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Apple 27" Thunderbolt Displays Shipping to Stores

puckhead193 said:
agreed, hopefully this is coming in a few days to order... one can hope...
Will this work on a non thunder bolt mac (ie my macbook pro using the mini display port, in terms of getting the picture?)
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Yeah -- the plug is the same as Mini Display Port for compatibility reasons, and Thunderbolt's display protocol is the same as is used in Mini Display Port. So you should be able to drive the display with a Mini Display Port, but those other ports on the back of the display would basically become worthless decoration from what I understand.

EDIT: As livingstn reports I *may* be wrong about this since the 2011 iMacs only support "Target Display Mode" for Thunderbolt sources (not Mini Display Port). I am hoping that is not the case, but it is a bit disconcerting that the Apple online store does not picture a MacPro with the Thunderbolt Display and they still sell the LED Cinema Display (if you look for it). Check with your Apple sales rep before purchasing.
 
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munkery said:
27 inch IPS displays from other manufacturers typically cost the same but with less features and lower quality case materials.



Those alternatives don't have all the features included in the ACD.

Those alternatives use a cheaper plastic body and are not a TBolt docking station.

Even prior to being a docking station, the ACD was a better deal just due to build materials.

The only reason to justify getting one of the alternatives was if it was at a heavy discount.
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Do you even believe yourself what you write? With cheap plastic body DELL U27100 weighs 23.06 lbs vs 23.5 for Apple display. Don't you find it strange? You probably have never seen those DELL Ultrasharp displays. They are built like tanks. They are way more convenient than Apple displays because they have tilt, swivel and height adjustments. Dell display also has Media Card Reader. Apple display may offer a good value for some who can live with built-in camera and speakers. For myself, I find them lacking in quality (especially speakers - those are just laughable) and prefer dedicated solutions.
 
I want one! If only Apple could do something about the housing industry, I might just be able to afford one.
 
lilo777 said:
Why? You can do better for this amount of money.

Nope. $854.69 on Amazon right now.
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LOL Wait, you are serious? I think that if you are buying something for actual "work", the last place you would deal with is amazon for hardware purchase.

Ever heard of the saying "penny wise, pound foolish"?
 
lilo777 said:
Do you even believe yourself what you write? With cheap plastic body DELL U27100 weighs 23.06 lbs vs 23.5 for Apple display. Don't you find it strange? You probably have never seen those DELL Ultrasharp displays. They are built like tanks. They are way more convenient than Apple displays because they have tilt, swivel and height adjustments. Dell display also has Media Card Reader. Apple display may offer a good value for some who can live with built-in camera and speakers. For myself, I find them lacking in quality (especially speakers - those are just laughable) and prefer dedicated solutions.
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quiet, quiet!

You'll upset the fanboys.

Apparently you didn't know that the Apple screen isn't heavier because it doesn't have all that heavy anti-glare coating on the front! They save 5 pounds right there, easily.

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aristotle said:
LOL Wait, you are serious? I think that if you are buying something for actual "work", the last place you would deal with is amazon for hardware purchase.

Ever heard of the saying "penny wise, pound foolish"?
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are you trying to say that the mac pros available on amazon.com are in some way less-good than the ones you'd get on apple.com?

or any other of the mac products?

LOL Wait.

Maybe you should rethink your argument before you click "Submit Reply"
 
lilo777 said:
Nope. $854.69 on Amazon right now.
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thanks for the heads up :D
I will admit, apple's looks nicer. it can also charge your mac at the same time. Not to mention all the extra ports. I wonder if it's true however that the pixel count is higher, i mean thunderbolt should allow for higher transfer of data, can anyone confirm this?
 
I need one to go with my loaded to the tits imac 27". It will look pretty.
 
BC2009 said:
Yeah -- the plug is the same as Mini Display Port for compatibility reasons, and Thunderbolt's display protocol is the same as is used in Mini Display Port. So you should be able to drive the display with a Mini Display Port, but those other ports on the back of the display would basically become worthless decoration from what I understand.
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that's ok, i eventually plan to use it on my new mac pro (if that's ever gonna happen)
 
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aristotle said:
LOL Wait, you are serious? I think that if you are buying something for actual "work", the last place you would deal with is amazon for hardware purchase.

