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 and make sure it works, 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.

 

[iSee]

It's an aluminum one, right? That's a great monitor.

The only common things you need to watch out for will be apparent when you plug in your mbp:
How bright is it? (the backlight can lose strength as it is used over long periods)

Does it have a connector that will work with your lappy? I *think* all the aluminium 23" ACDs have had DVI-D connectors, but Apple has used some odd connectors on their computers and monitors over the years. For that one I would first email the seller before you go through the trouble of a meeting in case there is no chance it will work for you.

Other obvious things: dead/stuck pixels, physical blemishes on the screen.


Good luck. I have one of these that is about 3 years old and it is a great monitor.

Edit: oh yeah: welcome to MR!

 

[winninganthem]

If it works, $300 is a steal . Check if there's any weird color tint issue and you should be good to go.

 

[Pixellated]

If it is the aluminium - Great buy, but if it is the old white plastic one it may not be...

 

[snberk103]

I have the 23" aluminium, and I find it a great monitor. $300 for a good one is good price.

There was a freeware program called "Light" from www.imagectrl.com that would make the entire screen go whatever colour you wanted (I mean the entire screen - no menu bar, no dock - absolutely corner to corner.) I use it to occasionally cycle through white/black/etc to check for dead stuck pixels. Try it on a Mac first though, to get the hang of it. It may be shareware now.... but I think it's a great little program for testing any monitor occasionally.

Good Luck