Customer Reviews

Apple Cinema 30-inch HD Flat-Panel Display

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In all likelihood, you are reading this review with two separate goals in mind. First, you want to make sure that nothing is horribly wrong with the lyrically-beautiful, breathtakingly-enormous 30-inch Cinema Display. After all, it is only natural to worry that its intoxicating attractiveness is counterpoised by some hidden, yet devastating, flaw. Well, you can breathe a sigh of relief: it is flawless. Indeed, it represents the very essence of perfection in both function and form.

Second, you are reading this review in a desperate attempt to find some way to justify the purchase of a 30-inch Cinema Display. Perhaps you need to justify it to your thrifty spouse, and are trying to find a reasonable answer to that inevitable question, "but why do you NEED a 30-inch monitor?" Or perhaps you must justify the purchase to an emotionless manager, who is unable to appreciate the aesthetic beauty of this gargantuan monitor. Fortunately, previous reviewers have outlined a number of possible justifications that you might find helpful: a larger monitor improves work efficiency, reduces strain on your eyes, can double as a TV set, etc. Simply select the justification that will be most convincing to your target audience, and don't take no for an answer. I wish you luck.

However, never lose sight of this fact: you do not need to justify the purchase of a 30-inch Cinema Display to yourself. Even trying to do so is dangerous, since in all probability you will be unable to justify spending $1800 on an enormous monitor when you have a perfectly serviceable monitor already. Yes, I'm sure that some people have a genuine need for a 30-inch monitor, but (be honest with yourself) you are almost certainly not one of them.

And more to the point, any attempt at justification is irrelevant. This monitor is not about need, or utility, or functionality, or productivity, or other such tedious concepts. It is about sheer, unabashed, covetousness. You want it. You must possess it. You feel an inexplicable, unjustifiable compulsion to buy it. The vast expanse of the 29.7-inch viewable area haunts your waking thoughts, and appears in your dreams as a luminous vision of perfection that is always just out of reach.

Don't question it. Just buy it.

A year ago today, I did exactly that. Twice. Now, looking at both of my 30-inch monitors in front of me, I feel that I have come closer to true contentment than most people do in a lifetime. Is that shallow? Maybe. But I don't think so. And I'm willing to bet that you don't either. If you did, you would have stopped reading this review a long time ago.

This screen is great.
Upgraded from a 23" and the increase in realestate is awesome.
You can play games with crystal clarity; have so many pages up and read them clearly.
You will need a graphics card that supports Dual-link DVI, not a card that says dual DVI.
I installed the GeForce 7800 GT on my PC and it works flawlessly!
The Quadro cards are great, but big $$$.
The 7800GT can be had for under $300!

Here's a list of cards for PC and Apple:
NVIDIA Geforce 6800Ultra DDL AGP for Powermac G5
NVIDIA Geforce 6800GT DDL AGP for Powermac G5
NVIDIA Geforce 6600 PCI Express for Powermac G5(PCI Express)
NVIDIA Geforce 7800GT PCI Express for Powermac G5(PCI Express)
NVIDIA QuadroFX 4500 PCI Express for Powermac G5(PCI Express)

For the PC Windows platform, the following graphic cards support the Apple 30" Cinema Display:

NVIDIA QuadroFX 2000
NVIDIA QuadroFX 3000
NVIDIA QuadroFX 3400
NVIDIA QuadroFX 3450
NVIDIA QuadroFX 4000
NVIDIA QuadroFX 4400
NVIDIA QuadroFX 4500
NVIDIA Geforce 7800GT
NVIDIA Geforce 7800GTX
NVIDIA Geforce 7800GTX 512

I've had mine for a few weeks now, and it's a great monitor. It's just amazing to be able to open up 100+ thumbnails on the screen at once, and still be able to see what each one is. Games look fantastic on it , though not all support the native resolution. The dual firewire and USB ports on the monitor are very handy, too.

There are a few quirks, due to the sheer size of the thing:
It *just barely* fits under the overhead storage hutch on my computer desk. Measure carefully before you buy any furniture that you intend to put one of these displays on.

Neck strain is a definite possibility if your chair and/or desk don't adjust far enough. The top of this monitor is a lot higher than the typical 20 inch or so monitor, and the stand is pretty tall, too.

