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Help me buy an external monitor

sk1wbw

sk1wbw

Suspended
Original poster
May 28, 2011
3,483
1,011
Williamsburg, Virginia
So I recently got a 13" MacBook Pro, the model before the retina display. It has the Intel 4000 graphics chip I believe.

What's the maximum resolution for this? How big of a monitor should I stay with, a 24" or so?
 
How big is your desk
What tasks will you do on the monitor
What is your budget
Do you already have a monitor, will you replace it or add to it?

I canny answer your question Captain, I need more info
 
I've been running a 23 inch Cinema HD matte display for the past 3 years and they're great. You can get them for about $350 on eBay now, too, which is where I got mine (paid $450 though).
 
I run 2x Dell 24" 1920x1080 through my MBP with a HD Graphics 3000 fine.

Both these screens go through a Matrox DualHead2Go DP Edition. Wont go back to a single screen again.

Screens I paid around £100 each used and £80 for the new Matrox IIRC.
 
JosephBergdoll said:
I've been running a 23 inch Cinema HD matte display for the past 3 years and they're great. You can get them for about $350 on eBay now, too, which is where I got mine (paid $450 though).
Click to expand...

There are better new options at this point. I paid around $1500 for a 21" 1600x1200 display and another $200 or so for oem software around 2006. Some were even higher. At that time, I think the 23" displays were still over $1k at that time. You can find better options today. Buying an old display that can no longer be serviced at the peak of your budget isn't a great idea.

sk1wbw said:
That's the monitor I'm looking to get, the Dell Ultrasharp. A new Apple Thunderbolt monitor is out of the question at the moment.
Click to expand...

I'd say Dell at that price range. At Apple's price range I'd say NEC.
 
You can get a refurbed ATD for $829 from Apple with full warranty. But that can still be far outside the budget. Even on ebay, the used ATDs seem to be in the $700+ range.
 
MCAsan said:
You can get a refurbed ATD for $829 from Apple with full warranty. But that can still be far outside the budget. Even on ebay, the used ATDs seem to be in the $700+ range.
Click to expand...

I know. I looked. Maybe on a good tax return, but until then It's going to be most likely a used Dell Ultrasharp.
 
Jaimi said:
If you're OK with 1080p (1920x1080), then I recommend this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889112058

It has the added bonus of being a passive 3D TV also, which works great with my PS3.
Click to expand...

That's actually another one I'm looking at too. Good brand?

----------

Also when running an external monitor, how do you do it and have the lid closed on your MacBook Pro? And if you have Windows 7 installed via Bootcamp, does Windows 7 support this too.
 
As long as you're plugged into your charger, when you shut the lid and then wake it with your keyboard/mouse it'll run in clamshell mode.
 
ATD all the way. Once you see the benefits of using a single Thunderbolt cable and it's supplied power adapter, you will never think about other solutions. On top of that you get a full USB Hub (albeit USB2.0), Gigabit ethernet port and built in speakers.

A lot of people forget about the added benefit of an ATD.

Also these things keep their resale value, you can definitely get your moneys worth in the future.

On top of that, the design. It's a beautiful piece of hardware well worth the investment.
 
sk1wbw said:
That's actually another one I'm looking at too. Good brand?

----------

Also when running an external monitor, how do you do it and have the lid closed on your MacBook Pro? And if you have Windows 7 installed via Bootcamp, does Windows 7 support this too.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sceptre is an old monitor brand, they've been around a long time. I'm using this monitor right now as I type this, and I use it with both OSX and Windows. The only funky thing is that to make it look exactly right, you have to cobble up a cable to do the hdmi conversion correctly. it's detailed in the reviews, but in short - use a thunderbolt-dvi converter, and then a dvi-hdmi cable to plug into the monitor.

to run it with the lid closed, just close it. :) as long as you have something USB plugged in (like a keyboard or mouse), and it's plugged into the wall, it will not sleep.

If you like 3D this is a great bargain as a monitor. it's a passive 3D tv, so you can watch it with cheap 3D glasses (like from the theater), and it shows a good picture. It has some weird extra-high res mode for 3D so you don't lose as much resolution as some people claim. In short, I really like it, glad I got it. It's big though, so I mounted it to the wall on an adjustable arm.
 
Jaimi said:
If you're OK with 1080p (1920x1080), then I recommend this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889112058

It has the added bonus of being a passive 3D TV also, which works great with my PS3.
Click to expand...

That's going to be pretty low DPI for use as a desktop monitor. For less money you can get the 24" Ultrasharp which is smaller but much higher DPI (94.3 vs 68.8). The Ultrasharp is also an IPS display which means better colors and viewing angles.

If you want a large screen for watching TV/Movies from a few feet away then a TV might be a good choice. If you want to use it up close at your desk then I would look for something better suited to that task.
 
I'm using the Dell UltraSharp with 1920x1200 resolution and liking it a lot. At 24", anything less than that (such 1080p) will not look good at all.
 
Recently bought one of these

ACHIEVA Shimian 27 inch QH270-Lite Quad HD 2560x1440 for $360, 3 days shipping to my door

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...achieva+shimian+qh270-lite&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Not 100% perfect (single dead pixel bottom right of screen)

Same panel as the apple cinema display, dependent on your mac you will need a Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter to run at the full res.

it is a stunning display though, very happy with it.

Just to add, it took only 3 days to ship from South Korea
 
Is it only for your MBP?
Or do you use it for other things?

I have the LG E2370v which comes with 2 HDMI, D-sub, and DVI.
Got my MBP, PS3 and couple other things hooked up.
 
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