New External Monitor for Logic on MacBook Pro - Suggestions

Question

I'm in the painful process of updating my studio and now my large screen external monitor has started failing.
I know if this a pretty general question more suited to the MacBook Pro forum but I'd like some input from folks used to working with an application like Logic in a home studio environment.
I guess the issue for me is that I'm not getting any younger and my eyesight isn't what it used to be. One of the things specific to Logic and music software in general is that there are LOTS of very detailed dialog boxes with text that is not always height adjustable (yes I know about zooming and indeed I do lots of that but it gets quite distracting). The other factor is that I'm often recording and engineering myself which means I'll be sitting with a guitar in my lap or at a keyboard and can't always lean in too close to the monitor.
I solved this by buying a large 26" Acer which sits on my desk behind the Mackie MCU. To my left I've got the MacBook 15.4" Pro on a keyboard stand above my MIDI controller at a 45 degree angle to the desk.
It's worked quite well until the Acer seems to have become haunted. It will mysteriously reboot itself intermittently, going blank for a second, then showing the Acer logo and going back to picture. It will also turn itself on spontaneously when the computer is off (the status light is off and then turns itself on). It seems to detect when I'm in the middle of a really good session and starts resetting itself every 30 seconds or so. Then it will work fine sometimes for days or weeks at a time. I've checked it on 4 different computers, it malfunctions on all. I believe in may be a problem with one of the capacitors or the inverter, I'm not sure, but it's driving CRAZY at this point.
And of course now it's 3 months out of warranty and may be more expensive to fix than buying a new one.
So my issue is what monitor to replace it with. I've considered buying an Apple monitor, since the display is lovely to look at but there are a couple things that are deal breakers.
It's expensive. Very expensive.
Oddly you have to choose between a 24" and a 30", with nothing in between. Don't want to sound like Goldilocks here, but the 24 is tooooo small and the 30 is tooooo big.
Yeah I know bigger is usually better but since they bumped the native resolution of the 30" up to 2560x1600 it's really sharp but things like the menu text get really quite small. Yes you can reset to a lower non native resolution, but then you loose the sharpness. I tested Logic in the store on the 30" and it did look great but I found I actually had to move my whole body around to see things at the top and bottom of the screen.
Oh and did I mention that it's expensive? Jeez.
The 24" now seems to look a bit small to me after using the same resolution (1920x1200) on the Acer's 26" screen. (Ok, I think it's actually 25.5 but hey that half an inch can make a big difference and I will avoid making any bad jokes here).
And did I mention the Apple monitors are expensive? The 24" is almost 3 times as expensive as a cheaper alternative.
I also still have a PC here that I use (sorry) and the Apple monitors have very limited connectivity. So I think unfortunately the Apple monitors are out for me.
So I;m down to a couple other non Apple options. I will not buy an Acer again since I believe now that their quality control is not good and their support is absolutely atrocious. Shame I used to be a big fan of Acer PC's, but after owning a couple I'm steering clear.
My biggest issue right now is that most of the new budget monitors are geared toward 1080p HD uses so they are they are maxing out at 1920x1080 (16:9 aspect ratio instead of 1920x1200's 16:10). So the tradeoff here is that HD movies will look better in 16:9, but 16:10 gives you "squarer" pixels and more vertical resolution for screen hungry apps like Logic.
Any opinions on this? I'm a bit new to the Mac so I don't know if I'm really better off going with a 1920x1200 screen like the Apple monitors.
Also, I know this may just be a bug in the Acer's scaling, but if I switch to 1920x1080, I lose the menus off the top of the screen or if I adjust the vpos I lose the dock at the bottom. Downscaling to 1600x1050 or even 1024x768 works fine. If I get a 1080 screen and set the resolution appropriately will it work correctly and without too much distortion?
I'm also curious what is the best way to hook up the monitor? I'm currently using the DVI to VGA adapter that came with the MacBook. My Pro is the slighter older silver keyboard model so it has the standard DVI out. Will I see any real improvement by going over to using DVI directly?
Also I'm wondering how people feel about glossy vs matte for music. My current displays are the non-glossy and I do think I prefer them for detail work.
The candidates right now are
Hanns-G HH-281HPB 28" @300$. It's one of the only budget monitors that uses 1920x1200. All the right inputs (DVI, VGA). I'm just afraid this might be a bit too good to be true. It's really cheap and after having problems with a "cheap" Acer (although it wasn't so cheap 3 years ago!) I don't want similar problems. Stand has no swivel or tilt (a big problem for my use). Also that resolution on such a big screen might be good for me or it might look grainy I don't know I haven't seen it. Anybody have any experience with these?
Samsung P2770H 27" @339 Looks nice, good color. Sadly only 1080 native resolution. Stand doesn't swivel, but does tilt. No VGA input, so won't work with my old PC (although strangely it says it comes with a VGA cable). They get generally good reviews and I know Samsung makes very good flat panel TV's.
ViewSonic X Series VX2739WM 27" @350. Once again maxes out at 1080. It's fast (1ms), has VGA input. I've never been a big fan of ViewSonic but they do seem to have gotten better color-wise. Tilt no swivel and it's anti-glare (not sure this is a plus).
There are also similar options from HP, Asus, LG and Sceptre but they are all 1080. In fact outside of the Apples, the Hanns-G and a few expensive monitors from NEC they all seem to be 1080. So if I really want the 1200 the Hanns-G seems like the only way to go.
Any input here would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

