Question about thunderbolt display

[hcho3]

Two questions about thunderbolt display

1. Why is everyone buying them? Thunderbolt costs 999 dollars. You can buy HDTV with 40-46 inch screen with that money? I am just trying to understand why.

2. I have a 2010 MBA, but it doesn't have thunderbolt port. Will it be compatible? Should I get old cinema display with mini display port instead?


Please give me some advice and I appreciate your comments. Thanks.

 

[CWallace]

Two questions about thunderbolt display

1. Why is everyone buying them? Thunderbolt costs 999 dollars. You can buy HDTV with 40-46 inch screen with that money? I am just trying to understand why.

Because a 46 inch HDTV does not support 2560x1440.

Also, even though my 40" HDTV and my Dell 21.5" were both 1920x1080, the size of the pixels on the HDTV are almost twice that of the Dell so image - and especially text - quality suffers. And before OS X 10.7, the overscan control was not available so I had to either have the desktop extend beyond the edges of my TV or accept a black border all the way around.

I swapped the Dell out for an ATD with my 2011 27" iMac so it's nice to have windows stay the same size as I move them between the two desktops.

2. I have a 2010 MBA, but it doesn't have thunderbolt port. Will it be compatible? Should I get old cinema display with mini display port instead?

The ATD requires a computer with Thunderbolt, so you will need to get the Apple Cinema Display. Quality-wise, it's the same thing. The ATD just needs one cable to handle all of the connections.

 

[brand]

1. Why is everyone buying them? Thunderbolt costs 999 dollars. You can buy HDTV with 40-46 inch screen with that money? I am just trying to understand why.

A quick Google search for display resolution returned the Wikipedia Display Resolution article as the first result. You might want to read that to get a better understanding of display resolutions.

2. I have a 2010 MBA, but it doesn't have thunderbolt port. Will it be compatible? Should I get old cinema display with mini display port instead?

A quick Google search for thunderbolt returned the Wikipedia Thunderbolt (interface) article as the second result. You might want to read that to get a better understanding of the Thunderbolt.

Both of the Wikipedia articles have the answers to your questions.

 

[JulesK]

Because it is a great monitor if you have a Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook...

I ultimately ended up getting a refurb 24" ACD rather than the TBD, but for a very specific reason. Absent that, I would have gotten the TBD.

However, as the other posts state, no need for you to even debate the issue: If you are going to be using your current MBP (without the TB connector), just get the "27 ACD or one of the refurb 24" ACD when they appear online, or go with another good monitor.

I have a 11" MBA, and use Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection for work while on my MBA. The window the RDC uses is fixed in size (i.e., pixel height/width, I guess); there's no way to make it bigger than its max size. The window itself is usable on the 24" ACD; it would be about 10% smaller on the Thunderbolt display because of the higher pixel density, and that was a non-starter. It was impossible to use on my old 17" MBP, which has the same resolution as the 24" ACD (so the window was tiny). Frankly, what the HD screen on my 17" MBP taught me that more isn't always better when it comes to screen resolution.

$999 is quite expensive for the TBD, but not that bad when you throw in the hub, the speaker system (assuming it's good enough for you) and the reduced number of wires. For now, I'm going to stick with the 24" ACD and wait to see what Apple does with Rev. B of the TBD.