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$350 for used Apple Cinema Display. Good deal?

bigpoppamac31 said:
I don't care about 4K. Apple displays have had resolutions higher than 1920 by 1080 for a long time. But why don't those higher resolutions come in monitors that the average joe can actually afford??
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1080 is often manufactured from panels shared with the television market in equivalent sizes, and televisions span a very broad range of sizes. You typically go past either 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 when you go larger than 24". Almost nothing below hit that until recently. They aren't all unaffordable though. The monoprice and unbranded Korean import 27" displays were only around $400.
 
glenthompson said:
I bought a 23" ACD from Craigslist for $140 so this price seems a little high to me. I've been really happy with it.
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It does seem high. But I feel if I "low ball" him he won't even consider my offer. As great a display as it is I wouldn't go more than $200 for it if that. Even so according to MacTracker the highest resolution that ACD will go is 1920 by 1200. That's only 120 pixels more vertically than a 1920 by 1080 display. Maybe it's not worth it to pursue. I'm sure someone will be crazy enough to put down $350 on it though. One thing I do like about it is that it's 16x10 like my MBP not 16x9. My wallpaper is all 16x10.
 
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bigpoppamac31 said:
It does seem high. But I feel if I "low ball" him he won't even consider my offer. As great a display as it is I wouldn't go more than $200 for it if that. Even so according to MacTracker the highest resolution that ACD will go is 1920 by 1200. That's only 120 pixels more vertically than a 1920 by 1080 display. Maybe it's not worth it to pursue. I'm sure someone will be crazy enough to put down $350 on it though. One thing I do like about it is that it's 16x10 like my MBP not 16x9. My wallpaper is all 16x10.
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1920x1080 is 16:9. 1920x1200 is 16:10. The difference in pixels is absolutely trivial. It's a matter of aspect ratios as you noted. I will add that these things aren't immortal, and it may be very very very used by this point. If it's only lightly used, it will be obnoxiously bright. In that case it may have a fair amount of life left. Beyond that it's more difficult to determine visually, as backlights tend to conform to a half life. If it's comfortable to view at its highest setting, the thing has a lot of hours on it.
 
thekev said:
1920x1080 is 16:9. 1920x1200 is 16:10. The difference in pixels is absolutely trivial. It's a matter of aspect ratios as you noted. I will add that these things aren't immortal, and it may be very very very used by this point. If it's only lightly used, it will be obnoxiously bright. In that case it may have a fair amount of life left. Beyond that it's more difficult to determine visually, as backlights tend to conform to a half life. If it's comfortable to view at its highest setting, the thing has a lot of hours on it.
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Well anyways. I may not pursue it if I can't get it at a decent price. But I always view my MBP at it's highest brightness level or a notch or two below that.
 
bigpoppamac31 said:
Well anyways. I may not pursue it if I can't get it at a decent price. But I always view my MBP at it's highest brightness level or a notch or two below that.
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I wasn't referring to that. I was saying that the 23" cinema displays were extremely bright when new. The backlights were ridiculously bright, but CCFL backlights of that era had a somewhat sharper dropoff than newer ones. If the thing isn't that bright at its highest setting, you know it has a lot of hours on it.
 
glenthompson said:
I bought a 23" ACD from Craigslist for $140 so this price seems a little high to me. I've been really happy with it.
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Agreed. I bought a 27in Cinema Display (not thunderbolt) for $350. The price is too high for the specs of the monitor. The seller wants you to pay way too much for the aesthetics of an Apple monitor
 
dkersten said:
Agreed. I bought a 27in Cinema Display (not thunderbolt) for $350. The price is too high for the specs of the monitor. The seller wants you to pay way too much for the aesthetics of an Apple monitor
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Well what do you think would be a good price for this Apple Display? I don't want to "low ball" him cause many people don't reply to low ball offers.
 
bigpoppamac31 said:
Well what do you think would be a good price for this Apple Display? I don't want to "low ball" him cause many people don't reply to low ball offers.
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I would just not buy it. Or even offer.

