30 Inch monitor - Dell 3007WFP?

[SidBala]

Hi guys,

Since Apple doesn't make 30 inchers anymore, so I was looking for 30 inch monitors on Craigslist. My first choice was the ACD 30. But they sell for over $1000, kind of over my budget.

Anyway, so I found a seller for a Dell 3007WFP for $600.

Is this a good price? The seller says it is about 3 -4 years old. Is this an okay deal or am I looking at something that is going to die tomorrow?

 

[cluthz]

The 3007 has CCFL backlight which degrade over time.

I got my almost 3 year old Eizo replaced with same model about a year ago, because it had a dead pixel.
Side by side comparison revealed the old screen was quite a bit dimmer than the new one.

Lifetime on CCFL is about 50.000 hrs, but after 10.000 hrs it will have degraded a bit.
There are 8760 hrs a year, but normal workload will give about 2000 hrs a year, so there should be quite some time left on the display, but it might not be as bright as it was new.

It really depends on your work, if color accuracy is important, get a new screen.

 

[SidBala]

It really depends on your work, if color accuracy is important, get a new screen.

I don't do any color work at all. Just looking for a nice large screen primarily for coding. So color accuracy is not important at all.

I will check out the CCFL brightness issue though. I always run my MBP UB on full brightness. So brightness is quite important to me.

I think the MBP's level of brightness might be a bit too much to ask for from a 4 year old monitor.