I won’t buy a Cinema Display from Apple
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.
I don’t regret the purchase, I love my Cinema Display. It is a beauty, and it fits in well, and is instantly plug and play with my MacBook Pro. That said, I would never buy one new from Apple, and here’s why:
Price: Cinema Displays are incredibly overpriced. A 20” Cinema Display will run you over the $600. Compare that to the 24” HP for only $400 or a myriad of other brand’s like Dell. The 30” Cinema’s price is an abomination, at over $1800 all said and done.
Design: The 23” and 30” Cinema Displays are very nice to look at though they are a bit thick. The 20” Display (pictured), however, is possibly the ugliest product Apple currently ships. Compared to the [relatively] small 20” screen, the foot is huge. (It is the same size foot as the 23”.) The small size of the screen also accentuates the thickness of the sides of the screen. These two things make for a very disproportionate item that looks like Apple created it just so they could have a 20” version with no real attention to detail.
Features: As I said before, the HP could do much more than the Apple can. It could go in any direction, offered easier USB access, and was overall more flexible. I wouldn’t want Apple to build all these features in, as it would ruin the look of the display, but it would be nice to have one USB port on the side at the very least, and screen rotation and height adjustment would be great if they could do it without a huge hinge in the middle of the stand.
If Apple can address these items, they will have a VERY attractive product on their hands. My dream line-up is a 24”, 27”, 30” lineup, a lot thinner, with 3 USB ports (one on the side for easy access) and rotation and height controls. What’s yours, and why do you think Apple hasn’t updated the displays in years? Sound off in the comments below!
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I couldn’t agree more with you pal. I don’t understand Apple sometimes.
on April 14, 2008 at 11:19 AM - LINKWhat of the dot pitch? That’s the deal breaker / sealer for me. The Mac screens (and SOME of the Dell’s) have a very fine pitch- like .24 or so, and the HP’s tend to be considerably higher. This may sound like I’m being picky, but it makes a big difference when you are staring at it all day. Also, color accuracy is a factor if you are involved in graphics at all.
That being said- they really need to drop the prices and possibly add iSight cameras, or revive the external cams.
on April 14, 2008 at 11:55 AM - LINKYou can’t put a USB port on the side of a white/alu display. It would look extremely ugly. The ports are on the back so the cables will route through the hole in the stand. Good point on the proportions though.
on April 14, 2008 at 03:19 PM - LINKThe USB port on the side would be for things that you plug and unplug, like a camera. For easy access, but also the ones on the back for more permanent things you’d want hidden. Where they are now is very inconvenient.
on April 14, 2008 at 03:22 PM - LINKYes, yes, it’s very inconvenient. But if you keep the colors this way, a USB port anywhere but the back would look outright grotesque.
on April 14, 2008 at 03:31 PM - LINKWhy? It’s just a port. If you need a perfectly smooth side, it could go behind a small door.
on April 14, 2008 at 03:33 PM - LINKSmall door is better, still very un-Apple. Also, nothing is just a [insert item here]. Apple is very perfectionist about their designs.
on April 14, 2008 at 04:40 PM - LINKVery true, very true. But I’d still love to see a USB port right across from the power button.
on April 14, 2008 at 06:05 PM - LINKI just want Apple to update the Cinema Display it’s been 4 years sense we last seen a Cinema display updated, I’m in the market for a 30-Inch and I want a Apple 30 but I was looking at Dell’s 3008 with a contrast ratio of 3000:1 compare to Apple’s 700:1 Apple can’t compete. So I hope we will see some new displays at WWDC 2008.
on April 28, 2008 at 11:50 PM - LINK