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Cheaper alternative to Apple Cinema Display ?

fredsarran

fredsarran

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 15, 2008
422
0
Hi everybody,

Is there any good cheaper alternative to the Apple Cinema Display ? for the Mac Pro.

I am looking for a 23 or more inch screen. The ACD seems to not be glossy. Is there any good glossy screens for the Mac Pro ?

Thanks.

What about "Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor - TCO03" ? It seems really good compared to ACD 23 inch. Anybody has it ? What do you think ? I need a good display for using pro apps and games.
 
I got the 2408 the other day. Pretty looking, easy to set up, but the factory settings in regards to colours are terrible. Mine's waiting for a calibrator to arrive, and if you head down that path I suggest you do too.

I know very, very little in regards to the construction and materials used for the dell, but from what I understand it's cheaper for a reason. The displays built into the apple monitors are of a higher quality. Perhaps someone else in the forum can elaborate on the specifics, but if you're going for gaming and such, the dell would do the trick imo. For colour critical work, you'll have to spend more.
 
luka said:
I got the 2408 the other day. Pretty looking, easy to set up, but the factory settings in regards to colours are terrible. Mine's waiting for a calibrator to arrive, and if you head down that path I suggest you do too.

I know very, very little in regards to the construction and materials used for the dell, but from what I understand it's cheaper for a reason. The displays built into the apple monitors are of a higher quality. Perhaps someone else in the forum can elaborate on the specifics, but if you're going for gaming and such, the dell would do the trick imo. For colour critical work, you'll have to spend more.
Click to expand...

I assume you have a Mac Pro. Your Dell monitor, is it plastic around it ? Metals ? Is it a glossy screen or mate ?
 
Dell's monitors use a pretty nice (in my opinion, at least) quality of plastic for all their displays. They're really not that bad. And both of mine are matte – I'm not sure they sell a glossy screen, though I could be wrong.
 
Hazro seem good value

I don't own one, but Hazro monitors have had quite good reviews, are IPS and for the 30inch (NOT for the 26, 24 and 23 inch though) are HDCP compliant.

Overclockers sell them, the 30 inch is £851 including VAT at the moment
(about £300 cheaper than the Apple). They are enclosed in aluminium
but have a separate power-brick.

They are UK suppliers but you are UK based I think.

If you google them you'll find a few reviews from PCPro, Custom PC etc.
 
Gonk42 said:
I don't own one, but Hazro monitors have had quite good reviews, are IPS and for the 30inch (NOT for the 26, 24 and 23 inch though) are HDCP compliant.

Overclockers sell them, the 30 inch is £851 including VAT at the moment
(about £300 cheaper than the Apple). They are enclosed in aluminium
but have a separate power-brick.

They are UK suppliers but you are UK based I think.

If you google them you'll find a few reviews from PCPro, Custom PC etc.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate :) But I will have a closer look at the Dell. The Dell 2408 is half price than the one you mentioned. My budget is £500 for a display.
 
fredsarran said:
Thanks mate :) But I will have a closer look at the Dell. The Dell 2408 is half price than the one you mentioned. My budget is £500 for a display.
Click to expand...

The Dell 2408 is a nice monitor, my son just bought one. Shop around though as prices vary (currently I think Dell are charging £422, overclockers £428,
scan £405 and PcBuyit £388 though since they all charge different amounts for delivery it is hard to compare).

The 23/24 inch Hazro monitors are a similar price but lack HDCP, but they are IPS panels which are good if colour is important (not so good for gaming
etc). Though I think that you're right to go with the Dell. (Hazro are very tempting if you're in the market for 30inch displays,
but their smaller displays seem much less of a bargain.)
 
+1 for the Dell 2408. It actually uses the same parts as the Apple monitors (so I'm told). You also get plenty of extra USB ports and a memory card reader.

I bought one 6months ago and absolutely love it.

Shop around too. The price fluctuates quite a bit on that monitor.
 
I've been rather displeased with all the Dell displays that I've come into contact with... not a good range of colors, etc. If you aren't doing color-sensitive work and are happy with the results that the Apple Display Calibrator tool gives... go for it. (DO NOT USE VGA. It'll make the display look terrible. DVI is a must.)
 
Thanks for your info. So the Dell one sounds good. I am in the UK, does anybody knows how quick Dell delivers ?
 