You can buy a new Dell U2414H for less than $300. Or the Dell P2414H for just a little over $200. Both are 1920 x 1080 monitors with LED backlights. Both use newer AH-IPS panels. These are arguably among the best of 24" monitors.
 
bigpoppamac31 said:
Well what do you think would be a good price for this Apple Display? I don't want to "low ball" him cause many people don't reply to low ball offers.
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beavo451 said:
I would just not buy it. Or even offer.

You can buy a new Dell U2414H for less than $300. Or the Dell P2414H for just a little over $200. Both are 1920 x 1080 monitors with LED backlights. Both use newer AH-IPS panels. These are arguably among the best of 24" monitors.
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I agree with the above poster but if you really want the cinema display I would go $200 tops for pristine condition myself. Really you just need to be patient with old Apple items. Its really hit or miss but eventually a great deal comes along and thats when you should go for it
 
I'm not sure what the exchange rates are but I bought a 23" ACD on Craigslist for $100. She had it listed as an Apple Monitor in the Electronics section so that may have helped.

If this is what you want be patient and keep an eye out. A great deal will come through.
 
I'm using a 23" ACD and looking to replace it. Many of the better monitors (larger, better resolution, USB 3 etc) are the same price as what you are looking to pay so in a nutsehll, no I think you'd be better off with something else.

They look nice, but they are pretty old.
 
bigpoppamac31 said:
Well I got a reply back about this monitor. Good deal?
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-desktop-comp...40l/594321523?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
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It's an IPS display, so viewing angles are likely to be a bit better than the other. 23" is often a very inexpensive size in recent years, so you do kind of benefit from that. They're around $200 on Amazon, so I don't think it's unreasonable if the condition is as it's described. Buyer reviews look pretty decent. I'll add that Dell is pretty well liked as a value brand. I doubt you'll find anything better for the price, as long as the item is as it's described. As I mentioned before, displays aren't immortal. If this one is in fact barely used and lacks any defects such as bad pixels, it's a good value.
 
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bigpoppamac31 said:
Well to be honest $350 is certainly out of my price range. I've just always wanted one of those Apple Displays cause it matches so well with the MBP.

How about one of these?
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-VS247H-P..._sim_pc_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=04ARDQ3PM2AMW3X6Z9HZ

Or these?
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-293M3-IP...8&qid=1401651839&sr=8-1&keywords=dell+monitor

Would be nice if affordable monitors went higher than 1920 x 1080.
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Wow I have this and a old G5 in my basement in CT. I thought the screen was only worth like 100 bucks and the best id get was 200 for both. Makes me real happy need to clear out the G5 and sell it.
 
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thekev said:
It's an IPS display, so viewing angles are likely to be a bit better than the other. 23" is often a very inexpensive size in recent years, so you do kind of benefit from that. They're around $200 on Amazon, so I don't think it's unreasonable if the condition is as it's described. Buyer reviews look pretty decent. I'll add that Dell is pretty well liked as a value brand. I doubt you'll find anything better for the price, as long as the item is as it's described. As I mentioned before, displays aren't immortal. If this one is in fact barely used and lacks any defects such as bad pixels, it's a good value.
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Well after much thought I ended not going with that Dell display. It's a glossy display which I don't really like due to reflections and glare. If anyone knows of any good matte (antiglare) displays for around $200 that'd be great. My MBP is the matte display which I much prefer.
 
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bigpoppamac31 said:
Well after much thought I ended not going with that Dell display. It's a glossy display which I don't really like due to reflections and glare. If anyone knows of any good matte (antiglare) displays for around $200 that'd be great. My MBP is the matte display which I much prefer.
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I'm not a fan of them either. The thunderbolt display and imac came up in the thread, both of which tend to be pretty shiny, so I didn't think to check on the Dell.
 
bigpoppamac31 said:
Well after much thought I ended not going with that Dell display. It's a glossy display which I don't really like due to reflections and glare. If anyone knows of any good matte (antiglare) displays for around $200 that'd be great. My MBP is the matte display which I much prefer.
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As I mentioned before... Dell P2414H.
 
beavo451 said:
As I mentioned before... Dell P2414H.
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I little out of my price range. It's $229 on Amazon.com and with the exchange to Canadian dollar it's $250. Plus add shipping, taxes and possible customs fees and that's a bit much. Seems I can't buy Dell monitors in retails stores in Canada. At least not that I've seen.

