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Need new Mac, need monitor advice

D

desertmules

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hi (new poster),

Just found this list while doing some research with an eye to purchasing new computer and monitor. This computer will be used for my office and in my spare time will use it for photo work. Am taking a college course in digital photography and need to select a monitor suitable for that type of work as well as something suitable for various documents, billing, etc. We have been using Photoshop CS at the school and that is probably what I will wind up using on the new machine. We rarely use our machines for games. I've been using the computer I am on at present since 1998, PM G3 with a Sony Trinitron Multiscan 200ES monitor and have to say this has been a great computer. Have had few problems with it but am still running 9.2. My husband has an ibook with small screen and have been using it to accustom myself to 10.1. Now that I am becoming familar with OS 10 I really like it and would like to upgrade to a Power Mac G5 because that makes better sense some how than trying to zip up the G3.

I need to do some careful shopping because my budget for this purchase is limited ($2000 - $2500) What I am considering is 1.8 GHz G5 with extra RAM and a new monitor. The monitor is where I am having the main problem...the choices are bewildering so I thought I would ask what people here are happy with and which ones might be best for my situation.

This is slightly off the subject but want to ask this question as well. We had some kind of crummy pc at the office that my boss purchased a few years back, it finally went belly up and I did the happy dance! It does have a Epson 1100 laser printer that I am curious if I can hook up to a Mac some how, does anyone have any suggestions? I have been using Macs for a while but I just use 'em not that tech savvy.

Thanks for any possible assistance.

Roberta
 
Well if you need a monitor too, why not look at the iMacs?

If you don't like AIO's (like myself), then check out Dell's displays. Yeah, that Dell. Their displays rock. The UltraSharp ones that is. Check out the 1704FPV, the 2001FP, the 2005FPW or (for large needs 🙂 ) the 2405FPW. I'm going to buy the 2005FPW in the summer myself. They got great reviews around here too.

If you need the SWOP certification, then Apple's displays will fit the bill. They're overpriced though.
 
Raven VII said:
If you don't like AIO's (like myself), then check out Dell's displays. Yeah, that Dell. Their displays rock. The UltraSharp ones that is. Check out the 1704FPV, the 2001FP, the 2005FPW or (for large needs 🙂 ) the 2405FPW. I'm going to buy the 2005FPW in the summer myself. They got great reviews around here too.
Click to expand...
Anyone know of a monitor with a myriad of inputs like the 2001 and 2005FP's but not as... big? Brand isn't too important, but I'd prefer something I've heard of.
 
I actually looked at the iMacs but decided I didn't want the all one piece thing after reading about them at the Apple Forum. Some of the comments there made me a trifle nervous about that model. I am way out in the boonies and the nearest Apple Store is over two hours from here I am so hoping with whatever I select I am going to have the minimum fuss and or headache.

I don't think I want to pay the big price tag for the Apple Display. What is SWOP certification? Also AIO?

Thanks for the reply,

Roberta
 
desertmules said:
I don't think I want to pay the big price tag for the Apple Display. What is SWOP certification? Also AIO?

Thanks for the reply,

Roberta
Click to expand...

AIO = All In One

SWOP Certification means that the displays are color accurate and have been certified to be color accurate by SWOP

But from what I have heard the Dell LCD is pretty darn good and the price is much lower.

Also try to see if you can find a used Single 1.6 GHz PowerMac G5 cheap because then you can put some money in upgrades and still stay under budget.
 
also, check to see if there are any apple resellers near you... they can give you a better deal on RAM, and they might be closer. First advice, is not to buy Apple's RAM... buy either from the reseller, or Crucial.com
 
The Dell LCDs are good. I am very pleased with the 2001FP I got recently. It retails for $750, but don't buy it for that much. Every other week they have it on sale for $599 it seems. I also found a coupon online for $70 off purchases over $500, so that brought it down to $529 - not bad for a 1600x1200 20" display. I may end up hooking this baby up to my Mac mini, just worried that the tiny 32MB video card might struggle to push it.

