Need advice regarding apple cinema displays...

[munnstermac]

Hi all,

I am thinking about getting a mac pro in the new year to expand my photography. What I would like is opinions on the monitors, would I be better off with one 30" display or two 23" or even two 20." I live in a studio apartment and my computer doubles up as a tv through eyetv. I have a "medium" budget (running two jobs and university is not cool), I will be selling all my old stuff to help finance it. I know some people are gonna say its overkill but my macs are my hobby and they keep me quiet.

Thanks in advance,

Munnstermac

 

[TheHoff]

Are you using Aperture or LightRoom? The multiple monitor support is different between them. Honestly you'd be fine with one 23, 24, or 30. Two may be overkill for even a serious hobbyist. I'd get a very high quality 24 (from Eizo) over two Apple 23s.

 

[Westside guy]

Are you using Aperture or LightRoom? The multiple monitor support is different between them. Honestly you'd be fine with one 23, 24, or 30. Two may be overkill for even a serious hobbyist. I'd get a very high quality 24 (from Eizo) over two Apple 23s.

I assume the Eizo uses an IPS panel?

 

[munnstermac]

I dabble in aperture, use mainly PS. This may seem odd but I would like a dedicated screen for each thing I am doing, I don't get on with spaces. I mean I would like to have say itunes and safari on one screen whilst on the other I would like to have PS going or a word document. Does that make any sense . I have a desk which is 1m wide and I think that 2 23" is a little big and one 30" is not achieving what I wanted. A different brand may be an option too.

 

[OreoCookie]

I like having two screens, a `large' 21" Samsung lcd and my ProBook. If you're on a budget, how about getting a 23" ACD/Eizo for now and use that alongside with your iMac?

If you are on Photoshop, you will not benefit from the additional cores that a MacPro has.

 

[TheHoff]

I dabble in aperture, use mainly PS. This may seem odd but I would like a dedicated screen for each thing I am doing, I don't get on with spaces. I mean I would like to have say itunes and safari on one screen whilst on the other I would like to have PS going or a word document. Does that make any sense . I have a desk which is 1m wide and I think that 2 23" is a little big and one 30" is not achieving what I wanted. A different brand may be an option too.

I would go a different direction then; I assumed you wanted two monitors for one application. I would get one really good 23, 24, or 26 and then one decent 17 or 19 for your secondary apps.

Here is a really good NEC 26" that displays 95% of Adobe RGB

http://shop.colourconfidence.com/product.php?xProd=1774&xSec=10273

You can also browse that store to get an idea of what other monitors or brands to look at. They rate the monitors with 3 to 5 stars and they do it quite honestly.

The best Eizo is better than anything else but if you don't want to spend that much, I'd look at NEC. They both use the better IPS panels (S-IPS and I think the NEC is H-IPS).

 

[munnstermac]

Thanks guys, you have all been really helpful. I have a lot to go away and think about. The idea about getting a pro was because I would like to go into advertising and I am trying to build up my portfolio so I may start video editing at some point. Does anyone have any advice on advertising etc. It would be very much appreciated.

Thank you all.