No doubt, the Apple displays are gorgeous. The first time I saw the 30" display wow, I wanted one BAD and it's actually what prompted me to buy a "big" monitor. The colors are great with a rich wonderful saturation level and as usual for Apple the form factor design is stunning. You know for that picture quality I could even get over the sticker shock and save up for one.
Which is why I was so disappointed when I actually sat down in the store and started to use Logic on one. I imagine for doing video work, graphic design or darn near anything else, it would be great. But for Logic I just found myself bending and twisting trying to look at toolbar at the bottom and then up to look at the menus. And instrument or plugin displays that were hard coded to look OK at lower resolutions looked really, really tiny to me. For me and particularly using Logic having 2 slightly smaller displays at a 45 degree angle makes more sense.
And once again the 24 seems just a bit small. I don't understand why they have a 27" iMac but you can't buy a 27" display. So iMac 27" starting at 1699, subtract out the cost of the CPU and drive ie the Mini and I'd really buy one. Strangely you can buy a 21.5" or a 27" iMac. Or you can buy a 24" or 30" display. Hmmmm.
So don't get me wrong I'm not bashing Apple for being expensive. They put a lot of money into R&D and into really thinking about the form and the function of their products. As a recent convert from being a PC developer for 25+ years, hey I've more than sipped the Kool-Aid here, I've guzzled it. They make great products and yeah they're more expensive, because they ARE better! I've now got 2 MBP's, 2 iPods, I'm about to get an iPhone (silly "death grip" or not) and I really want an iPad. Heck I'd really love an 8 core MacPro if I could afford one (alas I can't).
I guess my only gripe here is that there always seems to be a little less choice in the Apple world. Yeah, I know they do a lot less volume than the PC clone world I just think that they always seem to have a big gap between the high end and low end with not enough in between. So you can choose between the lower end and one piece units with no expansion boards (the mini or the iMac) or go straight to monster tower MacPro (way over 3K with display). You can get a MacBook but then you have to put up with a small screen or go with MacBook Pro, which let's face it is a lot of computing power for someone who just wants to web surf and write some email without squinting.
So here I am stuck in the middle. I don't want to buy a HannspreeQG or another piece of junk that's going to last 3 years and 3 months because of a crappy $2 capacitor that no seems to able to fix or care about fixing. I'd like to buy a really nice Apple monitor, I just want a big monitor, not a huge one and not a "medium" one (I know I'm spoiled but 24" seems "medium" these days).
Sorry about the rant here but my monitor is shutting down every 30 seconds and I'm about to go completely insane and toss it out the window!!!
Really glad to hear about that 84' VGA cable. I never imagined such a thing existed or would work without some sort of signal boost on the way. Very cool for me. My electronic drum kit is in another room and I would love to have a small cheap monitor next to it for sequencing. I had my laptop on a stand next to it for a while but I began to get terrified that I'd let a drumstick slip and destroy my laptop screen. That would be a very bad thing. Thanks for the tip.