At any rate, I would get the single proc. 1.8 G5 PowerMac, up the RAM, up the video card and get a Dell display. Both the 2001FP and 2005FPW seem to be great, but I did hear about some production issues with the 2005FPW early on. I've also heard awesome things about the new 1905FP if you don't need such a big monitor.

I wish I could afford a PowerMac, but I need to upgrade my PC later this year. Sorry to the Mac zealots out there, I'm going to love my Mac mini once it shows up, but I need my peecees! too 🙂
 
I bought a Formac for my girlfriend for Christmas and she has been very happy with it. It is quite a bit cheaper than Apple's displays, but the quality seems to be pretty good as well. I just wanted to point his out, since you don't generally come across Formac in casual shopping.

-Dylan
 
If you want the dell 20 inch widescreen, you can get it for 506 shipped. First enter the coupon, 40F961WD2MTG0K , then enter ZDCHTVW0BG390S . Expires at midnight I belive. Fantastic deal.
 
I have exactly the same setup 1998 Beige 300 Tower with a Sony
17" 200ES.

I added a Radeon 7000 card, USB card and a Pioneer DVR-106 burner
running Jaguar 10.2.8.

Honestly, if you simply can not wait,
I would take advantage of the RED TAG refurb prices and get a dual 2.0 PM @ $2099
Then run it on your Sony 200ES till the prices for LCD's decline a bit further.
I'm still having a hard time justifying the prices for LCD's since my
Sony still has more clarity with extended use.

Keep in mind though that very shortly we should see a PowerMac revision
and all the specs and prices will change accordingly.
 
I have a PowerMac Quicksilver myself. Anyways I use a Samsung SyncMaster 910T. It's a 19" LCD monitor. Runs great, doesn't use a power brick (you just plug in a normal cable to the back of the screen) and it supports both DVI and VGI input. Other than that, if you get a Radeon videocard that's not OEM, you can use the monitor's tilt screen feature and tilt it on it's side (while still on it's stand). Really robust monitor and I love it for my work with Maya.
 
ChrisFromCanada said:
AIO = All In One

SWOP Certification means that the displays are color accurate and have been certified to be color accurate by SWOP

But from what I have heard the Dell LCD is pretty darn good and the price is much lower.

Hi all,

Thanks so much for the help, you all have been just great with the info and advice.

mgargan1 - there are no apple resellers any where near this area - it's the two hour drive thing for that. I have heard that about the Apple Ram and will pay close attention for sure.

FFTT - My G3 is not the tower, it is a lower model which is why i am considering another machine, in addition we need another machine to replace a no longer working PC which is housed at our office. I have a question about connecting the Sony 200ES...sorry to be so dumb about this stuff but like I said earlier I just use it and sometimes understanding what it takes to make it all work together can cause my eyes to roll back in my head. What you are telling me, I can get a cable or adapter to plus the 200 ES monitor into a newer machine? I guess I thought all of these SCSI, parallel port computers were becoming hard difficult to connect to some of the newer equipment - digicams, printers, etc. Right now I have a square adapter thing that fits on the computer's monitor port with an adapter on the other end to allow the monitor to be plugged in.

I really want to be sure to thank everyone who has participated in this discussion. There have been some great monitor selections. If I get a Dell can a dummy like me connect it with a minimum of hassle? I have actually been looking at the Samsung Syncmaster 910T too, would it be easier for me to get working properly? What I would like to be sure that you all understand is that I really have no one around to get much help, I will be pretty much doing this on my own. The reason I want a Mac for the office is because over the years when I have gotten into trouble I have been able to sit down and go through the info in help, some of the books for dummies and online to get the answers to untangle things. I know I am capable of learning more of this stuff but I also have limits on my time and energy and sorting it all out does entail a bit of time and often frustration. With the PC my boss got years ago for the office I was totally out of my league and it had so many problems and was so cantankerous that I had to call a rather expensive tech out or take it in continually. I got to the point that I dreaded using it, I don't feel that way about the Macs at all...particularly the G3 it has been so easy to operate, even though I don't fully understand some of the more technical aspects of it. That is what I hope to duplicate this next time around. I may wind up taking the G3 to the office and leave the newer machine at my home office since that is where I seem to do the lion's share of my work so even if I can get the Sony 200 ES monitor to work with the G5 eventually I will still need another monitor, preferably one which will be good to use with Photoshop and good with print too.

