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ozontheroad

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 4, 2006
293
0
the reef
Hi people,

just bought a 2009 Quad 1.66 MP (stock)

i need to buy a display... any recommendations (24" would be nice)

i also need to instal windows on it an was thinking of getting a dedicated HD for it. my question regarding the extra HD is... can i go out and buy any SATA HD and put it in? any HD recommendations ?

thnx
 

ozontheroad

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 4, 2006
293
0
the reef
lmao.... can you imagine the reaction here is apple had actually released a 1.66 GHz MP lol

video editing... nothing fancy, not a pro here (iMovie) and i would also like to start editing my photos.

i sell DVDs with videos and photos but until now i haven't been able to do much regarding editing (no machine to do it on)

$$$ up to 500 $$$

now i have to start thinking how i'm going to secure my bungalow when i go back to koh tao (island where i live) maybe i can dig a moat around it and boobie trap my door and windows.
 

Tallest Skil

macrumors P6
Aug 13, 2006
16,044
4
1 Geostationary Tower Plaza
If you're not doing it for work, you don't need the best possible, but if you're doing it and care about it, you want a fairly good monitor.

You'll need either a S-PVA, S-IPS, or H-IPS panel; the latter being the most color-correct.
 

ozontheroad

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 4, 2006
293
0
the reef
it's an option to make extra $$$ in my line of work, so i would like to offer the best finished product possible.

if spending a little more will allow me to deliver a better product then i wouldn't mind paying more.
 

ozontheroad

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 4, 2006
293
0
the reef
that dell looks nice :)

do displays specify the type of panel the use ? as in S-PVA, S-IPS, or H-IPS , how do i find out the panel type when in a store?
 

shinchan72

macrumors member
Mar 3, 2009
56
0
I bought two of the Apple 24" LED displays. I prefer the glossy look of the colors for years now so that's not a problem for me.

I've owned the 30" Dells and HP ones also and the Apple monitors are my favorite of any I've owned yet. From brightness and contrast to completely even lighting and zero problems they are great for me.

And they look x1000 better than any others I've owned also.
 

Umbongo

macrumors 601
Sep 14, 2006
4,934
55
England
that dell looks nice :)

do displays specify the type of panel the use ? as in S-PVA, S-IPS, or H-IPS , how do i find out the panel type when in a store?

You can look it up online.

http://lcdtech.no-ip.info/en/data/lcd.panels.in.monitors.htm

or

http://www.flatpanelshd.com/panels.php

Basically assume everything under $500 is TN. Most stores are also only going to carry TN or maybe some S-PVA. Samsung are TN and S-PVA (their technology). Same for Acer and Lenovo and many of the brands that seem unfamiliar. Dell and HP use a mix of TN, PVA and IPS. NEC use TN and H-IPS.

One of the best value IPS displays you can get is the HP LP2475W and the best all round choice is the NEC LCD2490WUXi.

This forum is invaluable for display advice
 

Umbongo

macrumors 601
Sep 14, 2006
4,934
55
England
That's rather sweeping and, fortunately, inaccurate.

I got two 24" M-VA displays for $500 total. I'm very happy, as the model I bought is also made with TN panels, but I was lucky enough to wrangle M-VA.

I didn't say everything under $500 was TN. I said assume and always check before you buy.
 

jjahshik32

macrumors 603
Sep 4, 2006
5,366
52
Definitely go for the 24" led acd.

H-ips panel + 24" + LED backlighting for $799 (student discount) can't be beat.
 

PowerPaw

macrumors member
Jan 15, 2009
95
0
Very good reference. I took the NEC LCD 2690 WUXi for Photoshop and some other creative work. No regret so far.

I looked at this monitor a couple of years ago at the NEC showroom just before it was released, connected my PowerBook and calibrated it.

It had the best display for the money for PhotoShop period - much better than the ACD at the time however... for InDesign or even word processing the fonts are as blurry as hell because of the dot pitch.

Its going to be a totally personal thing, i.e. you probably won't notice it and I am not sure if the font rendering is any better with Leopard but this stopped me for going with a 25.5" display. If you can I would strongly suggest taking a look before you buy if possible and connected to a Mac not a PC.
 

brendon2020

macrumors 6502
Jul 14, 2007
266
0
very happy with my dell 2407, can get them under $300 new and around $200-250 on ebay. But now i'm looking at the 30 acd
 

dazz

macrumors newbie
Mar 26, 2009
22
0
2.66, right? :p

You absolutely need to tell us what you'll be doing. We can't in good conscience recommend you a monitor without knowing your needs.

Any SATA HDD works.

So we need to know what the person is doing with a Mac in order to recommend a monitor, but we don't care what he/she is doing for the SATA disk? I thought not all disks were equal? Sorry if I'm picking nuts. :)
 

Glen Quagmire

macrumors 6502a
Jan 6, 2006
512
0
UK
ozontheroad: what's your budget? If you can afford thousands of dollars, get yourself an Eizo and be be very happy. If not, look at NEC, the Apple 24" LED or, if you can stand seeing the logo, a Dell.

This is a commercial site, but they rank all the monitors, so you can see what kind of quality you're getting for your money. They only deal with the high-end stuff, however (Eizo, NEC, etc).
 

ozontheroad

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 4, 2006
293
0
the reef
hey guys,

thanx for all the recommendations and links. i've read some good reviews about the Dell 2408WFP, will go out tomorrow to see if i can find one (living in saudi at the moment so not sure what's available... my 2009 MP will be the first one in Jeddah :D should be here tomorrow)

i know i'm going off-topic in my own thread but do you guys recommend moving my home folder to a dedicated HD? are there any real benefits to this ?

cheers
 

Tallest Skil

macrumors P6
Aug 13, 2006
16,044
4
1 Geostationary Tower Plaza
So we need to know what the person is doing with a Mac in order to recommend a monitor, but we don't care what he/she is doing for the SATA disk? I thought not all disks were equal? Sorry if I'm picking nuts. :)

Probability Theory says that there will be more people that will be affected by the difference in panel types than by the difference in consumer- and enterprise-grade hard drives. :p
 

ozontheroad

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 4, 2006
293
0
the reef
one of the extra HDs is for windows, my better half needs to run some software (given to her by the company she works for). this way she can have her stuff on the extra HD and not mess about on my one.
 
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