ vendors). Wrong power plug, and in at least one review, a 240V-only power supply.

Appears to be yet another clone of other Korean 27" WQHD displays: Achieva, Catleap, Yamakasi, etc., how many more labels can they slap onto the same monitor?

On the plus side, they are very inexpensive for what is basically the same panel as an ACD, and you can pay a little extra for a pixel-perfect guarantee, although I don't know how that would be supported... by the Ebay seller?

http://www.benq.us/
for the top quality stuff... but its expensive.

ActionableMango said:

I read nothing but bad things about those.

Only 1 input, DVI. Ships from Korea, no US presence for customer support, returns, or warranty support. Up to 20 dead pixels is considered normal, but who will care anyway because there's no real warranty or customer service to contact. High display lag. Cheap flimsy stands. No OSD. Built with low grade panels (A-) that are basically ACD rejects (too many flaws to sell to A and A+ vendors). Wrong power plug, and in at least one review, a 240V-only power supply.

Appears to be yet another clone of other Korean 27" WQHD displays: Achieva, Catleap, Yamakasi, etc., how many more labels can they slap onto the same monitor?

On the plus side, they are very inexpensive for what is basically the same panel as an ACD, and you can pay a little extra for a pixel-perfect guarantee, although I don't know how that would be supported... by the Ebay seller?

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I personally know of about a dozen in use with no problems. I've read many success stories and also some bad ones. The seller I linked has been great. One of the monitors arrived crushed and shipping insurance took care of it. Took a week total turn around. One dev I work with bought three and one died after a day. Turnaround was a week also.

It's true that there is a single dvi input and no OSD and some of the stands are flimsy. None of that matters to me. I mount three on an arm and the picture is perfect and bright with no dead pixels. Couldn't be happier.

ClassObject said:

I personally know of about a dozen in use with no problems. I've read many success stories and also some bad ones. The seller I linked has been great. One of the monitors arrived crushed and shipping insurance took care of it. Took a week total turn around. One dev I work with bought three and one died after a day. Turnaround was a week also.

It's true that there is a single dvi input and no OSD and some of the stands are flimsy. None of that matters to me. I mount three on an arm and the picture is perfect and bright with no dead pixels. Couldn't be happier.

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Sounds great! I just wanted to provide the back story too, so people can make a more informed choice.

My Dell Ultrasharp is on its 8th year of service and still going strong!

GermanyChris said:

So I couldn't pull the trigger on the the 30" ACD I bought a U2412M instead. I'm a wuss..

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Wise choice, lots of money saved and a decent screen bought.
I went even cheaper with an Iiyama LED TN panel, it looks fantastic:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/iiyama-E2475HDS-B-ProLite-inch-Monitor/dp/B005JBHODQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353001583&sr=8-1
Screw Apple's overpriced under developed IPS models. £140 vs. £820 no contest even for a loss of 3".
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-LED-Cinema-Display-27/dp/B0044EA242/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1353001711&sr=1-4
If you need a 27" monitor then Iiyama do this one for £281 same blinding performance as my 24" for twice the price:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/B2776HDS-ProLite-Monitor-Backlight-Display/dp/B005JBHODG/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1353002525&sr=1-1

I use a 2412 ultra sharp Dell for my Air. For the price, it's good value. Colour is good, text isn't super sharp, but has lots of inputs.

gpzjock said:

Wise choice, lots of money saved and a decent screen bought.
I went even cheaper with an Iiyama LED TN panel, it looks fantastic:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/iiyama-E2475HDS-B-ProLite-inch-Monitor/dp/B005JBHODQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353001583&sr=8-1
Screw Apple's overpriced under developed IPS models. £140 vs. £820 no contest even for a loss of 3".
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-LED-Cinema-Display-27/dp/B0044EA242/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1353001711&sr=1-4
If you need a 27" monitor then Iiyama do this one for £281 same blinding performance as my 24" for twice the price:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/B2776HDS-ProLite-Monitor-Backlight-Display/dp/B005JBHODG/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1353002525&sr=1-1

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There is more to it than price and size. The 27" ACD is 2560x1440 and those 24" and 27" Iyamas are both 1920x1080. The ACD has almost 80% more pixels!

The ACD isn't a great price, but that's a really unfair comparison.

I have a Dell U2711 anti-gloss. I like it once it's calibrated - started with tftcentral.co.uk (Adobe RGB) and then light calibration using Huey.

ActionableMango said:

There is more to it than price and size. The 27" ACD is 2560x1440 and those 24" and 27" Iyamas are both 1920x1080. The ACD has almost 80% more pixels!

The ACD isn't a great price, but that's a really unfair comparison.

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Also the 30" ACD has a beautiful panel (LG)...kick ass display and matte.

Sure, it's not an IPS or an LED panel, but still a beautiful monitor nonetheless.

I can't use Apple products with any other monitors besides Apple's...Dell is really ugly, so is HP, etc.

I rolled the dice and got one of the 27" Shimian panels. It's no frills super basic, but does what I need it to do, which is display native 2560x1440 with great color.

Read the review. I paid $300 shipped a few months back but it seems the prices are climbing slowly as people pick up on the deal. Very happy with mine, no noticeable dead/stuck pixels. The 5870 in my 08 MP drives it fine (along with a older Dell 24" 1920x1200 monitor. They are available from multiple places online. I got mine via eBay...

