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anyone using a non-mac monitor as external?

This is going off on a tangent, but as I and others have pointed out, the large number of 1080 resolution monitors out there is because the LCD panel makers make them in bulk for TV makers. The computer monitor makers are often just looking for the cheapest LCD panel they can get, and the bulk produced 1080 screens are usually cheaper than the low-quantity but high-res screens.

But, at CES this year, one of the big new trends was the rise of 4K TVs. Basically, they will have twice the resolution of a 1080 screen, in both directions. Meaning that they will have 4 times the actual number of pixels compared to a 1080 screen.

So while these 4K screens will be VERY expensive for the next few years, eventually, just as the 1080 screens dropped to be pretty cheap, so will the 4K screens. And then we will all be able to have super-high-res monitors.

If we are not all using iPhones and iPads exclusively by then....
 
i appreciate you giving me tips on 32"'s but frankly I'm not interested in those, I'm only interested in a 24" / 27" (or somewhere in between depending on price / quality). there is no way i can fit a 32" where i want it :)

back to topic, any experience on the Asus 24" TFT VH242H?
 
Dude...It's a Dell! (yeah I know, but it works)

I'm currently using a Dell ST2220L 21.5 inch monitor on my Mini and am pretty satisfied with it. It has three inputs for HDMI, VGA, and DVI offers up to full 1080p HD viewing. You could use the mini display port to DVI, and I bet that would look pretty good. It costs about $139 from Dell, and they have a 24 inch for $199. It's a pretty sleek looking monitor for a Dell.

It's definitely not in the same class of monitor as the Apple Cinema display, but it also cost 85% less, and would definitely accommodate your needs of having several excel or word docs up at the same time. Its got a great picture and is very low power, my only criticism is that the stand is a little wobbly.

You might also want to consider a small flat screen tv if you don't have one. Most are pretty decent these days and Tiger Direct always has pretty good deals. I just bought a 24 inch Curtis flat screen for about $139. Using it as a tv in the bedroom, but I bet it would make a good monitor, with the exception of the screen being able to tilt.
 
I'm sitting looking at a Dell U2711 (27") and an HP LP2475w (24"), both driven by my Mac Pro.

I think what's maybe not being clearly stated is the visual tradeoff between panel size and pixel density. It's not a better than or worse than as such.

My 27" Dell is 2560 x 1440, and the HP is 1920 x 1200. The Dell's pixel density is 109 PPI (pixels per inch) and the HP's is 94 PPI. To my eyes, that's a significant difference.

My old faithful 2008 Macbook Pro 17" is 1920 x 1200. When I look at it side by side with the HP, the HP appears coarse and the MBP appears fine, because the MBP is packing those pixels into a much smaller screen. The MBP has a much higher pixel density (133).

In the same way, I've seen 27" monitors at 1920 x 1200 and to my eyes that's seriously coarse. I wouldn't want to work with one, myself. Putting it another way, each pixel is physically larger, which means you see them. Pixel density is lower.

That works fine for TV but you may find that it's unworkable for using as a monitor.

So I think in your case you should first decide what pixel density works for you.

Don't think about panel size until you decide what kind of pixel density you like. Then choose a panel size.

Here's a useful resource:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_displays_by_pixel_density

Scroll down to "Commercial displays."

You can see, for example, that 1920 x 1200 in 27" gives 84 PPI, but 2560 x 1440 gives 109 PPI.

Your 13" MBP seems to have a PPI of 113. If that resolution suits you best, then just search for size/resolution pairs that are in that range.

Cost and size may trump all of this for you, but maybe not.

And the advice about taking your MBP to the store is great advice. I'd still have a look at those Wikipedia charts before going, though.
 
Shredder- said:
i just want a monitor for basic "good resolution" purposes. i have no intentions on doing heavy graphics work. i just want a decent monitor for excel and work, and the occasional movie.

will the benQ i posted earlier be sufficient? what about Asus 24" TFT VH242H?
Click to expand...

I have the Dell u2211h hooked up to my Mini. It is an excellent monitor.

I can't remember what I paid for it as I bought it in 2010, but it was under $250.00.
 
Hello to the OP. I too have a 13" MBP and the small screen was bugging me, even though I wanted the smaller form factor MBP for portability. I had lived with a spare 17" Dell TFT attached to the MBP and it was OK. but I needed more screen space.

I wanted an Apple Cinema Display, but just could not rationalize the $900 and the shiny screen. I am a Samsung bigot and was leaning towards the S27A550H, a 27 inch LED with the beautiful rose-tinted bezel.

My girlfriend though, who works in ad-layout and printing businesses, took a look at an LG that was sitting next to the Samsung at Best Buy and suggested that it had better color, better blacks, and a more crisp display of text:

LG - IPS Series 23" LED Monitor
Model: IPS236VSKU: 2031077

So, I thought about it a little and I got this LG in October for around $180.00 on sale. I LOVE it. It works great through the VGA to Minidisplay adapter. I see the price is at about $250.00 now, but watch for a sale.

