[FTrain]

Not a question specifically about the Cinema Display, but more generally about Apple monitors. Will you do better buying from an outside vendor? Or with the discount they are currently offering, are Apple displays now a good deal?

I'm considering a PowerMac now because I'm losing hope of ever landing an iMac (given the shipping problems) and figure maybe the greater expandability would be a blessing. But a PowerMac obviously raises the monitor question.

[buchrob]

Recently bought dual 800 G4 with 17" Apple LCD. Very happy with this purchase.

Please make sure that you are made aware of Apple's repair policy on these monitors: less than 8 dead pixels is not considered a defect.

Formac 17" LCD was also on display. Very good looking unit.

Deal clincher was sizeable rebate from Apple on CPU+Monitor purchased at same time. Pays for 2 years of AppleCare Extended warranty and leaves some cash left over.

[driven]

The best display I've ever used or heard about is my Apple 17" LCD. Yes, it's THAT good.

Is it expensive? Yes .... Is it worth it? Every penny. (In my opinion).

I too thought about the formec, but A) I couldn't see it before purchase and B) I'd heard horror stories about Formec and their customer service.

[taffy]

apple displays have always been a bit off the market price range. but quality-wise they've always been relatively super, (well, i'd say they've gone downhill ever since apple decided to use PC-ish hardware). I used have an apple monitor from 1995, trinitron (obviously what else would apple use.) and it never failed me.

i've used both the 15" lcd, 17" lcd, and they've been super. well, that is to say, for a LCD monitor. you can only do so much with lcd monitors anyhoo.

Oh and, i don't think there is such a thing as getting a 'good deal' from apple. you get what you pay for, no cutting corners here.

besides, apple monitors look good next to the outstanding cases

-ck

[raferx]

I echo Taffy's sentiments... but overall I find my 17" LCD to be far crisper, and colour balanced than most CRT's I've used (19" flat screen Viewsonic, 19"Sony G400, 19" Lacie EB) It depends on your tastes. I defenitely find the LCD way easier to look at after 9-10 hours of work on it compared to a CRT. And the screen real estate cannot be beat by a CRT. I've looked at a lot of other LCD's too, none are as well put together or look as good as the Apple displays.

[Mack]

My Cinema Display is easily worth every penny. It's easily the best display I've ever used and probably the single best investment I've ever made in computer gear.

[tyoda]

I think you'll be hard pressed to find an 22" LCD display for less than the Apple Cinema. Glorious monitor, the crown jewel of Apple peripherals for sure.

The 17" is on the high end compared to similar offerings today, but if you're willing to pay, you get ADC one cable compatibility, 2 usb ports, and the excellent Apple industrial design to match your system. I've shopped around and compared many LCD's and Apple's has one of the brightest most saturated images.

[11011001]

When I bought my comp, I had never really used an LCD. I decided to get a 15" LCD cus it just looked so amazing compared to all the other monitors in the store, beside the 17".

Let me tell you, when I got my comp all setup, and when I finally got the LCD, and started up my computer I could not lift my jaw from the floor, there it rests still.

I go hours, sometimes entire days (with no sleep) and the LCD is way easier on the eyes. An LCD just makes a CRT look like an ancient TV set.

As for apple and their LCD's, IMO that you are getting what you pay for. The power for the monitor is drawn from the graphics car if ya have it connected to an ADC which all the G4's come with. Only one cable on my desk really clears things up, let me tell you.

And as people keep saying the Apple LCD's have a really crisp, bright image compared with other LCDs, and they also look cooler. I mean that power/sleep button thingy on the LCD is a really nice touch. It senses your finger over it and activates. My friends always get a kick out of that.

[xyber233]

They are overpriced but they look damn good !

[vsurfer]

Originally posted by driven:
<STRONG>The best display I've ever used or heard about is my Apple 17" LCD. Yes, it's THAT good.

