What's a great monitor that's comparable to the Apple Cinema Display?
June 5, 2013 2:39 PM Subscribe
I have a 2009 MacBook Pro. I need to scale up to a large external monitor but both the new 27" Apple Cinema Display ($999) and the old 30" one (available on CL) are a bit on the expensive side. Are there comparable quality ones I can get for cheaper? Would love to hear about ones you've tried.
Best answer: Yes, the Dell U2713HM is excellent
the monoprice 27 is great for a bargain hunter.
we have several 30" Apple Cinema Displays here at work and they are solid... but they eventually (3 years?) start to have backlight issues.
posted by bobdow at 2:52 PM on June 5, 2013
the monoprice 27 is great for a bargain hunter.
we have several 30" Apple Cinema Displays here at work and they are solid... but they eventually (3 years?) start to have backlight issues.
posted by bobdow at 2:52 PM on June 5, 2013
Best answer: If you're looking at both 27" monitors and 30" monitors, be aware that the aspect ratios are different, so a 30" monitor is more bigger than you'd expect just based on the squares of their diagonals.
This is reflected in the prices. For instance, the Dell U3011 costs more than the 27" Cinema Display, despite the fact that Dell charges less than Apple.
One recommendation I have for you is don't buy anything large that doesn't have a DisplayPort input. It IS possible to convert from DisplayPort to DVI, but it takes an expensive adaptor that requires separate USB power, and, in my experience, can be a bit flaky on wakeup sometimes. So if you want to get a bargain basement monitor from monoprice, this costs a little more than the one bobdow linked, but will probably work better and will actually be cheaper after you bought the adapter you'd need to even get it working. I don't have any idea if either of those are tolerably decent, so don't construe this as a recommendation.
The Dells do have DisplayPort inputs.
posted by aubilenon at 3:09 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
This is reflected in the prices. For instance, the Dell U3011 costs more than the 27" Cinema Display, despite the fact that Dell charges less than Apple.
One recommendation I have for you is don't buy anything large that doesn't have a DisplayPort input. It IS possible to convert from DisplayPort to DVI, but it takes an expensive adaptor that requires separate USB power, and, in my experience, can be a bit flaky on wakeup sometimes. So if you want to get a bargain basement monitor from monoprice, this costs a little more than the one bobdow linked, but will probably work better and will actually be cheaper after you bought the adapter you'd need to even get it working. I don't have any idea if either of those are tolerably decent, so don't construe this as a recommendation.
The Dells do have DisplayPort inputs.
posted by aubilenon at 3:09 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Awesome thanks! Totally affordable and within budget.
posted by special-k at 3:09 PM on June 5, 2013
posted by special-k at 3:09 PM on June 5, 2013
fwiw, my goto review site for tft monitors is http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/.
posted by pharm at 4:22 PM on June 5, 2013
posted by pharm at 4:22 PM on June 5, 2013
To follow up, I just noticed that Amazon is carrying the U2713HM for $600~, which is the lowest I've ever seen it. (It typically retails around $650-700+)
posted by walka at 4:58 PM on June 5, 2013
posted by walka at 4:58 PM on June 5, 2013
It IS possible to convert from DisplayPort to DVI, but it takes an expensive adaptor that requires separate USB power, and, in my experience, can be a bit flaky on wakeup sometimes
Not just on wakeup. I drive a Dell 3007WFPHC from my iMac that way and sporadically during use it'll snow-out such that the display is still there but it's like it's got a 1950s tv overlaid on it. Power cycling the monitor resolves the issue but it's an annoyance. I assumed that I had a bad piece of hardware till some googling revealed tons of people with the same issue.
posted by phearlez at 6:34 PM on June 5, 2013
Not just on wakeup. I drive a Dell 3007WFPHC from my iMac that way and sporadically during use it'll snow-out such that the display is still there but it's like it's got a 1950s tv overlaid on it. Power cycling the monitor resolves the issue but it's an annoyance. I assumed that I had a bad piece of hardware till some googling revealed tons of people with the same issue.
posted by phearlez at 6:34 PM on June 5, 2013
Monoprice. Read the reviews to know what you're getting but I've heard nothing but praise from a few friends that own the 27" IPS display.
posted by inviolable at 6:37 PM on June 5, 2013
posted by inviolable at 6:37 PM on June 5, 2013
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posted by walka at 2:48 PM on June 5, 2013 [1 favorite]