External Monitor For Unibody MBP

[fishfingers]

Ok so i am very confused and undecided on what to do, i recently sold my pc for quite a nice amount and am now in need of an external monitor for my macbook pro.

The obvious choice would be the Apple 24" LED display, but is it really worth the money?? I have been looking at alternatives and have found some pretty nice LCD monitors for a lot less, for example i could get this 27" Dell Ultrasharp for under £500, which also has HDMI so i can plug my xbox 360 into it.

If i go for the Apple display i will also need a tv since i have been using my pc monitors as a screen for my xbox 360 and now that i sold them i have nothing to play on.

So what would you do? splash out on the Apple LED and buy a cheap tv to play xbox on, or get a cheaper 27" LCD monitor with HDMI to kill two birds with one stone?

The Apple display is really sexy but i don't know if it is worth all £635 compared to the alternative low prices for large LCD screens, what would you do?

 

[DeusInvictus7]

What kind of money do you have? And more importantly, what are you needing the external monitor for?

I have that Dell 2709W and am killing two birds with one stone...or at least was, since my PS3 just broke a week after I bought the monitor . But the monitor is amazing.

 

[Benguitar]

If you really want the HDMI feature, then go with the Dell Ultrasharp, but I personally like the 24 inch ACD. Although in your case I think you would be better suited for the Dell.

 

[fishfingers]

What kind of money do you have? And more importantly, what are you needing the external monitor for?

I have that Dell 2709W and am killing two birds with one stone...or at least was, since my PS3 just broke a week after I bought the monitor . But the monitor is amazing.

i have a budget of £800, that sucks with your ps3

im going to use it mostly as an extra monitor for my mbp to do web design work, but i will also need something to plug my 360 into!

 

[DeusInvictus7]

i have a budget of £800, that sucks with your ps3

im going to use it mostly as an extra monitor for my mbp to do web design work, but i will also need something to plug my 360 into!

Yeah, it was stupid Sony's fault, they push out an update, I was forced to do it, and now my PS3 won't read blu-ray discs... And they expect me to pay for the out of warranty repair...$200 CAD.

It's a very good monitor for an "all-in-one" solution. Just keep in mind that Dell's PVA panels have pretty high input lag, so if you play lots of FPS games online or whatever, it might be hard to get used to.

Good luck

 

[fishfingers]

Yeah, it was stupid Sony's fault, they push out an update, I was forced to do it, and now my PS3 won't read blu-ray discs... And they expect me to pay for the out of warranty repair...$200 CAD.

It's a very good monitor for an "all-in-one" solution. Just keep in mind that Dell's PVA panels have pretty high input lag, so if you play lots of FPS games online or whatever, it might be hard to get used to.

Good luck

damn that sucks

hmm i do play alot of FPS games on my xbox, i am used to playing on a 22" Dell Ultrasharp and didn't notice any lag, would it be worse on the larger screens?

 

[DeusInvictus7]

damn that sucks

hmm i do play alot of FPS games on my xbox, i am used to playing on a 22" Dell Ultrasharp and didn't notice any lag, would it be worse on the larger screens?

Well after some testing, I get an average of ~40ms of input lag. That's quite a bit, but it IS expected from a PVA panel. Of course, it all comes down to if you can notice it or not. Which Dell do you currently own? The older 22" Ultrasharps still had TN panels I believe, so that would be why it performs well with games.

 

[fishfingers]

Well after some testing, I get an average of ~40ms of input lag. That's quite a bit, but it IS expected from a PVA panel. Of course, it all comes down to if you can notice it or not. Which Dell do you currently own? The older 22" Ultrasharps still had TN panels I believe, so that would be why it performs well with games.

It's an E228WFP, i have seen some 30" ultrasharps on eBay for about £600, but i'm not really keen on buying a used monitor, hm if the ghosting is really bad i might be better off with the ACD and a small cheap TV for the xbox

 

[DeusInvictus7]

It's an E228WFP, i have seen some 30" ultrasharps on eBay for about £600, but i'm not really keen on buying a used monitor, hm if the ghosting is really bad i might be better off with the ACD and a small cheap TV for the xbox

Yeah that Dell uses a TN panel.

I was playing Bioshock on my PS3 when it WAS working, and there was no lag that I could notice. But of course, your eyes might be different/more sensitive to lag. Same with movies, no lag that I could notice. And the lag isn't ghosting, it's how fast the action on screen responds to your hands pressing buttons on the controller. "Twitch" Shooters on PC are very hard if you have a high lag monitor, but on a console, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[fishfingers]

Yeah that Dell uses a TN panel.

I was playing Bioshock on my PS3 when it WAS working, and there was no lag that I could notice. But of course, your eyes might be different/more sensitive to lag. Same with movies, no lag that I could notice. And the lag isn't ghosting, it's how fast the action on screen responds to your hands pressing buttons on the controller. "Twitch" Shooters on PC are very hard if you have a high lag monitor, but on a console, it shouldn't be a problem.

ahh i see, i thought it was to do with ghosting, 40ms would be fine for console i guess since its so laggy with the bad connections anyway!

thanks for the help

 

[DeusInvictus7]

ahh i see, i thought it was to do with ghosting, 40ms would be fine for console i guess since its so laggy with the bad connections anyway!

thanks for the help

Yeah exactly, for consoles the lag is already bad, so it doesn't make a noticeable difference. Computer games are a different story though, and lag can make a huge difference.

 

[fishfingers]

Yeah exactly, for consoles the lag is already bad, so it doesn't make a noticeable difference. Computer games are a different story though, and lag can make a huge difference.

yeah lag used to make it unplayable when i was playing online fps games on my pc since you have to react so super fast, with consoles though you get so used to the lag form peer to peer connections you learn to live with it