Appletell

Macessity has released and has ready for pre-order their new Slimkey V2 Stand for $64.99. This slim, beautifully designed aluminum stand comes with four USB 2.0 ports on the side for easier access than provided by your Mac. This stand can be used to hideaway your slim Apple keyboard when not in use, but it also doubles as a cooler if you use a Apple laptop by getting your machine up and off of the desk. You can also place any monitor that is under 35 pounds on top of the stand.

The stand is powder coated to match your aluminum iMac or Apple display. and comes with a compact power adapter. This seems like a pretty nice accessory to not only clear up some space on your desk when you’re not using your computer, but to look good doing it. If you have used any version of this products, be sure to let us know how they are.

Product [SlimKey V2 Stand]

Mac Pro users will be able to upgrade to ATI’s Radeon HD 3870 in June, one of their flagship graphics cards ideal for gaming and high-definition video editing. The card will be optimised for use with a Mac Pro, featuring 256-bit 512MB GDDR4 memory, and 320 stream processors, which bring maximum performance for graphics-intensive software such as 3D design, games and animation. The card also features a dual-link DVI port, which allows you to connect two displays—up to a resolution of 2650x1600 on each screen (that’s two 30-inch Apple Cinema Displays).

The forthcoming card also features ATI’s Unified Shader Architecture with PCI Express 2.0 support. Both of these will extend the gaming capabilities of a Mac Pro, enabling higher resolutions and more textures to be rendered in less time. ATI claims the card is outstandingly efficient, with “twice the processing performance-per-watt compared to previous generations of high-end AMD graphics processors.” It will cost $219 in the US, and ships worldwide in late June.

Via [Macworld UK]

You should not buy a Cinema Display from Apple. They are a total rip-off, and aren’t even the best displays.

First off, the cinema displays are wayyyyy overpriced. For the cost of the 20-inch display, I could buy two Dell 24-inch displays. Unless you are a big-time, famous graphic designer or someone who just has a lot of money to burn, I don’t think a 30-inch display is even close to your price range. And, to pour salt in the wounds, even the “refurbished” Cinema Displays will require a second mortgage.

More after the break.

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I just received a 23” Cinema Display. I bought it off of eBay for the “cheap” price of $600. This is a steal compared to Apple’s list price of $899 before tax and shipping, but a rip-off when comparing it to a similar monitor.

Before the Cinema Display, I had a 24” HP. Cost? $369, before tax and shipping. It had four USB ports compared to the Cinema’s two. It could tilt from perpendicular to the desk all the way to parallel to it. It could move up and down. It could swivel. It could even rotate to portrait mode. It was very feature-paced for only about $400, but I got a Cinema Display anyway. I’m a sucker for the Apple brand.

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5. Response time
The first thing that comes to mind with response time is gaming. Wait, Macs don’t play games, do they? Well, the answer is yes, they do play games, just that Windows has a larger variety of games to play on the platform. However, response time is not only for gamers. Having a bad response time, which Apple Cinema Displays have, will result in “smudging” from simple mouse movements to watching a movie. So your “Cinema Display” isn’t really that great for watching high-def content

4. Reliability
Obviously, being an Apple product, you’d expect their displays to be equally as reliable as the Macs (which sometimes aren’t so reliable). But Apple Cinema Displays, compared with their competition, actually have the most disappointing customer reviews and ratings. Just read one of many customer reviews of an Apple Cinema Display:

“I have purchased numerous equipment from Apple, ranging from G5s to Powerbooks, to Airports, Isights, etc. and this is the WORST product Apple has ever put on the market. I am on my 4th one and still unhappy!!! The problems have ranged from Dead Pixels, to clusters of Dead Pixels, to Ghosting (leaving previous images embedded in the screen), to Ghosting and Dead Pixels.”

3. Age
Apple are using LG.Phillips for the LCD panels behind their screens, but the panels being used are outdated and extremely old for the price. They are also not “Green” at all, as they contain a lot of mercury within them.

2. Price
Sure, if it’s a high quality product, then that is acceptable for it to have a high price tag. But with all the problems Apple’s displays have, they are terrible value for money - as you can get so much more, that performs so much better, for a lot less money. Most of Apple’s products are becoming more reasonably priced. The MacBook is now a great value mid-range consumer notebook, and great value considering you get a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo processor.

1. There’s no benefit
You’d think with all these problems, there would be a few benefits exclusively for Apple displays. Well - there are none. No built-in iSight camera, no extra functionality what so ever, apart from a USB hub (which is on most of its competitors). The only positive thing to say about these displays is that they look beautiful - but even now they are starting to show age in design. The Cinema Displays are thicker than the newest iMac, a screen + a high-spec computer in one box. I hope Apple is working on a new one, because the current displays just aren’t up to the standard anyone should expect from Apple.

Alternatives
“What should I buy instead?”, you ask. Here’s a list of what we think are the best displays to go with your Mac - whether it’s a Mac Mini, MacBook or Mac Pro. Of course, you could wait until MacWorld in January 2008, when hopefully some new displays will be unveiled.

20 inch alternative: Samsung SM-2032BW (approx. $300)

24 inch alternative: Dell 2407WFP (approx. $699)

30 inch alternative: Dell 3007WFP (approx. $1,189)

According to DigiTimes, market sources are reporting that demand for 20-inch widscreen displays is rising. This is attributed to vendors like Apple and Dell adding the product to their respective lineups. The sales of 22-inch LCD displays are currently better, but sources noted that this is due to the fact that most PC manufacturers are bundling them with new desktops.

The three manufacturers of LCD displays that stand to benefit are AU Optronics (AUO), LG.Philips LCD and Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT). Among the entire industry, they are the major suppliers of 20-inch widescreen displays. LC.Philips LCD is also rumored to start building 22-inch widescreen displays at its 7.5G (7.5 generation) plant, to meet demand from the desktop market.

Read [DigiTimes]