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binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Apple. Cinema. Display.
Yeah, great. You can get an Apple Cinema Display for more money than you'd pay for a good display elsewhere AND the panels are, what, 3 years old or so now and badly in need of an update? Along with them having no features whatsoever?

Many new panels are every bit as good as the ACD, for less money, and actually come with some good features like a bunch of video inputs, card readers or USB hubs.

The Cinema displays are nice but they don't really have a good place in the market right now - more expensive than comparable displays, but without anything additional to offer.
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,378
12,533
In a van.... down by the river
Yeah, great. You can get an Apple Cinema Display for more money than you'd pay for a good display elsewhere AND the panels are, what, 3 years old or so now and badly in need of an update? Along with them having no features whatsoever?

Many new panels are every bit as good as the ACD, for less money, and actually come with some good features like a bunch of video inputs, card readers or USB hubs.

The Cinema displays are nice but they don't really have a good place in the market right now - more expensive than comparable displays, but without anything additional to offer.
Yeah? Well it comes with one of these:



:crazy: :crazy:
 

BigMike

BrokenbikeMike
Jul 29, 2003
8,931
0
Montgomery county MD
Yeah, great. You can get an Apple Cinema Display for more money than you'd pay for a good display elsewhere AND the panels are, what, 3 years old or so now and badly in need of an update? Along with them having no features whatsoever?

Many new panels are every bit as good as the ACD, for less money, and actually come with some good features like a bunch of video inputs, card readers or USB hubs.

The Cinema displays are nice but they don't really have a good place in the market right now - more expensive than comparable displays, but without anything additional to offer.
Yeah, but if someone else gets one, I'll feel better about my 3 year old tech. ;)

Seriously, when ARE they going to update the ACDs? Old or not, they are still great!
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Toshi, I went through the same trials when I was looking for a monitor several months ago, and finally concluded that I didn't actually need a great monitor right now and that it'd be better to spend the big bucks when LED backlighting came down in price.
fair enough. now i'm using the girl's old 17" dell LCD over a DVI-VGA adapter i had lying around. text is noticeably less sharp even at the display's native 1280x1024 resolution. oh well. i just increased the number of virtual desktops to 6 (3 wide, 2 tall) to decrease perceived clutter as much as possible.

incidentally i sold the halfway broken dell 24" on craigslist for $50, advertising it completely accurately. apparently some old, retired dude thought he might be able to fix it cheaply. bully to him if he can.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
i just read a rumor today that apple is coming out with LED backlights soonish, and that new mac laptop designs may be forthcoming in september or so. hmm. worth waiting, methinks! (especially if it spurs other manufacturers into releasing LED-backlit panels)
 

BigMike

BrokenbikeMike
Jul 29, 2003
8,931
0
Montgomery county MD
Well, they are over twice their average release date. It's been 491 since an update, and that was just a price drop. The release dates for the ACDs are below. Pretty sad.

4/2007
8/2006
3/2006
10/2005
4/2005
1/2005
6/2004
1/2003

link
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
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Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,016
Sleazattle
Does anyone else dislike widescreen monitors?

It is probably great for movies and the like but when trying to read/write documents or other vertical media it is just a distraction.
 

Transcend

My Nuts Are Flat
Apr 18, 2002
18,040
3
Towing the party line.
Does anyone else dislike widescreen monitors?

It is probably great for movies and the like but when trying to read/write documents or other vertical media it is just a distraction.
What size widescreen monitor do you have?? for most of them you can get 2 full page docs on screen side by side.

I love widescreen monitors. Perfect for working on photos and film in application with tons of crap around the outside (palettes, control panels etc).
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,016
Sleazattle
What size widescreen monitor do you have?? for most of them you can get 2 full page docs on screen side by side.

I love widescreen monitors. Perfect for working on photos and film in application with tons of crap around the outside (palettes, control panels etc).

New work laptop has a wide screen. It sucks balls. I guess a larger screen might work out better, the laptop one is too small to do anything with the widescreen format.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Yeah, I don't like widescreen laptops because I want my laptop to be small, and tiny widescreens suck.

