seeking monitor recommendation

[147798]

I am looking for a couple of monitor recommendations. I have not shopped in anything but the low, low end in a while, so I'm hoping someone can give me some pointers. I'd ideally like

• 17-24" range
• able to be color calibrated
• includes built-in speakers (with good sound)
• USB ports
• breakaway cable.

p.s. -- do I need to say Matte?

I'd like something between the Apple ACDs and the new Apple LED, but I am hoping not to spend the amounts Apple requests for their monitors. In order to keep FW, it looks like I'll have to go MBP, which will eat up a lot of my budget.

Thanks for any help.

 

[scottydawg]

The Dell 2408 is a nice monitor and with a speaker bar it would fill the bill for what you are looking for in terms of USB ports and speakers. The sticking point is that it is Wide Gamut and that makes the colors overly saturated (esp. red which looks like hot pink).
My current favorite monitor for photo work is my NEC 2490WUXi. It does not have speakers or USB but you can order the Spectraview version which includes software and a ColorRite i1Display2. It is an IPS monitor so it has a wide angle of view, it is a matte finish and has lot's of controls.

 

[Padaung]

Hi, I'm going through the exact same process at the moment.

Been doing on-line research and the Samsung SM2493HM seems to get very good reviews for colour reproduction, specification etc and costs half the price of the Apple options.

This is the cheapest I could find it - there are matt and gloss finish options. Going for the matt version seems to make the monitor about £30 cheaper...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-SM2...ustable/dp/tech-data/B0014E9XE0/ref=de_a_smtd


Review can be found here (where it is compared with the Dell screen mentioned above):

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/206889/samsung-syncmaster-2493hm.html

Has anyone any experience with one of these Samsung screens?



I used a smaller version of the NEC screen at a previous job, they are absolutely great for colour reproduction but they do cost quite a few pennies!

 

[147798]

Hi, I'm going through the exact same process at the moment.

Been doing on-line research and the Samsung SM2493HM seems to get very good reviews for colour reproduction, specification etc and costs half the price of the Apple options.

This is the cheapest I could find it - there are matt and gloss finish options. Going for the matt version seems to make the monitor about £30 cheaper...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-SM2...ustable/dp/tech-data/B0014E9XE0/ref=de_a_smtd


Review can be found here (where it is compared with the Dell screen mentioned above):

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/206889/samsung-syncmaster-2493hm.html

Has anyone any experience with one of these Samsung screens?



I used a smaller version of the NEC screen at a previous job, they are absolutely great for colour reproduction but they do cost quite a few pennies!

Thanks very much for replying. I did a search on the monitor here in the states, and here was one Amazon review that scares me a bit

http://www.amazon.com/review/produc...ing=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

 

[147798]

The Dell 2408 is a nice monitor and with a speaker bar it would fill the bill for what you are looking for in terms of USB ports and speakers. The sticking point is that it is Wide Gamut and that makes the colors overly saturated (esp. red which looks like hot pink).
My current favorite monitor for photo work is my NEC 2490WUXi. It does not have speakers or USB but you can order the Spectraview version which includes software and a ColorRite i1Display2. It is an IPS monitor so it has a wide angle of view, it is a matte finish and has lot's of controls.

Thank you for the pointer to the NEC 2490WUXi. It is quite expensive. Any clue how these would compare to the apple cinema displays? I understand neither are TFTs, but a 23" ACD from refurb is $799, quite a bit cheaper from the prices on the WUXi that I see (about US$1000)

 

[Padaung]

Thanks very much for replying. I did a search on the monitor here in the states, and here was one Amazon review that scares me a bit

http://www.amazon.com/review/produc...ing=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

Interesting, thank you for the link. I checked out one of the other screens mentioned in his review, but the price here in the UK then becomes more than the Apple 23" ACD.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SyncMaster-245T-LCD-Monitor/dp/tech-data/B000QEITJE/ref=de_a_smtd

 

[scottydawg]

Thank you for the pointer to the NEC 2490WUXi. It is quite expensive. Any clue how these would compare to the apple cinema displays? I understand neither are TFTs, but a 23" ACD from refurb is $799, quite a bit cheaper from the prices on the WUXi that I see (about US$1000)

The NEC (H-IPS) has more modern technology then the ACD (S-IPS) and has a significant amount of manual controls. If you don't need this then I would consider the Apple. The NEC 2690 is probably going to be my next monitor if wide gamut becomes more standardized, it is really sweet.