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Poki

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2012
1,318
903
Buy the Dell if gaming and movie watching are not your two primary usages for your Mini. The Dell one has a IPS panel (although a cheap 8 bit one) which should be better in most ways than the Samsung one, especially nice to see in viewing angles. Only the blacks are not *that* black, hence movie watching might be better on the Samsung display.
 

tears2040

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 27, 2010
401
1
Buy the Dell if gaming and movie watching are not your two primary usages for your Mini. The Dell one has a IPS panel (although a cheap 8 bit one) which should be better in most ways than the Samsung one, especially nice to see in viewing angles. Only the blacks are not *that* black, hence movie watching might be better on the Samsung display.


Thanks for the reply, I also found these two from ViewSonic that look to be contenders as well.



Viewsonic VX2453MH-LED 24"
http://www.amazon.com/Viewsonic-VX2...&sr=8-1&keywords=ViewSonic+24"+1080p+VX2453MH




Viewsonic VX2450WM-LED 24"
http://www.amazon.com/Viewsonic-VX2...&sr=8-3&keywords=ViewSonic+24"+1080p+VX2453MH
 

Poki

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2012
1,318
903
Thanks for the reply, I also found these two from ViewSonic that look to be contenders as well.



Viewsonic VX2453MH-LED 24"
http://www.amazon.com/Viewsonic-VX2...&sr=8-1&keywords=ViewSonic+24"+1080p+VX2453MH




Viewsonic VX2450WM-LED 24"
http://www.amazon.com/Viewsonic-VX2...&sr=8-3&keywords=ViewSonic+24"+1080p+VX2453MH

Both are pretty similar to the Samsung display, so if you buy one of those, buy the design and features you like. The Dell Ultrasharp is still technically superior.
 

Poki

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2012
1,318
903
Like I said, it all depends on what you want to do. If you want to strictly consume Movies, YouTube, the web and so on, the cheaper TN panels with LED backlight are very good options. But if you want to produce, well, anything, IPS panels are so much superior due to better color reproduction and much better viewing angles.
 

Poki

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2012
1,318
903

tears2040

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 27, 2010
401
1
Both are pretty similar to the Samsung display, so if you buy one of those, buy the design and features you like. The Dell Ultrasharp is still technically superior.

The only knock I see against the Dell as stated in reviews were that the screen has 2 cons.

1) Heavy anti-glare, which on certain work makes the screen looks dull and if it has haze on it.

2) Secondly and is a major gripe with me, is that the Dell looks like when you lower the brightness you lose contrast. This is a problem for me as on my Current imac I use the brightness around half way and sometimes lower.
 

kdoug

macrumors 65816
Jun 2, 2010
1,025
195
Iowa City, IA USA
At the current moment I'm short on cash and only have about $200 for a monitor. These two look like my options....

Any opinions or anyone know if these are half way decent for the new Mac Mini 2012 model?

Thanks


Samsung
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Elect...=1351530143&sr=8-1&keywords=Samsung+S24B300EL

Dell
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-UltraSha...e=UTF8&qid=1351530183&sr=1-1&keywords=U2312HM

Like the other poster said, IPS display should be high on you list so the Dell would be my 1st choice. Why not buy Dell's newest S series? S2340L which has HDMI. The s2340M does not. The s2340l is on sale at dell.com for $199. This is the display I ordered.
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&sku=320-9800
 

chuckd83

macrumors regular
Jul 12, 2010
177
15

Poki

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2012
1,318
903
The only knock I see against the Dell as stated in reviews were that the screen has 2 cons.

1) Heavy anti-glare, which on certain work makes the screen looks dull and if it has haze on it.

2) Secondly and is a major gripe with me, is that the Dell looks like when you lower the brightness you lose contrast. This is a problem for me as on my Current imac I use the brightness around half way and sometimes lower.

1. Yeah, but that's how it goes. On the flipside, that's part of how Dell achieves almost full Adobe RGB color field with the cheaper 8 bit IPS panel.

2. It only looks like it does, it not really loses contrast. Still, if you're used to a glossy Apple display, you won't like it in the beginning.
 

kdoug

macrumors 65816
Jun 2, 2010
1,025
195
Iowa City, IA USA
The new mini comes with HDMI->dvi. I wouldn't spend $60 more to get HDMI in. :p

It really depend on your needs. If your not interested in hooking up external game or video players than you certainly don't need HDMI. I personally want it. Dell has the s2340l for $199 and BB has the s2340m for $169. For $40 I'd rather future-proof my purchase.
 

chuckd83

macrumors regular
Jul 12, 2010
177
15
It really depend on your needs. If your not interested in hooking up external game or video players than you certainly don't need HDMI. I personally want it. Dell has the s2340l for $199 and BB has the s2340m for $169. For $40 I'd rather future-proof my purchase.

