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Best Third-Party Monitor under $450?

O

Onewinged37

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 1, 2014
27
0
Hey, everyone! I currently have a Macbook Pro from early 2011, 8gb of RAM, and am looking to add an external monitor. I'd be using it for photography, video production, and music production (Lightroom/Aperture, FCP, and Logic). I really want the Thunderbolt but can't afford the steep $800 price-tag for a refurbished one. And I've talked to several Apple reps and they say you're basically paying the extra cash for the Apple brand and the features such as daisy-chaining/camera the Thunderbolt comes with. That being said, I need a monitor, what's the best one for a budget conscience person like myself?

Edit: Preferably looking for 2560x1440
 
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That affordable 4k that Dell makes dropped to $440 the other day I'm pretty sure, not for good but if you keep your eyes open, you may find one
 
2560x1440 monitors that are less than $450 are relatively rare, pretty much your only option is that Monoprice mentioned or a generic Korean brand/QNIX monitor. Some people have had success with them, but they are cheaply built and getting them serviced for warranty issues is next to impossible so you are taking a risk.
 
COrocket said:
2560x1440 monitors that are less than $450 are relatively rare, pretty much your only option is that Monoprice mentioned or a generic Korean brand/QNIX monitor. Some people have had success with them, but they are cheaply built and getting them serviced for warranty issues is next to impossible so you are taking a risk.
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Awesome, I probably needed to hear this. I may just save up and get what I really want, the TBD.
 
Onewinged37 said:
Awesome, I probably needed to hear this. I may just save up and get what I really want, the TBD.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't get one now though. It hasn't been updated since I believe 2011. It's thicker than the iMacs (a monitor shouldn't be thicker than a full computer) and it still uses only USB 2.0. For its price i would wait for a refresh.
 
The asus pb278q can be had for less than 450. I got a refurb model for 389 and it works great. Its a 27 inch 2560x1440.
 
The Planar PXL2790MW is pretty close at $525 on Amazon. I have one on my desk at work, and it looks pretty good. I'm not doing photography, etc, so I can't comment on color accuracy, etc.
 
deeddawg said:
I'm curious, what do you think about the comments in this post here: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/19377718/
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There is a slight buzz. The first one I had didn't have a buzz at all, but there were cables missing, and no plastic around the screen, so I assumed it had been opened and sent it back - more of a re-seller issue. The buzz goes away (or I get used to it, one of the two). If you play music in the background, you'll never notice.

The stand is very sturdy. It's a solid monitor, front glass is thick and nice. Back doesn't feel cheap to me. Definitely not Apple, but not bad at all. I will say that the top of the monitor needed to be pressed back together, almost like the plastic clips holding the monitor together had to be snapped back into place.

It's not bezel-less. Not sure where the OP read that, but it's almost identical to the iMac - edge to edge glass, but there's a black boarder. The bottom "chin" is not glass and has touch-sensitive buttons. Pretty sure he meant that the glass thickness was raised 2mm, not cm. Or he meant the bezel width, but that's about an inch.

Colors, in my opinion are great. Contrast is good. Viewing angles both side and top/bottom are good.

Not sure about the OSD comment. It's like every other OSD known to man, in my opinion.

I've only had issue with cables, not with the monitor. Get one specifically rated for QHD and you'll be fine. Mine is a tripp lite mini displayport to displayport (part# P583-003)
 
chadamorrill said:
There is a slight buzz. The first one I had didn't have a buzz at all, but there were cables missing, and no plastic around the screen, so I assumed it had been opened and sent it back - more of a re-seller issue.
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Hmm. The buzz is concerning. My home office is usually a pretty quiet environment and I notice the stock 1TB HDD in my mac mini just spinning (it's empty, everything is on the SSD).

I think that other poster wasn't clear on a bezel is and thought there wouldn't be a border. Not an issue for me. OSD is of no concern, I use the OSD so infrequently it's not a criteria by which I'll choose a monitor.

Thanks for the input. I'm trying to decide between the Planar and an Asus PB278Q as an upgrade to my Viewsonic vx2439wm 24" monitor. Unfortunately Dell is not an option as I'm using a credit at a place that doesn't carry Dell monitors.
 
How long would you guys guess it will be before Apple releases a new, upgraded monitor?
 
Onewinged37 said:
How long would you guys guess it will be before Apple releases a new, upgraded monitor?
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Maybe October-ish...If they release one along with the laptop/desktop hardware that usually comes out in the fall. No one knows for sure - they could release a simple refresh, release a 4k monitor (probably more expensive), discontinue monitors...anything is possible.
 
deeddawg said:
Hmm. The buzz is concerning. My home office is usually a pretty quiet environment and I notice the stock 1TB HDD in my mac mini just spinning (it's empty, everything is on the SSD).

I think that other poster wasn't clear on a bezel is and thought there wouldn't be a border. Not an issue for me. OSD is of no concern, I use the OSD so infrequently it's not a criteria by which I'll choose a monitor.

Thanks for the input. I'm trying to decide between the Planar and an Asus PB278Q as an upgrade to my Viewsonic vx2439wm 24" monitor. Unfortunately Dell is not an option as I'm using a credit at a place that doesn't carry Dell monitors.
Click to expand...

Comes down to matte vs glossy and height adjustment vs none.
 
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