It's possible to "lose" things off towards the sides of the screen. While the (relatively low) pixel pitch means that a dialog box is the same size as it would be on a smaller Apple monitor, it can be far enough to the left or right to be out of your central vision. Sitting back a little farther from the monitor helps.

I'm a firm proponent that the size (in pixel quantity) of the display you are using is more important that CPU speed.

The CTH bus (computer to human bus) in your computer system is the display/keyboard/mouse. For most people this has a bottleneck: the common 21" monitor (or smaller). You need to click the mouse a lot just to find information by opening panels, moving windows to uncover information, switching applications frequently. You're so used to this bus going slow from years of work on 21" displays going back to your first big CRT years ago you don't even notice it any more - you think it's normal.

What if this bandwidth could be instantly more than doubled and a large chunk of all that mouse clicking and shuffling of panels, windows, and applications go away? What kind of difference would that make?

None if you just use a couple of applications - well within the CTH bus bandwidth a 21" display provides. But if you're running 10 or more applications all day long doing design/video/audio/Flash/3D/CAD/software-development plus the necessary e-mail/web/iTunes/Acrobat/terminal/etc the CTH bus bandwidth is completely saturated (whether you know it or not). Time for a bus upgrade. Enter the 30" display.

The result is a dramatically improved relationship with your computer. I previously worked on a 23" cinema and going to the 30" made a huge difference. You can run Final Cut Pro with the displays at 100%, a huge timeline and have a little room for an iTunes window. Finally, space to spread out, a bit of breathing room. Mouse clicking goes down. You start working your computer harder because your situational awareness goes up. You don't need to do things at 50% and then view it all over again at 100% later.

Bumping the CPU speed by another 50% will never provide that kind of efficiency improvement. Obviously if you do server style stuff with your computer such as big renders then you probably want to spend the money on the CPU - get a server maybe. But for your workstation get this display.

I've worked on dual 21" monitors for video editing before and this 30" display is a vastly different and much nicer experience. Even though you could put together a dual 21" LCD setup for less I'd recommend going the extra distance and getting this display. If you are in any of the visual fields I mentioned above and can afford this display then it's a no-brainer.

If you can't quite afford it but work the computer hard - then I'd recommend some life modifications such as eating out less often or selling the car and biking to work -but buy this display. For heavy computer users this display will make enough difference that it justifies those extremes. Happy biking!

I have been recently converting from PC -> Mac at home. Have an iMac 24" and a 17" MacBook Pro. Been using the MacBook to transition between work and home, and now can do a lot of my development for work on the MacBook (I am a programmer).

I use a 24" Dell at work, and have been pretty happy with it -- though I have been lusting after a 30" Cinema Display just due to the fact that it looks really nice (like a work of art in comparison to the childish looking 30" Dells). But I didn't really want to pay the price premium ($400 difference between the two). So I've been patiently looking around hoping the price will drop. Well, the local Apple Store had a demo model that was never even used for cheaper than the Dell! The box looked beaten up (they have been shuffling it between the floor and the back room every week) but the monitor was in pristine shape. Plugged it into the MacBook at the store, and I was sold!

While 1920x1200 on the 24" Dell was a nice bump up from the 1600x1200 I was used to with my home 21" Dell, 30" at 2560x1600 was a revelation. I finally feel unconstrained by my desktop, especially when I have my 17" Laptop screen next to it for miscellaneous windows, or reference materials (I am a programmer as mentioned above). I can have code views side by side on my main monitor, which I had never been able to do before and I am no longer flipping between applications. XCode's debugger basically yearns for screen space like this thanks to the multiple floating windows (an irksome 'feature' in XCode).

I can have my Windows XP installation running fullscreen on my 17" laptop monitor at full resolution and can do cross platform development very easily now on one machine.

I honestly feel unchained and unleashed. This monitor is well worth every penny, even at full cost (and Amazon is a bit cheaper than what you will find at the Apple store, unless you look at refurbs). I got the 3 year Apple Care on the monitor (is $99 and can be purchased anytime in the 1 year base warranty) since this thing is a significant investment and $99 is almost insignificant compared to the price of the beast.

