Apple displays superior to other less expensive models?

Hi.
I'm getting ready to install a new desktop computer setup.
Already I have purchased, but not yet removed from the box a huge (to me) LCD TFT Viewsonic 22 inch monitor. This display looked fabulous in the store and, with a rebate, it cost me only $320.
But are Apple displays superior to less expensive ones, such as Viewsonic, Acer, Samsung, etc.?
Thanks for your opinions and insights.
Dennis
Powerbook G4 15" Aluminum Mac OS X (10.4.8) 512 Meg, 80 GB HD

Apple is a manufacturer, but not the OEM of the panel. it is not necessarily true that the panel used is the same from product to product... even the ACD undergoes panel changes as their supply runs out from 1 source. but, your logic is compelling, if you want a a similiar image from the iMac monitor to the external display, the Apple monitor might lend itself better to this goal, but many 3rd party manufacturers should also do nicely. there is no such thing a "Mac" video... video is video and each monitor represents the reference video to a different level of accuracy. reviews that say "this monitor was really bright - i like it" are missing the point that there is in fact a correct contrast and brightness setting.
not nano-seconds, but milli-seconds. yes it is significant, but you cannot rely on published manufacturers specifications to compare any two products. there are enough variations in measurement techniques to effectively make any published claim totally useless, or at least give it a +/- 15 ms margin of error (or really +15ms margin of error). better response time equates to less ghosting on motion or video. if you work with static office type documents, latency doesn't isn't much of an issue for you. if you play games or watch video, it could be. anything below 16ms is generally considered quite good. gamers are usually the one that require extreme performance, because outside of scientific computing and AEC professionals, they are the only ones really pushing the limits of computer graphics hardware.
Apple displays are expensive. i'm not going to counter that point. a significant portion of the cost goes into the industrial design of the case, which has nothing to do with the performance of the display. its also marketing of scale... simple marketing 101... they aim at the high end consumer, not the big box econo-box retailers, so the pricing reflects this too. i own a 30", i like it, and want to buy another one. ultimately, you have to make your own decision about your money and how important all of these elements are to you.

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Recommended Apple Displays for vintage 7350, G3/33 and Q650 Macintosh's?

I am looking for an Apple compatible display solution for a Quadra 650, a Workgroup Server 7350 and a G3/300. At this time I have the following displays at disposal: a vintage 12-inch RGB display which is connected to my vintage Mac LC, a 15-inch IBM G50 CRT with resolution comprised between 640x480@85Hz and 1024x768@72 Hz, and two professional colour CRT manufactured by Philips in the 202P40 and 70 series (which are presently connected to my PC workstations and used as dual-displays on Matrox Parhelia.)
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The 7350/233 and G3/300 are respectively using their original video board and an ATI Rage Pro chipset. Their use would be either dedicated to scanning tasks (mainly digitisation of written media) as well as Internet gateway (for the G3 only). Colour fidelity is not prerequisite at this stage. The 15-inch IBM G50 is a capable monitor, but I think that it would be great to have a monitor with flicker-free resolution of 1024x768 for web browsing. So what is the good choice among vintage Apple displays?
I read quite numerous articles about Apple displays, and it seems that some models like the 1710 are to be avoided, according to LowEndMac. Conversely they provide excellent compatibility with vintage Macintosh graphic boards. I am particularly concerned with graphic display quality because I spend many hours in front of a computer display every day. This is the reason why I invested time and money to assemble a dual Philips 202P CRT display working space in combination with top-quality Matrox Parhelia graphic boards.
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Again many thanks in advance for your excellent forum and qualitative feedback.

For your Quadra 650, which you want to use for word processing text, there is an interesting paradox. There is a "hole" in the display capabilities of most computers.
15 inch displays:
can easily show 800 by 600, and 832 by 624 will fit on most displays with the picture slightly less than life size.
17 inch displays:
can show 832 by 624 with a 3/8 inch black border all around.
19 inch displays:
can display 1024 by 768 easily
If desk space is an issue, the clear winner is a 15 inch display. The difference between Super VGA at 800 by 600 and Mac 16 inch at 832 by 624 is not very large. Either could be used.
There is a document that discusses the use of sense pins, displays, and adapters with the Quadra series, which includes the Quadra 650:
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The Apple adapter is the only solution if you really want to keep that display. It might be a good time to look for a larger display, with DVI.
I am using the Apple adapter with my seven year old 22" display, but I wouldn't want to run OS X on anything smaller.

