[konakazi]

Hey hey,

I've been getting more and more in to video editing and am taking some motion graphics classes this Fall. I do web design, doing art and animation, for a living but am looking to broaden my horizons.

My 17" CRT (a hand me down) is feeling particularly cramped when I work with Final Cut Pro. I've been watching dealmac for months, checking out the different sales on Dell LCD's and I'm just about ready to bite.

I was originally considering getting the 20.1" widescreen ($389 on sale at the moment!) but a friend who is more of an FCP vet recommended going with two 17"ers instead.

The other thing is I'm not sure if my ATI Radeon 9600 XT supports the widescreen's max res of 1680x1050. I know zero about my graphics card, it's just what shipped with my Mac.

Another stupid question is, I know the card has 2 ports, one has an adapter going to the CRT, and the other is a slightly different size. Will this gel with the 2x 17"ers?

Any thoughts on the best upgrade solution? Thanks!

[andreas_g4]

Dual 17" is generally better if you need work space. But although I'm not into video editing, I could imagine that one larger screen is more convenient than two smaller, so you might just throw an eye on dell's 24" displays instead. Your Radeon 9600 XT can support every mentioned solution. However, in a dual setup one screen is probably driven via analog RGB insted of DVI, I dunno.

[konakazi]

Ah. Well good to know that both are options at least!

Any other opinions on the 2 small vs. one big one issue?

[firefly]

I already have a 20" widescreen and my plan is to add a 17" on the left. If you could stretch your budget that would be a good idea - or maybe add the 17 in the future if you feel you need it. I have tried 2 widescreen 20"ers next to each other and that doesnt work so well.

[konakazi]

Were the two widescreens TOO wide?

I think I'm leaning towards going with 3:4 monitors now. After mulling it over, measuring out my screen, etc I find that I would be gaining a marginal amount of additional width, and sacrificing inches of height vs. going with a 3:4 20".

The sick thing is that the 3:4 is more than the widescreen. Wah. Barring a big sale on the 3:4 20"ers I think I might wind up going with two 17" 3:4's for now. And if I'm a giant hotshot that needs 2 x 20"ers in the future, then hey, I'll cross that bridge.

Either way I'm waiting for my next paycheck and the next Dell sale! I think the one I was referencing ended this morning. Wah.

[Booradley]

Hi,

I'm new to this site and to the blog. I'm hoping to get some advice on monitors.

Currenty I have a Viewsonic 19" CRT running on my G5. As I'm getting more into video work, it's necessary that I buy a second monitor. I'm hoping to purchase a LCD that will work nicely with the CRT that I have. I'm tempted to buy the Apple 20" display, but it might be a bit out of my price range.

I've been looking at Sony, Dell, Princeton, LaCie, Samsung, Acer and Viewsonic - hoping to find a quality LCD, that will work well on a mac and for graphics, and is in a modest price range ($300-400).

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[konakazi]

Hey welcome to the board. Definitely go with the Dell if you're looking at the 20". It's the same display just in a different shell at less than half the cost.

Watch dealmac.com for some great Dell sales.