My monitor was manufactured in late 2005, so some of what I mention may or may not apply to later model monitors. The monitor is VERY bright, and out of the box seemed to be slightly biased to red (at least compared to my laptop screen). Well, after calibrating it it turns out that the laptop was just slightly calibrated towards blue. Go figure. I seem to be more tolerant towards blue shifts than red evidently. If you have a window that is all white, there are slight color shifts towards the corners. But this is apparently based on view angle, because if you move your eyes towards the corners, the shift disappears. Again, it is very slight and you would have to have your entire window be white to notice it.

Mac users: By default, the software that is installed ties the power button to shutting off your machine (though it prompts you before it does shut it down). This was slightly odd to me. But you can change the preferences so that the power button in fact powers down the monitor and not the machine.

The controls on the side are touch sensitive, and have little tactile feedback other than the depression that they sit in. For the first hour when I would be adjusting the monitor I would be constantly turning it off because I would just brush against the button. After a while, you memorize the exact location of that button on the side ;)

The monitor itself can pitch up and down, and that's pretty much it. It sits on a low friction base similar to the iMac, and can be rotated left and right via the base very easily. I am actually impressed by how easy it is to move these things. My 24" Dell at work takes more effort. Speaking of the Dell monitor, I have suddenly noticed how cheap, even their 30" one feels now. There is something about having an item that is aesthetically pleasing, and the Apple Cinema displays certainly excel in that regard. The Dells are starting to look (with their hybrid silver/black designs) rather childish in comparison when placed side by side with the Apple unit. To be fair, the Dell is a lot cheaper than the retail price of this monitor, and that alone will be enough to make it the better purchase for many users. Also, the Dell has a 3 year warranty by default, while you have to pay $99 for the Apple 3-year warranty.

I also on occasion do studio photography work of children (mostly *my* children these days, as I have gotten too busy to take on clients anymore but I digress :) ). Taking some of my 13 MegaPixel RAW photos from my Canon 5D and displaying them on the 4MP monitor took my breath away. Looking at some from my kids' Christmas shoot was great. I can see details that I had almost forgotten. You'd have to get large prints to see this sort of detail at a glance. Photographers: You MUST have this monitor!

So I say: Indulge yourself with this purchase. You will not regret it! At the end of the day you not only have a monitor, but a very nice looking piece of furniture too.

After seeing this display in person, I had to run out and buy one. In Windows at 2650x1600 it seems to display things about the same size as my 20" monitor does at 1600x1200, but you get more than twice as much on the screen as the 20" (2.1333 times to be more exact).

Besides hearing about how stunningly beautiful it is, here are some things you might like to know about it:

It will hook directly to a MacBook Pro's DVI port without any adapters or mods, and display at full resolution. If you're using it on a PC, you need dual-link DVI capability (not the same as dual DVI). I thought this would mean paying a lot of money for a new video card, but it doesn't. I called ATI and ordered a Radeon x1650 Pro PCIe card direct, which cost $150. It displays at the full 2650x1600 resolution with no problems, has 512MB DDR2 memory, video out, and though it includes several cables and adapters, none are required to hook the display up. In fact it seems faster than my two year old $700 card did. I do mostly digital photography (Photoshop), and it is plenty fast. I don't think that unless you're doing 3D modeling or serious gaming, that you'll need anything more. It is also Vista ready, so it can handle all the features of Vista (translucent windows or whatever. I don't have Vista). There are 3 plugs on the cable. One is the DVI plug, the second is a Firewire (400 not 800), and the third is USB. The latter two are to provide you with 2 USB and 2 Firewire ports at the back of the display.

Now for the drawbacks, or should I say drawback. The only positioning adjustment is the ability to tilt the display. Although it is easy to rotate the image 90 degrees, it would require rigging something up to rotate the monitor. There is no height adjustment so I can't squeeze the center speaker of my audio underneath the display (I'd call it a monitor, but since it's Apple, they refer to them as displays).

Included software assist you in setting the levels and color to the right settings. When I bought it, I considered it an extravagance, but after using it for a few weeks, I've changed my mind. It increases productivity immeasurably being able to keep multiple windows open, not having to zoom in and out while editing photographs, and being able to display 39 columns (64 pixel) and 66 rows (20 pixel) of an Excel spreadsheet.Or 3 legal size pages at 100% side by side in Word without scrolling. Pretty cool, huh?

