Need an LCD: thoughts on Dell by me, ACD update thought

[suneohair]

Well. I tried out the cheaper Dell 2407WFP and its a piece. I will briefly discuss its evils.

1: Gradient banding, everything that involves a gradient looks like crap.

2: I have to fiddle with buttons to get the thing to look good.

3: Inputs, yeah it has some nice inputs. Too bad they don't work. This includes the DVI which is where you see the gradient banding. The composite looks horrible when you connect something to it. Basically to use the monitor, you have to a the VGA connection for everything. Very useful.

4: I will admit it looks ok, and is priced great. But I deal in graphics, and I need a little more precision and image quality than this thing offers.


Sooo. I am going back to my original plan to get a 23" ACD. I knew they just updated them with a lower price and better specs.

I was thinking though, maybe Apple did this to drive more sales before a larger update? I think I am going to wait until next week before I buy. Just to see what they announce.

Any other thoughts on that? Any other LCD recommendations. Preferably an 8-bit S-IPS panel.

 

[fivetoadsloth]

I agree, the update part that is. I read something a while back about an apple patent that has tiny cameraas stiched into the screen pixles and than a bit of software stitching all the images together making the screen have a built in camera. It makes sense, with the iMac, Macbook, and Macbook Pro all having isights. So, im hoping the put this technology into there new screens, and maybe make a 17" Cinema Display again.

 

[suneohair]

Well even though my Mac Pro is showing up tomorrow, I think I might wait til next week. Maybe something good will happen with the displays.

 

[Xander562]

I'd only buy an ACD if i could on the Refurbished Store, then they'd be reasonably priced. And it looks like it might happen soon too, they have refurbished Applecare for the ACD.

 

[suneohair]

I'd only buy an ACD if i could on the Refurbished Store, then they'd be reasonably priced. And it looks like it might happen soon too, they have refurbished Applecare for the ACD.

THere is no guarantee that the refurbs will be the newely refreshed models.

Besides I get an EDU discount anyway. So that brings down the price. And my local Mac reseller is pretty good with given me a deal.

 

[Xander562]

THere is no guarantee that the refurbs will be the newely refreshed models.

Oh, i didnt mean to say that they would be the newly refreshed models, personally, i'd be happy with the ones they have now.

But with the update, they would most likely start selling the current model on the Refurbished Store.

 

[Clydefrog]

Well even though my Mac Pro is showing up tomorrow, I think I might wait til next week. Maybe something good will happen with the displays.

christmas morning

 

[fivetoadsloth]

Oh, i didnt mean to say that they would be the newly refreshed models, personally, i'd be happy with the ones they have now.

But with the update, they would most likely start selling the current model on the Refurbished Store.

I think he meant the ones that apple recently updated, not the ones they are speculated to release. Apple increased the brightness and decreased the price.

 

[Xander562]

I think he meant the ones that apple recently updated, not the ones they are speculated to release. Apple increased the brightness and decreased the price.

wow ok, this was confusing

 

[macenforcer]

Tiger direct has the sony 23" lcd for $749

 

[suneohair]

Tiger direct has the sony 23" lcd for $749

Could that be because it is a 2 year old display? Compared to current monitors, the specs on this thing are mighty week.

It looks alright though, i dont think I would spend money on a 2 year old display however.

 

[budugu]

I'd only buy an ACD if i could on the Refurbished Store, then they'd be reasonably priced. And it looks like it might happen soon too, they have refurbished Applecare for the ACD.

Mind you REFURB monitors generally have Dead pixels (at some point of time the return fee is a very small deterent against a set of f***ing dead pixels in the middle).

IF you donot need S-video or component .... the samsung / Viewsonic (i own the second) 20" widescreens are excellent! ... and are 250$-300$. I would suggest getting one of those if you ask me. Both have DVI and VGA

 

[apfhex]

I'd wait until the 12th if you can just in case, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I don't think major ACD updates are coming for a little while longer, though I could be wrong.

If you can get one without any pink casts, severe backlight bleeding, ghosting, or dead pixels , the 23" ACDs with the new specs are FANTASTIC looking. They also have 178° horizontal and vertical viewing angles so your colors will never look funky or your whites look yellow from different angles.

 

[suneohair]

I'd wait until the 12th if you can just in case, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I don't think major ACD updates are coming for a little while longer, though I could be wrong.

If you can get one without any pink casts, severe backlight bleeding, ghosting, or dead pixels, the 23" ACDs with the new specs are FANTASTIC looking. They also have 178° horizontal and vertical viewing angles so your colors will never look funky or your whites look yellow from different angles.

