Twa Dells or an Apple (LCD displays, that is)

Posted by: Top Cat on 08 April 2005

Hi folks. I;ve been planning to buy a new PowerMac in the next few months. I'd planned to save hard and get the 30" cinema display as I'm an unashamed resolution whore and I like big displays.

However, my wife thinks dropping upwards of two kilos on a single screen is mad. I see where she's coming from but I still lust after the big Apple screen. The 23", you see, isn't quite BIG enough. I know, I know, never happy and all that.

Anyways, today I was surfing around and spotted that I can buy a Dell Ultrasharp 2001FP 20" LCD which does 1600x1200. For under £400 all-in. My mind got to thinking: why not buy two of these, and use the dual head capabilities of the G5 to run a 3200x1200 desktop over two monitors, for an all-in cost of under £800 - comparing VERY well indeed to a 2560x1600 single 30" Apple desktop at around £2200 all-in.

ANyone got one of these LCDs? The net is reasonably complimentary about the S-IPS-based Dell, though it's not without its fare share of criticism. The Apple 30" is universally praised. However, it's a lot more money.

I briefly considered 2xApple 20" (£1500ish) and the aforementioned 23" (£1300ish) but the 20" Apples are almost twice the cost of the two Dells and have lower resolutions, and my budget would only stretch to one 23" (and I have a feeling I'd start lusting after more screen real-estate). They are also widescreen panels so might take up too much deskspace sitting side-by-side.

Can anyone advise? My usage will be mainly full-screen Photoshop, web-surfing, web-development (running RDC onto servers as well) and I like to spread out, rather than minimise/etc.

Ta,

John
Posted on: 08 April 2005 by Dan M
A 2001FP just showed up on my desk this week to replace my 3.5yr dell lcd that crapped out. Lots of real estate and very crisp - great for programming. Can't comment at all on it's use for arty stuff though.

- Dan
Posted on: 08 April 2005 by Joe Petrik
I have a 2001FP on my desk at work, too.

Pluses are high resolution, reasonable cost, DVI input, and respectable sharpness, brightness and contrast.

Minuses are several dead pixels and an inability to display all gradations between black and white on this scale --



-- Y and Z are indistinguishable, and X is almost indistinguishable from Y. (I don't have this problem with my Apple monitor at home.)

Joe

P.S. Just get two of these:

Posted on: 08 April 2005 by Steve Bull
quote:
Minuses are several dead pixels and an inability to display all gradations between black and white on this scale --



Interesting - at the right viewing angle, I can see the differences from C to Z on my 12" iBook screen (and D to Z at less critical angles). It's not stopping me thinking of getting a used 17" or even a new 20" to plug the iBook into though Big Grin

Steve
Posted on: 10 April 2005 by Top Cat
Hmmmm... thanks for the feedback, guys. For what it's worth, my Philips 150P 15" LCD can differentiate B-Z or A-Y (but not A-Z) whilst my Powerbook 12" can manage A-Z. That said, before testing I'd have claimed the Philips was the better screen - it's certainly brighter and has a better viewing angle (which doesn't matter so much on the laptop).

I know the 30" Apple is going to be the best display - that's pretty much a constant in all the reviews I've read of it - but the Dells are sooooo cheap that I could basically have a 2.5 Dual G5, 4Gb RAM and 2x20" Dells, an iSight and a funky speaker system, for the same price as a 2.0 Dual G5 with 512Mb RAM and the 30".

Arggghhh... thing is, I can afford the 30" but it's a question of justification. My photo work isn't my main activity on the computer (though I do a fair bit of it) and most of my usage is web & development work.

Are there any alternatives I should consider re: inexpensive or mid-priced, large hi-res flat panels. No CRTs (no space). DVI inputs if possible...

???

John
Posted on: 10 April 2005 by garyi
Won't a 23incher be enough topcat?

Two cheap monitors won't give you what you want, I can see every colour on the bar above, why compromise on quantity at the sacrifice of quality?

The LG panels are apparently used by apple for their panels, so if you can ascertain that the panels used in the LGs are exactly the same as the apple you could go with it. However I am confident LG bought out a 20 incher using the same panels as apples, and the prices were very similar, so perhaps these monitors you are looking at are cheapies.

The other thing I would say is the 30 incher if you did decide to go with it could be used for other tasks when the need dictated, as its DVI for instance you could connect it to a naim DVD player, now that would be sweet!
Posted on: 10 April 2005 by Dougunn
Top Cat

I agree with gary . . there is a reason why the Dell's are so much cheaper - quality!

You have a simple quality vs quantity choice.

For colour sensitive/accurate work I'd strongly favour the Apple over the Dells. For applications that need acres of screen space go for the Dells - obviously.

To quote the oft cited maxin "the quality will be enjoyed long after the price is forgotten".

It's a tough choice!

D
Posted on: 10 April 2005 by long-time-dead
TC

You know you want the 30". Nothing else is going to satisfy you in the long run.

Bite the bullet, buy the screen then spoil your wife with a good weekend away.

Benefits all round.
Posted on: 10 April 2005 by Top Cat
Hi guys,

Of course I want the 30" - but we can't always get what we want. Gary, you mentioned the LG panels in the Apple monitors - well, the Dell I speak of has an LG-Philips LM201U04 S-IPS 20" 16ms panel. Now, the Apples also have as you say the LG-Philips panels: LM201W01 for the 20", LM230W02 for the 23" etc. Pretty similar sounding (though of course the Apples are wide-aspect whilst the Dell is standard 5:4).

Does this mean that the panel shouldn't be a consideration? I'd love to see a Dell in action but I don't know anyone with that model - though at the place I'm consulting right now they have some Dell 1905FP (19") - but they use a different panel from Samsung - a different technology too - PVA versus the S-IPS of the Dells and Apples.

Boy, I thought this would be easy. I was wrong!

John