dell 20.1 monitor

[nanc]

i was wondering if that would work with my mac mini? and if it does, would it be a good one. i do a little video editing and picture editing

 

[OutThere]

Dell monitors are usually pretty good. As long as it has a DVI or VGA input (which it does if it's a normal computer monitor), it will work with the Mac Mini. You can use pretty much any monitor you can find right now (except Apple's 30" ACD) with the Mac Mini.

 

[nanc]

ya thats what i thought i just wanted to make sure...
now would this be a good monitor? i have read a few things on it and so far people really like them from what i hAve heard

 

[Calvinatir]

I have had the 2005FPW and now I have the 2405FPW, they are both amazing monitors...have fun

 

[nanc]

do you happen to have any pictures of your old 2005fpw next your mac mini? i want to know what it would look like.
i am going to get this moniter when i get enough money

 

[maya]

I want a 24" Dell display, however I am going to see what they will release at CES 2006.

I do not really like the "half donut" base.

 

[reh]

I want a 24" Dell display, however I am going to see what they will release at CES 2006.

I do not really like the "half donut" base.

It's on a standard VESA mount, so you could easily replace the base.

 

[maya]

It's on a standard VESA mount, so you could easily replace the base.

Its an added cost, I do however like the new bases that Dell has on they 30" Displays, which will follow for the 24" and 20" by feb 2006.

 

[combatcolin]

The stand is heavier than the display, so its nice and stable and more importantly dosn't make you nervous when moving the screen left/right up/down.

I love my big Dell, but i would wait and see what the even bigger 30" is like.

Apple should understand that value for money is as important as looks.

 

[maya]

Apple should understand that value for money is as important as looks.

Not only that the Apple 20" Display has lower specs than the Dell 30." Looks sharp and also cost much less. You can not beat that hat-trick combination.

 

[Dreadnought]

Wait two weeks longer and then we'll see what Apple has to offer! MWSF, here we come!

 

[nanc]

but see why wait? apple displays are way expensive and less than half the price you can get like the same display with dell

 

[kaltek]

http://www.anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=2400

If your a real stickler about displays that pretty much sums it up

 

[displaced]

Here's my setup: Mac mini and a Dell 2005FPW 20.1" display

http://homepage.mac.com/chris.platts/files/setup.jpg

... also shows my iPod photo, KVM switch, LaCie BigDisk 500GB drive and a Belkin 4-port firewire hub.

I have my Mini running into the DVI input, my PC connected to the VGA input, and my digital satellite PVR (a Sky+ in the UK) connected to the S-Video input. The photo shows the Dell in Picture-in-Picture mode, with my Mini's desktop and the Sky+ s-video feed in the upper left.

It's an absolutely beautiful display! The panel is the identical component to the Apple 20" cinema display. Whilst I'm obviously fine with paying anything extra for the excellent Apple computers, I can't say the same about the displays. Although Macs may contain 'commodity' parts (the RAM, drives, etc), the Apple price tag's worth it because of all the other Apple-only technology (integration, OS X, design, etc). However, with a display, it's the commodity component itself (the panel) which is what you'll be staring at for hours on end. Apple can really only bring 'neat design' to the party. When you factor in the Dell's VGA, S-Video, Composite, picture-in-picture, picture-by-picture and audio support, as well as the ability to rotate 90-degrees to portrait mode....

Well, let's just say I wasn't about to shell out extra for an Apple display whose only benefit over the Dell is a cuter bezel and better cable management! With the Dell's lower price and metric buttload more features, I'm willing to forgive it its crappy Dell logo and plain exterior!

[edit:] just read Kaltek's link. I read the same article before I got my display. It does mention a good point that you might need to consider if you're looking to get a 2005FPW 2nd hand. Early revisions had backlight bleed problems. No new unit should be one of those revisions. Mine, bought in November, is an A03 revision (or maybe A04, I forget...) and is absolutely fine.

One final note: in portrait mode, this thing's a monster (I can put up another pic if you wish!). However, for some inexplicable reason, the Mini's Radeon 9200 seems to slow considerably when the screen's rotated. This isn't a problem with my PC (a Radeon 9800 Pro). I'm not sure if the cause is hardware, driver, or OS X-related. My gut instinct would be that there should be no extra demand on the hardware in portrait mode, since the display is the same resolution and colour depth, just with the axes reversed. Having said that, it's still fine for viewing portrait images and for reading long pages of text. Not much fun when flinging windows around the screen though!