I have a great 8 mp 10x zoom Nikon digicam and can't wait to have a machine to be able to see some of my pictures properly. I have no way to download my pictures right now other than into my husband's laptop which does have USB. Viewing these pictures on the little laptop screen is very unsatisfying. And how do people stand typing on those dinky little keyboards anyway??? <VBG>. My husband is basically a two fingered typist so he seems to get along with it just fine but I find the regular keyboard much easier to use.

Sorry for being so long winded but there were so many nice people who responded I wanted to acknowledge and respond. If anyone has additional tips or whatever I would appreciate hearing them before I hit the "Buy" button. Oh one more thing someone mentioned Red Tag sales and someone else gave an order code for a special - where are those located at this web site someplace or elsewhere on the web?

Roberta
Click to expand...
 
Another Monitor Question

Hi again,

Okay, need to make up my mind re the monitor/s mentioned above want to get it all ordered and off of my "to do" list. I have the computer figured out but still in a quandry re the monitor. Checked on some coupon codes for the 20" Dell that were mentioned in this forum earlier today.
Dell Ultrasharp 2005FPW 20.1" Widescreen LCD
$749 - 25% off 40F961WD2MTG0K - $55 off 2202KZX7B311VC = $506

That is a great price but not if I will have problems trying to hook it up and get it ready to work right with the G5. I tried calling Dell to get a straight answer but the person I spoke with mainly tried to talk me out of a Mac and into a complete Dell system (sigh). I wound up getting annoyed and hung up.

The other monitor I am looking at is the Samsung 910T for $398.00. It comes with the driver for Mac so I should be able to do that. The person I spoke with at Samsung said this monitor should work well with the G5 (and didn't try to sell me anything else.)

Can anyone tell me if the Dell will be hard to hook up and compatible? I am also wondering if it might not be overkill for me. I am getting the single 1.8 with more Ram but am not going to do anything with the video card at this time. This will all bring me within budget.

thanks,

Roberta
 
Yes the Dell will work, work well actually. All you need to do is plug it into the wall, and plug it into the computer. How hard were you expecting it to be?
 
joshua_msu said:
Yes the Dell will work, work well actually. All you need to do is plug it into the wall, and plug it into the computer. How hard were you expecting it to be?
Click to expand...

If I knew I wouldn't have asked. I did not know if I would need a driver...someone early on mentioned SWOP certification (if I needed that to consider an Apple display) and I didn't know if that was something that would make a difference. I think I made it plain that I wasn't someone who really knew about all of this stuff and needed the information to proceed. So thanks.
 
desertmules said:
If I knew I wouldn't have asked. I did not know if I would need a driver...someone early on mentioned SWOP certification (if I needed that to consider an Apple display) and I didn't know if that was something that would make a difference. I think I made it plain that I wasn't someone who really knew about all of this stuff and needed the information to proceed. So thanks.
Click to expand...
The SWOP certification isn't something you'll need - from all I've read, the Dell display's color fidelity is either as good as or nearly as good as the Apple 20" ACD. You're not in need of a certified product, and you likely won't notice any difference. The Apple displays look great, but you can't beat the $400+ savings on the Dell. If I were to buy again, I'd get the Dell.

A plus to an Apple display is that they have 2 USB and 2 Firewire ports built-in. On the other hand, the Dells have analog VGA ports, so you can use them with older systems as well (the Apple displays are DVI only).
 
Honestly, I think a loaded 20" iMac would suit you well - and, yes, of course there have been defective ones, but they're the exceptions. Two friends own the 20" iMacs, have had no problems, and love them. They take up a lot less room - effectively as much as a monitor, but with no huge G5 tower to stash somewhere.

Otherwise, I'd say go with a dual-1.8 and a Dell monitor. Don't get a single 1.8.

