Monitor for PC as good as a macs?

rgrebby

rgrebby

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Richard
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I love the Mac screens, who wouldnt right?

But im a PC and always have been. I couldnt afford to make the change but are there screens that are as good as the Mac screens?

If so what do I have to look for?
 
I'm not sure if it's still the same but a few years ago a lot of the Dell monitors were made in the same factory as Apple's. In fact the 24" widescreen was identical apart from the buttons being moved!

For real quality look for a LaCie, they're pretty amazing (and expensive...). If you're on a bit more of a budget the BenQ EW2420 has had some amazing reviews. It's £170ish but performs as well as £300 monitors.
 
adamgasson said:
I'm not sure if it's still the same but a few years ago a lot of the Dell monitors were made in the same factory as Apple's. In fact the 24" widescreen was identical apart from the buttons being moved!

For real quality look for a LaCie, they're pretty amazing (and expensive...). If you're on a bit more of a budget the BenQ EW2420 has had some amazing reviews. It's £170ish but performs as well as £300 monitors.
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I guess at least the BenQ does not have the dreaded TN panel like so many cheaper screens :eek:, but it does not appear to have any means of adjusting height!
 
Dell 2209WA, U2310 (or possibly U2311 - not seen any reviews but cheaper), U2711.
 
neil_g said:
and a pair of sunglasses ;)

whatever you buy make sure it has an IPS panel, and preferably matte. whats your budget?
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Hmmm, after owning the U2711 but not really liking the "false" srgb mode and hating the high gamut modes i went back to my first ever 24" monitor a BenQ FP241W, i really regretted selling at the time and now i remember why, this is simply the best monitor ever and it's not an IPS screen but an M-PVA and 1920x1200 resolution not the silly 1920x1080 which seems to be standard nowadays

Best ever £200 spent.

Many reviews rate it as exceptional as well

http://www.trustedreviews.com/monitors/review/2006/09/13/BenQ-FP241W-24in-Widescreen-Monitor/p1

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/peripherals/104797/benq-fp241w


.
 
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I've got the 2209WA, cracking monitor.
 
interesting, is the BenQ EW2420 an IPS monitor?

Where could I go test a monitor out over here?
 
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Actually I have a Dell 24" monitor which I bought about 3 years ago and got an iMac for a year. I can't say the screens are very similar, the dell monitor is quite nice but the brightness is not as consistent. Although apple displays are LED as opposed to LCD. But still the Dell 24" is a great monitor.
 
Working with colour all the while at work in our repro company, we never use mac screens. They are difficult to fully calibrate, glossy and overpriced, give me an Eizo screen any day.
 
Creaxel_photo said:
Although apple displays are LED as opposed to LCD.
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LED displays are still LCD. LED just refers to the backlighting of the LCD. Unlike OLED which are true LED displays, but they're expensive and have problems with limited lifespan.

Anyway, there's nothing special about Apple displays. They're the same as decent kit from other manufacturers. They don't make the panels. What makes them look nice is the way the high gloss glass is produced (glass produces an illusion of a more vibrant display), and a difference in the gamut and gamma that Macs use (different from Windows).

You can certainly pay a fortune for a display that will demolish anything that Mr Jobs can produce. Just depends how much you want to spend.

That said, the Dell 24" stuff is nice.

Oh, and to throw a spanner in the works, considered wide RGB gamut monitors? If you want to shoot, edit and print Adobe RGB, maybe worth considering. Not so good for desktop use though as the world uses the somewhat limited sRGB.
 
dod said:
I've got the 2209WA, cracking monitor.
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You might want to get that repaired under warranty then :lol:

I currently use a pair of Philips 240PW9 (24")
The screen uses the same LG.Display H-IPS panel (LM240WU4) as the HP LP2475W.

Colours and brightness are great, but there's a fair bit of heat comes off them which in our climate can get uncomfortable after a while in front of them.
 
You might want to have a look at UltraSharp U2711, a really good monitor and I dont see much difference between this and a mac screen.
 
deadkenny said:
You can certainly pay a fortune for a display that will demolish anything that Mr Jobs can produce. Just depends how much you want to spend.
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This much?

igp1166.jpg


(I think I counted about 30 empty boxes in the loading bay one day...)

deadkenny said:
Oh, and to throw a spanner in the works, considered wide RGB gamut monitors? If you want to shoot, edit and print Adobe RGB, maybe worth considering. Not so good for desktop use though as the world uses the somewhat limited sRGB.
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Er... sRGB is entirely contined within Adobe RGB... :naughty:

sRGB.bmp
 
flossie said:
Er... sRGB is entirely contined within Adobe RGB... :naughty:

sRGB.bmp
Click to expand...
The problem is that unless wide gamut monitors can display more bits of colour than non wide gamut monitors, when you confine yourself to sRGB (or even adobe RGB) you have less bits available to display those colours, so you get less fidelity in the smaller colour spaces.
 
Another Dell 2209WA used here, had it about x2 years, best monitor I've used. I prefer it to the iMac screens-probably due to it being Matte
 
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