I was looking at either of these. Asus seems to have good reviews.
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_1195_700_1103&item_id=042161

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_1195_700_705&item_id=057933
 
bigpoppamac31 said:
I little out of my price range. It's $229 on Amazon.com and with the exchange to Canadian dollar it's $250. Plus add shipping, taxes and possible customs fees and that's a bit much. Seems I can't buy Dell monitors in retails stores in Canada. At least not that I've seen.

I was looking at either of these. Asus seems to have good reviews.
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_1195_700_1103&item_id=042161

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_1195_700_705&item_id=057933
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Out of those two, the second one because it is an IPS panel.
 
beavo451 said:
Out of those two, the second one because it is an IPS panel.
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Well in this case they both seem to be about the same price. But why is IPS better then a non-IPS display? Also Dell seems to have some decent options for monitors but they all seem to be glossy displays for ones $200 and under. They seem to have a great quality picture but I'm not too fond of the glossy look. Have you had experience with either brand? Also would I lose anything by going with a 16:9 panel vs a 16:10 panel. My MBP is 16:10 with a resolution of 1680 by 1050. A 16:9 HD panel is 1920 by 1080. Hypothetically it seems I'd gain both horizontally and vertically. But apparently that's not entirely the case. I would lose in height with a 16:9 panel even though it has 30 more pixels vertically (1050 vs 1080). Also all my desktop pictures are 16:10 not 16:9. Would it make sense to spend more on a 16:10 display?
 
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bigpoppamac31 said:
Well in this case they both seem to be about the same price. But why is IPS better then a non-IPS display? Also Dell seems to have some decent options for monitors but they all seem to be glossy displays for ones $200 and under. They seem to have a great quality picture but I'm not too fond of the glossy look. Have you had experience with either brand? Also would I lose anything by going with a 16:9 panel vs a 16:10 panel. My MBP is 16:10 with a resolution of 1680 by 1050. A 16:9 HD panel is 1920 by 1080. Hypothetically it seems I'd gain both horizontally and vertically. But apparently that's not entirely the case. I would lose in height with a 16:9 panel even though it has 30 more pixels vertically (1050 vs 1080). Also all my desktop pictures are 16:10 not 16:9. Would it make sense to spend more on a 16:10 display?
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IPS panels have better color accuracy, color rendition, viewing angles, and contrast.

You will be just fine with a 1080p monitor. Higher resolution screen than your Macbook Pro. 1920x1200 monitors are generally more expensive.

While there are many monitor manufacturers, there are fewer LCD manufacturers. Many monitors use the same panel. Just different casings and a different name on the bottom.

Basically, anything IPS from a major brand is just fine.
 
bigpoppamac31 said:
Well in this case they both seem to be about the same price. But why is IPS better then a non-IPS display? Also Dell seems to have some decent options for monitors but they all seem to be glossy displays for ones $200 and under. They seem to have a great quality picture but I'm not too fond of the glossy look. Have you had experience with either brand? Also would I lose anything by going with a 16:9 panel vs a 16:10 panel. My MBP is 16:10 with a resolution of 1680 by 1050. A 16:9 HD panel is 1920 by 1080. Hypothetically it seems I'd gain both horizontally and vertically. But apparently that's not entirely the case. I would lose in height with a 16:9 panel even though it has 30 more pixels vertically (1050 vs 1080). Also all my desktop pictures are 16:10 not 16:9. Would it make sense to spend more on a 16:10 display?
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Differences aren't as pronounced at the low end, but IPS does tend to be more desirable in a lot of areas. Almost anything in the $1000+ range is IPS. The technology itself was pioneered by Hitachi in the late 90s as a higher quality alternative to twisted nematic panel types. Given that you see very few PVA types now, most non-IPS variants, especially toward that price range, use TN panels. There are many details to a display, so you may want to check reviews on whatever you're about to purchase. If you can find anything in depth, that is even better. Saying one is better than the other is very generic, but all of the points regarding contrast ratios and viewing angles typically hold up.

I think I already mentioned this, but all displays age. These comparisons are only somewhat guaranteed to hold when comparing different models of relatively new displays.
 
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