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Dima
2005-12-29, 00:58
Ever since I've got my 15' powerbook I was thinking of buyin a display to keep it at home and to use as a second monitor for the book - although a pretty nice machine, but still having kind of small workspace for the design stuff of all kinds I have to work with. So I'm in a little doubth about what monitor should I get. Let's say - I'm ready to spend ≈ $900 on it. I'm pretty sure that for this price I can get a new 20' Cinema, 23 Cinema (ref, used or ebay-deal) or 20' Studio (saving some) or 22'-23' Studio. So - which is the one I need? I like the design of both versions very much - still i'd rather take alluminium one for it takes a little less space on the desk as I guess. But I've heared the 23 Cinema has some issues - don't know exactly what's the matter with it but still.. Studios are cool, but I'm afraid that the 23' one will be really huge for me -not as 23' Cinema, because Cinema has a smaller enclosure. Also, Studio are prev.generation displays and I'm not sure about their quality.
So - what advise can you give me to finally decide one among all these options?

Brad
2005-12-29, 01:05
1' = 1 foot
1" = 1 inch

...so you know. ;)

Dima
2005-12-29, 01:09
thanks. I'm originally from metric-system country (not an excuse - but anyway)

DMBand0026
2005-12-29, 01:11
The metric system is better anyway, I wish the US would use it.

Dima
2005-12-29, 01:13
i don't really care about this.. I have to use both so far anyway

HezMah19
2005-12-29, 05:13
mertic system = teh win!

I've always prefered the look of the Studio displays...not sure why.

Luca
2005-12-29, 05:25
First of all, you will really want a DVI display, since you have a PowerBook. PowerBooks do not have ADC displays so if you get an older Apple display (like the 22" or any of the other Apple displays with clear cases), you also have to buy a bulky $100 adapter just to use it. Not worth it.

Apple is not always the way to go. Their displays look amazing but you can get less expensive 20-24" displays from other companies. The most-recommended brand here and elsewhere is Dell. They make 20" and 24" widescreen displays that are similar in quality to the Apple displays, but they also cost less and on top of that, they have a wide range of inputs. The Apple displays have just a single DVI port, but the Dell displays have DVI, VGA, S-video, and composite video, so you can have multiple devices connected to the one display. Composite video, in case you're not familiar with the term, is what DVD players and game consoles use to connect to TVs, so you can use the display for those too if you want.

Current prices are $463 for the 20" and $1200 for the 24". The 23" Apple display is only $100 more expensive than the Dell 24" (still a bad deal since the Dell is a better display anyway, and slightly larger), but the Apple 20" is truly a terrible deal, costing nearly twice as much as the Dell! Furthermore, the Dell displays carry a three-year warranty to Apple's one.

WrestleEwe
2005-12-29, 10:58
hrm... This thread made me do some googling...

Where have all the CRTs gone?

I currently own a 21" flatscreen CRT (1600x1200@85Hz) and I don't think I have ever seen a better looking image than from this screen.

Is the CRT era really over?

Luca
2005-12-29, 13:07
Pretty much. 21" CRTs are so big and heavy that I don't think anyone wants to bother. Plus, after using an LCD, CRTs look blurry (even the really good ones do). CRTs have more color saturation but LCDs have more advantages.

Part of it is also that more and more people are buying stuff online, and shipping a 21" CRT is a great undertaking. Shipping a 24" LCD is easy, though.

kaupena
2006-01-16, 22:20
Slightly a different question here, but I'm looking for some advice. I'm moving into a new apartment and have to downsize, I need a large (ish) monitor that can double as a tv. I know that some of the higher-end LCD tv's have DVI inputs, but I worry about their low resolutions as a computer display. I also know that companies like dell etc. make monitors with video inputs of various sorts. How capable would a display designed as a monitor be at showing a tv signal coming from a digital cable box/ DVD player/ etc. I'm not a huge TV watcher, but I would love it if I didn't have to swap cables every time I want to change the function of the display. My main computer is the first incarnation of the 1.67 powerbook (with the 128mb video upgrade, which I believe supports dual-link), and I'm not really interested in running the TV signal through the computer first. Any suggestions that people can make would be very welcome!

Kraetos
2006-01-16, 22:56
Slightly a different question here, but I'm looking for some advice. I'm moving into a new apartment and have to downsize, I need a large (ish) monitor that can double as a tv. I know that some of the higher-end LCD tv's have DVI inputs, but I worry about their low resolutions as a computer display. I also know that companies like dell etc. make monitors with video inputs of various sorts. How capable would a display designed as a monitor be at showing a tv signal coming from a digital cable box/ DVD player/ etc. I'm not a huge TV watcher, but I would love it if I didn't have to swap cables every time I want to change the function of the display. My main computer is the first incarnation of the 1.67 powerbook (with the 128mb video upgrade, which I believe supports dual-link), and I'm not really interested in running the TV signal through the computer first. Any suggestions that people can make would be very welcome!

