why do the Thunderbolt displays have such bad ratings?

[patent10021]

The ratings of the display on Apple Canada are pretty much 100% negative and the issues are many.

I bought a display last year and was quite impressed. My display did develop some kind of weird stain inside the display on the top left corner and I could never tell if it was on the inside of the glass or on the LCD. It seemed to have come and go too or sometimes I had to really strain to find it and other times it was quite easy to see.

Anyway I left it in Japan to use with my 2nd workstation and need to buy a new one here in Canada. I am wondering if my money couldn't be spent on a better display. What do you think? Just go ahead and get the same one? For $300 more I could get the cheapest iMac although it's only 21".

 

[MCAsan]

You need to decide just how important the main ATD functions are to you:

1: nice 27" narrow gamut IPS screen. Some folks hate the glossy screen.
2: single cable bringing power and thunderbolt to a Mac portable (what other vendor does that?)
3: integrated thunderbolt hub with ethernet, FW800, and USB 2 ports. (what other vendor does that?)


Most folks hope the next generation will be higher resolution, less glossy, have Tunderbolt 2, and have USB3. Likely it would drop FW800.

You have to decide if ATD makes sense for you. Personally, I am glad to have one. We will see if ATD II shows up later when Mac Pro hits the streets.

 

[Rizzm]

When I'm not gaming I use my MacBook for everything else, so I'd love to get one eventually to use as a dock. The ability to have all my USB peripherals, speakers, keyboard, mouse, ethernet, and power connect to the MacBook through 2 cables would be awesome. And those cables are always on the desk, allowing me to leave my power cord in my bag for when I'm portable.

I'm waiting for the 2nd revision as I'm hoping for a less glossy screen, lighter weight, USB 3, and thunderbolt 2. Not to mention it should be very soon. I'm fine with the resolution not changing but I'm guessing it will.

 

[jdaniel]

I bought a refurb one... more than happy with it.. for the price of a refurb one sure.. I can stretch it that far..... full price... not so much...I dont think it is worth that particular price, but a couple of hundred dollars less.. sure... still not cheap but is doable.. I highly recommend it. if however you have windows to your back or something like that... I dont know.. the glare might be a pain

 

[Rizzm]

I bought a refurb one... more than happy with it.. for the price of a refurb one sure.. I can stretch it that far..... full price... not so much...I dont think it is worth that particular price, but a couple of hundred dollars less.. sure... still not cheap but is doable.. I highly recommend it. if however you have windows to your back or something like that... I dont know.. the glare might be a pain

Yeah, $1,000 for a MONITOR looks pretty unsightly on paper. I'll buy used or refurb for sure once the new one comes out.

 

[bniu]

$1000 for a monitor can be hefty, but that didn't stop me. Why? In the past, I've often spent a couple hundred on a monitor, then found reasons why I didn't like it, and ended up buying another monitor, and repeating that process, each time compromising and being ultimately unsatisfied.

This time, I figured, just spend $1000 on a monitor you'll actually like and want to use for a very long time. I love the 2560x1440 high resolution, the single thunderbolt cable that does everything is insanely convenient, and the fact that I daisy chain four additional hard drives via thunderbolt makes my desktop less of a clutter is really nice too.

Eventually, I'd like a setup of a single MBP connected to 2 thunderbolt displays with 4 MyBook Thunderbolts daisy chained for mass storage, and a portable usb hard drive to for the occasions where I need to transfer files to friends, that's it!

 

[Acorn]

I cant get myself to spend 1000 on a new thunderbolt. I can spend 229.00 more in the refurbished store and get the 2012 mid range 21 inch imac.

thats 229 dollars more for a 650m and a 2.9 ghz quad core included. the 27 inch isnt much more for the baseline in the refurbished store.

just 1000 for a monitor is to much for me. but thats just me.

 

[LeandrodaFL]

HDMI already works flawlessly. Why complicate? I dont mind at all 2 cables in my monitor, you can get an amazing 1080P display from $200

 

[iAppl3Fan]

$1000 for a monitor can be hefty, but that didn't stop me. Why? In the past, I've often spent a couple hundred on a monitor, then found reasons why I didn't like it, and ended up buying another monitor, and repeating that process, each time compromising and being ultimately unsatisfied.

This time, I figured, just spend $1000 on a monitor you'll actually like and want to use for a very long time. I love the 2560x1440 high resolution, the single thunderbolt cable that does everything is insanely convenient, and the fact that I daisy chain four additional hard drives via thunderbolt makes my desktop less of a clutter is really nice too.

Eventually, I'd like a setup of a single MBP connected to 2 thunderbolt displays with 4 MyBook Thunderbolts daisy chained for mass storage, and a portable usb hard drive to for the occasions where I need to transfer files to friends, that's it!

You have described the ideal setup for me too. I'm looking for the best approach for me to expand on storage.

 

[John Kotches]

HDMI already works flawlessly. Why complicate? I dont mind at all 2 cables in my monitor, you can get an amazing 1080P display from $200

Pardon the pun, this isnt an apples to apples comparison. You need to be comparing 27" WQHD (2560x1440) monitors for parity's sake. This has been a huge leap for me at both work and home.

The Dell 2713HM is the leading choice in that comparison and there is no question it's an outstanding competitor. There also great monitors by Asus, Samsung and LG.

