Replace my 30" Cinema Display or keep it?

[funkahdafi]

Hi there,

I have a Apple Cinema Display with 30 inches. It's a an awesome monitor but it's over three years old now and the light has weakened (like any other LCD does with heavy usage). Not a biggie though.

However, it's a lease and the contract is running out. So I now have a choice to either replace it with something new or keep it.

If I replace it, the question is: With what?

Has anyone here ever had the chance to directly compare the old 30" ACD against the new 27 inch version? They do look nice, but I am holding back because I am not sure that the glossy display is actually doing any godd in terms of accurate picture quality (I am doing a lot of photo work).

Any thoughts? What about other options? Dell 30 inchers?

Thanks

 

[Macman45]

Not Sure About The Dell

Hi there,

I have a Apple Cinema Display with 30 inches. It's a an awesome monitor but it's over three years old now and the light has weakened (like any other LCD does with heavy usage). Not a biggie though.

However, it's a lease and the contract is running out. So I now have a choice to either replace it with something new or keep it.

If I replace it, the question is: With what?

Has anyone here ever had the chance to directly compare the old 30" ACD against the new 27 inch version? They do look nice, but I am holding back because I am not sure that the glossy display is actually doing any godd in terms of accurate picture quality (I am doing a lot of photo work).




Any thoughts? What about other options? Dell 30 inchers?

Thanks

But if you are in the UK you could do worse than check out Misco or Novatech...They have a good range of quality monitors but i find my 27" iMac display superb for video and photo work.

I also have a 42" HD Toshiba TV which streams beautifully so have not felt the need for another dedicated monitor.

 

[funkahdafi]

Any other thoughts?

 

[skyton]

Guess it would depend for me on how good a deal you have been offered to keep it?

 

[funkahdafi]

Guess it would depend for me on how good a deal you have been offered to keep it?

Makes no difference really. I pay a monthly leasing rate. I could keep paying it (would be much less when switching to the 27 incher since it's way cheaper) or I pay a final rate and keep the 30 incher. It's old though and probably not very good anymore (have no other monitor to compare to).

I am also eying the Dell U2711.

 

[skyton]

But if the final rate is very low then you drop a monthly outgoing and still have a great monitor

 

[reputationZed]

After purchasing my MBA I was considering, getting rid of my 1,1 MacPro and replacing my 30" ACD with the new 27" TB ACD. The primary reason I was considering the change, besides getting a new toy, is that the new 27" ACD can act as a hub for the MBA giving me back the FW and Ethernet ports the MBA lacks. The 30" ACD's age is a secondary concern, it's 6 years old, but I haven't had any issues with it, which from what I've read on MR is more than a lot of people can say about their 27" ACS's. Hard to say if the backlighting has lost any of it's oomph but I set my monitors well below 50% anyway.

I haven't done a side by side comparison but I stopped by BestBuy's the other day and played around with a 27" iMac for a couple of minutes. The iMac was nice but I didn't feel that if offered anything screen wise over the 30" ACD. In fact there are a number of things that from my point of view work against the 27" display, be it ACD or iMac. First, while I don't outright shun a glossy screen I do prefer the 30"s matte display. The second, and more grievous issue for me is the 27" displays 16:9 format, 16:9's great for wide screen TV's but I've always felt it to be a bit of a compromise for a computer display.


I picked up the mini display port to dual link adapter this afternoon and so far I quite happy with the MBA's ability to drive the 30". I'm still thinking of getting rid of the MacPro, as well as a 2008 MBP, but I'm more or less convinced I'll keep the 30" ACD. I can always pick up the TB hub that Belkin just announced to get the FW and Ethernet ports.