[Gary Palter]

[Yes, I know ... Dell ... Ugh, but please bear with me]

I am about to upgrade both my Macintosh (to a G5) and my PC. (I need both for my startup company as well as my consulting work and, no, Virtual PC isn't a viable alternative to the PC.)

My home office only has enough room for a single display, keyboard, and mouse to be shared by both machines. (Ah, the wonders of KVM switch boxes.)

I plan to get a 20-inch Apple Cinema Display to replace my old CRT and herein is my question.

Does anyone here know if a Dell OptiPlex GX270 with builtin Intel Extreme Graphics 2 (based on the Intel 865 chipset) or its optional "64MB nVidia®_ GeForce4 MX w/ DVI and TV-Out, 8XAGP" will support the resolutions of the Cinema Display (1680x1050, 1280x800, and 1024x640)?

For the record, I sent Dell Tech Support an email with this question. They referred me to their Spare Parts Support line! (Huh?)

[Steve]

It shouldn't be a problem, and you could always use a utility to force the card to run at the Cinemas native resolutions.

Is there a reason that you are getting the 20" cinema display? There are better options for a lesser price.

[Mr6502]

Formac Gallery 2010. 1600x1200, supports ADC and DVI. Great picture, fantastic displa.

[Gary Palter]

For the record, with the Apple Developer discount, the 20-inch Cinema Display is actually less expensive than the Formac 2010.

(The Cinema Display is 21.34" wide; the Formac is 21.5". I told you space was at a premium... )

Truthfully, I have no real preference for the Apple vs. the Formac. (I've heard good things about the Formac as well.) Before I make a final decision, I'll try to look at both displays. (Anyone know of a store that carries both in the Boston area? Does the Apple Store?)

[michaelb]

Originally posted by Steve:
Is there a reason that you are getting the 20" cinema display? There are better options for a lesser price.

Bad moderator! No, there are not.

Once you've seen a 20" Cinema Display, you would have a very hard time recommending anything else to anyone. I used to promote Samsung 172T-191Ts. They are pure junk relative to the 20".

Several people I've known have been committed to buy other monitors but have then seen the stunning quality from a 20" Cinema Display, and promptly admitted they were wrong and very happily sprung for the extra dollars.



The 20" Cinema Display is breathtaking, and by far Apple's (and the industry's to date) best ever LCD panel.

As to the DELL bundle graphics card question, any model that has a DVI port and 64 MB should be fine. See this thread for adjusting to the correct resolution:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...isplay+windows

[all2ofme]

FWIW I compared them both side-by-side and could only think of purchasing the Apple afterwards. The Formac's a great monitor, but not a patch on the 20" Apple in my opinion. The whites on the Formac were distinctly yellow next to the Apple (ever so slightly blue) and the aspect ratio of the Formac wasn't too my liking once I'd tried the Apple.

Even though there're a lot more pixels on the Formac, the Apple monitor feels less cramped because I so seldom feel teh need to expand a window to fullscreen. I do this all the time on 1600x1200 screens.

Originally posted by Gary Palter:
Truthfully, I have no real preference for the Apple vs. the Formac. (I've heard good things about the Formac as well.) Before I make a final decision, I'll try to look at both displays. (Anyone know of a store that carries both in the Boston area? Does the Apple Store?)