Just my humble opinion, of course.
 
Otherwise, I'd say go with a dual-1.8 and a Dell monitor. Don't get a single 1.8.



Why not the 1.8 single? Won't it be amazing after having been on a 266 MHz G3? <VBG> Seriously, I would like to explore this briefly...I really don't want the iMac and I'm not worried about a place to stash the tower since there is a spot right here next to my desk in the printer stand. It is currently filled with notebooks because I didn't need it with the desktop G3. My thinking is that I am more interested in purchasing more RAM rather than the dual processor but perhaps you can point out the flaws in this reasoning, if you don't mind doing so.

thanks,

Roberta
 
jsw said:
The SWOP certification isn't something you'll need - from all I've read, the Dell display's color fidelity is either as good as or nearly as good as the Apple 20" ACD. You're not in need of a certified product, and you likely won't notice any difference. The Apple displays look great, but you can't beat the $400+ savings on the Dell. If I were to buy again, I'd get the Dell.

A plus to an Apple display is that they have 2 USB and 2 Firewire ports built-in. On the other hand, the Dells have analog VGA ports, so you can use them with older systems as well (the Apple displays are DVI only).
Click to expand...

I have the Dell 2001FP and it comes with 4 USB2 ports built-in. Plus, in addition to the DVI and VGA inputs it also has a composite and S-Video input and has PIP. I am pretty certain the 2005FPW has all these same features.
 
desertmules said:
Otherwise, I'd say go with a dual-1.8 and a Dell monitor. Don't get a single 1.8.



Why not the 1.8 single? Won't it be amazing after having been on a 266 MHz G3? <VBG> Seriously, I would like to explore this briefly...I really don't want the iMac and I'm not worried about a place to stash the tower since there is a spot right here next to my desk in the printer stand. It is currently filled with notebooks because I didn't need it with the desktop G3. My thinking is that I am more interested in purchasing more RAM rather than the dual processor but perhaps you can point out the flaws in this reasoning, if you don't mind doing so.

thanks,

Roberta
Click to expand...

I do not like all-in-ones either, especially for the 20" iMac. It's a nice machine, but when the computer becomes out of date you have a very expensive 20" display that is relatively useless to you. I wouldn't get the iMac. Although buying a separate tower and display takes up more room and may not be as "cute", it provides you more flexibility. So if you don't need to save space, I would avoid the iMac.

I do agree with jsw about going for the dual 1.8 if you can afford it. I know you want to put more RAM into it, but you can do that at any time. With the dual you get a second processor and a system bus increase speed from 600 MHz to 900 MHz which is fairly significant. I am sure the single 1.8 will fulfill your needs just fine, but I find it is usually best to invest in the things that you cannot upgrade easily later. You can always add more RAM and a better video card later, you will not be able to increase your system bus speed later and I don't think you can add a second processor later. If you can, it would be much more difficult than adding RAM or swapping out the video card. The dual processor machine will also have more longevity.

All this is opinion though, at the end of the day you have to decide what is best for your computing needs and your wallet. Hope you found this helpful. Good luck with your purchases.
 
Hey desertmules. I know that things can get technical pretty quickly, but you can pretty much use any monitor that you want to with whatever Mac you buy.

I had an old crt from my Compaq that I bought in 1998 running with my dual 1.8 powermac for 4 months, until I finally purchased a new monitor.

I'm using a Xerox XG-90G, and while it's an older model it does what I need it to, and I got it at a good price. I'm not very into very intensive movie editing, or photoshop, etc. So for the little iMovie, and iPhoto that I do, a moderately priced monitor works just fine.

As for the dual vs. single processor debate, I agree with feakbeak.
Technology has a tendency to change very rapidly, and the dual may be overkill now. It could add some longevity to your machine.
 
Thanks to all of you for this discussion it was most helpful so now I'll run some numbers and make a final decision. Ta-da, "the envelope please".

This is a terrific forum with lots of helpful folks, even when you have differing opinions you handle it very well. I'm sure I'll be popping in to read the posts frequently.

Roberta
 
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