It's time to purchase a new workstation for our studio but I have a dilemma re which display to pair with a new 6 core 3.33 Mac Pro. Our four existing macs are connected up to 23" Cinema displays and have all worked well over the years. Obviously this display is no longer available so what's the next best thing? - do I try and get one of the last 30" anti glare or wait for the new 27" glossy. My main concern is the 'glossy' issue as even though I don't need to be 100% colour critical, reflection is a worry. I know some will say there are much better third party monitors available, but for the sake of aesthetics I would like all our workstations to be 100% Apple.
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New MP + Cinema Display
- Thread starter bobbydaz
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I've have the 30-inch display and I had the 24-inch display also. I used the 30-inch at home, 24-inch at work. Both were calibrated using Spyder3Pro.
I would say the 24-inch had brighter colors, even richer, more saturated colors, but the gloss in the a work environment was painful. With all the fluorescent lighting, the glare was just bad.
Now that I have a different work situation I took the 24-inch home (I purchased it myself). I sold it on craigslist since I didn't have need for the 2 monitors. I debated for about 5 minutes of which one to sell. The 30-inch has more screen, no glare, and the brightness and viewing angle are very, very good. Especially for such an older display, even if its not as bright and rich as the 24-inch.
The advantages of the 24-inch were the built-in audio, camera (no more video iChat on Mac Pro). Not sure if any of those matter to you.
Both have USB hubs (30-inch only has 2 ports) and the 30-inch has 2 FW400 ports. To be honest, everything I have is FW800, so those ports are kinda useless to me, but whatever.
Both are beautiful displays. I would personally pick the 30-inch over the 27-inch, but if I was looking to buy new today, I'd probably look at another brand, even if it broke my aluminum setup ;-) I know that is hard for some Mac people to do.. hehe
I would say the 24-inch had brighter colors, even richer, more saturated colors, but the gloss in the a work environment was painful. With all the fluorescent lighting, the glare was just bad.
Now that I have a different work situation I took the 24-inch home (I purchased it myself). I sold it on craigslist since I didn't have need for the 2 monitors. I debated for about 5 minutes of which one to sell. The 30-inch has more screen, no glare, and the brightness and viewing angle are very, very good. Especially for such an older display, even if its not as bright and rich as the 24-inch.
The advantages of the 24-inch were the built-in audio, camera (no more video iChat on Mac Pro). Not sure if any of those matter to you.
Both have USB hubs (30-inch only has 2 ports) and the 30-inch has 2 FW400 ports. To be honest, everything I have is FW800, so those ports are kinda useless to me, but whatever.
Both are beautiful displays. I would personally pick the 30-inch over the 27-inch, but if I was looking to buy new today, I'd probably look at another brand, even if it broke my aluminum setup ;-) I know that is hard for some Mac people to do.. hehe
I got a 24" Apple display and I like it. I love the instant brightness of the LED, especially compared to my dell u2311h. However, over the past two weeks or so I am starting to get a little annoyed by the ACD. I'm not sure if its considered an extreme glossy screen, or a glossy screen with a piece of glass over everything, but its the glass that is getting annoying sometimes. Most of the time I work in the dark so the reflections aren't a big deal. But the few times I don't work in the dark and am trying to do something, the reflections annoy me. I love my dell u2311h. IPS, great resolution, even better price. Only thing is it isn't instant brightness like the LED Apple one. But I guess my main point is that I am getting annoying by the glass on the display.
I'm confused to why you can't use the existing displays?
Anyways, consider a Dell U2711 or a Dell 3008WFP. Both are matte displays and offer an abundance of input options. They are not LED backlit, but I've not had any issues with instant-on or anything. Plus they don't have yellowing issues that people see with LED backlit designs.
It won't make your solution 100% Apple, but I don't think you should let brand loyalties convolute your decisions to a proper computer solution.
Anyways, consider a Dell U2711 or a Dell 3008WFP. Both are matte displays and offer an abundance of input options. They are not LED backlit, but I've not had any issues with instant-on or anything. Plus they don't have yellowing issues that people see with LED backlit designs.
It won't make your solution 100% Apple, but I don't think you should let brand loyalties convolute your decisions to a proper computer solution.
Well spoken. I'm coming to the same decision as seek to purchase a new monitor. The Apple monitors are a classic example of Form over Function. They are beautiful but they lack certain functionality that can be found on much cheaper 3rd party solutions. NEC, Dell, and the like give more options for less money. All you have to be willing to do is give up aluminum and the Apple logo.
I don't think the previous 4 Mac Pros are being decommissioned.. I got the impression that he wanted to add an additional Mac Pro to the set of workstations... So all four setups will still be in use, if I understood it correctly.
correct, this is a completely new workstation! I know it's fickle but if you saw our studio it all looks so nice and smart with all matching set-ups so I don't really want to dump a Dell monitor into the mix even if it is a better product.
For me the 23" cinema displays have been brilliant and served us well for nearly 5 years. Colour accuracy is close enough for the type of work we do so no complaints. My issue is do I get one of the last 30" or try for a 27" glossy, reflection issues being my main worry.
agreed, I believe there is an anti-glare sheet available you can stick on, but I'd need to see one in situ to be convinced.
As a test I have just held up my iphone where the new monitor will be sitting and all I can see is a reflection of my face!
Understandable, especially if you have customers coming into the office, the unity could be impressive to someone who doesn't know any better ;-)
Anyway, if you go the 30-inch, at least you can still get a 3-year Apple warranty on it, so its not like Apple totally abandoned the product.
Sure, I know my MD likes showing clients around our studio showing off all our mac kit and an ugly plastic monitor is going to stick out like a saw thumb!
I'd say a Mac Pro next to a matte NEC display would look more professional than a Mac Pro next to a glossy screen. I'd either go with the matte Apple 30" for it's looks or a 24"/27"/30" NEC screen for it's quality.