I like my desktop widescreen though. Gives me some room around the edges to position windows or whatever where I can see them but out of the way of what I'm working on.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
morals of this thread:

1) TN = teh suck for imaging, but ok for teh pr0n
2) LED is expensive
3) Apple is expensive, plus their display lineup is ages old

however, i think i've found a winner! Lenovo L2440x. $750 retail/~$670 at provantage but i'm not sure if it's shipping? S-PVA. 1920x1200. LED backlight! also mercury, arsenic and PVC free, 65% recycled/100% recycleable packaging materials, and low halogen.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/17/lenovo-rolls-out-bundle-of-new-enviro-minded-thinkvision-monitor/



looks good for my intended use (photo editing), no?
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Whatever you do don't buy a crappy TN film LCD if you are going big...
All the places say sold out and one place I checked said ETA 11/24/08 :shocked:

You could buy a two of their high-end 22" displays with the same resolution for only a little more if you are impatient: http://www.provantage.com/lenovo-4433hb2~7IBML02E.htm
hmm. i figure i either want to go with an all-singing-and-dancing Dell 2408FPW with its sundry inputs (i use component for hooking my Playstation 2 up) or i want a non-TN panel with 1920x1200 and an LED backlight. i guess i'll wait if everywhere is indeed not shipping yet. there's also an Eizo reputed to come out in 4 days that is in the same ballpark.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
hmm. i figure i either want to go with an all-singing-and-dancing Dell 2408FPW with its sundry inputs (i use component for hooking my Playstation 2 up) or i want a non-TN panel with 1920x1200 and an LED backlight. i guess i'll wait if everywhere is indeed not shipping yet. there's also an Eizo reputed to come out in 4 days that is in the same ballpark.
The Lenovo 22 S-PVA has everything but the LED backlight (it will use more power and the life is shorter but still around 40-60K hours - much longer than you'll probably own it) but it will have a sharper image than any 24" since the pixel pitch is smaller and the backlight is wide gamut ccfl (92%) so you really are talking about minute differences here unless you are moving up to an IPS panel. I haven't seen anything that notes the 24" LED lenovo is wide-gamut. The powersaving LED backlights used in notebooks are only 72% so I think you'll actually be taking a step back in pixel pitch and color with the 24".

You can still have 24", H-IPS, and wide gamut though - the ideal combo for what you are doing:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/hp_lp2475w.htm

Around $600 - http://www.provantage.com/hewlett-packard-hp-kd911a8-aba~7CMPK0P6.htm
 
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Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
The Lenovo 22 S-PVA has everything but the LED backlight (it will use more power and the life is shorter but still around 40-60K hours - much longer than you'll probably own it) but it will have a sharper image than any 24" since the pixel pitch is smaller and the backlight is wide gamut ccfl (92%) so you really are talking about minute differences here unless you are moving up to an IPS panel. I haven't seen anything that notes the 24" LED lenovo is wide-gamut. The powersaving LED backlights used in notebooks are only 72% so I think you'll actually be taking a step back in pixel pitch and color with the 24".

You can still have 24", H-IPS, and wide gamut though - the ideal combo for what you are doing:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/hp_lp2475w.htm

Around $600 - http://www.provantage.com/hewlett-packard-hp-kd911a8-aba~7CMPK0P6.htm
good point about the gamut: for those who haven't been following LED backlights the high-end reference monitors from LaCie and Eizo use RGB LED backlights and can often exceed Adobe RGB gamut. the consumer laptop/low power backlights (probably including this new Lenovo i mentioned a few posts up) use only white LEDs and thus have less coverage of the gamut. i was attracted to it for its novelty, low power, and "green" features.

the HP that you posted actually looks perfect. it even has composite inputs so i can play PS2!

