Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Deciding between 23" ACD and 27" Dell

techlover828

techlover828

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 28, 2007
2,358
2
Maine
Ok, first of all, here are the two monitors:
1. 23" Apple Cinema Display
2. Dell 27" Display


I'm trying to decide between these two monitors. I'm a sophomore in high school so I'll be going to college pretty soon. So the dell has inputs for game consoles and whatnot. They both have the same resolution (which is kind of crazy considering the acd is 4" smaller and it still manages to pack the same resolution) So, what are you guys personal experiences with either one. I'm going to ask for one of these for my 16th birthday which is coming up so I really need to decide which. Right now I'm leading for the dell because it's bigger mainly.

thanks for your help!
 
killmoms

killmoms

macrumors 68040
Jun 23, 2003
3,752
55
Durham, NC
The larger screens like the Dell 27" all use inferior TN panels. The comparable Dell display to the ACD is their 2408 24" widescreen. The 27" is larger but vastly inferior to both.
 
iToaster

iToaster

macrumors 68000
May 3, 2007
1,742
0
In front of my MacBook Pro
To a certain extent, I prefer a higher density of pixels, in this case, the ACD. The 27" Dell will have much poorer image quality due to its smaller pixel density and inferior panel. I would recommend the 23" ACD a lot more than the Dell. Larger screen is not always better, 23" is a nice size for 1920x1200 considering everything will look a lot sharper... besides you can show it off to your friends, that's what I do... you can never do that with a Dell (in my opinion).
 
C

ceres

macrumors regular
Nov 14, 2007
200
0
Dark Forests of Germania
iToaster said:
To a certain extent, I prefer a higher density of pixels, in this case, the ACD. The 27" Dell will have much poorer image quality due to its smaller pixel density and inferior panel. I would recommend the 23" ACD a lot more than the Dell. Larger screen is not always better, 23" is a nice size for 1920x1200 considering everything will look a lot sharper... besides you can show it off to your friends, that's what I do... you can never do that with a Dell (in my opinion).
Click to expand...

The 2707 is vastly superior to the 23 ACD and also 2407 (hc) -08.
Of course, it´s not a TN-Film panel but a Samsung S-PVA type panel.
Best thing is the ultra-even brightness distribution this thing offers with a mere 6.4% deviation between brightest a darkest spot of the screen comfortably beating every LCD I know.
I own the 2707 and it is leagues better than any 24in monitor Dell has ever put out on the market. The finish and looks of this monitor are superb as is the swivel function.

Let me quote prad.de

The Dell 2707WFP has en excellent image quality overall as well as a visibly good black value and very good illumination. The monitor is a little weaker in terms of viewing angles, but these are still at a very good level and most users will have no problems using a monitor with stable viewing angles of 160-170 degrees.

The Dell 2707WFP, with its colour space and colour quality, is even suitable for professional use in the area of graphics, but offers fewer adjustment options in its OSD than NEC’s graphics expert monitor, the LCD2690WUXi.
Click to expand...

Before I purchased the machine I thought I might be put off by the "coarser" text. I am not. I enjoy it very much. It´s not coarse at all.
When you hook up the display to your Mac, all you have to do is activate MAC Mode using the OSD and you will be presented with a perfectly fine preset. Also bear in mind that Dell ships this monitor with three years of pretty much no questions asked warranty.
What actually might put me off if I was in the market right now might be a successor model including all the bells and whistles that the WFP3008 recently received.
 
T

Techguy172

macrumors 68000
Feb 2, 2007
1,782
0
Ontario Canada
I think since he is not really doing any color sensitive work and the dell has all the inputs it seems like the way to go. The Apple ones are very nice but they just don't have all the connectors. However if you need to have the Apple design then...
 
dante@sisna.com

dante@sisna.com

macrumors 6502a
Apr 21, 2006
736
0
ceres said:
Before I purchased the machine I thought I might be put off by the "coarser" text. I am not. I enjoy it very much. It´s not coarse at all.
Click to expand...

Again, everyone's experience varies in this area -- with the 12 hours of web coding and design I do daily I could never settle for "Coarser" text.
 
techlover828

techlover828

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 28, 2007
2,358
2
Maine
ok, so this dell 22" monitor looks really nice, but what do you think that chances are that dell will come out with a 24" version of this anytime soon? I like the size of the 24", and I know they have one just like it, but I don't really like the black color, what do you think?

BTW: the 24" monitor I was referring to was this one, what do you guys think of it?

edit: actually I'm starting to like the 24" one
 
rogersmj

rogersmj

macrumors 68020
Sep 10, 2006
2,161
1
Indianapolis, IN
ceres said:
The 2707 is vastly superior to the 23 ACD and also 2407 (hc) -08....I own the 2707 and it is leagues better than any 24in monitor Dell has ever put out on the market.
Click to expand...

No, it's not. It's an OK monitor, but it doesn't compare color-quality wise to the 2407/8 and 3007/8. I've spent plenty of time actually working on all three.

techlover828 said:
ok, so this dell 22" monitor looks really nice, but what do you think that chances are that dell will come out with a 24" version of this anytime soon? I like the size of the 24", and I know they have one just like it, but I don't really like the black color, what do you think?