See my original post that Fry's has it for $138. And you can still use the Apple accessory to hook up game/video players. to each his own though.
 

kdoug

macrumors 65816
Jun 2, 2010
1,025
195
Iowa City, IA USA
See my original post that Fry's has it for $138. And you can still use the Apple accessory to hook up game/video players. to each his own though.
Unfortunately this is in-store only. I was going to cancel the s2340l from Dell and they offered me a $20 credit so now it's only $40 more than the s2340m. :p
 

tears2040

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 27, 2010
401
1
Fry's has a nice IPS Dell on sale for $138 if you like glossy (like Apple's) and near a Fry's (in-store only).

http://www.frys.com/product/7345574?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

In store only and I'm in FLorida so that's a No go..... + I'm thinking I would want at least 8bit, not 6.

Possibly looking at buying this from Mac Mall
http://www.macmall.com/p/ViewSonic-...&hq_e=el&hq_m=1854809&hq_l=25&hq_v=b83603e656

At worst it will replace my gaming monitor, at best I have a monitor temporarily for my Mac Mini until I can purchase a higher end IPS display.

Even after all that, at only $139 + shipping I'm going to roll the dice........
 

kdoug

macrumors 65816
Jun 2, 2010
1,025
195
Iowa City, IA USA
In store only and I'm in FLorida so that's a No go..... + I'm thinking I would want at least 8bit, not 6.

Possibly looking at buying this from Mac Mall
http://www.macmall.com/p/ViewSonic-...&hq_e=el&hq_m=1854809&hq_l=25&hq_v=b83603e656

At worst it will replace my gaming monitor, at best I have a monitor temporarily for my Mac Mini until I can purchase a higher end IPS display.

Even after all that, at only $139 + shipping I'm going to roll the dice........
So, I have both of these monitors ordered. Anybody have any ideas on which one I should keep?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007RHT60Y/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&sku=320-9800
 

RG129

macrumors member
Jul 1, 2007
41
0
Fry's has a nice IPS Dell on sale for $138 if you like glossy (like Apple's) and near a Fry's (in-store only).

http://www.frys.com/product/7345574?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Excellent! I've been slowly researching best prices to replace my aging 2007 iMac for a mid-range Mini. I'm in the Bay Area with plenty of Fry's stores with these in stock.

How long is this price valid for? I question whether Black Friday might have better deals for equivalent monitors. I can probably hold out until then to see if there are better deals for all the components I need to buy (monitor, RAM, SSD). I don't think I can purchase this and possibly return since I believe Fry's return policy is just 14 days for monitors.
 

chuckd83

macrumors regular
Jul 12, 2010
177
15
Excellent! I've been slowly researching best prices to replace my aging 2007 iMac for a mid-range Mini. I'm in the Bay Area with plenty of Fry's stores with these in stock.

How long is this price valid for? I question whether Black Friday might have better deals for equivalent monitors. I can probably hold out until then to see if there are better deals for all the components I need to buy (monitor, RAM, SSD). I don't think I can purchase this and possibly return since I believe Fry's return policy is just 14 days for monitors.

Price match to Best Buy if you have one in the area. The ad is valid until 11/1, but they must be in stock for BB to price match.

You'll have to show them the ad: http://www.frys.com/ads/computer-tablets-notebooks-accessories Weekly Page 1
 

mfram

Contributor
Jan 23, 2010
1,307
344
San Diego, CA USA
I'm using a Dell U2312HM as an external monitor for my MBP. I really like the monitor. Not having any issues using it for the laptop, so I doubt there would be any issues for a Mac Mini.
 

tears2040

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 27, 2010
401
1
In store only and I'm in FLorida so that's a No go..... + I'm thinking I would want at least 8bit, not 6.

Possibly looking at buying this from Mac Mall
http://www.macmall.com/p/ViewSonic-...&hq_e=el&hq_m=1854809&hq_l=25&hq_v=b83603e656

At worst it will replace my gaming monitor, at best I have a monitor temporarily for my Mac Mini until I can purchase a higher end IPS display.

Even after all that, at only $139 + shipping I'm going to roll the dice........


After a long day of work I came home to purchase this and seen it was sold out..... Next time I wont post a link SMH
 
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