New monitor

[Dave]

Hey all,

Our Mac Pro is reaching it's end of lease (hooray:)), which also means the Cinema Display is going away too.

I'm speccing up a good machine for our design superstar, and looking for a good 8bit LCD panel to go with it. Something in the 24-27" range.

I've been looking at the Dell UltraSharp 2709W (http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/monitor_2709wfp?c=au&cs=aubsd1&l=en&s=bsd) since a lot of people rave about the high end Dell screens, but haven't really seen anything else that fits the spec. Problem is that manufacturers change their models so often, by the time you find a review, that model is outdated.

Anyone have any recommendations for good LCDs ?

Cheers!

[temp]

if it's for a designer, just get an apple.

if the colours and viewing angle don't matter, BenQ 24" is ridiculously cheap

[kay]

nah we're not after cheap, we have a ton of those already, we need something to replace the much-maligned Apple, which is why we're looking for an 8 bit.

[scross]

Check this out. It might help you a bit:

http://shopproducts.howstuffworks.com/computer-monitors/COMPUTER-monitors/SF-7/BEFID-9006

[heist]

yeah, when i was buying a little while ago everything i read said the dell ultrasharp was the winner of non-apple.

doubt you'd be unhappy with the apple either. unless you don't like glossy or dislike getting screwed on price.

[Dave]

Yeah it's the screwing on price I don't like. The Dell 2709 (27") is cheaper by quite a margin than the 24" Apple screen.

[Dave]

Check this out. It might help you a bit:

http://shopproducts.howstuffworks.com/computer-monitors/COMPUTER-monitors/SF-7/BEFID-9006

Thanks, but the problem is it's hard to locate 8bit panels specifically. It's easy to follow on pricing though... anything sub $700 will not be an 8bit panel :)

[heist]

could wait for the LG W2420R .... 12 bit

1630 euro but

[Dave]

could wait for the LG W2420R .... 12 bit

1630 euro but

Uhhh... ouch :) If I pay that much for a screen, I want to be able to put a tag at the bottom of the screen;

"Best viewed on a 12 bit screen"

[icon]

I've got one of the Dell Ultrasharp 24" and another cheap but vibrant 6bit 24" LG.

The Dell is really really nice on many levels and I highly recommend it. In fact I recommend the Dell over the Apple Cinema Display even if they were the same price. Everything about the Dell is superior once you turn the power on and it stops looking like a piece of modern swedish minimalist furniture.

For the record I used 2 * 24" Cinema Displays for 2 years prior to these.

I specifically got the Dell because it was the largest gamut available without going to a $8k+ broadcast monitor but I also got the 6bit because something like 80% of the market uses them and ignoring them is like ignoring IE6 users: painful in the end.

When I was looking to buy my ones I talked to a couple of guys who are big chipset nerds and they told me that identifying 8bit monitors these days is basically impossible. Ignore specs like "110% Gamut" or 48919087 Billion Colours, it's all marketing. I think you used to be able to know from the panel type but I believe even that's no longer as much of a science, not to mention you can't always guarantee the panel for the model you order.

So yeah if the Dell isn't on special then I'd buy a decent 24" 6bit and wait until Dell inevitably do a $100-$200 off special.

Oh ... if your designers anything like me then they might prefer the 24" over the 27" if they are spec'ed at the same pixel res.


EDIT:

Forgot to add 12bit/8bit/6bit, I don't think the colour depth is actually what matters. What you want to avoid is banding and crunching of colours. Matching real-world colours is useless IMO unless you're using a digital gamut matching system and constantly producing high quality prints. Even most graphic designers don't need that - it's better to check colours at the print shop. That's the domain of photographers only really.

[Dave]

Thanks for that :)

I've been doing lots of reading, and while panel bit depth does count, so does the display technology, IPS being on top. Unfortunately only the Dell 30" is an IPS screen, and comes with a $2300 price tag. ouch. Very slick though...

I looked at the HP pro displays, but contrast level wise, the Dell leaves it for dead, and HP max out at 22" anyway.

I'll wait until the end of the month to see if a special comes up, regardless of which Dell do NRMA/RAC/etc discounts too, being around 10% which is a good deal anyway.

I know what you mean about having a 'regular' 6bit panel, the colours can vary so much. My workstation has 4 screens on it, and they are all different to a degree. With most colours it's barely noticeable, but with some (especially dark gray, brown etc) it's a huge difference.

[ashul]

wish I had seen your post yesterday - the Dell outlet store do great deals and I got my home 24" ultrasharp from there - will keep an eye out for you and if anyone is looking for lcd's check out http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/products/quickship/au/en/monitors?c=au&l=en&s=dfo they don't last long..

[jexley]

Dell's customer service may blow howler monkey, but you can't beat their products for the price.

Don't scrimp on phone answerers is the lesson, I reckon. But I got a great laptop for $600 less than it's nearest counterpart here in town.

[Dave]

The 2709WFP is $100 for the next few days, looks like we found our winner :) Can't beat that price...

[Dave]

and RAC members get a dell discount, so i got another 10% off.... 27" pro screen for $899... now there's a bargain :)

[::Scott::]

I personally find anything bigger than about 24" a bit too big. I invested in a 23" Sony SDMP 234W. It has the same panel as the apple screens, but its slightly cheaper and has a better backlight.
It is a great monitor. Ive compared it against the Samsung series screens which my colleagues have, and the colour definition is way better.

Google it up: http://www.google.com.au/search?q=sony+sdm+p232w&rls=com.microsoft:*&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&rlz=1I7GGLL_en

[icon]

and RAC members get a dell discount, so i got another 10% off.... 27" pro screen for $899... now there's a bargain :)

Nice :)

Make sure he has a big tablet too, if not already. A small one becomes frustrating on a bigger monitor and the new Wacom 4's are relatively well priced and probably worth the investment :)

[Dave]

Nice :)

Make sure he has a big tablet too, if not already. A small one becomes frustrating on a bigger monitor and the new Wacom 4's are relatively well priced and probably worth the investment :)

He doesn't use a tablet. We've offered to get him one, but he wasn't all that excited :)

[icon]

He doesn't use a tablet. We've offered to get him one, but he wasn't all that excited :)

each to their own i guess ... but if he hasn't tried it maybe he should. i think once you get into them they do increase productivity/quality in the adobe suite :)

[Dave]

Well I tried saying that, but he didn't seem all that excited. Maybe we'll get one regardless and see what happens :)

[tuna]

Well I tried saying that, but he didn't seem all that excited. Maybe we'll get one regardless and see what happens :)

Tablets are like a second screen, until you have one and use it, you just have no idea what you are missing. Tablets also take a few days to get used to ;).

[Geminii]

As a late addition to the thread, I've been using an Ultrasharp 3007 for a short while and haven't had any complaints other than its size is making me pan-and-scan a bit. I figure I'll work around that once I've figured out good onscreen window sizes for my usual applications.

[scross]

Hey guys,

I'm interest to know which monitor you decided to buy anbd whether it lived up to the expectation?

cheers
Scross

[Dave]

Went for the Dell 2709WFP and it's absolutely stunning - though it does take some fiddling to get Photoshop monitor profiles to behave right.

[scross]

Awesome! I'm putting it on my xmas list!

[harmonysteel]

I'm really happy with my Samsung 23" 2333HD - http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/pc-peripherals/monitor/lcd-monitor/LS23CFVKF/XY/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail

I've got it set up next to my secondary monitor - a BenQ 24" - and the difference in color and clarify with the Samsung is very noticeable. I find it pretty much perfect for web design work.