I got ANOTHER one of these same LGs for my girlfriend in Feb for Valentine's Day. She loves it and says the 23" is great for all the palettes she keeps open for her graphics apps, and for the relief from eyestrain that the bigger screen has provided.
 
Last edited:
Hello,
Thank you so much for the response. My only concern though; doesn't it connect through HDMI?
 
I haven't tried it yet, but I bought an HDMI to Minidisplay adapter and a cable the other day. The LG has an HDMi port on it, so I will try to remember to give it a test this weekend.:eek:
 
Sure, I'm using a 20" HP monitor with my 2009 13" Macbook Pro. Predictably, it uses DVI, so I had to buy a DVI-D to Minidisplay adapter. I more or less plugged it in and it worked. And given that I can seamlessly transition between desktops and have separate wallpapers; I'd say OS X has good dual monitor support, regardless of monitor brand.

When I boot camp windows, the monitor support is not so good :(.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/HP-x20-LED-...1SLW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330710022&sr=8-1

My (cheap) monitor.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB570Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5OQ

The adapter is pretty expensive from Apple, I'd suggest looking for a cheaper reseller. It has some bad reviews but in my case it worked perfectly. (Be sure about the kind of DVI that your monitor is using).
 
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I use a Dell 27U11 it's cheaper than the ACD but still not 'cheap'. Same resolution as the ACD, offers IPS display, Full SRGB 100% color accuracy and 98% Adobe RGB accuracy and most importantly from my perspective.. Is matte so I don't get the reflection. One of the best monitors I've had.
 
OK, Shredder!

Sorry about the delay. I had to get the HDMi cabel back from the girlfriend. I powered down the MBP 13 and then attached the LG IPS236 via the HDMI cable through a cheap HDMI to minidisplayport adapter. Once I powered up the MBP, the MBP found the LG display and output 1080p at 60hz. It looked just fine when compared to the VGA connection I have been using through an Apple VGA to minidisplayport adapter. The VGA output at 1920 by 1080 at 60hz as well. To be honest, the VGA looks great. I haven't got a 1080p video to test 1080p itself, but a standard video looked great through both hookups. For me, the HDMI cable and adapter were not really needed.
 
MacRumorUser said:
I use a Dell 27U11 it's cheaper than the ACD but still not 'cheap'. Same resolution as the ACD, offers IPS display, Full SRGB 100% color accuracy and 98% Adobe RGB accuracy and most importantly from my perspective.. Is matte so I don't get the reflection. One of the best monitors I've had.
Click to expand...

monokakata said:
I'm sitting looking at a Dell U2711 (27") and an HP LP2475w (24"), both driven by my Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

Hi, are either of you using a 2011 MacBook with Thunderbolt?

If so, how is the Dell connected?


I have a HP LP2475w and a 2011 MBP 17" - and although it works fine with the regular MiniDP-to-DVI adapter, it doesn't work properly with a MiniDP to full-size DisplayPort connector (fuzzy display - widely reported - something to do with the Mac IDing it as a TV and sending YCbCr instead of RGB - although pre-Thunderbolt Macs are OK).

With the LP2475w that's not a big deal as the DVI adapter works just as well.

...however, I'm interested in the Dell and, AFAIK the regular DVI adapter won't drive it at full resolution, so its an (expensive and poorly reviewed) dual link DVI adapter or a displayport cable, and I'm trying to get confirmation that the latter works.
 
theluggage said:
Hi, are either of you using a 2011 MacBook with Thunderbolt?

If so, how is the Dell connected?


I have a HP LP2475w and a 2011 MBP 17" - and although it works fine with the regular MiniDP-to-DVI adapter, it doesn't work properly with a MiniDP to full-size DisplayPort connector (fuzzy display - widely reported - something to do with the Mac IDing it as a TV and sending YCbCr instead of RGB - although pre-Thunderbolt Macs are OK).

With the LP2475w that's not a big deal as the DVI adapter works just as well.

...however, I'm interested in the Dell and, AFAIK the regular DVI adapter won't drive it at full resolution, so its an (expensive and poorly reviewed) dual link DVI adapter or a displayport cable, and I'm trying to get confirmation that the latter works.
Click to expand...

I use a mac pro primarily but also have a 2011 macbook air with thunderbolt.

I use the standard mini display port adapter to hdmi or dvi to connect the macbook air to the Dell U2711, i've had no problems running it.
 
I use an LG W2343T as my main display and a Samsung SyncMaster 913n as a secondary one. If I was switching to a Macbook or iMac based setup, I'd be keeping the 23" screen and putting the Macbook/iMac where the 19" screen currently is like you're planning on doing with yours.

The LG has 1920 x 1080 full HD resolution, dual inputs, both DVI-D and VGA but I actually paid less for it than I did 5 or 6 years earlier for the 19" Samsung next to it because it doesn't offer much else in the form of a USB hub or anything of that nature and LG do a HDTV equivalent called the M2380D which also features LED backlighting and an MPEG4 tuner.
 
MacRumorUser said:
I use a mac pro primarily but also have a 2011 macbook air with thunderbolt.