 

[maplingstorie]

haha.. because its due for an update

 

[cosmicjoke]

I have a couple thunderbolt displays, and now a couple dell u2713h displays (briefly had a U2713HM too), and i love the u2713h displays way more....

things i disliked about the thunderbolt displays - using two daisy chained is just problems... on the os x side they never remember your display arrangement when plugging them in and it's always something arbitrary, like whichever happens to wake up and initialize first is primary display.... so you're constantly rearranging them in system preferences if you use a macbook to hook them up daisy chained.... then one out of like 50 times one just won't wake up, and you have to unplug and replug to fix it..

in windows it's just a mess, doesn't support daisy chaining in windows so only one display works, disables sleep because there's no hotplugging and must have it plugged in before booting windows because of no hotplugging.....

the lack of audio out kindah sucked and made it feel like it wasn't really a full solution, cuz i'd never use the crap internal speakers (ymmv, but i think they're complete crap)

then there's that big piece of tempered glass on em which is like a mirror of reflections... the 2013 imacs are just exponentially better with the laminated displays... The glare was never really an issue for me and my lighting, the reflections on the other hand due to the glass are just stupid. Try a glossy monitor without tempered glass on it like the cheap korean displays (have a couple of them too lol) and you'll see it's not the fact that it's glossy nearly as much as the sheet of glass to make it look all flush and attractive and apple like that causes it...

Then I have a little bit of a color uniformity issue on the bottom of each display, which is odd because if you lower your head level to the bottom it would kind of go away, it might have been the glass causing it, i don't even know....

Oh and one made a feint ticking noise but seemingly it goes away when using it on the end of the daisy chain rather than the beginning heh, who knows...

Anyways, I have complaints about the other displays I have too, but less than the TBDs.... I don't know if there is a perfect display in this world, at least at the $1k or less price point (have never spent more on one). But I recommend the U2713H display nonetheless.

FWIW, I'm sure the next generation of TBD will be a lot better, I'm optimistic it will have the new laminated displays like the new iMacs to totally eliminate reflections and somewhat reduced glare, and hopefully the hotplugging issues in Windows will be fixed, usb 3.0 etc.... pipe dream probably but I'd love to see an audio out port too like some of the docks out there and my u2713h displays have.

 

[hydesg]

so do you connect the 2713h with mini display port to mini display port mac?
thanks.

I have a couple thunderbolt displays, and now a couple dell u2713h displays (briefly had a U2713HM too), and i love the u2713h displays way more....

things i disliked about the thunderbolt displays - using two daisy chained is just problems... on the os x side they never remember your display arrangement when plugging them in and it's always something arbitrary, like whichever happens to wake up and initialize first is primary display.... so you're constantly rearranging them in system preferences if you use a macbook to hook them up daisy chained.... then one out of like 50 times one just won't wake up, and you have to unplug and replug to fix it..

in windows it's just a mess, doesn't support daisy chaining in windows so only one display works, disables sleep because there's no hotplugging and must have it plugged in before booting windows because of no hotplugging.....

the lack of audio out kindah sucked and made it feel like it wasn't really a full solution, cuz i'd never use the crap internal speakers (ymmv, but i think they're complete crap)

then there's that big piece of tempered glass on em which is like a mirror of reflections... the 2013 imacs are just exponentially better with the laminated displays... The glare was never really an issue for me and my lighting, the reflections on the other hand due to the glass are just stupid. Try a glossy monitor without tempered glass on it like the cheap korean displays (have a couple of them too lol) and you'll see it's not the fact that it's glossy nearly as much as the sheet of glass to make it look all flush and attractive and apple like that causes it...

Then I have a little bit of a color uniformity issue on the bottom of each display, which is odd because if you lower your head level to the bottom it would kind of go away, it might have been the glass causing it, i don't even know....

Oh and one made a feint ticking noise but seemingly it goes away when using it on the end of the daisy chain rather than the beginning heh, who knows...

Anyways, I have complaints about the other displays I have too, but less than the TBDs.... I don't know if there is a perfect display in this world, at least at the $1k or less price point (have never spent more on one). But I recommend the U2713H display nonetheless.

FWIW, I'm sure the next generation of TBD will be a lot better, I'm optimistic it will have the new laminated displays like the new iMacs to totally eliminate reflections and somewhat reduced glare, and hopefully the hotplugging issues in Windows will be fixed, usb 3.0 etc.... pipe dream probably but I'd love to see an audio out port too like some of the docks out there and my u2713h displays have.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

Most folks hope the next generation will be higher resolution, less glossy, have Tunderbolt 2, and have USB3.

Of course! Otherwise TB2 ports on the rMBP Late-2013 and on the Mac Pro Late-2013 would make no sense.

It's likely, that they use an ASMedia chip for the four USB 3.0 ports, because they are the fastest and most efficient chips which support also the USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP). Apple supports UAS in Mountain Lion 10.8.5 or newer.

 

[cosmicjoke]

so do you connect the 2713h with mini display port to mini display port mac?
thanks.

You can (it has a mDP port on it) but I use a DP to mDP cable because it's a more common cable that you can find around town here in Portland, while to get a mDP to mDP cable I'd had to of ordered through amazon/monoprice etc.... Also, if you're seriously thinking about this display, know that when you first plug it in it will look bad out of the box because OS X misinterprets the EDID and uses YCbCr colors instead of RGB - there's an override you have to place /System/Library/Displays/Overrides and reboot to make it look proper. Link to it below.

http://embdev.net/topic/284710