2nd monitor recommnendations

September 14, 2005 9:53 PM

looking for a nice big 2nd monitor ... thinking about a mac 20 - 23 cinema display ? wondering what others would recommend - form is important as well as function. for graphic apps etc.
posted by specialk420 to computers & internet (24 comments total)

Consider looking into a Dell 2405FPW, instead. Apple's new monitors are very beautiful, but they are vastly overpriced and have a spotty quality record, so far. You'll get more inches for the dollar with any Dell LCD.
posted by Rothko at 10:03 PM on September 14, 2005

Dell 2005FPW. Uses the same LG/Phillips panel as the Apple 20" cinema display, but for about half the cost. you also get more inputs, PiP features, and a 4 port usb hub. i bought a matching pair for myself and i'm in heaven.
posted by tumult at 10:03 PM on September 14, 2005

yeah, the 2405fpw is also awesome. i think it's easier to get a better deal on the 2005fpw, though.
posted by tumult at 10:05 PM on September 14, 2005

I'm typing this on a 2005FPW, and I love this monitor. Can't say enough good things about it. The display is sharp as hell and a pretty good value for its closest competitor.
posted by menace303 at 10:27 PM on September 14, 2005

While the Apple Displays are breathtakingly beautiful, with the bezel and casing hewn from a single sheet of 1/6" thick alumium, cut and molded by robots, the sparse bits of text written on it's exterior not painted or embossed, but burnished into the aluminum permanently with a laser...

They are really shiny. Almost too shiny, in a distracting sort of way.

Get the dell. Look for a coupon, the deals are fantastic. Shiny isn't worth twice as much.
posted by blasdelf at 10:43 PM on September 14, 2005

i echo the recommendation on the Dells. I have a 2005FPW that I got new for $450, and although the bezel isnt as pretty as the Apple displays, the screen is exactly the same, and the ability to switch between DVI, VGA, S--Video *AND* composite RCA inputs (either as standard fullscreen, or in a Picture-in-Picture configuration) is a huge plus. It's also pretty neat that you can flip the display in a vertical orientation, although unless youre a print designer, I can't see much use for that.The biggest downside is its lack of a Firewire hub.

The studio I work at bought 4 of these puppies after seeing the one I bought, and saved a substantial heap of money which would have been unneccssarily lost on buying Apple's displays.

Read this extensive shootout between the Apple and the Dell display, and you'll probably be as sold as I was. I have absolutely zero complaints with this monitor, after having it for nearly 8 months.
posted by melorama at 11:10 PM on September 14, 2005

I have the Dell 2405FPW and am extremely happy with it. If you check in with www.bensbargains.com often you'll get it for less than $800 on sale.
posted by vaportrail at 11:25 PM on September 14, 2005

If you're doing graphics work professionally, you still may want to consider 24" Sony Widescreen CRT's. Trinitrons are pretty decent for emissions, but you'll get the most accurate color reproduction you can have right now. At least, I think. It's been awhile since I've researched LCD tech.

Something to look into, I suppose.
posted by id at 11:56 PM on September 14, 2005

It's also pretty neat that you can flip the display in a vertical orientation, although unless youre a print designer, I can't see much use for that.

If you wanna play Toobin' it's a must have :)

Not used any other similar displays but I've been running dual Dell 2405FPW's for a few months now and they are very, very cool.
posted by ed\26h at 3:20 AM on September 15, 2005

nice. thanks people - lots of dell votes...


how's dells buyblue rating? oh let me answer that... really shitty. apple computer ... really nice. i have hustle on LG products... perhaps thats another potential route for the same screen?
posted by specialk420 at 6:01 AM on September 15, 2005

You'd help the Democratic Party a lot more if you bought from Dell and gave the money you would have spent on an Apple to a Democratic candidate.
posted by grouse at 7:22 AM on September 15, 2005

point taken. but if we all start voting with out dollars - i think dell would start to get the hint.
posted by specialk420 at 7:44 AM on September 15, 2005

Maybe, but that's unlikely to happen. Furthermore, my goal is to support the candidates I agree with rather than to punish corporations for supporting the candidates I oppose.

If 1000 people bought Dell monitors instead of Apple and gave the money they saved to Democratic candidates, then it would roughly equal the amount of extra money Dell has given to Republicans.
posted by grouse at 8:19 AM on September 15, 2005

It's also pretty neat that you can flip the display in a vertical orientation, although unless youre a print designer, I can't see much use for that.

I have the Dell 1905FP, and consider the screen-rotation to be a killer feature -- I like vertical better for web browsing, better for text editing, better for just about anything that isn't watching a DVD or playing a game designed for a horizontal screen. If I were suddenly richer, I'd get 2 2005FP's.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 8:51 AM on September 15, 2005

I have a pair of Samsung Syncmaster 213Ts. For a while this summer you could buy 'em for about $500, or less than half what I paid for mine. They seem to be mostly gone now, they were obviously blowing out old inventory, though you can still find a few on eBay. I like 'em. One portrait, one landscape!
posted by kindall at 9:15 AM on September 15, 2005

thanks for the samsung tip. any recommendations on aftermarket vesa desk mounts?
posted by specialk420 at 10:43 AM on September 15, 2005

You can only flip the 1905FP and not the 2005FPW, right?
posted by fionab at 11:04 AM on September 15, 2005

Oops, I meant the 2001FP, which you can rotate, not the 2005FPW, which you can't.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 11:13 AM on September 15, 2005

You can rotate the 2005FPW just fine. I got one yesterday and it flips with ease.
posted by mikeh at 12:18 PM on September 15, 2005

You CAN flip the 2005FPW.
posted by melorama at 12:18 PM on September 15, 2005

Nuts. They hid it pretty well on the product description where the tech specs don't mention portrait and landscape mode like the 2001FP's do, but now I see "pivot" under the 'product highlights.' Thanks for the correction.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 3:50 PM on September 15, 2005

I second the Samsung recommendation. Or go all the way and get the 30" Apple Cinema Display. The smaller models (23", 20") have problems with color distortions (pink at the top, yellow on the sides). I went through two 23" models in Spring. Both had pink stripes, dead pixels, and loss of definition in the corners. Ended up buying a 24" ViewSonic CRT behemoth. I miss the aspect ratio of the Displays but am otherwise happy to have a nice, stable picture tube in front of me, instead of a florescent light zapping an enormous quantity of randomly failing transistors.

Sorry, I digress. :)
posted by macinchik at 4:58 PM on September 15, 2005

Yeah, they don't have the portrait/landscape on all product descriptions under the same heading. Weird.
posted by fionab at 8:13 PM on September 15, 2005

Looks like the Dell 2405FPW is $899 shipped, plus there may be a stackable coupon for $60 that you can use too (front page of same site).
posted by fionab at 8:17 PM on September 15, 2005