Buying a used 23" Apple Cinema Display

[iMacHardYee]

Hey everyone, this is my first post on mac rumors!

Anyways, I am thinking about buying a 23" used cinema display off of craigslist. The owner says that the monitor is 5 years old and doesnt have any dead pixels or stuck ones. I would of course hook my new macbook pro up to it before I buy it, but what are your guys advice on buying something like this. I am a design student and I need a screen bigger then 15". By the way, the monitor is $300 and please dont tell me to buy a new one because I definitely do not have the money for it.

 

[WardC]

The 23" Apple Cinema Display is a great monitor. I use one at home with my MacBook Pro. It is really large and the resolution (1920x1200) is really nice. You can watch full 1080p video on it with no loss of resolution. The colors are really vibrant and it's a great monitor overall. I paid $899 for mine when I bought it new in 2006. They are about 4 and a half years old...maybe 5. Apple started selling them when they were producing the G5 desktop towers. They are only 270cd/m^2 brightness compared with newer ones at 400, but it's really not that dim unless you are using it in a brightly ambient lit room. Overall, a great monitor, I don't want to sell mine for $300 but I might sell it on eBay if I decide to get a 27" iMac. I would say, this is a great deal, and if there are no dead pixels definitely get this monitor. You will love it. The size is really great too...it's huge and the resolution is great. It uses DVI-D so you will need an adaptor if all you have is MiniDisplayPort. Good luck, and enjoy you monitor!

 

[Carnage Asada]

I bought a used cinema display from someone on craigslist because my 17" studio displayed crapped out on me. I would suggest testing the screen background color. I got excited and didn't do this when I bought mine and it turned out the screen in the top right corner has issues when you put a white background. I told the guy after I bought it but he was a real jerk and sent me
Nasty emails saying if I continue to contact him he was going to contact his lawyers regardless I didn't care and just continued to use the screen for freelance work from home. Just make sure you see the display working.

 

[GidbinN]

A new LCD TFT 24" costs only about $200~250

you sure you only want something by Apple?

 

[vixducis]

If it's only $300, it's definitely worth it.

 

[waloshin]

Dont do it just buy a 1920x1080 monitor for less.

 

[Gregintosh]

I also suggest getting a new monitor. I did something similar to you and the monitor looked fine when I tested it out right there, but you are always rushed in those situations and always miss something. In my case I missed some color discoloration and a smudge.

Apple stuff is good, but let's be reasonable, a 4 or 5 year old monitor is already entering it's final days. Its not going to be as good or reliable as a new one or even one or two year old one. And once you have a problem with it, which can happen anytime, you got no warranty to fall back on.

With a new monitor, you got a warranty and it should last you 5+ years.

I say get a brand new one, even if it's not Apple, and have some piece of mind (and a return policy in case you do catch imperfections).