Do white 20" iMacs all have good LCDs?

[greg555]

Message 5 on this page (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6155766) says the 20" white iMac may have an S-IPS or an S-VPA screen

From what I've read IPS LCDs are better than VPA ones. I don't know if the S's in front of each acronym makes them equally good. (http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/panel_technologies.htm)

I looked at an aluminum 20" iMac today and decided I couldn't live with the LCD it has (image change with viewing angle). So I might go with a white 20" refurb. Does anyone know if later white Intel iMacs had better or worse screens than earlier ones (i.e. did they switch suppliers)? I'm guessing a refurb bought now would likely be new old stock and thus a later model.

I could also spend $400 more and get an aluminum 24" (refurb) but I also want to buy a DSLR this year and so I may go with the cheaper iMac until I have more money (and get my family hooked on the iMac / OS X life).

Also, are there any do-it-yourself hard drive upgrade articles on the white Intel iMacs? (I stumbled across a couple for the aluminum iMac but nothing so far on the white Intel ones.)

Thanks - Greg

 

[Leon Kowalski]

From what I've read IPS LCDs are better than VPA ones. I don't know
if the S's in front of each acronym makes them equally good.

I wouldn't put much stock in the "IPS is better" conventional wisdom;
both S-IPS and S-PVA are excellent. If there's any doubt, type "Eizo"
into tftcentral's panel-search -- Eizo uses both types, but they appear
to favor S-PVA. (BTW, the "VPA" was a typo. It's "PVA" for Patterned
Vertical Array. Sorry, my bad -- my AppleID is "The Looby.")

Does anyone know if later white Intel iMacs had better or
worse screens than earlier ones (i.e. did they switch suppliers)?

I have a very late production white 20" (week 33 of 2007 -- the same
week as the ALU iMac intro). It has the LG.Philips S-IPS panel (exactly
the same panel as the 20" ACD). Some other white 20" C2Ds came with
the Samsung S-PVA panel, but I don't know whether there was a supplier
"switch" or whether Apple used both types interchangeably, depending on
what was available that week. In any case, both panels are excellent.

LK

 

[greg555]

Thanks Leon. That's good to know.

Greg

 

[greg555]

I pulled the trigger and ordered a white 20" refurb tonight. I'm going to add at least 2GB of RAM to it but I figure I'll wait until it arrives just in case the previous owner upgraded the RAM.

Thanks to all who answered my questions in various threads over the last month or two.

Greg

 

[ryannel2003]

Congrats on the new machine! You're gonna love it. I've had my 17" iMac for almost 2 months and it has been the most amazing machine I have ever owned. I know you'll be happy with the 20", much nicer than mine. I still think the white models are sexy as hell...

 

[greg555]

Thanks. I'm looking forward to arriving.

Greg

 

[greg555]

It arrived yesterday and looks very good. I'm very happy with the screen (sharp, even, looks good over wide angles).

The computer itself is great. One of the first things I did was view some HD move trailers on the Apple site. My old Dell couldn't handle anything bigger than the small size without the video dropping behind the audio.

Greg

 

[0sync0]

I have a very late production white 20" (week 33 of 2007 -- the same
week as the ALU iMac intro). It has the LG.Philips S-IPS panel (exactly
the same panel as the 20" ACD). Some other white 20" C2Ds came with
the Samsung S-PVA panel

How do you determine which panel it is?