Is it expensive? Yes .... Is it worth it? Every penny. (In my opinion).
</STRONG>

Expensive yes, but the 17" may be the best value of the apple displays -- viewable area approaches that of many 19" CRT's and it is oh, so clear.

[FTrain]

Thanks for all the great feedback everyone.

[-Q-]

To throw in my 2 cents, their LCDs are beautiful and worth the money but their CRTs were crap. I've had two CRTs (the infamous 15" multiscan and a 17") go bad on me within 3 years of purchase. Good image quality while it worked, but the quality was most certainly lacking...

[Big Mac]

Apple monitors are definitely not overrated nor overpriced. As others have commented, you get what you pay for. One major distinction is that Apple's monitors are digital, whereas most of the LCDs (and CRTs) on the market are still analog. The three way conversion process analog LCDs go through (processor (digital) -&gt; board's VGA out (analog) -&gt; LCD (digital)) substantially degrades the quality of those units. Even laymen customers can see it right off the bat - they often comment that the Apple LCDs have superior picture quality.

Moreover, you know with Apple that you're getting a top quality product. I've used bargain basement LCDs, and they start hurting my eyes within a minute or so due to their poor image quality. I don't know which manufacturer's offerings can even compete with Apple's displays, but I do know that Apple is leading the market.

[tullamore]

I have had a 17inch from Apple for 7 months now, no dead pixels and I think the price was very good for such a nice display. 17" from major companies are still more than Apple's, plus I like the ADC connector keeping cords off my desk.

[jsevier14]

Wait a minute...

The Apple flats are certainly fine display devices, some of the best I've
seen. However...

If you have an older Mac, they require a special, very expensive
connector. And, they will *NOT* connect to a PC, so if you have a
dual setup (like me for work), then you would have to have two
display devices on the desktop.

There is a fine alternative out there. Sony makes an 18.1" LCD flat
screen (SDM-M81) that performs very similarly to the Apple flats. Its slightly slower for full motion video. I find the sharpness of the Sony to be superior and it also has better color fidelity. It is more expensive than the 17" Apple display.

It also has one other thing I thought was really cool: One analog and one DVI connector... A DVI-to-Analog converter is included so you can connect two computers to one monitor and save a bunch of money and space. The Apple LCDs are probably the choice if you're exclusively movie person and you have a post-Sawtooth G4. If not, go with the Sony, you'll get a better overall experience and the monitor will be more portable since you can connect it to a PC. If you ever want to sell it, that's going to matter.

Just my 2c worth...

[G4ME]

LCDs LCDs I still love my 17 Sudio CRT can't beat the price of only 500 and matches my G4 very stylish. I find that I can tolorate the CRT, yet again I have never used a nice LCD for more than five minutes at an Apple store. Still think I got a bargin. ADC USB power (16 in viewable) matches my G4 and was only 500 bucks. Best thing compared to my Firewire burner.

[yukon]

I don't own any apple LCDs, so I can't speak about them. I do find them pricy and lacking on the specs side in compairasons though.

I have also owned Apple CRTs, and they have totally soured me on apple monitors. My studio display has been in for repairs multiple times, usually days off of warranty. There were memos about "burning up old monitors" apparently with the res switching problem in OS 8. oh well, they do look nice.

I'm thinking CInema Display on ebay when new revisions are released, or other good big LCD monitors if cheap enough.

[michaelb]

Originally posted by jsevier14:
<STRONG>If you have an older Mac, they require a special, very expensive
connector. And, they will *NOT* connect to a PC, so if you have a
dual setup (like me for work), then you would have to have two
display devices on the desktop.</STRONG>

Dr Bott's DVIator ($149) allows you to connect Apple's ADC monitors to both old Macs (they use a 7200/90 equipped with an ATI Radeon as an example) and PCs (with a suitable AGP card that outputs DVI).

No experience with the product, but I do know that Apple themselves offer a GeForce 4 Ti bundle (ADC + DVI) which includes the DVIator for dual Cinema Display use, so it at least meets their standards.

