24" LED Cinema Display vs Thunderbolt Display

[Poki]

So, my situation is that I right now have a 24" LED Cinema Display which I use with my 2009 MacBook Pro, but I'll buy a Mac Mini this year. I will use it - apart from the casual stuff - mainly for photo- and video-editing in Aperture and FCP X.

So, first off: How big is the difference in quality? I'm very happy with the Cinema Display. Okay, text could be crisper (just 94 dpi), but the colors are really great and I've got no dead pixels. Is the new 27" panel really that much better?

Second: Screen size. Does the three inch give me an actual advance in Aperture, Final Cut or web/iTunes/a bit of gaming? Of course I'd like the bigger size.

And last: How much do you think could I get for my 24" LED Cinema Display? It's like new (one year old, but no scratch), got no single dead pixel and works perfectly. If I could get something like 450-500€, it may be worth to upgrade to the Thunderbolt Display. What do you think - and what would you do?

 

[paulrbeers]

So, my situation is that I right now have a 24" LED Cinema Display which I use with my 2009 MacBook Pro, but I'll buy a Mac Mini this year. I will use it - apart from the casual stuff - mainly for photo- and video-editing in Aperture and FCP X.

So, first off: How big is the difference in quality? I'm very happy with the Cinema Display. Okay, text could be crisper (just 94 dpi), but the colors are really great and I've got no dead pixels. Is the new 27" panel really that much better?

Second: Screen size. Does the three inch give me an actual advance in Aperture, Final Cut or web/iTunes/a bit of gaming? Of course I'd like the bigger size.

And last: How much do you think could I get for my 24" LED Cinema Display? It's like new (one year old, but no scratch), got no single dead pixel and works perfectly. If I could get something like 450-500€, it may be worth to upgrade to the Thunderbolt Display. What do you think - and what would you do?

1. I used to have an iMac 27" (same panel) and thought the quality was excellent. Text was crisp and the high resolution display really gave you a lot of "real estate" to play with. What convinced me to buy the 27" iMac is that I stumbled on a website comparing the 24" vs the 27" imacs and it showed (due to the high resolution) how much more you could do with the 27" display. I know you are comparing a 24 ACD to a 27" TBD but both use the same panels as the 24" and 27" iMacs.

2. It really isn't the 3", its the resolution. You get 80% more pixels to display your content.

3. Can't help you there. My guess is probably around 400 or so. Like any Apple product, they tend to retain quite a bit of value.

Now the downside, the reason I got rid of my 27" iMac is that for my eyes it was a lot of strain to see text that small. I ended up going with several 23" 1080P displays to ease the eye strain. What I would love to see, is Apple come out with 24" displays that do 2160P but do it like they do on the iPad in that it doesn't make everything tiny on the screen, but instead just doubles the resolution so everything is nice and crisp. I guess we will see!

In the end, I am sure I am in the minority. I loved the display, just was too hard on my eyes.

 

[Poki]

Now the downside, the reason I got rid of my 27" iMac is that for my eyes it was a lot of strain to see text that small.

Hmm.. that's a good point. OSX still has no scalable "High DPI" mode, at least no user accessible one. This would solve this problem instantly. However, I just sometimes wish for more space or resolution. 1920x1200 just isn't much when you edit 24 MP photos - it can't even show a fraction of the picture in full resolution.

Anyway, thanks for your help. More opinions are very appreciated! I really don't know what I should go for.

 

[jmoore5196]

I have both the 24" ACD and the TBD.

First, there's a "quality for money" issue: The TBD has a FireWire port, which I use extensively, and is a larger, heavier display. I have replaced the logic board in my 24" twice and it always struck me as poorly engineered. I do not have such qualms about the TBD.

Second, there is a genuine bump in display quality going from the 24" ACD to the TBD. It's obvious and immediate. Whether it's worth the upgrade for you isn't something I can say, but I do a lot of InDesign work and it certainly was a positive move for my workflow.

Third, if you could realize anywhere near €500 for your 24" ACD, I imagine the market would be flooded with them. Realistically, you're probably looking at somewhere around half that amount.

I agonized over the purchase of the TBD but now view it as a terrific investment. Compared to the 24" ACD, it's that good.

 

[Poki]

Well, my 24" Display never had any issues, so I don't think it's poorly engineered - you just had no luck. I also don't use FireWire right now, so no need for that.

As the bump in quality and size, I really think it's worth some money, but definitely not more than 400 Euro for me. As I could get a new TBD for 849, that would be a resell price of 450 Euro I'd have to achieve.

I think you don't really know the value of used Apple products (no criticism, I just guess). If they would resell for 250 used, everybody would buy them. On ebay Germany, they sell used for biddings between 450 to 600 without shipping, so I think it could be quite realistically to get 450. If I would, the only question is: Is the TBD really worth 400€ as an upgrade to the 24" ACD?

 

[jmoore5196]

I'm an American living abroad, so I don't sell a lot of equipment here ... but I pay attention to the eBay listings.

At the end of the day, you can get whatever the highest bidder is willing to pay. I don't know of a way to quantify that beyond the old American saying that you pay your money and take your chance. I did not think I could realize more than about £250 for my 24" ACD on eBay UK, so I kept it instead.

I have actually seen the interior of the 24" ACD, hence my observation that it was poorly engineered. I think Apple learned a lot from that display, and the improvements show in the TBD.

Cheers!

 

[The-Pro]

24" LED cinema displays sell for 500-650 on ebay Germany!!!!

 

[Poki]

24" LED cinema displays sell for 500-650 on ebay Germany!!!!

Wow - if I could get anywhere near there I'd sell it in a heartbeat and buy the TBD! But yeah - it's definitely worth that. Best 24" display ever produced imho!

(If they would be sold for 300 or less I'd rather buy a second 24" Cinema Display than a single TBD)

 

[The-Pro]

Wow - if I could get anywhere near there I'd sell it in a heartbeat and buy the TBD! But yeah - it's definitely worth that. Best 24" display ever produced imho!

(If they would be sold for 300 or less I'd rather buy a second 24" Cinema Display than a single TBD)

Check it out here:
http://www.ebay.de/csc/i.html?rt=nc...inema Display 24&_fln=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283
They are all the ended listings.

I agree, still is one of the best especially because it has build in isight, descent speakers, microphone etc. I just hate the glass which is why I wont buy the Cinema Displays. I use 30" ACD which are unbelievable Such a pity they stopped making them.

 

[Poki]

Check it out here:
http://www.ebay.de/csc/i.html?rt=nc...inema Display 24&_fln=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283
They are all the ended listings.

I agree, still is one of the best especially because it has build in isight, descent speakers, microphone etc. I just hate the glass which is why I wont buy the Cinema Displays. I use 30" ACD which are unbelievable Such a pity they stopped making them.

Wow, thank you so much! I'm in Austria, so it should be no problem to offer it in Germany, and ebay just informed me that all auctions are free until the end of the month - so perfect time to sell it! Oh, and no single one was sold for less than 500€, so I'd basically pay 350€ premium for a TBD, which it is worth to me. I even have the original packaging, so maybe I can get a few euros extra.

Only problem now is that I can't connect the TBD to my MacBook, so I'll have to wait until the next Mac Mini will be released.

I personally like the glossy screen. It's actually not that bad when there's no window behind you (and you won't see it at all after some years ). I won't use the speakers - they're very good, but not as good as my trusty old pair of B&W MM-1s.