Which 30" LCD Monitor

[JeffDM]

No, OS X does that. The ACD can easily display 1920x1200. I've done it in Windows loads and I can set it to that in OS X too. Don't know why I've got it and nobody else apparently has, maybe its to do with the fact that I have an HD TV attached to my Mac too.

Does it display that when attached to a single link card? OS X did not show me any option higher than 1280x800 for any single link DVI connection to the 30". I've only seen 1920x1200 as an option when it's attached to a dual link DVI connection.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Does it display that when attached to a single link card? OS X did not show me any option higher than 1280x800 for any single link DVI connection to the 30". I've only seen 1920x1200 as an option when it's attached to a dual link DVI connection.

I don't know. To be honest, its more down to the graphics driver than anything else - similar to how some cards allow you to rotate your screen and some don't. There are tools, however, to enable custom resolutions. If you're determined in giving yourself a migraine, you'll be able to get the 1920x1200 resolution.

 

[kjs862]

I'd personally would pick up a second hand monitor for the mean time and just wait till Apple refreshes their cinema line.

 

[JeffDM]

I don't know. To be honest, its more down to the graphics driver than anything else - similar to how some cards allow you to rotate your screen and some don't. There are tools, however, to enable custom resolutions. If you're determined in giving yourself a migraine, you'll be able to get the 1920x1200 resolution.

Knowing for sure whether or not your connection was dual-link is an important detail here. If you don't know, then it's not a data point.

For me, it's not really necessary. I only wanted it for the one day that I had the monitor but not the dual-link computer that was on the same order. Though I do sometimes like to sit back a ways, and a lower resolution is needed to make that comfortable, and with a dual-link DVI connection, I can set 1920x1200, but not the one or two times I had tried it with a single link connection. It just seems so bizarre.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Knowing for sure whether or not your connection was dual-link is an important detail here. If you don't know, then it's not a data point.

I don't quite know what you mean there. With my Dual-Link DVI connection I can choose all of those resolutions. I've just plugged it into a Single-Link DVI port and it limits it to 1280x800. To enable 1920x1200 through Single-Link with a 30" ACD you'd have to use something like SwitchResX.

For me, it's not really necessary. I only wanted it for the one day that I had the monitor but not the dual-link computer that was on the same order. Though I do sometimes like to sit back a ways, and a lower resolution is needed to make that comfortable, and with a dual-link DVI connection, I can set 1920x1200, but not the one or two times I had tried it with a single link connection. It just seems so bizarre.

I've never found the need to reduce the resolution further back, its still fine for me at about a meter and a half, beyond which it becomes a bit unnatural a sitting position for me. Each to their own though.

I would say though to anyone considering buying a 30" screen, if you don't have a dual link graphics card, don't bother. Its not worth it. Its easy to think you'd like to get a 30" screen and then match it with a Mac Pro/MacBook Pro later on but you'd be better off waiting and purchasing them both at the same time. Now if you really can't wait, 1280x800 isn't an aweful resolution. Before getting my 30" ACD, I was using a 30" LCD TV as my computer monitor with a resolution of 1280x768. Switching to 2560x1600, however, was like wearing goggles underwater compared to without.

Back when I purchased my Mac Pro, I agonised for ages about whether to get a Mac Pro with the upgraded ATI graphics card and with extra RAM and get a 24" ACD or whether to skimp on the graphics card and the RAM and get the 30" ACD. I'm very happy I made the right decision. I upgraded the RAM a few months later when the prices had crashed and happily made do with the graphics card until now. Out of all the Apple products I own, this 30" ACD is probably my favourite.

 

[JeffDM]

I don't quite know what you mean there. With my Dual-Link DVI connection I can choose all of those resolutions. I've just plugged it into a Single-Link DVI port and it limits it to 1280x800.

That's exactly what we've been saying all along, what was so hard about it? It sounded like you didn't know what connection you were testing, and that detail was what we were discussing.

To enable 1920x1200 through Single-Link with a 30" ACD you'd have to use something like SwitchResX.

Thanks. I don't understand why this is necessary in order to max out a single link connection.

I've never found the need to reduce the resolution further back, its still fine for me at about a meter and a half, beyond which it becomes a bit unnatural a sitting position for me. Each to their own though.

My desk is probably a little different, it has considerable depth. Maybe my eyes aren't that great, I can read it, but the text is a bit small for comfortable reading.

 

[sash]

I'd go for 2 Apple 30" (especially with your budget). The only thing which would bother me at the moment, is the fact that Apple displays have not been upgraded for a long time, so their upgrade in some near future is quite possible.

sash

 

[supercooled]

My Mini is connected to my 30" Dell at 1920x1200 with a single link DVI cord, FYI.

I feared that it would be restricted to 1280x800 when I bought my Mini last week but luckily that is not the case.