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Thread: Apple or Dell 30" ?

  1. #1
    Michael8nuts's Avatar
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    Dell 30" ? UPDATED

    Hello everyone. I just bought a server Macmini and need a Monitor. I am trying to decide between the Dell 30" and the Apple 30" ( I want non glossy, no 16x9 and 30")

    THE APPLE IS OUT. The Dell U3011 is my 1st choice. Does anyone have this Monitor?

    The monitor/computer will be used for editing photo and video only ..... no gaming.


    Thanks
    Last edited by Michael8nuts; 31st March 2012 at 05:31 PM.

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    tbob's Avatar
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    Re: Apple or Dell 30" ?

    In my advanced state of ignorance about all things technical, the only thing I can add to your consideration is that Apple monitors are colour calibrated with no need to get software to check the colour balance. Not so sure if Dell will come this way so it my be worth checking into.

    By the way: I lust for a 30 inch monitor. I currently use a 17 so a 30 would be marvelous.

  3. #3
    Moderator Manfred M's Avatar
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    Re: Apple or Dell 30" ?

    Not true regarding the Apple. All monitors must be colour calibrated, and calibration does change over time, so recalibration does have to be redone, although the drift with both the Apple and Dell will be no where near what the old CRT monitors had. Depending on who you talk to, recalibration (at working ambient lighting conditions) has to be redone every 1 - 6 months.

    I think the 30" Apple monitor is rather old technology (6 years?), so I would not consider spending that much money on a monitor that is reaching the end of its life cycle.

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    Moderator Donald's Avatar
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    Re: Apple or Dell 30" ?

    Quote Originally Posted by GrumpyDiver View Post
    Not true regarding the Apple. All monitors must be colour calibrated, and calibration does change over time, so recalibration does have to be redone, although the drift with both the Apple and Dell will be no where near what the old CRT monitors had. Depending on who you talk to, recalibration (at working ambient lighting conditions) has to be redone every 1 - 6 months.
    Just to say that the Dell comes with a colour calibration certificate. But mine was way off for my purposes. But 10 minutes with Spyder 3 soon sorted that. Similarly with any monitor, if your doing serious photographic post-processing, I think you need to profile and calibrate it once you get it.
    Last edited by Donald; 30th March 2012 at 07:32 AM.

  5. #5

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    Re: Apple or Dell 30" ?

    I recently replaced my old 19" NEC monitor with a Spectraview Reference 271 widescreen. It was expensive, (£1,400), but I have not regretted it for a moment. Many people would regard that sort of price for a non professional, amateur photographer's monitor as a great extravagance and I did too, for a long while. Then I began to think how much my camera and lenses cost and came to the conclusion that the monitor was the weakest link in my system and it might very well be a justifiable outlay.

    There were two reasons I chose the Spectraview. Firstly, I am not an expert in the technicalities of monitors so I rely heavily on the best experts I can find to point me in the right direction. The best I could find was Andrew Rodney on RetouchPro and in a thread similar to this his advice was very clear - go for quality (not size) and get the best you can afford. In his opinion there were only two firms in making really good monitors, Eizo and NEC and all the others (including Apple) were a good way behind. Eizo are the more expensive, so I started looking at NEC 24".

    The second reason was a post by Richard in which he said that when he had been purchasing a new monitor he had bought a 24" and now regrets he had not gone for the larger model. (I hope I have that right, Richard). So, with the encouragement of my wife, I took a deep breath and bought the Spectraview. It is worth every penny. Rather than go in to all pros and cons I suggest you look it up and look for other opinions. I can only give you mine, but I have no regrets at all.

  6. #6
    Moderator Manfred M's Avatar
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    Re: Apple or Dell 30" ?

    Quote Originally Posted by Donald View Post
    Just to say that the Dell comes with a colour calibration certificate. But mine was way off for my purposes. But 10 minutes with Spyder 3 soon sorted that. Similarly with any monitor, if your doing serious photographic post-processing, I think you need to profile and calibrate it once you get it.
    I quite agree Donald. Anyone who does serious photography needs to think about a higher end monitor (for better colour rendition) and some form of analyzer (I use the Eye-One). I've tried to use the tool that Apple provides to calibrate a monitor that was obviously off and the process can be best described as inaccurate and painful.

    The other part of my comment is with regard to the monitor itself. The "average" monitor is built to a low pricepoint and a good colour accuracy is one thing that they was sacrificed to keep the cost low. These usually use Twisted Nematic (TN) technology. One of the reason that higher end monitors do cost more money is that they do use a more expensive technology and hence a wider and more accurate colour rendition.

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    Michael8nuts's Avatar
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    Re: Apple or Dell 30" ?

    Thanks for your thoughts.

    I decided no Glossy screens. I guess that leaves only the Dell .... for that price point and specs ?!

    - matte screen
    - 16x10
    - 30"

    .... although, with 16x10 aspect ratio, a 27" would probably be OK

  8. #8
    Moderator Manfred M's Avatar
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    Re: Apple or Dell 30" ?

    Actually I use a 27" Dell and while the colour range is excellent; the only complaint I have with it is that I can't turn down the brightness far enough to match my printer output. There's an easy workaround; I turn the brightness down by 10 units in a layer mask while working and turn off the layer when printing.
    Last edited by Manfred M; 30th March 2012 at 10:01 PM.

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    Michael8nuts's Avatar
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    Re: Apple or Dell 30" ?

    The 30" Dell is on sale from Dell .... $999. Hmmmm....

  10. #10
    Michael8nuts's Avatar
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    Re: Apple or Dell 30" ?

    THANKS ..... Consider this thread closed

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