I have the EXACT same problem - moving into smaller living space. I need a display that can be three things:
1) Secondary display for my PowerBook Aluminum 15" (Although, as soon as we see Merom MacBooks, thats where I'm goin. Probably the same output, so it doesn't matter, unless Apple decides to invent another crackpot display adaptor like they did with ADC...) I need this mostly for Photoshop/Dreamweaver, since all the little pallet windows tend to clutter up the 15" display. For Office, Safari, Adium, etc. I find the 15" fine, so I wouldn't ALWAYS be using the bigger monitor.
2) Primary display for my Alienware. It's got a 256 MB GeForce 7800 GT, so it can handle anything you throw at it.
3) Television. I use the TV primarily for, well TV, but I need it to be high def because I am already watching high def and I dont wanna go backwards, and 2006 is suppost to be the year everyone switches to high def anyways. My XBox 360 uses HD as well.

I have done a lot of reasearch, and so far, I do think that Dell is the way to go. I've been looking at the Dell 2405FPW - the 30" is droolworthy, but its a little out of my range. Reasons I like the 2405FPW:

-HUGE. Never had a monitor bigger than 17" before. :D
-DVI input. My current Viewsonic VA800 for my Alienware is on VGA. Still looks great, but I know it could be even better.
-Composite input. Means I can run an HD signal out the back of my Yamaha reciever (to which my cable box and xbox are hooked up) and get pretty 1080i/720p picture.
-1920x1200 native res. Thats a lot of pixels.
-1 inch bigger, yet $420 less than the Apple. Apple, I love ya, but you gotta do something about that nasty RDF you got goin...

Reasons I don't like the 2405FPW:

-Only one DVI input. I would like to be able to use this with 2 computers. It DOES have an extra VGA port, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it can do 2 inputs and has a toggle - it might be one or the other, i.e., the VGA doesn't work when the DVI is connected.
-I've heard that while its a great computer screen, it's not up to par with a TV for DVD playback (CNet Review) (http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_UltraSharp_2405FPW/4505-3174_7-31335738-2.html?tag=nav). This makes me worry about the picture for TV/XBox.
-"Dude, it's a Dell!" blaugh. Never thought I would own a Dell. Still, I'm not gonna get hung up on brand if its truly the best 24" LCD out there.

So, I ask the question: Does anyone own a Dell FPW series, or even better, the 2405FPW itself? If so, how is the screen quality? Do you use it's component inputs for a cable box/video game console/DVD player/a-v reciever?

Or, does anyone know of a better solution for a computer monitor/TV all-in-one?

Thanks guys

kaupena
2006-01-18, 12:35
Yeah, I'm leaning towards the 24" dell myself. I've always wondered if the low DVD quality was because of the software codecs that computers use to translate them or something else. It theoretically should be a better picture (higher contrast, more pixels, etc.). An AV receiver is a great idea, I never really got into the whole home-theater thing (prefer to spend my money on REALLY high end stereo), but it would solve a whole bunch of problems. Any rec's on one of those would be nice too.

scrouds
2006-01-18, 13:09
just another technical note:

Composite video is the yellow RCA cable that carries all the video signal over 1 wire. It does not have the bandwidth of HD.

Component is the one y'all are talking about, which has individual RGB wires. That carries a full HD signal.

DMBand0026
2006-01-18, 13:20
No it doesn't. You are correct about some things though, the yellow RCA cable is composite, that carries the whole video signal. A step up from that is S-video which separates black and white from color signals to enhance picture. Another step up from that is component, that carries red, green, and blue separately to further enhance picture quality, but it is still analog. To get HD you need DVI or HDMI. Those are digital inputs that allow for a HD quality digital signal to be carried.

Bryson
2006-01-18, 13:24
You also get RGBHV, where the horizontal and vertical sync are carried on different cables as well.

709
2006-01-18, 13:43
For those interested in the 2405FPW, Dell has them on sale at the moment for US$879.20 (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=24053YR&cs=19&c=us&l=en). That's a damn good deal.

kaupena
2006-01-18, 13:52
I thought that you could get non-digital HD quality signals through a component video connection?

TMT
2006-01-18, 14:11
...component, that carries red, green, and blue separately ...

No it doesn't. You are correct about some things though, the three component cables carry a luminance signal (Y) and two colordifference signals (R - Y and B - Y).

:)

DMBand0026
2006-01-18, 14:15
Details... ;)

Thanks for the correction :)

Bryson
2006-01-18, 14:35
No it doesn't. You are correct about some things though, the three component cables carry a luminance signal (Y) and two colordifference signals (R - Y and B - Y).

:)

Even further pedantry:

While your description of component is correct, there is such a thing as RGB Sync On Green, which does indeed carry a Red, Green and Blue signal. Lots of good info here (http://www.projectorpeople.com/tutorials/dec-cable.asp).