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Need a new Display...Apple worth the money?

bluetooth

bluetooth

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 1, 2007
662
1
Toronto
My old Lacie monitor is on its last legs (flickering as we speak). I am looking at new monitors and am wondering if anyone has any recommends in a 23" display?

Are the Apple Display Monitors really worth the money OR should I invest in somtheing else (any recomends would be great).

thanks!
 
bluetooth said:
My old Lacie monitor is on its last legs (flickering as we speak). I am looking at new monitors and am wondering if anyone has any recommends in a 23" display?

Are the Apple Display Monitors really worth the money OR should I invest in somtheing else (any recomends would be great).

thanks!
Click to expand...

I think the Apple monitors are phenomenal; no bleed, very crisp, etc. If you do look elsewhere, Samsung is top notch in my book too.
 
A few months ago, I was almost ready to buy an ACD for home but after looking into things a bit more, I decided to wait until new versions were out and get a Dell to tide me over for a year or more... this is easily the best monitor I've had for home use (note: not work use)

Sure, the ACDs are colour-accurate but I feel there's more to come within the next 6 months. As they are, I feel they're possibly 15-20% overpriced. With HDTV becoming a big thing, not having HDMI inputs surely has to be a factor.

We were also looking at getting ACDs for work but even still, thought we could get better value by maybe going for NEC monitors.

I did some reading at http://www.macworld.com/topics/hardware/displays/ but still haven't made my mind up.

IMO, the Dell widescreen ultra-sharp displays are excellent value for money, although may not be as colour accurate as the ACDs. However, coming from an old LaCie, you'll find them pretty damned good.
 
What are you doing with the display?

Do you need the ability to use other sources, such as analog sources?
 
If you like all your grays to show up pink, go with an Apple display. Otherwise, a Dell is a good, inexpensive choice.
 
I say go with Dell...


Their warranty is VERY easy to deal, well sort of... for monitors they just send you a refurbished one and you send in your old one and its done. No need to take it to them and be out of a working system for a few days. It is also a 3 year warranty, their monitor has multiple inputs, unlike Apple's ACD, has a USB hub and a flash memory reader.
 
thanks for the responses. I have heard a lot of good things about Dell, more specifically the quality and warranty.

Although I would like to pick up an Apple Monitor, I may hold off for a year as BV suggested.

What are your thoughts on the Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP 20.1-in. LCD Display?

http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product...=1&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

I am using a 19" Lacie at the moment that is about 5 years old. Main purpose for the display is for graphic design and some entertainment (media etc.).

thanks!

BV - sorry about double posting.
 
bluetooth said:
What are your thoughts on the Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP 20.1-in. LCD Display?
Click to expand...


That's the exact same one I have and it's good, not a dead pixel, sharp, neutral colour to the eye... and in the UK, it was half the price of the 20" ACD. Bargain in my view and a big step up from a 19" Lacie.

The only problem I found with it was that it showed how awful some Photoshop could display, a problem I thought was with the monitor, but Quark had no problems displaying gradients. It also unmercifully shows up all the artifacts in poorly-encoded DVDs so it's pretty unforgiving.

Perfect for home unless you feel like spending much more. It even looks OK'ish. Recommended.
 
Do you mean the colours and gradients were off in PS? I am working in PS on the Lacie and everything is really dark...it's horrible.

thanks
 
drake said:
If you like all your grays to show up pink, go with an Apple display. Otherwise, a Dell is a good, inexpensive choice.
Click to expand...

This is true for older Cinema display's, including mine. But it's been a while since i've seen one with this problem in my local apple dealer, so maybe they addressed the issue.
 
I have a Dell 2005fpw, 20" widescreen. It cost me half as much as the 20" Apple version would have, and I have the options of VGA, DVI, S-Video, or Composite inputs for it, as well as picture-in-picture or picture by picture between all of those inputs. So worth it. The only reason to buy an Apple monitor over the Dell would be for the nice looking design of the case. I love this monitor, and really would rather have it than the Apple version, even if price was no object.
 
Blue Velvet said:
The only problem I found with it was that it showed how awful some Photoshop could display, a problem I thought was with the monitor, but Quark had no problems displaying gradients. It also unmercifully shows up all the artifacts in poorly-encoded DVDs so it's pretty unforgiving.
Click to expand...

The 23" ACD behaves exactly the same way, especially when using dark gradients in Photoshop - there is a lot of banding and tones don't fade smoothly even on 16-bit images. It's as if there dynamic range in the darks is very limited.

I haven't figured out what's wrong yet and as you said other software renders gradients correctly, so it must be a Photoshop issue or a setting i've missed.
 
I have a Dell 2407-HC, a 23" ACD, and a Dell 2405, listed in terms of display qaulity.

The Dell 2407-hc is a beatiful monitor. Colors look much more accurate than on the Cinema display, and I think it has a better white.

If I was in your position, go with the 2407-hc, I am thinking about picking up a 3007-hc because I was so impressed by the 2407.
 
basicfiend said:
I have one and like it a lot. I got it on sale for $600 USD.
Click to expand...

You didn't get the HC version on sale for $600, it has been out for like 2-3 days. You got the regular 2407WFP.

FX120, when did you get your 2407WFP? If it was more than a week go, you don't have the HC either. If you do please post some shots of it as it is supposed to have the better backlighting and the 92% color gamut.
 
I made the same decision recently and opted for the 24" Dell. I had the money laying around for the apple, but just couldn't justify the price.
 
buy the samsung 245b or the dell 2407. the apple cinema display - though it looks awesome - is not worth the money and the hassle. my best pal had to return his 5 (!) times because of defective colour settings, too many dead pixels, broken color channels etc. i certainly do not want these occurrences on a display that cost me over twice as much as a bigger display that is simply awesome.
 
OutThere said:
The only reason to buy an Apple monitor over the Dell would be for the nice looking design of the case. I love this monitor, and really would rather have it than the Apple version, even if price was no object.
Click to expand...

Appearance is NOT the only reason to get an Apple Monitor. I purchased a Samsung SyncMaster 906BW and while this does look good the colors just aren't as good. In fact.. I've never seen a monitor with as good as colors as the ACD. The contrast and The Settings on the Apple Monitors are EXCELLENT out of the box. Most people who get them have very little color syncing to do externally unlike Dell or Samsung. You spend $150 less for another monitor.. then you purchase the $150 colorsyncing device and viola.. you have an apple monitor.


If you can afford it.. get an Apple Monitor.. you can ALWAYS sell it for good re-sale value on Ebay.
 
The Dell widescreen monitors are just as good as the ACD's. Reviews have proved this using calibration tools, they flucuate a very small amount from test to test but as a whole they are the same and there is no noticable real world difference. So no, ACD is not worth the price, theyre for people with money burn on looks. Apple does not use exclusive Apple branded LCD panels, they use the same panels available to other companies like Dell.
 
6+?

obviously at this stage we have to wait for another 6months+ for a revision. I bet it will come with mac pro (late2008). buying it now is like buying a sony bravia from 2004.... :mad::apple::mad:
 
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