Should I buy another 23" ACD to make it 2x23" or sell the 23" ACD and get 1x30"ACD

[jjahshik32]

when i first bought my mac pro i debated the same question. i ended up buying Dells 24" widescreen display and never looked back. ive owned ACDs and frankly they dont compare. to make things even better is the addition of the HDMI ports on the current generation of dell displays. not to knock on apple but frankly the ACD is almost 7 year old technology at this point. they havn't really changed a thing in way too long.

I wouldnt say 7 years, as the aluminum versions with S-IPS displays were introduced in June 2004 so its turning 4 years in June 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Cinema_Display

But they have gotten minor upgrade in 2006 for higher brightness just as the dell monitors has gotten minor updates as well. Not to mention dell monitors imho isnt updated in quite a bit since they are not using LED backlit technology yet + dell 24" screens use the inferior S-PVA panels that are only 6-bit (they trick you by telling you its an FCR 8-bit sometimes, unless you get lucky in the dell lotto and get an S-IPS panel but then the circuitry/backlight/chipset/build quality/glass is inferior as the ACD's use same components as Eizos do).

I believe the apple cinema displays are the best in the lcd market for price for S-IPS panels but people have the impression that Apple cinema displays are over priced because of its price just 3 years ago, when a 23" used to cost $1499 but now you can get one for $799 with student discount. Not to mention the 30" ACD used to be almost $4000 and now its only $1700. I've looked at some NEC which are a bit better than the 30" ACD's but not by much but cost $2499.

 

[skyline r34]

Sorry if there was a similar thread/question but I'm desperately in need of advice... ok I bought the 20" ACD to go dual with my 23" ACD but the color hue was different no matter how I calibrated and just glaring to the 23"'s resolution then back to the 20" ACD was painful, the 23" ACD looks just that much better in quality/resolution/color everything..

So do you guys think its better to go 23"ACDx2 or 1x30" ACD...

Right now I'm leaning a bit closer to the 23" since its much cheaper. I've even thought about keeping the current 23" AND buying the 30".

i'm in the market to buy a display, i'm looking at Apple's 30 inch Cinema Display or Dell's Ultrasharp 3008 30 inch, Apple 30 inch been out for 4yrs unchange and Dell's 30 inch 3008 has been discontinued until further notice, but i really hope that Apple brings out a nice update to their displays soon.

 

[benzslrpee]

wanna bet?

if it were me i would go for a macbook and a 24"/mbp and 30" for work and a real pc gaming rig for play, but i guess a little late for that lol. A good pc gaming rig for about 1200 or so would destroy a 3k+ mac pro in gaming.

 

[Lord Zedd]

I prefer two screens so I can watch a movie/tv on one and work on the other.

Wither way, apple's displays are old, expensive, lack multiple inputs and lack HDCP compliance.

 

[jjahshik32]

I absolutely love the 30" ACD... but sadly the uneven brightness is driving me crazy so I'm going to just return the 30" ACD and just keep my 23" as my main monitor. It is nice and huge and going back to the 23" ACD feels sooo small but I noticed that the 30" was overkill for me and spaces will work out just fine.

The color light grey and light blue will look white on the right side of the screen and the left side will look dark.. just not acceptable. So I will make an appointment at the genius bar and tell them about the problem and just get a refund.

 

[YahonMaizosz]

I absolutely love the 30" ACD... but sadly the uneven brightness is driving me crazy so I'm going to just return the 30" ACD and just keep my 23" as my main monitor. It is nice and huge and going back to the 23" ACD feels sooo small but I noticed that the 30" was overkill for me and spaces will work out just fine.

The color light grey and light blue will look white on the right side of the screen and the left side will look dark.. just not acceptable. So I will make an appointment at the genius bar and tell them about the problem and just get a refund.

Wow.. How many monitors have you returned to the Apple store??

Honestly, I had never seen a 30" with a PERFECT backlighting. It is a HUGE screen. What are you expecting from it?? Moreover, the Apple 30' screen is already 4 years old and it carries with it an unbelievably high price. You can get a DELL 3008WFP for the same price of Apple monitor!

I suggest you return your monitor and if you still want to get yourself a 30', then I suggest you buy the DELL 3008WFP and KEEP IT.

BTW, I own a DELL 3007WFP-HC and it too has an uneven backlighting. The Left seems to be brighter than the right side of the monitor, but still, it is a GREAT screen and I am LOVIN it!

 

[jjahshik32]

Wow.. How many monitors have you returned to the Apple store??

Honestly, I had never seen a 30" with a PERFECT backlighting. It is a HUGE screen. What are you expecting from it?? Moreover, the Apple 30' screen is already 4 years old and it carries with it an unbelievably high price. You can get a DELL 3008WFP for the same price of Apple monitor!

I suggest you return your monitor and if you still want to get yourself a 30', then I suggest you buy the DELL 3008WFP and KEEP IT.

I havnt returned the 30" yet still using it right now atm, while I agree with you that probably almost every 30" no matter what brand it is has some form of uneven brightness (unless its one of those nec or Eizos at around $2400 that guarantees you even brightness with their new technologies) even if it is just slight. I just noticed that on my 23" ACD that the right side is a teeny bit brighter as well just that the 30" you notice it a bit more since the screen is so huge!

I'm sure its no coincidence that last year's 30" ACD that I had was exactly the same with the right side being a tad brighter.. I'm having second thoughts about returning it and may keep it since I dont want to take the restock fee + just using it I dont notice the uneveness and only when I look for it. I'm just grateful that it doesnt exhibit any dancing pixels or not one dead/stuck pixel.

 

[orpheus1120]

You are within the 14-days guaranteed return period from Apple right? That shouldn't cost you any restocking fee afaik?

 

[tom.]

Why can't you make a decision without letting macrumors know first? I understand when people need help, but this is rediculous, 3 pages?

Make your mind up time!

 

[kittiyut]

Why can't you make a decision without letting macrumors know first? I understand when people need help, but this is rediculous, 3 pages?

Make your mind up time!

All his posts has to do with "can't make up my mine" about this and that.
I recall another one "Changed my mind about buying the 30" and using spaces instead" - just a day or two ago - and then went out and bought the 30" now probably going to ask advice whether to keep it or not. Sooner or later another thread is going to start to announcing that he will keep it (and then change his mind again)

No, I don't read your posts and the answers - my problem is that it pushes down the useful ones that I do read and reply to !!

Make up your own mind to save your life, for god's sake!

 

[jjahshik32]

All his posts has to do with "can't make up my mine" about this and that.
I recall another one "Changed my mind about buying the 30" and using spaces instead" - just a day or two ago - and then went out and bought the 30" now probably going to ask advice whether to keep it or not. Sooner or later another thread is going to start to announcing that he will keep it (and then change his mind again)

No, I don't read your posts and the answers - my problem is that it pushes down the useful ones that I do read and reply to !!

Make up your own mind to save your life, for god's sake!

I'm going to use the 30" for the next 2 weeks and decide before the 14 days is up.

 

[krye]

I though about this too. Having 46 inches of real estate vs 30. But you have to consider that it's all about vertical real estate and a higher rez. I went with one 30".

 

[mcvaughan]

I absolutely love the 30" ACD... but sadly the uneven brightness is driving me crazy so I'm going to just return the 30" ACD and just keep my 23" as my main monitor. It is nice and huge and going back to the 23" ACD feels sooo small but I noticed that the 30" was overkill for me and spaces will work out just fine.

The color light grey and light blue will look white on the right side of the screen and the left side will look dark.. just not acceptable. So I will make an appointment at the genius bar and tell them about the problem and just get a refund.

Let me let you in on something. NOTHING in this world is perfect.

 

[jjahshik32]

Let me let you in on something. NOTHING in this world is perfect.

But my mac pro, sony bravia xbr4, B&W 805S & HTM4 speakers are perfect

 

[mcvaughan]

But my mac pro, sony bravia xbr4, B&W 805S & HTM4 speakers are perfect

I bet if you knew where to look you'd find problems with those too.

I think glaring problems would be dead pixels out of the box, but I think a perfectly lit backlight in every area of the screen is too much to ask.

 

[-Alan-]

If I had to step down from using my dual 30" setup, I'd go with dual 23s" instead of one 30".

 

[jjahshik32]

I bet if you knew where to look you'd find problems with those too.

I think glaring problems would be dead pixels out of the box, but I think a perfectly lit backlight in every area of the screen is too much to ask.

Well its near perfect on the 52" xbr4, no clouds in each corner + no dead/stuck pixels + each colors I looked at seems 99% even though.. but the 30" at first time use it looks even but after your eyes adjust for about 5 minutes.. then you can tell the difference but I'm starting to get used to it so far so good, and like I said I am grateful there are no dead/stuck pixels (which I hate the most) + no dancing green pixels or any other colors for that matter.

 

[CWallace]

I suppose you could always have the Apple folks at the store plug in a 30" and see how it looks before you take it home?

 

[YahonMaizosz]

I suppose you could always have the Apple folks at the store plug in a 30" and see how it looks before you take it home?

Yes, that is a very good plan! So that you will not have to keep returning displays at the Mac store just to find out that the display is "NOT PERFECT" when you get home.

 

[jjahshik32]

Yes, that is a very good plan! So that you will not have to keep returning displays at the Mac store just to find out that the display is "NOT PERFECT" when you get home.

I took the 30" to the genius at my local apple store and they looked at it and confirmed that the backlighting was uneven. I honestly couldnt justify the cost of $1800 and think that the 23" is the sweet spot so I just got a full refund. I will wait until the cinema displays are updated but for now the 23" will do.

 

[dgdosen]

I kind of like three monitors - that lets your eyes mainly focus straight ahead on the middle monitor and you have two side displays for looking at things like email or some web site...

Right now I use 3 x 21" monitors (non-ws 1600x1200) but I can see using two of those and one 30" monitor in the middle. I can rotate the two old 21" monitors to make them 1200x1600 and that's a great size for email and reading documents...

I also like separate monitors in order to run VM's or Remote Desktop sessions in full screen mode on those monitors...

And while I'd like a 30" ACD - I agree - too pricey! I'm waiting for another vendor (like Dell) to start selling a 30" LED screen soon...

 

[YahonMaizosz]

I kind of like three monitors - that lets your eyes mainly focus straight ahead on the middle monitor and you have two side displays for looking at things like email or some web site...

And while I'd like a 30" ACD - I agree - too pricey! I'm waiting for another vendor (like Dell) to start selling a 30" LED screen soon...

Well, I have a Dual screen setup of 2x30' DELL 3007WFP-HC... They are pricey, yes, but not as expensive as the Apple Cinema Display! I bought each for only $1400, and you would be damn lucky to find a 30' ACD with that price!

 

[WardC]

I owned a 23", decided to go all out and get a 30" when I got my new Mac Pro, and I came to hate it. I loved the big, bright picture, but when you got the display to a comfortable distance where you could see the whole screen, everything was super-tiny. It was no fun. I sold it on eBay for $1500 (I lost about $500 from buying and selling), but I am back to using my 23" now and I'm glad I sold the 30" -- the 30" is ideal for artists and digital photographers who need to see a huge resolution area in a photo, do photo previews, and photo editing....

But I don't think the 30" is the best display for regular heavy web use/blogging, and using iTunes, dreamweaver, Office, etc....I think 1920x1200 is basically the sweet spot for that and the ACD 23" and the iMac 24" hits that spot.

The 30" would be an ideal monitor for heavy iPhoto and Aperture use, FinalCutPro editing HD footage, and maybe super-hi-res 3D editing. The 30" is more atuned to being able to display massive amounts of, or super-hi-res imagery on-the fly...I, personally, don't think it's that great for heavy text-based use where you need to read alot, type alot, and constantly need to read filenames, etc.

 

[bobertoq]

Definitely, get a big 30"

 

[pjac]

I owned a 23", decided to go all out and get a 30" when I got my new Mac Pro, and I came to hate it. I loved the big, bright picture, but when you got the display to a comfortable distance where you could see the whole screen, everything was super-tiny. It was no fun. ... I, personally, don't think it's that great for heavy text-based use where you need to read alot, type alot, and constantly need to read filenames, etc.

Can't you zoom the text size on a Mac? I know you can in Firefox, and think you can in the mac terminal windows too.

[I'm just trying to decide about monitors for a new mac pro myself]