Advice on wide screen monitor

[maX_Andrews]

Apple cinema display 20" with the VESA mounting adaptor: http://www.shop.com/op/~Apple_Cinema_Display_VESA_Mount_Kit-prod-35725559-47752842

[newman]

Just one thing about apple's monitors - if you use them on a PC, they won't show POST or anything before windows starts to load - that makes accessing the BIOS a tricky thing. You can also forget about installing it's calibration software on a PC as well.
I recently bought a Samsung 204B - it's a 20" non-wide 5ms screen, and am pretty happy with it - great color definition and viewing angles, and works pretty good with non-native resolutions (other then 1600x1200 in it's case). I can definitely recommend this screen, and if you want a widescreen, there's that version too - I think it's called SM205BW.. although they've got several 20" widescreen models so check them all out, see which one might suit you. Good luck!

[imashination]

Just one thing about apple's monitors - if you use them on a PC, they won't show POST or anything before windows starts to load - that makes accessing the BIOS a tricky thing.


Wrong im afraid, apple screens sync all the way down to 640 to show the post screens. Only the really old screens which used the ADC plug and required a converter box had problems showing startup screens, and even then that was only when connected to certain (mostly radeon) gfx cards.

[ihavenofish]

"Just one thing about apple's monitors - if you use them on a PC, they won't show POST or anything before windows starts to load - that makes accessing the BIOS a tricky thing"

definitely not true. i have 2 apple 20" on a pc and have no such issues. the screens are recognized at the propper res, and the usb and fire wire ports work properly.

the only drawbacks of the apple screens on a pc are that you have no controls. brightness is all you can adjust. but, since the adjustments are only tampering with the digital stream, using the video card has an identical effect, and give you even more control anyway.

later

[newman]

Odd, a friend of mine bought an apple cinema display about two months ago and it won't show the post screen.. The vendors must have stuck him with an older model.

[ihavenofish]

well, if its not the 4 -5 year old clear plastic one, then its new.

its most likely that he was either using the wrong dvi port (if the card had 2), or that the dvi port was the secondary monitor for some reason (if it had 1 vga and 1 dvi).

neither of those would be specific to the apple screen.

later

[daft-crut]

nighttrain: Although I'm not so sure, but I also think that your friend may plug the monitor into the second DVI port and not the first one.

[lots]

I've seen claims of the "titanium" style Apple displays having issues showing BIOS and the like. Perhaps this is not entirely resolved, even in the new displays?

Granted I've never tried one :) so I don't know from experience.

[ihavenofish]

hmmm. a friend has told me that he has had this issue with his 23" apple display.
he said it was specifically related to nvidia's dvi layout. (he'd spoken with nvidia about it aparently)

maybe theres a strange issue with specific combinations of video cards and monitors.

later

[Burek]

Which one is better:

24'' class: Dell 2407 or Samsung 244T

21'' class: Samsung 215TW or Samsung 214T

[ihavenofish]

i dont know about the samsung ones you listed, but i really dislike the dell 24" (also made by samsung)

it has an extremly poor viewing angle and a tendency to crush blacks, especially when you lower the brigtness to a non blinding level.

i much prefer the apple/hp/philips 23" (which is made by LG) for a 1920x1200 large display.

later

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