Just want to comment that Apple's displays are more versatile than may be first thought.

[jsevier14]

OK, I stand corrected. Good catch. You can connect to a PC with a very expensive add on display adapter. Do you know if the Apple LCD has native Windows drivers, or are you stuck with a generic profile when connected to a PC?

[furtheraway]

yes, there are apple lcd drivers for windows 2000 and xp. xp automatically detects the display as it does with apple (and pretty much any other manufacturer's) mice and keyboards.

[Mac Zealot]

I've actually seen a windows xp box with a cinema display hooked up, it was sad because right in the hardware profiler it had "Apple Cinema Display" in the list.

*shrug*

I wonder what the Cinema HD is like

[michaelb]

Originally posted by Mac Zealot:
<STRONG>I've actually seen a windows xp box with a cinema display hooked up, it was sad because right in the hardware profiler it had "Apple Cinema Display" in the list.</STRONG>

I don't understand. Why is that sad? (Or are you one of those sentimental types who doesn't like seeing Windows running on Apple hardware?!)

Anyway, my real questions are: how good was the setup? I'm assuming it was an ADC model, so was it run through a DVIator?

I'm planning to get a DVIator to hook up either a Cinema Display 22 inch or Apple Studio 17 inch to a PC. Any tips / things to be wary of? I'll need to upgrade the PC's video card - will any DVI card based on GeForce2 MX be okay?

(This thread has actually convinced me that another Apple screen is the way to go. Work requires me to use a PC more, but I'd like to keep Mac compatible peripherals wherever possible so that I can shuffle between them, not to mention the generally high quality of Apple equipment.)

[raferx]

It won't be a true digital set-up then, your PC will not support ADC, hence the connector. Why waste a gorgeous Apple LCD on a VGA adapter? (or a PC)

[mitchell_pgh]

I would pick 2 21" CRT's any day of the week over the 22" ACD... It's just too cool to have a TON of apps going on one screen, and IM on the other :-P

Then again, I'm cheap...

[Parvulesco]

Originally posted by raferx:
<STRONG>It won't be a true digital set-up then, your PC will not support ADC, hence the connector. Why waste a gorgeous Apple LCD on a VGA adapter? (or a PC)
</STRONG>

The DVIator is, as its name suggests, a DVI adaptor for ADC. The signal thus remains digital.

[raferx]

Originally posted by Parvulesco:
<STRONG>

The DVIator is, as its name suggests, a DVI adaptor for ADC. The signal thus remains digital.</STRONG>

My mistake..! Sorry, I got mixed up, what I was trying to convey was unless you have a VC with DVI you have to get a compatible card too, as the DVIator won't support an older VGA VC. Do most PC's come with DVI Vcards? Is the ADC display widely supported outside of Apple? From the prvious posts, I would say so. But still, why run that gorgeous display next to a crappy PC box... and any OS other than X is gonna look even more crappy on that exquisite Apple display. Just look at XP's text and icons... BLECH!!!!

From drbott website:

DVIator is compatible with all G4 Power Macs with built-in DVI video cards and with ATI Radeon cards with DVI connectors (see DVI connector on the right) . If in doubt, the Apple Tech Info Library (TIL) will help you out.

Other computers or video cards with a DVI connector must provide support for Apple ADC flat panel displays in their firmware or drivers. If in doubt please ask the manufacturer of the video card.
DVIator opens Apple's newest displays to a wide array of PCI Macs. If you own a G4 that has DVI video card, DVIator is all you need to upgrade to Apple's 15", 17" or 22" ADC flat panel displays. If you own an older Mac with PCI slots, DVIator and a DVI video card will get you connected.

[ 03-26-2002: Message edited by: raferx ]

[maceye]

Apple's new Cinema HD Display is probably the best LCD on the market today. Execpt, maybe, for the 24.1" Sun LCD. But it runs at the same resolution and comes in an ugly black case...