Personally, after being introduced to dual displays I could never go back to a single screen no matter how big. Two x 23" beats one 27" or 30" any day. Now, I am however planning on upgrading one of my 23's to a 30"

ActionableMango said:

There is more to it than price and size. The 27" ACD is 2560x1440 and those 24" and 27" Iyamas are both 1920x1080. The ACD has almost 80% more pixels!

The ACD isn't a great price, but that's a really unfair comparison.

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Unfair? I compared price and image quality as I need it. The Iiyama's pixel count is plenty dense enough for a 24" screen IMHO, so I am happy to spend a fraction of the price to get the image quality that satisfies my needs. By all means spend more if you need to. I don't. The ACD has 11,706 pixels per square inch, my 24" Iiyama has 8,448 ppsqi, that is only 28% less density and negligible to me at a viewing range of more than 18" away.


Even if you do want the same resolution another manufacturer will supply the same panel for a fraction of the Apple price: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-PB278Q-Widescreen-Multimedia-DisplayPort/dp/B009668YPM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353058321&sr=8-1

When I chose a Mac Pro I bought the bare bones 2008 octo 2.8 for £1400 new (Irish import) over £300 cheaper than a UK one, I filled it with 3rd party RAM (16 GB) for £400, Apple would have charged me £1800 for that, I put in my own 120 GB SSD for £200, Apple's price at the time £600, I added 3 more HDDs for less than £300, Apple price £200 each, finally I flashed a 5870 bought for under £290 when they were new, Apple still want £377 for one today and £449 back in the day.
Add these savings to not buying a display for over £800 and I think I just saved enough to buy my next 2 motorcycles.....
My price: £2730, Apple's price: £5945. I knew there was a reason I'm Scottish.

I am enjoying two Dell U2412m displays (display port), plus run a third small vga display off to the side for a video feed while composing to picture. I am very pleased with the Dells' picture quality, and my deskspace feels luxuriously expansive. $600 for the pair, and this includes a warranty...

gpzjock said:

Unfair? I compared price and image quality as I need it. The Iiyama's pixel count is plenty dense enough for a 24" screen IMHO, so I am happy to spend a fraction of the price to get the image quality that satisfies my needs. By all means spend more if you need to. I don't. The ACD has 11,706 pixels per square inch, my 24" Iiyama has 8,448 ppsqi, that is only 28% less density and negligible to me at a viewing range of more than 18" away.

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As this is a thread about recommending monitors, I felt other people should know there is a substantial difference. The resolution appears to be unimportant to you. To me it is important, and so I suspect maybe to others as well.

gpzjock said:

Even if you do want the same resolution another manufacturer will supply the same panel for a fraction of the Apple price: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-PB278Q-Widescreen-Multimedia-DisplayPort/dp/B009668YPM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353058321&sr=8-1

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I completely agree. I wasn't defending Apple; in fact I specifically said, "The ACD isn't a great price". I myself don't have an Apple monitor, I have a Dell Ultrasharp.

My only point was that there is an 80% difference in the number of pixels. This Asus you mention is a much more fair comparison, IMHO, due to having identical resolution.

gpzjock said:

When I chose a Mac Pro I bought the bare bones 2008 octo 2.8 for £1400 new (Irish import) over £300 cheaper than a UK one, I filled it with 3rd party RAM (16 GB) for £400, Apple would have charged me £1800 for that, I put in my own 120 GB SSD for £200, Apple's price at the time £600, I added 3 more HDDs for less than £300, Apple price £200 each, finally I flashed a 5870 bought for under £290 when they were new, Apple still want £445 for one today.
Add these savings to not buying a display for over £800 and I think I just saved enough to buy my next 2 motorcycles.....
My price: £2730, Apple's price: £5945. I knew there was a reason I'm Scottish.

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Uhhhh... ok? I don't know what this has to do with monitor recommendations, but good for you.

ActionableMango said:

Uhhhh... ok? I don't know what this has to do with monitor recommendations, but good for you.

Click to expand...

My point was I'm not in the habit of defending Apple's pricing for anything you can buy yourself and add in. I'd be poorer for that and others would be too, monitors included.
By following a policy of buying non-Apple branded items that have the same or similar behaviour to Apple ones, anyone can benefit from Mac OS X without having to excessively line the pockets of one of the worlds greediest multinational companies.

Glad you agree at least when it comes to monitors, the Asus or Dell make much more economic sense, I was merely extrapolating this argument to encompass the whole machine. Please excuse the offtopic nature of my digression.

Microcenter - Auria 27" EQ276W 2560x1440

If you have a Microcenter near by, get the Auria 27" EQ276W. It is one of the Korean 27" 2560x1440 monitors, but it can be returned locally AND it has a built in Display Port. The price is unbeatable at $399 from my perspective.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/384780/EQ276W_27_IPS_LED_Monitor

For the gaming part of my dual screen setup I have the Sony ps3 3D display, works a treat at 24inches and native hd. For the working side of my setup I have my trusty Wacom Cintiq. Both displays are IMHO awesome for what they are designed for.

Should edit my sig..