:monkeydance:
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
Wouldn't a neutrally sharp monitor be better for photo editing, especially for the web (because you can test for print)? I think most LCD's are quite a bit sharper than my 21" Trinitron. I guess it would be best to just get an average idea looking at your web images on multiple monitors to get it right (between over and undersharpened).
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Wouldn't a neutrally sharp monitor be better for photo editing, especially for the web (because you can test for print)? I think most LCD's are quite a bit sharper than my 21" Trinitron. I guess it would be best to just get an average idea looking at your web images on multiple monitors to get it right (between over and undersharpened).
if the data are there in my image's pixels i want to see it. period. if joe sixpack has a crap display then that's his problem, not mine.

Rumored spendy Apple Cinema Display showing today...
ya, i saw that this morning. hmmmmmmmmmm. let's see how convincing jobs' keynote is. :D
 

Transcend

My Nuts Are Flat
Apr 18, 2002
18,040
3
Towing the party line.
$899 with built in isight and mic. LED backlight. Magsafe poweradapter to power your laptop, along with the USB cable to use the display as a hub. Nice touch.

What's a standard LCD with LED backlight go for right now? All i can find were Samsung and LaCie displays for $2000-$3000.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
$899 with built in isight and mic. LED backlight. Magsafe poweradapter to power your laptop, along with the USB cable to use the display as a hub. Nice touch.

What's a standard LCD with LED backlight go for right now? All i can find were Samsung and LaCie displays for $2000-$3000.
$670 as Toshi posted above only its a prosumer monitor rather than that consumer monitor with gimmicks like glossy finish. It has important things like matte finish, height adjustment, and more inputs. That display was shipping from resellers at the start of this month and is sold out. Zero innovation for suckers with big wallets.

The HP with IPS panel and wide-gamut is cheaper and nicer than either.
 
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Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
hmm i think i'll buy that apple one if there's a DVI->mini display port adapter. i'd like the mic, speakers, and isight, and with a 178 degree viewing angle it's a *VA or IPS panel underhood. i also like the green/enviro-friendly aspect of LEDs.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
hmm i think i'll buy that apple one if there's a DVI->mini display port adapter. i'd like the mic, speakers, and isight, and with a 178 degree viewing angle it's a *VA or IPS panel underhood. i also like the green/enviro-friendly aspect of LEDs.
Are you a consumer now? Apple overlooked ergonomics again with no height adjustment and a glossy coating. You aren't a consumer and know better. Using an adapter with a computer isn't very elegant/Apple like either and you'll be missing a range of other inputs - HP has 2 DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, Component, S-Video and Composite Video. 6 port USB hub and a 3 year warranty versus 1 year on the CD ($99 for the Applecare). You can play the environment card (buy and creating demand for new equipment is not saving the environment) in that you can connect your PS2, TV, etc rather than having a bunch of separate displays.

Cheap white LED backlight standard gamut vs. 102% advanced CCFL.

Those other features are just consumer cheap marketing bulletpoints. Integrated speakers suck, headsets are much better than monitor/notebook with built-in mic.

You can buy the HP 24 IPS ($600), some decent computer 2.1 speakers (or more if you like)/webcam/headset for the same price as the CD at a $1000 with a Applecare to match the warranty.
 
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Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
hehe, ok, i'm done baiting you. the apple display is purty. but you're right, its gamut is less, it costs more, and i couldn't hook my precious PS2 up to it.

furthermore, the requisite "backwards" mini displayport to DVI adapter doesn't exist so i couldn't even hook it up to my mac mini.

HP it shall be.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
i just placed an order for the HP LP2475W, and a X-Rite Eye-One Display LT colorimeter.

:thumb:
 

jace

Chimp
Sep 5, 2004
55
0
md/va
Toshi,

I've been eyeing up the LP2475W as budget alternative to the NEC 2490WUXi for graphic work since it was announced over the summer.

Please be sure to post up your opinions and lots of photos when it arrives.

I'm especially interested to hear what you think of text crispness (a complaint among some) and how even the backlighting appears.

thanks!

(Wow, haven't been on the 'monkey in a long time.)