have any of you guys had particularly good or bad experiences with that? i think i might pick one up this weekend to go with my MBA.
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$800 seems like a good deal for a TBD refurb
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but it's certainly a better deal than $1000 for a new one
i was expecting/hoping for an upgrade at wwdc but alas that didn't happen... also it came out at the end of july 2011 so that's 2 years almost exactly.
are they not still selling well?
You are taking a bit of liberty in "aging" the Thunderbolt display. It JUST turned 2 on July 20th (was originally released on July 20, 2013). It is no where near 3 years.... Yes it is in it's 3rd year, but that's a bit of a stretch to say that.
To the OP's question, it's not a bad deal but it's hard to recommend the TBD at this point. Many of us are holding out for the updated model that hopefully will be released soon (maybe with the Mac Pro?) that will have USB 3.0 and be thinner (like the iMac).
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WHY would you buy a monitor that you then have to buy an adapter (that seems to be hit or miss), when you can just buy one from the same brand with the right cable already?!?!
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...11401&cs_id=1130704&p_id=10489&seq=1&format=2
yeah, that crossed my mind...but i need a new monitor and i figure if i really wanted to upgrade at the end of the year i could sell the TBD.
the only thing that really bothers me about it is the usb2 ports
still not a good deal imho. it doesnt even have the right power connector for it to attach to the computer anymore you have to use a dongle.
I would wait. They will update the TBD soon and it will be a slim form factor like the Late 2012 iMacs, perhaps they'll have new features, who knows.
I do agree that if you want one now to go with a refurb, 800$ is still crazy expensive for just the screen but better none the less.
I do agree that if you want one now to go with a refurb, 800$ is still crazy expensive for just the screen but better none the less.
also i'm not at all convinced that the next display will "only" cost $1000. i agree that they almost have to release one with the new pros in the fall or at the very least at the end of the year but if they're pairing it with the "4k" Pro then they're probably going to make it a 4 (or 5?)k monitor and i don't see how that would be less than a grand. not at 27" anyway.
maybe if they do they'll release two devices - a 4k display and an updated TBD that has the right power cord and maybe usb3.
4k displays are exciting because i think they will mark the first time that a digital system is of higher quality than 35mm
The point is, the next gen monitors are likely going to be WAY out of my price range...the only reason to wait for me would be to drive the price down even further. But you know... triple constraint.
I see what you mean, price is an issue, I sympathize =_=...
If I needed a second display (and I do... but the 27" TBD next to a 21.5" iMac would look silly) I'd pick up a refurb TBD. Unless the newest updates are so fantastic that I couldn't help myself (unlikely)..
yeah...i mean if it's so awesome that i can't say no then we'll see but jsut to run my little MBA i think the 2011 TBD will work.
who cares how much the adapter cost. plus im pretty sure its free and included when you buy a thunderbolt display now. my point is i shouldnt have to use a adapter on a 800 dollar device. if im going to pay that much it better work as designed without bs workarounds.
the thunderbolt display is old and outdated. 1 grand is to much for it new by todays standards and 800 is to much for it used. it should be 799 new and 599 used imho
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i wasn't commenting on the cost, i was making sure i knew what you are talking about. it's not really a dongle, it's an adapter and yes - it's included.
i hear you on the price - but i'm not sure i'd really call a refurb "used."
obviously it very well could be used but in my experience a refurb is, for all intents and purposes, brand new.
The adapter is required for newer Apple laptops.
It's a tiny adapter. Calm down. Go buy a Dell monitor and a ton of crappy-looking accessories and save a few bucks.
your right whats the big deal. in fact we should do that with all apple products. instead of properly updating them we can stick little adapters all over them. thats innovation for ya.
you don't think you're maybe being a bit hyperbolic?
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good point
It's cheaper, but it is by no means a better deal.
Factor in 2 years of depreciation, life expectancy, old-tech, and the fact that apple continues to lower their base prices... it's a horrible deal - considering a brand new machine is $1000
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Then Apple would probably make a Magsafe 2 to Magsafe adapter. All the new MacBooks are released with Magsafe 2 it wouldn't make sense to release a new TBD with a Magsafe connector.
no - all the new macbooks are not released with magsafe 2 - only the airs which just started selling in June. The Pro line still ships with magsafe 1 - that's his point.
Only the classic (non-retina) macBook pros still ship with magsafe 1. The retina macBook pros have been shipping with magsafe 2 since they were released over a year ago. The macbook airs have also been shipping with magsafe 2 for over a year (since *last* June)
It's an easy enough mistake to make, as Apple did make things kind of confusing by switching up the magsafe form factor, and you can't really appreciate why they did it until you see one of the newer macbook airs or retina macbook pros and realize that the old magsafe 1 is too wide for the thin notebooks.
Anyway, back to the original topic, I for one am a big fan of the thunderbolt display because I can make use of it as a docking station as well as a nice monitor. That said, it is very expensive, and I'm not sure I would have bought one if I was spending my own money on it (purchased through work). I do need to use the magsafe converter for it to work with my retina macbook pro, but the converter is tiny and works well, so I hardly notice that it is even there. Obviously, USB 3.0 would be nice, but my biggest complaint is that there is no headphone jack. Since they are piping audio through it anyway (for the speakers on the display), it seems that having the headphone jack would have been pretty trivial.