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Dell U3011 vs ACD 27

I

iphone3gnj

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 1, 2008
97
24
Hello,

I have a macbook and will be upgrading to a macbook pro in the next couple of weeks. As part of that upgrade, I'm getting an external monitor. I got a great deal on the U3011 ($1125) which makes it a $25 difference between the 27" with Apple care (or $175 on refurbished 27"). Dell already has a 3 year warranty.

I don't mind the matte option because my last monitor was matte. I wish the Dell used LCD back lighting. On the macbook pro, I'm debating the glossy vs antiglare (a difference in sharpness and color favoring the glossy but not huge).

I wanted to get some opinions from folks here who may have used both monitors. My main use is in editing photos and then general computer work with some minor video editing. The lighting in my office cannot be adjusted much. The glossy factor would be my biggest concern on a monitor of this size. On the laptop, it might not be so much of a concern.

What have others experiences been with seeing both of these monitors? With the ACD, can you adjust RGB levels for calibration?
 
JayMBP said:
Not just that. U3011 displays more color than ACD.
Click to expand...

Is that really the case? The Dell 27 and Apple 27 use the same panel from LG, they show the same color space. I believe the technology behind the 27" and 30" panels are the same with size being the only difference.

I don't have a problem so much with the glossy now that I've seen it a few times and my plasma TV is glossy (but has anti-reflective coating that keeps it glossy but shows less...wonder why they don't incorporate that on computer monitors). The problem I noticed is that you can only control brightness on the ACD and not contrast or color temperature settings. Would that effect eyone calibration since the basic calibration relies on at least a brightness and contrast setting?
 
Depends on what you are doing - mainly watching movies/gaming then ACD but if you need a professional monitor then the Dell.
 
iphone3gnj said:
Is that really the case? The Dell 27 and Apple 27 use the same panel from LG, they show the same color space. I believe the technology behind the 27" and 30" panels are the same with size being the only difference.

I don't have a problem so much with the glossy now that I've seen it a few times and my plasma TV is glossy (but has anti-reflective coating that keeps it glossy but shows less...wonder why they don't incorporate that on computer monitors). The problem I noticed is that you can only control brightness on the ACD and not contrast or color temperature settings. Would that effect eyone calibration since the basic calibration relies on at least a brightness and contrast setting?
Click to expand...

I looked into this also.

The ACD uses white LED's for backlighting, which cannot reproduce as broad a colour spectrum as CCFL backlighting, which the U2711 uses. The Dell in this instance covers a wider area of the colour spectrum than the ACD and it will be more suited to colour-critical work.

There are other reasons to choose the Dell monitor imo, 3 year warranty as standard, connectivity options, matte finish (if you dig it). That said, it looks like crap, and I know a lot of people are swayed by this factor.

If you want glossy, the ACD is the only way to go. But you're really paying for it. Value-wise it's not a great prospect.
 
Bigger screen (For slightly less than the ACD)
Matte (It's an advantage to me)
More inputs
16:10 format (Slightly more pixels, though down on DPI 108 vs 100)
3 yrs premium panel warranty

So yeah, definitely Dell for me.
 
So I also ended up getting the U2711 with a great coupon putting it at $300 less that the U3011. Not much difference in real estate but a huge difference in size. The U3011 screen is 2.75 inches taller and 1.75 inches wider. The only real estate difference is 160 pixel or a few lines of text, which isn't worth $300 to me. The colors are superb on both being they are the same panel types. I'm going to keep the U2711 and send back the U3011. It calibrate very well with my Eye1 Display 2. Thanks for the input.
 
Does anyone else have an opinion on the Dell U3011 vs. the Apple 27" monitor (formerly Cinema Display, now Thunderbolt Display)?

My uses are: (1) semi-pro photoshopping; and (2) simultaneously reading PDF textbooks and doing software development on screen.

My 4-year-old Dell 24" 2407 excels at (1) but not (2). I definitely need more real estate.
 
macrumorsuser10 said:
Does anyone else have an opinion on the Dell U3011 vs. the Apple 27" monitor (formerly Cinema Display, now Thunderbolt Display)?

My uses are: (1) semi-pro photoshopping; and (2) simultaneously reading PDF textbooks and doing software development on screen.

My 4-year-old Dell 24" 2407 excels at (1) but not (2). I definitely need more real estate.
Click to expand...

If you have a Thunderbolt device, the new display is pretty slick.

It really depends on how serious you are about the photoshopping. That Dell has pretty kick ass color accuracy.
 
I have the U3011 predecessor, 3008WFP at home and the 27" iMac at work. At that resolution the extra real estate of the 30" doesn't really matter. The Dell does have much better support for handling lower resolutions (hardware scaler so better image quality at lower resolutions) and more input choices whereas the 27" Thunderbolt display is pretty much limited to running with new-ish Macs.

I'd probably pick the Dell because of higher resolution, larger screen size and easier inputs. The 3008WFP runs perfectly with my Macbook Pro via mini-DP to Displayport cable and so should the U3011.
 
macrumorsuser10 said:
Does anyone else have an opinion on the Dell U3011 vs. the Apple 27" monitor (formerly Cinema Display, now Thunderbolt Display)?

My uses are: (1) semi-pro photoshopping; and (2) simultaneously reading PDF textbooks and doing software development on screen.

My 4-year-old Dell 24" 2407 excels at (1) but not (2). I definitely need more real estate.
Click to expand...

Search for my prior posts, I came from 2 2405s and then 3 2410s. If you spend a decent amount of time reading on-screen, once you see how CLEAR the text is on an ACD, you'll wonder how you read on anything else. Glare isn't an issue with my setup.
 
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