Ever heard of the saying "penny wise, pound foolish"?
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Yes I am serious. I do not need to buy anything for my work (the "work" gives it to me) but I do buy this type of hardware for myself (though I chose to buy NEC 2690WUXI 2 which is a better display albeit a little more expensive). If you prefer to buy it from DELL, you can just a wait a week or two and you'll get the same price as on Amazon because Dell has sales on their monitors on a regular bases. And speaking of buying anything computer for work, are you suggesting that Apple is a a suitable option? Do you haul your stuff to genius bar yourself or you have the assistants do it for you? I prefer same day on site service.
 
munkery said:
Those alternatives use a cheaper plastic body and are not a TBolt docking station.

Even prior to being a docking station, the ACD was a better deal just due to build materials.

The only reason to justify getting one of the alternatives was if it was at a heavy discount.
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I have a 27" dell on my desk at my office. The screen is great. And therefore I could not care less about the outside being "plastic". For as far as I can determine it has been designed well, and I truly doubt that all those people telling that plastic is "cheap" actually know what build quality is about.

As to other features of the Apple monitor: interesting for those that need it, which does not include me.

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Sjhonny said:
€ 550 for the ultrasharp 2711 - same panel as in the ACD.
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Where?
 
accessoriesguy said:
thanks for the heads up :D
I will admit, apple's looks nicer. it can also charge your mac at the same time. Not to mention all the extra ports. I wonder if it's true however that the pixel count is higher, i mean thunderbolt should allow for higher transfer of data, can anyone confirm this?
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Both monitors offer the same resolution. It's not a TV so there is no any video compression, the picture will be totally identical in terms of pixel density. The benefit of Thunderbolt's high bandwidth in this case is that it allows to transfer other signals (like USB and FireWire) in addition to video signal via the same cable. The risk with thunderbolt is that it requires very special cable. And those come only in in one width (2 meters). You can not have it shorter or longer which might be a problem in case of desktops.
 
K42 said:
I have a 27" dell on my desk at my office. The screen is great. And therefore I could not care less about the outside being "plastic". For as far as I can determine it has been designed well, and I truly doubt that all those people telling that plastic is "cheap" actually know what build quality is about.

As to other features of the Apple monitor: interesting for those that need it, which does not include me.

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Where?
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here you go. It's tax incl (19% in the Netherlands) excl. transport.
 
gugy said:
Would be nice to see the 30" or larger ACD back. Hopefully with a matte screen version. We, professionals would appreciate very much.
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Agreed. Unfortunately, Apple has long since abandoned the professional community.
 
If Apple does plan on removing the optical drive from the MacBook Pro, hopefully they'll add one to the Thunderbolt Display. Optical discs still have their uses, especially in the home or office desktop setting whereas they don't see much use in a portable environment. Optical drive-less notebooks plus an integrated optical drive in the docking station Thunderbolt Display allows the best of both worlds.
 
For those of us who want a kickass monitor/dock for their MBA this will certainly do the trick. Not a cheap setup, of course, but the feature list certainly supplements that of the MBA rather nicely.
 
hcho3 said:
That thing really does not deserve 999 dollars.

I will wait for price drop or might as well as go for 27 inch imac.
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THIS! I don't get it. Nice no doubt, but for that kind of money? I can just go with an iMac for a bit more.
 
K42 said:
I do not consider "better styling" to be a correct designation for a big glossy monitor.

Good industrial design involves styling that supports the function of an object.
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I'm not saying that I'm a fan of glossy displays, but most Apple gear doesn't really have glossy displays per se (i.e. a glossy coating applied to the panel), it has bare panels with big pieces of highly polished glass in front of them. If you don't mind going ghetto, you can just get some suction cups and pull the glass off of the ATD. There are also several manufactures of high-quality anti-glare films specifically designed for Apple displays. (e.g. http://www.radtech.us/Products/ClearCal-Displays.aspx) It's really not a big deal to apply your own anti-glare coating of choice, and since the vast majority of Mac owners don't seem to be bothered by the polished glass at all, it's clearly a personal preference thing. I've read of professionals who have peeled the anti-glare coating off of Dell IPS displays because they couldn't stand that either.

I'm pretty sure Jony Ive has spent more hours thinking about the design of these displays and the materials used than anyone else has about any other display on the market. So yes, it is well designed, whether or not you agree with all of his decisions.
 
lilo777 said:
Do you even believe yourself what you write?
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Do you try to find every opportunity available in this forum to post something negative about Apple products?

K42 said:
I have a 27" dell on my desk at my office. The screen is great.
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Honestly, I prefer matte displays but it is hard to undermine the value of the ACD given a comparison of spec and features to its competitors.
 
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