I have decided to place an order the Power Mac G5 Quad. I’m still deciding what monitor to get. Should I go all-out and purchase the gigantic 30″ Cinema Display or be conservative and get the Dell 24″ display, which is similar to the 23″ Apple Cinema Display?
Alex has decided that the 30″ is for him, while Eric and Rae are suggesting I get the 24″ (or dual 24″ in Eric’s case). I can certainly see the case for both choices, so I’m opening up this post to comments from readers! Which display would you get?
Dell is currently running a deal for a Dimension 9100 with a 24″ monitor for only $1199 (after rebate). That certainly looks like a good deal!
Update: One other thing to keep in mind is that I’ll be getting a 25% discount on the Apple purchase. That would mean a 30″ Apple Cinema Display would cost $1875 instead of $2499. Dell routinely gives out 35% discount codes on the Dell 24″, so I would be paying $759 for the display. I’ve heard that the Dells are insanely bright. Has this posed a problem for anybody doing serious photo editing work?
The photo accompanying this entry shows the relative screen resolutions for each of the monitors that I’m considering. I’ve also thrown in the original Mac screen size of 512×384 for reference! I used to have an SE/30, and my, how little screen real estate that computer had!
Update #2: I made my decision to go with the 30″ Apple Cinema Display over the dual 23-24″ ACD or Dell displays. Part of me was always leaning in that direction, but I wanted a little more validation from others. Thanks to Eric and Alex, to whom I spoke late last night for the extra encouragement. In the end, several points led me to the 30-inch:
- More vertical space. The 23/24-inch displays only gave me an extra 176 pixels of vertical space over my current 17-inch monitor (1920×1200 versus 1280×1024), whereas the 30-inch gave me 576 more pixels. Yes, you can rotate one of the Dell displays to get 1920 vertical pixels, but then I would have a Tetris-shaped monitor setup!
- Balance. The 30-inch gives me 100% more horizontal resolution of my 17-inch display with 56% more vertical space. The dual Dells would have given me 200% more horizontal resolution but with only 17% more vertical space. I preferred the idea of a bigger monitor rather than a wider monitor.
- Price. The dual Dell displays was only $316 cheaper than the 30-inch. If I wasn’t getting a 25% discount on the 30-inch, the difference would have been $940. That’s significant enough to have pushed me towards the Dells over the 30.
Both monitor choices would have made me happy, but I am pleased with my decision. Since my 17-inch never had the versatility that the Dell displays have with their multiple inputs, memory card readers, and rotation ability, I don’t think I’ll miss those features. Lastly, by the time I consider my next computer purchase, I don’t think that I’ll be worrying about upgrading the display as well.
Thanks to everyone who posted comments!
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