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LG UltraFine 5K - Owners Thread
- Thread starter iBrooker
- Start date
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Ordered mine the last day of March before the sale ended, used my gift cards from purchasing my 15" tbMBP to get the price down to $899 and I'll get another 90 bucks back for using my Discover card. At basically 800 bucks, had to pull the trigger! Said it would take a week to ship but it actually arrived at the door just over 24 hours later.
Was out of town on Business and then vacation so just got around to setting it up yesterday. I was really leery of buying this monitor with all of the bad reviews and issues I've seen on these forums and elsewhere, but I was pleasantly surprised after unboxing and setting everything up.
I'm running the monitor with a single 15" tbMBP. I've used it with the computer in clamshell mode as well as with the lid open as a second monitor. I've had zero sleep issues so far. The computer goes to sleep, I touch the mouse and the computer and monitor wake right up. As for the shielding issue, I got a 703 unit which was properly shielded during original manufacturing and have the monitor about a foot and a half from my router on my desk with zero issues. No flickering, random half screen going dark, etc. Monitor turns on and stays on, even within inches of the router.
The one known issue that I'm experiencing like everyone else is the volume control. Like everyone else, going from mute to lowest volume gives you a whisper. Turn it up to the second lowest volume and it's like you went from the library to a rock concert. Need a firmware fix for this ASAP.
Overall, though, I'm loving this monitor so far. Picture is spectacular. Colors aren't perfect, but they are pretty close and as good as you are going to find on a monitor this cheap. Pairing with the 15" tbMBP, this monitor seems to work perfectly.
Was out of town on Business and then vacation so just got around to setting it up yesterday. I was really leery of buying this monitor with all of the bad reviews and issues I've seen on these forums and elsewhere, but I was pleasantly surprised after unboxing and setting everything up.
I'm running the monitor with a single 15" tbMBP. I've used it with the computer in clamshell mode as well as with the lid open as a second monitor. I've had zero sleep issues so far. The computer goes to sleep, I touch the mouse and the computer and monitor wake right up. As for the shielding issue, I got a 703 unit which was properly shielded during original manufacturing and have the monitor about a foot and a half from my router on my desk with zero issues. No flickering, random half screen going dark, etc. Monitor turns on and stays on, even within inches of the router.
The one known issue that I'm experiencing like everyone else is the volume control. Like everyone else, going from mute to lowest volume gives you a whisper. Turn it up to the second lowest volume and it's like you went from the library to a rock concert. Need a firmware fix for this ASAP.
Overall, though, I'm loving this monitor so far. Picture is spectacular. Colors aren't perfect, but they are pretty close and as good as you are going to find on a monitor this cheap. Pairing with the 15" tbMBP, this monitor seems to work perfectly.
You may have missed it earlier in the long thread, but if you hold shift-option while hitting the volume keys it will adjust in 1/4 increments so you can get more fine grained control. I'm running at 1.5 from the bottom.
Have you tried to unplug your 5K from your MBP while it's in sleep/clamshell mode? My issue is that if I do that, I pop open the lid on my MBP and the builtin display remains off. Machine is awake as the touchbar and keyboard respond, but builtin display stays off.
Yes, I have unplugged while in clamshell mode and the laptop screen turns right back on, no issues.
I must have an unrelated issue as I'm having the problem even when I unplug a dongle that has an HDMI display. "It just works".
Well after speaking to my rep, I decided to hang on to the monitor. It will do me until a 32" 5K (or greater) display comes out (probably not until late 2018/19 at the earliest). For the price I got it at (and how much better it was compared to the others I saw and what it offers over other monitors due out this year) it just makes sense to hold on to it.
Since this is an owners thread, thought I'd post my desk.
Apple Cinema Display, LG 5K and Herman Miller Mirra 2 chair (phenomenal chair btw).
I'm obsessed with having a clean desk so these displays foot the bill. The ACD has a rear mount for the MBP to sit on and I'm using a Book Arc behind the LG5K to hold the other MBP.
Apple Cinema Display, LG 5K and Herman Miller Mirra 2 chair (phenomenal chair btw).
I'm obsessed with having a clean desk so these displays foot the bill. The ACD has a rear mount for the MBP to sit on and I'm using a Book Arc behind the LG5K to hold the other MBP.
Attachments
24 hours in, I am very happy with the displays. 
