[Bruck]

I've spent plenty of time on my brother's G5 + 20inch Cinema display - and i'm about ready to purchase one for powerbook, but I'm curious if there is a better place to put my cash. Has anyone compared other models of the same size and found that apple's is overpriced or underperforms in anyway to the competition?

Thanks

[SSharon]

Most people here will tell you to get the Dell instead. The many people here with cinema displays justify their purchase because of aesthetics and not quality of the display.

Personally, I am very happy with my dell lcd.

[Bruck]

is it true that even though they use the same lcd, the construction and attachment of the actual backlight could cause an actual difference in quality?

Also

This means that they are the same monitor - does anyone make one that could be BETTER?

[mduell]

I'd recommend Dell... depending on the model you get marginally better specs (brightness/contrast/response time/etc, which may just be a function of how they were measured), 4 degree of freedom stand, card reader on the bigger models, multiple video inputs, and of course a much lower price and a 3 year warranty (instead of 1) on all models.

Basic 20" for $233
20" with extra inputs/better stand for $399
24" with extra inputs/card reader/etc for $674
They also have a 20" 4:3 (all of the above are widescreen) if you prefer that.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Bruck 

is it true that even though they use the same lcd, the construction and attachment of the actual backlight could cause an actual difference in quality?

Also

This means that they are the same monitor - does anyone make one that could be BETTER?

About two years ago Anandtech took the Apple and Dell 20" displays apart and found they used the same panel. But they had different backlights (Dell was brighter and had better contrast), different electronics (Apple is DVI only, Dell has other input options), etc. You can read their full review (linked previously) to see what else they had to say.

[Kenneth]

I went for the $6xx Dell UltraSharp 2407 FPW as it has more inputs.