[G4 Cubert]

Fellow Mac fetishists--

An awesome dilemma: My spouse and I have been saving for a big Mac purchase, and we've been pretty certain that it would be the Cinema Display.

Why? Because for what we do, our G4 Cube 450/320MB/20GB/DVD and iBook 366 get the job done. We have little need to burn DVDs, and though I do host some PHP/MySQL from the Cube with 10.0.4, we really aren't in need of a new 867 QS for any rational reason.

The Cinema Display, on the other hand, feels like it would change our computing experience... like going from a grade-school kiddie desk (17in CRT) to an expansive tabletop . The Cinema Display as more efficient work surface, MacNN peeps, that is the question.

Is it worth it? Those of you who took plunge, what you got to say?

(Bear in mind that we ditched our TV completely and now just watch DVDs on the Cube--from NetFlix, which I do recommend.)

Would the money be better spent on a Titanium?

Add to the mix also that Cubes are now trading for nearly what we paid for ours with the education discount.

Will the Cinema Display last us 5 years, as it needs to? Will ADC go kaput in 2 years and leave us high and dry?

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Well, I don’t think anyone who purchased a Cinema Display will say that they don’t like it. Also many people WANT it even though they don’t NEED it.

I for one would love to have the display as I do a lot of design work in PhotoShop and other graphic and Video apps. I would kill for the C.D.

You also have to keep in mind that the resolution is VERY high on the display (1600x1200) so you have to do a lot of mousing around to get anywhere.
You definitely do NOT “need” the Cinema Display for the programs that you mentioned and you might even find it harder to use text based apps on this monster.

Obviously it will be much better for watching DVD’s though. But for that money you can buy a very big TV and DVD player.

The C.D. was designed for people that are in need of a ton of space such as Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and 3D.

For you I would recommend that you get the 17’ Studio display LCD. It is very big, much cheaper then the C.D. and more then big enough for the apps you mentioned.

[murbot]

I will just put my vote for the 17" LCD in here... I've had mine now for only one full day, but I am in love with it so far. It's obviously a step down from the 22" Cinema Display, but for less than half the cost this is a fantastic display. Tons of screen real estate, bright, crisp, etc. Give one a spin at a reseller and you'll see what I mean.