[murbot]

Wow, another good Apple hardware review. I'm feeling spoiled. CNet just gave this display a 9 out of 10 rating. The only thing mentioned negatively about it is that it is Mac-compatible only, and can only be used with newer Macs. Since I'm waiting for a new 867 MHz G4 right now, that basically means they have nothing bad to say about the display as it applies to me.

It's got only a 78% thumbs up right now, but I'm sure it's mostly PC trolls giving it a thumbs down for something to do. That's 19 people giving it a thumbs down, but only 2 people actually wrote anything for a comment. One of them just says "absolutely horrid" and the other just complains about the ADC.

The other thing that ticks me off about these user comments, are that they obviously are not screened at all. For example, I am sure Steve Jobs didn't put his opinion down there, but apparently CNet thinks he did:

"Grab a bottle of lotion and plug it in"

Porn looks great on this screen. Plus the flatscreen feature makes it easier to clean. Unleash the true power of the internet.

Hmm. I dunno... doesn't quite sound like Stevie to me. Plus, he gave it all 1/5s. Niiiice.

Anyway, I've been thinking about this constantly - whether I should have spent the extra money on the 17" over the 15", and reviews like this are helping to ease my mind. (but it ISGene Steinberg reviewing it, so who knows...

[FreeQuark]

It's got only a 78% thumbs up right now, but I'm sure it's mostly PC trolls giving it a thumbs down for something to do. That's 19 people giving it a thumbs down, but only 2 people actually wrote anything for a comment. One of them just says "absolutely horrid" and the other just complains about the ADC.

The other thing that ticks me off about these user comments, are that they obviously are not screened at all.

Maybe these comments should be screened for Apple employees too! One reviewer said it was better than their 21" CRT. Another said it was excellent for games like Unreal Tounament. Clearly, an objective reviewer wouldn't be making outrageous claims like that. An LCD display--any LCD display--simply does not match the color or image quality of a CRT. This is particularly true when it comes to things like text and games; i.e., on an LCD, text is badly pixellated and moving images are usually blurry (ghosting). IMO, the computer industry (and Apple in particular) has decided LCDs are going to be the standard display and so is putting out fake (or paid-for) reviews in order to influence computer buyers. I would caution people to try out an LCD display before they buy one.

[Herr Newton]

Originally posted by FreeQuark:
<STRONG>Clearly, an objective reviewer wouldn't be making outrageous claims like that. An LCD display--any LCD display--simply does not match the color or image quality of a CRT.</STRONG>

Actually I did some testing at work the other day with a colorometer. The 17" ASD had better color fidelity than a 21" Apple StudioDisplay, a 19" Sony Trinton, and IBM's behemoth P260FD 21" monitor that they ship with their Avids (behemoth? that sucker is 70 pounds. Lift from the knees!) Specifically both the luminance and contrast ratio blew the other displays away; the only one that came close was the IBM display.

<STRONG>This is particularly true when it comes to things like text and games; i.e., on an LCD, text is badly pixellated and moving images are usually blurry (ghosting). </STRONG>

The former is certainly a personal preference. I'd rather have text that's too crisp as opposed to too blurry. And the latter, judging by some of the discussion in other threads, might very well be attributable to differences in video cards rather than an innate fault of the display itself.