This is the absolute worst piece of technology I have ever owned and I used Windows ME. >_<. I'm running macOS 10.12.4 on my 15" TB MBP, and still every time I wake the machine I have to unplug the monitor from the laptop and then plug it back in for the panel to come on, and then move the monitor, unplug the USB-C hub I have plugged in to it and play this game of unplugging and plugging things in until it all works. I do have my router close to the monitor, but that's a pretty temporary thing, so I just chalked it up to bugginess despite having a model with a serial beginning in "703" that should be "fixed". Starting this morning I now have an issue where the monitor is unresponsive to brightness changes. I can use the chevron button with Ctrl or change it via system preferences, and even see the brightness indicator at the maximum, but it's obviously at the lowest setting and won't change. In order to get that to work I have to unplug the power and go through an even longer game of plugging and unplugging until things work. >_<.
Really, really wish I could just return this thing and buy a cheap 4K panel off of Amazon until Apple makes a display that actually works.
Really, really wish I could just return this thing and buy a cheap 4K panel off of Amazon until Apple makes a display that actually works.
Have you tried reporting to the problem and trying to get a replacement or repair? Could the USB-C hub you've got be partly to blame? Seems like you're having more problems than most of us.
Same issues here. What's even worse is that my MBP's built in screen stays off and plugging in/out the 5K does nothing. Only a hard reboot gets it working again. Now I'm hard rebooting my MBP every couple days as I use my 5K. Not an ideal user experience to say the least.
[doublepost=1492991970][/doublepost]
Lol, just need a model name. It's surprising the number of desks IKEA, Staples, and the like carry.
No-one has ever said that the USB-Hub and bugginess around plugging in a MBP has been fixed by the 703 serial number batch. The 703s are only known to be displays that had the router shielding fix manufactured into them from the start (not retrofitted).
The USB hub on this monitor is certainly known to be very buggy. Some have reported decent success with it, but I've basically given up on mine until LG issue a fix. It appears to be prone to serious instability when the devices on it are drawing a lot of power.
When Apple / LG first announced these monitors, I thought to myself "gee I wish they had more ports", but now I'm starting to think they should have just shipped NO ports. The fact that LG hasn't fixed this yet makes me wonder if it even IS fixable. But then you could say the same about the volume thing I guess, which absolutely SHOULD be.
The software has certainly improved though, especially since 10.12.4. Considering the amount of people not having issues, perhaps the remaining bugs are hardware defects?
I'm feeling very fortunate that I don't appear to be having issues yet.
Yep. It's the Ikea kitchen countertop, but instead of the drawers that everyone uses I installed hairpin legs instead for a mid century modern look. It offers more leg room too.
I added an anti bend stiffener bar that runs the length of the desk to prevent sagging.
To finish it off I applied some food grade oil on it to bring out the richness of the wood and to make it water resistant. I spilled water on it the other day and it beads up and easily wipes away.
Exactly what I was getting at earlier.
I think people with, perhaps genuine, hardware defects are not reporting them to Apple or LG because they think it's "normal" for this product. That might explain why some of us are happy or even delighted with the display and others are spontaneously combusting over it!
I would encourage anyone who is less than satisfied with the display, or the MBP for that matter, to report it to the relevant party and try to get it resolved. If you go round the repair/replace loop and still feel the same then fair enough but at least do that once.
You have the list of parts/sizes? I wouldn't mind building something like that myself. Looks really nice.
I have a very annoying and serious problem with my LG Ultrafine 5k display. I have ONE display but when I connect it to my 13'' Macbook Pro 2016 with Touchbar, the display remains black and macOS Sierra (10.12.4) shows THREE displays under "Display" settings. The "Build-In Retina Display", "LG Ultrafine 5k (1)" and "LG Ultrafine 5k (2)" even though I only connected ONE display. One of the Ultrafine display is vertical and the other is horizontal (see screenshot). The desktop is extended (I can drag things to the left of my built desktop) but the display remains black and doesn't show anything. The attached screenshots show how this all looks. Any ideas?
http://imgur.com/a/1ctLM
http://imgur.com/a/8upNT
http://imgur.com/a/1ctLM
http://imgur.com/a/8upNT
55"
https://www.kehardware.com/anti-sag-table-stiffener-91as.html
20x #10 7/8" wood screws
There are 22 holes in the stiffener, but I don't think it's neccessary to use the two innermost holes.
Any wood glue to drop into the pilot holes.
74" (98" available if you want a larger desk)
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10301149/#/30301148
28"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/118914...ga_search_query=hairpin legs&ref=sr_gallery_8
https://www.amazon.com/Channel-Cabl...d=1493048149&sr=8-3&keywords=cable+management
https://www.amazon.com/John-Taylor-...UTF8&qid=1493048241&sr=8-17&keywords=wood+oil
Tips: when you screw in the legs, the screw must be at least 1.5" away from the edge.
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