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Monitor for my 2011 Mac Mini

R

ricardoflamingo

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 12, 2011
54
0
I am looking for recommendations for a new monitor. I have about $500 to spend. I'm looking for 24"-27" size. Quality is very important to me. I want a use it for movies, Photoshop and general stuff. I also need HDMI so I can hook it up directly to my cable box for tv. DisplayPort and/or Dvi for the Mac itself.
Thanks.
 
ricardoflamingo said:
I am looking for recommendations for a new monitor. I have about $500 to spend. I'm looking for 24"-27" size. Quality is very important to me. I want a use it for movies, Photoshop and general stuff. I also need HDMI so I can hook it up directly to my cable box for tv. DisplayPort and/or Dvi for the Mac itself.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
If you buy a display with a HDMI port, why do you need DisplayPort or DVI for connecting to the mini, since the mini has a HDMI port? You can simply connect HDMI to HDMI, without using the Mini DisplayPort or a DVI connection.
 
I want to use the HDMI for my cable box. The HDMI is not going to be connected to the Mac.
Please read the post.
 
ricardoflamingo said:
I am looking for recommendations for a new monitor. I have about $500 to spend. I'm looking for 24"-27" size. Quality is very important to me. I want a use it for movies, Photoshop and general stuff. I also need HDMI so I can hook it up directly to my cable box for tv. DisplayPort and/or Dvi for the Mac itself.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

The design isn't too good but take a look at the samsung S27A950D 27"
1920 x 1080 with VGA, DVI and HDMI.

It's about 650 EUR so it might be a little above budget?


Edit: Might've been a lil too fast.
Take a look at this one too : LG E2770V
27", 1920 x 1080, VGA, DVI and HDMI
And price is lots less : 350 EUR
 
Something like this style is nice a Samsung 27"

SAMSUNG-SyncMaster-S27A950D-27-LED-2.jpeg
 
Is that Samsung a TV or computer display? If it is a display it looks like it doesn't have any adjustments such as height, tilt or swivel. If that is the case it is an ergonomic disaster...

B&H Photo has recently been selling the NEC 2490WUXi-2 24" display for between $549-$600; its MSRP is $899. You may need to put it in the cart or click a link to see the actual selling price. It is a highly-rated display and very popular with graphics pros.

I bought one a couple of weeks ago and I am using it with a 13" MBP. It's a very nice monitor. It has a matte anti-glare LCD.
 
Mojo1 said:
Is that Samsung a TV or computer display?
Click to expand...
Samsung 3D LED Monitor SA950
Mojo1 said:
If it is a display it looks like it doesn't have any adjustments such as height, tilt or swivel. If that is the case it is an ergonomic disaster...
Click to expand...
Magic Angle Vertical delivers perfection every time

The Samsung 3D LED monitor SA950 feature the Magic Angle Vertical to deliver a picture-perfect screen even when not viewed from directly in front. This means that you can watch your monitor sitting down, standing up or lying on the couch and still enjoy a great view. And with 20 different angle steps (10 up and 10 down) you will always have a choice to match your position. So, when watching with Magic Angle Vertical, which is even also specialised for 3D LED, it feels like you’re always standing right in front of the screen… even if you aren’t.
Click to expand...
 
If you can manage to get another $500, get an Apple Thunderbolt Display.

If you can't, get a 21.5" or larger Dell (HP, NEC) IPS display.
 
Mojo1 said:
Is that Samsung a TV or computer display? If it is a display it looks like it doesn't have any adjustments such as height, tilt or swivel. If that is the case it is an ergonomic disaster...

B&H Photo has recently been selling the NEC 2490WUXi-2 24" display for between $549-$600; its MSRP is $899. You may need to put it in the cart or click a link to see the actual selling price. It is a highly-rated display and very popular with graphics pros.

I bought one a couple of weeks ago and I am using it with a 13" MBP. It's a very nice monitor. It has a matte anti-glare LCD.
Click to expand...

+1 for the NEC. NEC definitely has some quirks in display consistency, but they're no worse than Apple and the Cinema displays. The 2490 is overall superior to the current TB display in everything but screen real estate. This advantage doubles for photoshop as CCFL is superior to LED for color grading/correction in color managed applications.

FrankHahn said:
If you can manage to get another $500, get an Apple Thunderbolt Display.

If you can't, get a 21.5" or larger Dell (HP, NEC) IPS display.
Click to expand...

That's something I don't understand (although I don't see why the comment was downrated). The mini is designed to be compact and cost effective. Paying that much for a TB display puts you into 27" imac price territory. I do hate some of the more recent changes with the imac, but it basically kills off the price advantage of the mini while leaving it with an overall weaker capacity.

The NEC is still superior in quality to the Apple display. Both companies have had display problems. The Apple display is really very average, and the use of LED backlighting is really a bad choice for photographers, graphic designers, etc. It's been a consumer display trend. Part of the reason for the price is that the 27" panels used remain quite expensive. Before that it was the 26" (really 25.5) panels. Further back the big price jump was when you went to a 1600x1200 21" panel. It's just that now the 27" size is where the price really goes up.
 
Samsung Monitor Ergonomics Failure

I checked it out at the Samsung website. The only adjustment is tilting the display forwards or backwards; there is no swivel and the worse part is no height adjustment, which is the most critical adjustment for a display.

It is apparent to me that the Samsung display is not intended to be a computer display intended for serious work; it is designed to be "watched," which is the term Samsung uses over and over when describing the display. In other words, it is meant to be used to view content, not create it...

If you are wanting to view content lying in bed or while standing (?) then I suppose that all one would need is a simple tilt adjustment. But if you intend to spend hours at a computer sitting in chair using a keyboard/mouse/Wacom tablet then the Samsung is inadequate.

The Samsung is a unique design, but like the iMac its design limits its usefulness if you need to be able to adjust the display in order to avoid neck and back problems. In both cases design concerns have trumped ergonomic reality. If you happen to be the size that fits the display, then it may be OK. But if you are relatively short or tall you would be unable to adjust the display to make it comfortable to use. Adjusting your chair and computer desk is usually not going to be able to compensate for the lack of display adjustments.

I have a 24" iMac that is going to replaced with the NEC and MBP or a Mac Mini if I find that the MBP doesn't work out. I am an average size of 5'10" and I can barely make the iMac usable; my chair is at its highest setting and my input devices are raised on books. When I was considering buying a new computer desk (more $$$ to accommodate a computer that lacks simple adjustments...) I discovered that I would have to deal with the same problem, and I looked at desks that cost $700 and higher.

I didn't bother to investigate the quality of the LCD since the lack of adjustments is a deal-killer no matter how good the LCD may be.
 
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