Speed of delivery

I don't think Dell are particularly fast. My son bought his 2408 from
overclockers and they delivered within about 2 days (they were
a lot cheaper than Dell at the time but at the moment I think Dell
is slightly cheaper).
 
I got the Hanns G 28" LCD monitor...

I recently purchased the Hanns G 28" LCD monitor and its been great! It also has 3 millisecond response time so it performs well under gaming or fast movie conditions.

It has only HDMI or VGA inputs so this may not suit your needs unless you connect via DVI-to-HDMI, or go analogue via VGA. But, its not an issue with me so i love it! :D:D:D:D:D

Here's their site: http://www.hannsg.com/us/
The model I bought is the HG281DJB.

Cheers!
Bondster
 
I'm going to be yet another person who reccomends the Dell. I have the cheap-ass version and it looks great to my untrained eye.

Did I mention it's cheap?
 
ayale99 said:
+1 for the Dell 2408. It actually uses the same parts as the Apple monitors (so I'm told). You also get plenty of extra USB ports and a memory card reader.

I bought one 6months ago and absolutely love it.

Shop around too. The price fluctuates quite a bit on that monitor.
Click to expand...
It doesn't use the same parts as Apple monitors as Apple doesn't make a 24" monitor. I have to say that the only real competition Apple displays have are Eizo displays. I had a Dell and when I put it next to my ACD I had to laugh at how terribly inaccurate the colors were. If you are not a graphics professional and just need any old display, the Dell will do just fine.
 
I just set-up a Dell 2408FPW and I do need to note the colors are really, really, really saturated with the default presets ("Multimedia") and using the 2408FPW profile in the Display System Preference. Especially the reds.

It's an S-PVA panel, so the color accuracy would not be as good as the ACD even if the presets didn't knock it off-kilter even more. However, with adjustment it still looks very good.

If you want your colors to "pop", but not burn your eyes, I recommend choosing either the Adobe RGB or Wide Gamut RGB Display Profile (in System Preferences), the Multimedia monitor preset, and the Mac gamma monitor preset. The reds are still intense, but not nearly as much as with the Factory Preset.

If you prefer a bit less "pop", then choose the Adobe RGB Display Profile and the sRGB and Mac gamma presets. If you can have hardware calibration done, do it to Adobe RGB specs and it will look excellent.

The plastic is black with a silver edge, so it actually matches my MacBook Pro rather well, IMO.

As to glossy displays, the only one I know of is an HP 24", but it's considered expensive for what it offers in terms of features and connections. I prefer glossy displays, myself, but it was hard to beat the 2408FPW on value (especially when Dell knocked $100USD off) and I have similar color "pop" without the glare. :cool:
 
im running 2 2405 dells as well and i love them tons of room and a very nice display but the factory colors suck i also am waiting on a calibrator.
 
I don't know much on display's, so I bought the latest iMac 3.06 because my iMac 2.8 that I sold, I liked the display very much (glossy and all).
 
Masher500 said:
i run 2 HP 2335's..so far they rock, but prob need to be calibrated.. anyways, good price..
Click to expand...

I had an HP 19w once connected to my MacBook Pro. The silver design fitted well with the Mac and the specs of the display where reasonable.
 
I just ordered a 2408 6 hours ago. I hope its good cause I'm going to use it with a Matrox MXO. I can't fathom spending 800 bucks on the ACD. Final Cut people love the Dells because they're cheap and the MXO makes them rock. I'll report back when it arrives.
 
ChemiosMurphy said:
I just ordered a 2408 6 hours ago. I hope its good cause I'm going to use it with a Matrox MXO. I can't fathom spending 800 bucks on the ACD. Final Cut people love the Dells because they're cheap and the MXO makes them rock. I'll report back when it arrives.
Click to expand...

I agree, I don't want to spend $800 on an ACD, but the best deal I could find for the 2408 was $600 on CNET. Did you find a cheaper vendor?
 
ChemiosMurphy said:
I just ordered a 2408 6 hours ago. I hope its good cause I'm going to use it with a Matrox MXO. I can't fathom spending 800 bucks on the ACD. Final Cut people love the Dells because they're cheap and the MXO makes them rock. I'll report back when it arrives.
Click to expand...

Cheers mate, it would be great to read your impressions on the Dell 2408. I am also personally interested in how it is packed and all (it must be a Apple unboxing tick in me).
 
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