 

[TheMasin9]

woot

I want a 24" Dell display, however I am going to see what they will release at CES 2006.

I do not really like the "half donut" base.

amen to that, i need to get a higher def monitor for my ps3 that i am gonna get!!

 

[adk]

One final note: in portrait mode, this thing's a monster (I can put up another pic if you wish!). However, for some inexplicable reason, the Mini's Radeon 9200 seems to slow considerably when the screen's rotated. This isn't a problem with my PC (a Radeon 9800 Pro). I'm not sure if the cause is hardware, driver, or OS X-related. My gut instinct would be that there should be no extra demand on the hardware in portrait mode, since the display is the same resolution and colour depth, just with the axes reversed. Having said that, it's still fine for viewing portrait images and for reading long pages of text. Not much fun when flinging windows around the screen though!

This is because in tiger some sort of graphics accelerator (or something like that) is disabled in portrait mode.

 

[irrªtiºnal]

excuse me if this question is asked 1000+ times daily...

... but it need to have your impression of the fact that Apple Cinema Screens seem to be, if not quite overpriced, quite overvalued for their "Made for Mac"-ness... don;t get me wrong, if i could spend CA$1500 for the 23in, i would... but $1500 is just a lot when all i am going to do with it, is watch code getting compiled...

like... the basic config for PowerMac is

Dual 2GHz (CA$2399) + Apple Cinema Display 20" (CA$999) = CA$3398

a fairly descent price indeed, the problem is when trying to add 3 more inches... are there those Dell UltraSharp a REAL, descent, good alternative to Apple;s?

i mean, my **preferred** (that i would be sacrifying to buy) system would be

2.3GHz Dual, 2GB NonECC = 2x1GB, GeForce 7800GT 256MB +
Apple Cinema Display 23"
= CA$5328

**just** CA$2000 more...

with that extra money, i could build an extra Pentium D @3.0GHz, 4GB @800MHz DDR2 RAM, Raptor 10KRMP HD, same videocard, and lots of goodies, PC... at the expense of running Linux or some Windows

 

[displaced]

Hi,

I agree. As I noted in my previous post, when the entire purpose of a component is fulfulled by the 'commodity' part (i.e. the actual LCD panel), there's little point paying extra.

The Dell 2005FPW uses the IDENTICAL LCD panel to the Apple 20.1" display, although I cannot vouch for the larger models.

Find a display that gets good reviews, and try to buy from somewhere that'll give a no-questions-asked return guarantee. With the $$ difference between an Apple and Dell display, you can probably afford a restocking fee should the display not meet your requirements!

 

[Veritas&Equitas]

As I've stated before, if you want the ACD for pure aesthetic purposes, get it. Truthfully, that would be the ONLY thing that you would be getting it for. Look at nearly any review comparing the two LCD's (esp. TH's review): for the price/performance value, it's not even close. It's like comparing 2 identical BMW's when one of them is the price of a Saturn while the other is still full MSRP.

 

[jrober]

Dell 2005FPW Price Drop - UK

All,

FYI
In the UK the Price of the 2005FPW is currently £504 which is dropping on Friday 30/12 by 25% at this price it is a steal, compared to the ACD at £549. I will be on the dell site on Friday with credit card to hand.

Just to add to this I have been waiting to buy a screen for my powerbook 12in for a while now and settled on the 2005fpw after much research.

The guts are the same as Apple with better features / inputs e.g. I will use my xbox through it as well as the Powerbook.

I have a 1905FPW at work which uses the same stand / pivot mechanism and it is very stable and looks good though true the cable managament on the apple is better. If you really want a more Apple look do a Kondwarisan style dismantle and pick up the silver paint can Not sure what to do with the dell logo on the front though. Any ideas?

Go ahead they are excellent displays for the money.

John

 

[displaced]

I picked up my 2005FPW from overclockers.co.uk on a one-week-only special. It only cost me £360! And that was (as mentioned) early November.

Crazy prices can be found on these displays, even without 'official' price drops from Dell!