BTW: the 24" monitor I was referring to was this one, what do you guys think of it?

edit: actually I'm starting to like the 24" one
Click to expand...

The Dell 2408 is an excellent monitor, and is comparable to the 23" ACD. I prefer the Dells because they have more inputs and are more adjustable. Avoid 22" panels like the plague; for the most part, those are the "just how big and how cheap can we make these?" monitors. They're lower resolution and typically very low-quality panels with horrible color reproduction. The Dell 22" some people (the non-graphics people) have in my office is horrible. The Acer 22" my buddy has isn't any better.

I'd say the Dell 2408wfp is probably the best buy if you want a high quality image. You get the added bonus of all those extra inputs too.
 
Sesshi

Sesshi

macrumors G3
Jun 3, 2006
8,113
1
One Nation Under Gordon
killmoms said:
The larger screens like the Dell 27" all use inferior TN panels. The comparable Dell display to the ACD is their 2408 24" widescreen. The 27" is larger but vastly inferior to both.
Click to expand...

Which is actually total bollocks.

Viewing angle is comparable in regular use, connectivity is superior, looks are actually pretty nice. Cable management slot means you can also have it as neato as an ACD. Also if you can see the back of your monitor and like many ACD users if that sort of thing matters to you, I think that while it's busier than the ACD it looks pretty cool.

The only thing that bugs me is the dot pitch. I personally prefer the dot pitch of the 23" ACD / 2407/8WFP - but as a working, up-fairly-close monitor. The 2707WFP doesn't have inferior image quality via DVI due to the dot pitch, but it is different. The simplest difference is the obvious one: at comparable, fairly in your face distances you have to make more of an effort to shift your view around the screen than the 24xx / 23ACD. It is better than the 2407/8 if you plan to use the other inputs, as more of a multimedia centre for your desk. If you have a deep desk and/or if you do plan to have stuff like XBoxes plugged in, etc I think it's a better monitor than the 24xx / ACD.

For that close-range viewing reason I relegated the 2707's to Bloomberg duty on the wall, but now I've got wall-mounted plasmas hooked up to Bloomberg I've re-jigged the monitors I use and started re-using a couple of them for the gaming machines instead of the 30"s (since I usually game at 1920 x 1200), sitting back a bit more - and it is starting to make more sense.
 
iphrank

iphrank

macrumors newbie
Mar 1, 2008
4
0
Bogan Logan, BrisVegas, QLD, Australia
Dell 27" form my AUS $0.02 worth

sure the ACD has a higher pixel density and it is and genuine Apple product,
and if that's what tickles your fancy, than just go and buy that, and save yourself the confusion and restless nights!

But... it doesn't have the same flexibility of adjustment (with out using a VESA mounting system), which in my opinion is important if you consider ergonomic principles (tsk tsk Steve), nor does it contain the same real-estate that the Dell has (that larger screen size in some ways encourages/forces you sit further back from the screen, which is kind of like Dell's subtle way of looking after its customers eyesight....bahahahahahaha!

I would declare that 27" is now standard screen size, and that anything smaller is just feeble. As for 30" displays, unless you sit 2m back, you are going to end up with a great indoor tan from you LCD.

(which could be a cool substitute if you don't like going to the beach)
 
tmelvin

tmelvin

macrumors 6502
Mar 17, 2008
343
0
Well I had the 20" version of the one you're looking [24" Ultra]. It had 1680x1050, and it sucked. Granted it was on Vista, but the quality wasn't all that good, nor was the color [even after calibration].
 
M

macgruder

macrumors 6502
Oct 29, 2007
280
0
UK
iphrank said:
I would declare that 27" is now standard screen size, and that anything smaller is just feeble.
Click to expand...
How so? It's just got bigger dots than the 23" ACD not more pixels. Hence it's coarser as people have pointed out. (unlike 30" which have more pixels).

Just do research on the differences between the
S-IPS (ACD)
S-PVA (Dell)
and then decide.

But for me with the courser text of the Dell (27" seems like a bad idea without the extra pixels), and the known benefits of S-IPS (depending on your needs), I'd go for the ACD especially if you are doing color work.
 
Sesshi

Sesshi

macrumors G3
Jun 3, 2006
8,113
1
One Nation Under Gordon
It really depends on how you use it. I suspect, part by the wildly inaccurate content in this thread, that most of you putting your preferences out there don't have / haven't seen a 2707. As such the posts are much like comparing a car by reading up it's spec sheet - pretty useless, especially when y'all are so definitive about it.

As a general entertainment / work / etc monitor, it's hugely superior to the 23ACD although some may prefer the size of the 2408WFP. For colour work, it's certainly usable when compared alongside the ACD - the superiority of which is much exaggerated on this forum (like anything else Apple, but of course that's to be expected).
 
J

jjahshik32

macrumors 603
Sep 4, 2006
5,366
52
ceres said:
The 2707 is vastly superior to the 23 ACD and also 2407 (hc) -08.
Of course, it´s not a TN-Film panel but a Samsung S-PVA type panel.
Click to expand...

That's a HUGE NO NO, S-IPS(ACD) >> S-PVA (2407/2408)... please do your research.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom