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What screen should I buy for the Mac Mini?

N

NoMoreWhispers

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 25, 2008
25
0
NYC
Hi everyone,

A few weeks ago my Mac G5 finally kicked the bucket (the logic board broke). I was told it would be a better investment in the long run to buy a new mac instead of paying to have my old mac fixed.

I'm planning to buy the cheapest mac mini ($599.00) this weekend, but I have no clue what screen to buy. The economy sucks right now and I'm trying to save as much as possible, can anyone recommend a good sized screen for $300.00 or less?
I'll ask someone at the mac store what they recommend, but I don't think they'll recommend anything besides their really expensive mac LED Cinema Display!

Thanks guys :)
 
Thats a really good idea actually. I'm still leaning towards a mac mini though, and if they have any refurbished desktops at the mac store in Soho, I'll def buy it. If not, I'll still buy a mac mini and purchase a refurbished screen either in the retail store or online. :)
Thanks!
 
That Dell 2209WA seems pretty neat! Plus it's $289.00, which is very affordable, and the most important thing to me :D

I would love to get that, actually. I was thinking of getting a SAMSUNG ToC T240HD because the screen is big and even though it's a little pricier than the Dell, it can also be used as a tv monitor, and in the long run it'll save me from buying a tv if I ever chose to have cable! But a few reviewers said they weren't getting it to work on their mac, so I don't know how compatible it'll be with a mac mini!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001280

Anyway, thank you for your suggestion! Theres a good chance I will buy the Dell one since it's the cheapest and seems to be good quality!
 
NoMoreWhispers said:
Hi everyone,

A few weeks ago my Mac G5 finally kicked the bucket (the logic board broke). I was told it would be a better investment in the long run to buy a new mac instead of paying to have my old mac fixed.
Click to expand...

Before you buy a new Mac, check to see if Apple will cover your iMac. They had a recall/extended warranty for these iMacs that recently ended. You might still be covered depending on when you originally bought it or if you get a compassionate technician.

Apparently, the iMac G5 had issues with capacitors that overload and mess up the logic board. My sister had her iMac board replaced for free.

good luck


Here are some links

Apple's expired repair program
http://www.apple.com/support/imac/repairextensionprogram/

At the bottom of this link, there was what seems like the orginal text to Apple's repair program. If you iMac is under 3 years old, you should still qualify. Can't hurt to check with Apple.
http://jimwarholic.com/2008/07/how-to-repair-apple-imac-g5.php
 
Unfortunately, my G5 is about 4 years old :( And even if I wanted to check with them and see if I can still qualify for a replacement, I gave my Mac to tekserve to recycle and dispose of it. But I have heard about that before, about these particular G5's being known to have glitches. And boy, was it ever true. Ever since I purchased mine from college during senior year (at a discount), it had given me several problems, one of them being the hard drive breaking and having to open the screen to replace it. I've had to reinstall Leopard a few times, and needed to buy a new keyboard because half the buttons stopped working (that was def my fault though, I had spilled soup on it) :eek:

I wish they had extended it out to 4 years and I had known about this sooner, because it probably would have saved me quite a bit of money!

But thank you for all the information, I appreciate it and really wish they didn't limit it to 3 years because the G5's with all these problems were being sold longer than just in the past 3 yrs.
 
Glad to hear you guys love them :) Here at work we also use Dells, but they're older models.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/649598/

It looks like the thread starter purchased the very same Dell monitor for their Mac (though I'm not sure what Mac), so that seems good. I printed out the product information for the Dell, I'll bring it with me this weekend to the Apple store and ask them if it's compatable with a Mac Mini :D
 
rw3 said:
Dell 2209WA - eIPS Panel and the best on the market right now!!!
Click to expand...
Yes! End of thread. :D

Seriously, please don't get a TN panel. Once you see the quality of a proper IPS based panel, you will never, ever be able to look at a TN panel again (although that might be a bad thing I suppose :)). I have the 2209WA and it's quality easily matches, if not exceeds, that of the aluminum Cinema displays. After I got rid of my 20" ACD, I had the hardest time finding something reasonably priced that a quality display. I had been spoiled. The Dell 2209WA is the best non-Apple panel on the market at a reasonable price right now IMO.
 
pcguru83 said:
Yes! End of thread. :D

Seriously, please don't get a TN panel. Once you see the quality of a proper IPS based panel, you will never, ever be able to look at a TN panel again (although that might be a bad thing I suppose :)). I have the 2209WA and it's quality easily matches, if not exceeds, that of the aluminum Cinema displays. After I got rid of my 20" ACD, I had the hardest time finding something reasonably priced that a quality display. I had been spoiled. The Dell 2209WA is the best non-Apple panel on the market at a reasonable price right now IMO.
Click to expand...

SInce the 2209wa is not available at the moment a good alternative are either of these non TN monitors.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001332

Don't pay attention to the bad ratings. The 23 inch is not overdriven so hardcore gamers will not like the response times but this also means that you get less input lag and less visual artifact. The 1 star ratings are all from the same guy and he just copied and pasted it several times to downrate it.
 
The 2209WA is still available. Check eBay (where I got both of mine during Cashback) and Dell still has it....HERE Use Coupon Code 7XRCSVHMT9VDL0 for 20% off...$231.20 isn't a bad price at all for this!!!
 
pcguru83 said:
Yes! End of thread. :D

Seriously, please don't get a TN panel. Once you see the quality of a proper IPS based panel, you will never, ever be able to look at a TN panel again (although that might be a bad thing I suppose :)). I have the 2209WA and it's quality easily matches, if not exceeds, that of the aluminum Cinema displays. After I got rid of my 20" ACD, I had the hardest time finding something reasonably priced that a quality display. I had been spoiled. The Dell 2209WA is the best non-Apple panel on the market at a reasonable price right now IMO.
Click to expand...

I agree.I am using one of these right now and i can't even look at a tn panel.One question about this panel and snow leopard.What color profile are you using with this monitor.My apologies to the op for slightly high jacking.
 
Ughh, I wish I had more time to respond to you all but my access to internet is limited when I'm at work and in 2 diff departments!

I know I should get a laptop and my friend keeps asking why I don't get one. Basically I use my desktop as my entertainment system. I use it to watch DVD's and listen to music, so having a decent sized screen is important to me. Plus I commute everyday knowing my luck someone would steal my laptop from me on the subway! (not too long ago some guy stole my cell phone right out my hand in the subway!).


Thanks for all the alternatives guys (I love HP's as well and even bought my twin an HP laptop for Xmas!) but I am most likely going to stick with the Dell 2209WA! I'll order it online as soon as my check goes into my account! Though I'd like it if I could get that monitor in a store just in cause something was defective with it, it would be easier for me to return/exchange.

Thanks everyone. I love all of you :D

EDIT: I forgot to add thank you soooo much rw3 for giving me the coupon code! that was really sweet of you!!! I am def going to go for this Dell screen since the majority of you guys all say it's one of the better choices : D
 
keep an eye on slickdeals.net. There was a great deal on a 24" one at Costco last week that I almost bit at.
 
NoMoreWhispers said:
Thanks for all the alternatives guys (I love HP's as well and even bought my twin an HP laptop for Xmas!) but I am most likely going to stick with the Dell 2209WA! I'll order it online as soon as my check goes into my account! Though I'd like it if I could get that monitor in a store just in cause something was defective with it, it would be easier for me to return/exchange.
Click to expand...
Don't worry too much about the return/exchange issue. Dell is surprisingly very easy to work with on these things. They utilize the Advance Replacement program for most of their monitors (including the Dell 2209WA), so they'll send you a replacement first, then you return the defective one. That way, if the monitor is still somewhat usable, you'll have something to use in the interim.

Also, Dell has a pixel perfect guarantee on these monitors, so if it has any dead or stuck pixels, just ring them up and they'll swap it out, no questions asked.
 
It's not so much Dell's return/exchange policy I'm worried about. Part of why I prefer to buy it from a store is because when I order something online, I sometimes won't get it for weeks. This has to do with the delivery person always trying to leave it with me when I'm at work (I don't get home till around 7pm). They can't just leave it at my doorstep either since I live in an apartment building! I mean I'll still buy the monitor regardless, I'm just hoping I can find it in a store this weekend :D

You said you have a 2209WA? Do you use it with a mac or pc? I'm sooo worried about this monitor not working on a mac mini even though everyone says it should be fine!
 
I use my 2209WAs on my MacBook Pro and my Mac Mini. They are the best monitor I've used to date, even better than the 30" Cinema Display, plus OSX has a profile for the monitor already....
 
Thank you for letting me know! I read on another site that this monitor was making the text blurry for 1 or 2 other mac users and I'm not sure if they ever worked out the problem.

And again, THANK YOU for giving me the coupon code! You are very generous :eek:
 
Yeah, despite my user name, I use it on a Mac as well. What can I say, I wasn't a die-hard Mac user when a I joined years ago. But hey, one has to make a living somehow. PCs by day, Macs by night. :p

But yeah, I use mine with a Mini as well. In fact, it's a 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo model with only a Intel GMA950, and I have absolutely no problems with it whatsoever. It really is one of the best monitors I've ever used.
 
Cost effective 1080p display recommendation would be the Acer X233H around $190. Not the Dell 2209WA IPS for perfect images and artistic colors, but otherwise very nice, and the Dell is not 1080p.

BTW, if I were to get an IPS panel, it would be the just released NEC MultiSync EA231WMi 1080p IPS Display at around $380.
 
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