Dang it! Dell vs. Apple

MDLarson

MDLarson

Registered
I am looking for a flat panel monitor for my G4 Sawtooth. I have a Radeon 8500 capable of 2048 x 1536 resolution, so I should be just dandy with a 20" widescreen 1280 x 1050.

So, I would love to get the new Apple 20" Cinema display, but I can't bring myself to spend $1300 on it when I could get almost the same thing from Dell (the Dell 2005FPW) for $800. I lose the 2 FireWire 400 ports in favor of 2 extra USB ports (there are 4 USB ports on the Dell).

I can't justify spending $500 extra based on looks and a couple of FireWire ports. Is there anything else I'm missing?

On a sidenote, there's a naive dude on eBay selling an Apple 20" because he needs a "PC display". :p
 
The clue word here is "almost the same thing". While Dell is a good company, I would spend the extra on an Apple display. :)
 
If you're planning on emailing the eBay guy, don't! I did, and here's his reply: "Your the third person to tell me that. I am aware of that but my work laptop is a Dell with a VGA port so I need a monitor with a DVI and a vga cable/input."

Cheryl, what exactly compels you to spend $500 extra on an Apple product like a display? As far as I can tell, it's the Apple brand and a couple of FireWire ports. I loathe Dell as a Windows computer maker and don't look forward to "tainting" my Mac experience, but $500 seems too steep in this case.

I'd love to hear some technical reasons why the Apple display is better... :)
 
Dell has enough money support apple :-D

Have you looked at anything else? Samsung makes killer LCD's I haven't looked at the stats on the dell but a lot of Samsungs have the fastest refresh rate available currently on LCDs
 
Side by side Apple's displays show better color and details. My eyes tell me what to get.

As for refresh rate, Samsung claims a fast refresh rate on a 19 inch (from IT news.au) You really do not see a refresh rate unless you are doing games - and then you probably get blurs.
 
HateEternal said:
Dell has enough money support apple :-D
Click to expand...
Haha, yeah, well, Apple has a ton of money too. What Apple needs is market share, not huge profit margins. :)

I checked out Samsung's monitors and had to laugh at this tag line for their Multi-Function LCDs: "Technology We are only dreamed of now unfolds before us" What, did they just plug in some text in a Japanese > English web app? lol

Anyway, I see their 18" 181T appears to be the closest to the 20" 1680x1050 size I'm looking for. And after spending 20 minutes scouring google, it looks like only Apple and Dell are selling monitors with this resolution. I'm in no hurry, so maybe I will wait for Apple to drop their price...
 
Yeah, I'm considering it. Don't bid on it. ;) I usually wait til the auctions tick down then bid my max.
 
if your going to spend money on a good moniter get a ViewSonic. I have one at my one job and its great, i hate going home to using mine. But no USB ports/firewire ports...
 
Samsung is Korean - it means 4-star. Guess they thought Sasung (5-star) sounded lame. :D

I agree with Cheryl, put them side by side and you'll only want the Cinema Display. So if the $500 is a bit much for you, don't look at them side by side, get one in your price range and use the "change" to buy a new ipod with one of those cool Bose drop in speaker docs. Your ears will be happy, even if your eyes aren't. :D
 
lol, OK. Sounds like you guys feel as though the Apple monitor is brighter / better. I didn't think Dell's monitor quality was bad per se (we have a few at work), but maybe there really is a difference in quality. I'll think about it... :) Thanks for the feedback.
 
Dell is a good company, Apple is a good company. Both make good displays for their own market: Dell is specialized in Office, Apple in Graphics. They do not have the same needs, therefore not the same products. Dell's screen are more than enough Excel and Word. Apple's screen are for video and image production.

BTW I saw a demo of Quake 3, full resolution, today on an Apple 30".... that's amazing !
 
We have had a lot of those dell displays come in at work. They are nice man, but like anything dell the construction seems < Apples. I do have to say though, those Dell monitors are super adjustable which is pretty nice. Generally I am not too picky about where my monitor sits but i guess if you are then that would be pretty nice.
 
Might be joining this conversation a bit late, but I've been away a while! We have shed-loads of Dell TFTs at work and compared to the Apple ones they're genuinely shocking. I was doing the colour calibration on one of them and it simply couldn't get a full range of neutral greys. They were either pinky on the dark end or greeny on the light end and no amount of tweaking seemed to get it just so. I may be a perfectionist, but the Apple displays that the privileged few have been given for retouching and repro are spot on. If you need good, true colour, spend the extra. Incidentally, our only XServe outperforms the many Dell servers our company has seen fit to buy time and again. More expensive though, naturally.
 
Hey, thanks Factor. That's good to hear. I haven't bought anything yet but I think I'll shoot for the Apple. (just like William Tell... HA!)
 
fact of the matter is that both Dell and Apple outsource and for the same specs in terms of displays they are most likely the same. I use a 15" dell flatpanel along with a 17" Sceptre Komodo X7 on my work mac. Neither one has failed me yet. Of course if I had the money, I would buy one of those snazzy 30" flatpanels from apple since no one else has them :)
 
Wow there's a lot of FUD in this thread. Apple does not make the displays. They provide the specs and how they want the base designed. Apple displays are made by LG electronics. IE: for the 23" one the HP and Apple are the same.

The Samsung LCD's have been winning hands down in all the reviews i've read. Samsung 243T which is their 24" LCD. The 20" is the same one except smaller.

I would choose the Samsung.
 
Well, you could say that Apple doesn't make Macs then. They just provide the specs and they put them together in China. I'm generalizing, but that's what you're doing too, 033.

Obviously monitors are much more of a commodity item, hence my original questions. I don't have the opportunity to compare Dell monitors side-by-side with Apple monitors (or Samsung, for that matter), so I have to rely on 3rd party reviews / opinions.

Why don't you post links to some side-by-side reviews?
 
What I was inferring is the HP and Apple 23" display aare the same but rebranded. It's like the HP Ipod and the Ipod. Maybe that helps a little more to put it into perspective.

For reviews.. try google.com.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top