It's also extremely stylish, and along with my DiNovo Edge keyboard, it could go in a museum.

When I bought it from Amazon, it was $1,924 plus a 5% discount at the time, no tax, and $10 shipping. It came out to be about $125 less than what I would have paid from Apple with their education program discount (since they charge 6% tax and I'm also getting 3% in rewards bonuses using my Amazon credit card). But even at full retail it would have been worth it. I am in love with this display!

Any of you gamers interested in an ATI Radeon x850XT Platinum graphics card? Oh yeah, the new card takes up only one slot instead of two, so there's another bonus...

Originally I was going to use this display with my MacBook Pro for my digital photo work, but now that it's connected to the PC, I literally can't take my eyes off of it. Does anybody know of a cable or switch that would allow me to use it for both and switch between them conveniently?

If you buy one piece of expensive computer hardware this year, this display should be it. You won't regret it.

I am delighted with this purchase!!!

LCD monitors inherently can be manufactured such that they end up with a few dead/bad pixels. This shows up as a colored dot on the monitor when certain colors are displayed. Apple needs to do the right thing and take a stand on quality control. Samsung has recently adopted a 'no bad pixel' policy on their monitors and Apple should do the same.

Apple's policy is that it's not considered a defective monitor unless there are 5 ore more bad pixels or a cluster of 3 or more clumped together. Apple states that out of the millions of pixels that high resolution monitors have, a few dead bad ones isn't considered a problem. This policy is not fair when such a large number of these Apple monitors do actually make it to the retail stores with bad pixels. The first one I received had a bad pixel that was visible all the time and the replacement also has 2 bad pixels that are visible sometimes, when certain dark colors are being displayed. I was told point blank by the Apple Store that I would not be able to return it again, without paying an exhorbitant 10% restocking fee.

While the monitor is beautiful in case, design and quality of the overall picture, the pixel issue is a serious issue for me. I feel it's unfair that I have to pay so much for a monitor that contains visible defects. And while I'm living with the bad pixels right now and don't notice them all the time, it still bothers me that Apple doesn't step up and do the right thing, especially on such an expensive item.

That first review was terrible, not to mention wrong. Of course you can use this with a PC, you just need a graphics card with Dual-Link DVI, and the only one for the mac is coming out soon (Nvidia 6800). I have seen this monitor, and it is a technological marvel. The resolution is unfathomable, and coupled with the size, words escape definition. If you have the denero, just buy this thing and be proud knowing you have the absolute best media display in the unit, no argument.

So I managed to get a hold off an older gen 30inch. I a will simply say that I LOVE IT !!. Totally awesome to play games, write code (Definitely) and pretty much everything. The colours on the monitor are almost photo like.

I have had it the better part of a week and I am comparing it to a DELL 2405, yes an unfair comparison but its something. I also like the fact that there is virtually no screen door!

If you have the dosh or get a good deal on a used one like I did, get it. You will not regret the expense.

For the ones reading the previous reviews here .. this 30" does NOT work with the PNY Verto 6600GT. I assume the version of the PNY 6600GT that is produced now is different from the older one (which had 2 DVI ports, the new ones have 1 DVI and 1 VGA). The newer one is not dual-link-DVI capable, it's not possible to run 2560 x 1600 with that graphics card (I just tried, bought the PNY 6600GT from Amazon, but I have to return it because it doesnt work with the 30" display).

Regarding the display : simply the best you can get ! I love it. Great design, works great, only has 1 pixel error (on 4 million pixels !). The pixels are so small, the pixel error is hard to see at all ... I found it after having the display 6 months, it's just too small to recognize, it's kinda invisible.

Most newest generation graphics cards can support the 2560 x 1600 (i.e. the 7900 gtx cards), but it's never wrong to take a look at the tech specs or email the manufacturer to make sure. If you are looking for an AGP or PCI card, you gotta look for the Nvidia Quadro FX4000, Matrox Parhelia DL (DL!), or the Asus V9999GE Gamers Edition (not the normal VE or VD editions, it gotta be GE to run 2560 x 1600).