I have read that the new ones dont suffer from those issues anymore. Rest assured it will be going back if it does have those.

I wont be buying until next weel anyway. I have to wait for my refund on the Dell.

 

[gloss]

I'm pretty sure the banding issue on the Dells was a firmware problem, and they've been repaired on more recent builds. My 2007wfp has no problems with gradients.

 

[suneohair]

I'm pretty sure the banding issue on the Dells was a firmware problem, and they've been repaired on more recent builds. My 2007wfp has no problems with gradients.

Dell patched the problem, but did not completely fix the problem. They disabled the faroja chipset in the desktop mode. So in desktop mode there is typically no gradient banding. The 2007 might be fine.

I dont care about the 2007 however, my interest is in the 23"/24" market. I had a new revision (A02, the one dell claimed was fixed) 2407WFP and the gradient problem was not fixed in any mode.

There is a big thread on the newest revision, the A03. However, Dell claims it only fixed languages in the OSD. Some reports say the problem is fixed completely in desktop mode.

Dell however, isnt going to come out and say they fixed it this time. Because they already did that and the problem still existed. This also, allows them to deny exchange/replacement since the new revision doesnt address the gradient problem.

 

[apfhex]

I have read that the new ones dont suffer from those issues anymore. Rest assured it will be going back if it does have those.

Talking from experience. My brand new 23" has backlight bleeding. But it looks fantastic otherwise, including the styling... I can't imagine picking the Dell over this. I didn't realize LCD technology had improved this much.

 

[suneohair]

I am really at a loss folks. My Mac Pro is here and it is doomed to sit since I have no display.

I did some reading on the Apple forums, and lots of people are having a problem with image persistance. As seen in ther following pictures.

http://kerrykling.home.comcast.net/graphics/persistance3.jpg
http://kerrykling.home.comcast.net/graphics/persistance1.jpg
http://kerrykling.home.comcast.net/graphics/persistance2.jpg

In addition, it seems to be hard to ensure that you have a newly updated model since apple used the same model number.

Is there any display worth buying!!!? I have a week or so to choose, as I wont be getting my refund on the Dell til then. Any thoughts?

I really hope the ACDs see a big update next week.

 

[apfhex]

I did some reading on the Apple forums, and lots of people are having a problem with image persistance. As seen in ther following pictures.

In addition, it seems to be hard to ensure that you have a newly updated model since apple used the same model number.

Those are the clearest examples of the issue I've seen so far. Eek! I think the problems are at least /less/ common on the updated versions, but obviously they still exist. That's the only reason I'm willing to live with the blacklight bleeding on mine—I don't have any of the other issues.

I'm pretty sure models with a SN starting with 2A6281 (week 28, July) are the updated versions. That's what I have and that's what I've read on the Apple boards, but there's still no guarantee you'll get one, I know.

Now that the 24" iMac is out, I expect Apple to update the ACD lineup with a 24" model to replace the 23". When this will happen, who knows.

 

[suneohair]

Those are the clearest examples of the issue I've seen so far. Eek! I think the problems are at least /less/ common on the updated versions, but obviously they still exist. That's the only reason I'm willing to live with the blacklight bleeding on mine—I don't have any of the other issues.

I'm pretty sure models with a SN starting with 2A6281 (week 28, July) are the updated versions. That's what I have and that's what I've read on the Apple boards, but there's still no guarantee you'll get one, I know.

Now that the 24" iMac is out, I expect Apple to update the ACD lineup with a 24" model to replace the 23". When this will happen, who knows.

Yeah I brought that up in the iMac thread, about a possible 24". Someone said the panel in the iMac is cheaper. Which I am sure is the case, but I am sure someone is making a high quality 24" S-IPS panel. I am going to hold out for a week or two.

I honestly doubt the displays get updated, but you never know.

 

[amin]

I am really at a loss folks. My Mac Pro is here and it is doomed to sit since I have no display.

I did some reading on the Apple forums, and lots of people are having a problem with image persistance. As seen in ther following pictures.

http://kerrykling.home.comcast.net/graphics/persistance3.jpg
http://kerrykling.home.comcast.net/graphics/persistance1.jpg
http://kerrykling.home.comcast.net/graphics/persistance2.jpg

Yikes, that is horrible! Is it reversible? Covered under Apple Care?

Edit - I just looked up the problem of image persistence/retention, and it seems to be a reversible phenomenon that can happen to any LCD. It is not the same as burn in.

 

[Locatel]

Samsung

Check out this Samsung: http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?page=6128&head=0
Better than Dell.