Apple Displays Vs. Other Displays

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Lonewolfjustin wrote:
What makes Apple Displays so special that they are so much more expensive than the rest of the monitors out there.
You don't have to use an Apple display for your MacBook. Anything with a DVI or VGA plug will work. although you might need an adapter. I'm not sure which video adapters Apple puts in the box with a MacBook.
It is a misconception that Apple displays are more expensive than anything.
At the low end you have consumer displays, $200-$600. These use lower-grade components and are not particularly color-accurate.
At the high end you have professional color displays, $1500-$5000. This includes the Eizo and better NEC monitors. Color professionals use them because they have larger color ranges and are more precise, especially after running a color calibrator on them. These are superior to Apple displays, but they are also priced accordingly. Most people don't know about the high end of LCDs because you won't find them at Best Buy or CompUSA.
So Apple displays, and their prices, are in the middle. They can give you more professional color quality than the cheapo LCDs, but they won't give you color as good as the true high end. Obviously, if you don't make your living through accurate color, you don't have to care about the high end, or the Apple monitors in the middle. Just get any cheap LCD you can find and plug it in.

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Why in the world would Apple make the track pad LESS useful in OS Lion? I hate that I can't g back to the top of a web page with a singe swipe. And of course all the other gestures are totally reversed. IMHO, this was not an improvement.

No one here works for Apple.
Go to System Preferences > Trackpad > Scroll & Zoom, and uncheck Scroll direction: Natural.

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drumford65 wrote:
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Thanks for the suggestions. Brian, I'll be sure to get you some points once I close the topic.
I didn't realize the Project files are best copied to the hard drive. Is this for a permissions related reason or just to avoid short spikes in bandwidth during saves?
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I do plan on turning off the cache of the XSR since the system will be used for editing, yet it would be nice to have cache for the metadata so that's a point to consider.
THe metadata should be segregated on its own XSR controller.
Are you saying that the metadata sharing the same controller as the video data is going to slow the whole system down even though the metadata is located on separate, dedicated drives in that controller? I thought metadata was tiny and required very little bandwidth on the bus of a controller. If this is the case, the only bottleneck would be the RAID chip in the XSR. Again, these metadata files are very small and RAID 1 is very simple, so I don't see how it could slow things down enough to justify another $4K for a new XSR. If you still disagree, please let me know.
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$300 Apple Display

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Ap, Your question is not a support question but I understand. Yes I agree that Apple should offer lower price monitors but thats just wishful thinking.
But other companies offer lower price monitors that are just as good. I can't be specific but, the components used by Apple for their displays are used by other display manufactures too.
I don't really care for posting about the competition here but, take a look at Gateways FPD 1960 Flat 19" LCD monitor. It has both analog and digital inputs and a maximum resolution of 1280 X 1024, and cost under $270.00. This is an older model but still being sold new in many places.
Enjoy your Mac.

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You can connect your 24" display with the Apple HDMI adapter
<http://store.apple.com/us/product/MJ1K2AM/A/usb-c-digital-av-multiport-adapter>
followed by a HDMI to Mini DisplayPort converter
<http://www.kanex.com/xd>
The MacBook USB-C connector does support DisplayPort, so there may be a future adapter that would avoid the HDMI conversion.
You won't be able to use the MagSafe cable.

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Suggestions appreciated.

<http://www.amazon.com/APPLE-Display-Adapter-Model-M8661LL/dp/B000067VKT>

What are the benefits of buying from Apple as opposed to other retail stores?

What are the benefits of buying from Apple as opposed to other retail stores?

You can buy from an Apple store, which has a 14 day return policy.
You can buy on-line from Apple and get a new or refurb model (less $), and get engraving if you want it.
Some retail stores have a more generous return (30 days?) policy.
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 Cheers, Tom

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Is this even the right product?

You can use another DVI, VGA, or even HDMI display for far cheaper with this adapter, US$60 plus shipping:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/VIDU2DVIA/
Warning: Results may be unacceptably laggy.
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The Radeon X1900 XT video card went bad in my Mac Pro Dual-Core Intel Xeon. (I tried it with a good one at the office). I found one online that was $250. I don't need the gaming capacity of this card and was wondering if there were less expensive video cards that I could use in this machine. I run Adobe Creative Suites for graphics design and have a 23" Apply display. Thank you for any help that you can provide. -PretzelMcK

Then pick up the ATI 5770 AND upgrade to 10.6.8.
Same price for a good card that will work and helps to have 1GB VRAM.
There aren't any other real choices let alone less expensive.
Even the ebay links I had and not a lot of choices.

Apple displays superior to other less expensive models?

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