Okay,
Let me start this off by saying that I already owned a 23" Cinema Display HD, I've had it for about 2 years. Recently, with my decision to get a new Mac Pro, I decided I would splurge and go "all out" and get a 30" ACD to go with it, with plans to eventually ditch my 23"...
Upon first using the 30" I was basically in awe -- the resolution on the display (2560x1600) is absolutely out of this world...and watching full HD movie clips on the display is an awesome experience. The 30" is super-bright, sharp, and mine had zero dead pixels. It's a gorgeous display, and I have nothing bad to say about the picture or the display, just some observations about using the two displays and their niche/"comfortzone"
The reason I am writing this is basically to give a little feedback about use of the 30" vs the 23" for different uses. What I discovered is that the 30" is indeed an awesome display, and I could see its great advantage for uses like high-resolution photo editing, using Aperture and Photoshop, as well as HD video editing. These are tasks in which the display absolutely excels.
For me, I do alot of web browsing, text editing, and the such (and writing threads to MacRumors forums
. I found that text on the 30" at that resolution is ultra-tiny and almost a pain to read. Web surfing is such too, a bit of the same experience. I plugged my 23" back in, and I'm using it now...realizing that this display seems to be easier on the eyes for anything text-related. I also think 1920x1200 is really the "sweet spot" for general use purposes on computer monitors, although maybe not on the MacBook Pro, yet. 23-inch or 24-inch @ 1920x1200 seems to give enough desktop space for all general uses and I personally love to use this 23" at the 1920x1200 resolution. Another thing I noticed with the 30", I found myself having to almost bend my head from side to side to see the whole display --- if you move it far enough away so you don't have to do it, then it's too hard to read anything on the display.
Again, I'm saying...I believe the 30" is a great display for photographers, because it lets you view super-high-resolution photos at their full size, and for video editors, it lets them view, edit, and playback HD in all its glory. That's probably the niche that the display is suited for, and I believe it suits that well.
You may ask me -- so why did you get a 30" to start out with? Well, maybe I was dumb or misinformed, I thought it would enhance my computing experience, giving me more desktop space. What I found is, it does give you more, almost an overabundance at such --- but I see many Applications that could take advantage of that space. I think for now, I'm going to get rid of my 30" on eBay (it was a fun experience), and try to pay off some of my credit card debt, while I rekindle some lost time with my old 23".
Anything to add?
-Ward
Let me start this off by saying that I already owned a 23" Cinema Display HD, I've had it for about 2 years. Recently, with my decision to get a new Mac Pro, I decided I would splurge and go "all out" and get a 30" ACD to go with it, with plans to eventually ditch my 23"...
Upon first using the 30" I was basically in awe -- the resolution on the display (2560x1600) is absolutely out of this world...and watching full HD movie clips on the display is an awesome experience. The 30" is super-bright, sharp, and mine had zero dead pixels. It's a gorgeous display, and I have nothing bad to say about the picture or the display, just some observations about using the two displays and their niche/"comfortzone"
The reason I am writing this is basically to give a little feedback about use of the 30" vs the 23" for different uses. What I discovered is that the 30" is indeed an awesome display, and I could see its great advantage for uses like high-resolution photo editing, using Aperture and Photoshop, as well as HD video editing. These are tasks in which the display absolutely excels.
For me, I do alot of web browsing, text editing, and the such (and writing threads to MacRumors forums
. I found that text on the 30" at that resolution is ultra-tiny and almost a pain to read. Web surfing is such too, a bit of the same experience. I plugged my 23" back in, and I'm using it now...realizing that this display seems to be easier on the eyes for anything text-related. I also think 1920x1200 is really the "sweet spot" for general use purposes on computer monitors, although maybe not on the MacBook Pro, yet. 23-inch or 24-inch @ 1920x1200 seems to give enough desktop space for all general uses and I personally love to use this 23" at the 1920x1200 resolution. Another thing I noticed with the 30", I found myself having to almost bend my head from side to side to see the whole display --- if you move it far enough away so you don't have to do it, then it's too hard to read anything on the display.Again, I'm saying...I believe the 30" is a great display for photographers, because it lets you view super-high-resolution photos at their full size, and for video editors, it lets them view, edit, and playback HD in all its glory. That's probably the niche that the display is suited for, and I believe it suits that well.
You may ask me -- so why did you get a 30" to start out with? Well, maybe I was dumb or misinformed, I thought it would enhance my computing experience, giving me more desktop space. What I found is, it does give you more, almost an overabundance at such --- but I see many Applications that could take advantage of that space. I think for now, I'm going to get rid of my 30" on eBay (it was a fun experience), and try to pay off some of my credit card debt, while I rekindle some lost time with my old 23".
Anything to add?
-Ward