I use the standard mini display port adapter to hdmi or dvi to connect the macbook air to the Dell U2711, i've had no problems running it.
Click to expand...

Interesting... according to various things I've read - e.g. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3382#5 or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-Link_DVI#Single-link_DVI - the regular MDP-DVI adapter is "single link" and should only support resolutions up to 1920x1200

Do you have it working at 2560x1440?
 
theluggage said:
Hi, are either of you using a 2011 MacBook with Thunderbolt?

I have a HP LP2475w and a 2011 MBP 17" - and although it works fine with the regular MiniDP-to-DVI adapter, it doesn't work properly with a MiniDP to full-size DisplayPort connector (fuzzy display - widely reported - something to do with the Mac IDing it as a TV and sending YCbCr instead of RGB - although pre-Thunderbolt Macs are OK).

With the LP2475w that's not a big deal as the DVI adapter works just as well.

...however, I'm interested in the Dell and, AFAIK the regular DVI adapter won't drive it at full resolution, so its an (expensive and poorly reviewed) dual link DVI adapter or a displayport cable, and I'm trying to get confirmation that the latter works.
Click to expand...

I went and grabbed our 2011 (August) 15" MBP and connected it to the HP 2475w via the Monoprice mini-DSP --> DSP adapter I use to connect the HP to the 5770 on my Mac Pro.

It wouldn't work consistently. Sometimes I could get the HP to show something, but then it would go to sleep. The MBP's trackpad went all screwy. Basically, it was a no-go.

With the Dell U2711, no problem with the Monoprice adapter the first time I tested it (some time ago, at my other work site, on a new U2711, but same MBP). Same Monoprice part number, but of course a physically different cable.

But just now I tested it with the same MBP on an early U2711, and it was awful. Fuzzy.

Then I jiggled the mini-DSP plug and it was fine. Jiggled again, not so fine. Again, OK. I could make it go bad at will.

This cable has been reliably running the Dell from the 5770 for months. So my guess is that things aren't quite right at the MBP end. It's tempting to blame an inexpensive cable, but as I said, the cable's been in daily use for months on a non-combo t-bolt/DSP port and has never hiccuped.

Sorry not to be more help.
 
For screen real estate, resolution is more important than size.

If you are working with documents, vertical number of pixels is important. 1920x1200 will feel a lot bigger than 1920x1080, so try and go 16:10 if you get a 24" monitor.

Matte verses glossy is important. People have differing opinions on this. I hate glossy.

TN are the cheaper panels, and suffer from the brightness changing as you move your head due to poor viewing angles, although they have improved greatly. IPS and PVA are much better. If the panel type isn't mentioned online, it is probably TN.

Look at some monitors, decide what is important, then if you cannot see the actual model you want physically, at least you know what specs you want, then can check on reviews for any problems.
 
theluggage said:
I found a reference to this document in another thread:

http://www.manualowl.com/m/NEC/P241W-BK/Manual/223632

...which suggests that some MiniDP-to-DP cables are incorrectly wired and may give unpredictable results.

I might try another cable with my existing monitor...
Click to expand...

That NEC letter is explicit!

I've never had actual display-related problems (image difficulties, I mean) with the Monoprice cable and the 5770, but I have had sleep-related problems. I tried a Monoprice mini-DP --> DP adapter, and then ran an ordinary DP cable from it to the U2711, but the occasional sleep/wake problems persisted.

I'll look for another cable. Any suggestions?
 
monokakata said:
I'll look for another cable. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Not with confidence - the cable I have is from StarTech (the main option available in the UK) and seems OK w.r.t. sleep/wake, however I haven't used it heavily enough to be confident that it doesn't have "occasional" problems. Also, if I switch sources away from the DisplayPort and back I have to open & shut the MacBook to re-acquire the display. Plus it has the "blurry picture" problem when used between my 2011 MBP and HP LP2475w.

Couple of people at work using these cables with pre-Thunderbolt MBPs and HP ZR24w haven't complained, though...

Interesting about the adapter + regular DP cable not helping, though (I was hoping that might help...)

I guess the safest bet would be the NEC cable mentioned in their notice: http://www.necdisplay.com/p/pa-mdp-cabl

This has persuaded me, for the moment, to stick to 24" 1200p monitors which work beautifully over single-link DVI...
 
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I have a 22 inch Samsung tv as my external monitor and it also doubles as my tv. I wouldn't recommend it purely for your Mac tho as the colors are a bit off. I use it for my timeline and extra panels whilst video editing. It was around $200 but is an led and extremely thin. It's an amazing tv tho
 
chrismacguy said:
Utter nonsense. The RESOLUTION defines how much stuff you can fit on a screen, not the physical size. A 21.5" 1080p screen will display EXACTLY THE SAME amount of stuff as a 24" 1080p screen.
Click to expand...

Not really. I can display a window 5 inches across using 500 pixels.... Or I can display that window 10 inches across using 400 pixels (I'm making up numbers here).

The fact is, as long as the resolution's good enough for me to read text on it, I don't need the high resolution monitor for my schoolwork. I just want more space so I can have more windows open at a time, as long as I can read them
 
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