ColorVision Spyder 2 Pro Win/Mac

by ColorVision

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000658EQG
• Item model number: GPU128
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,864 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 28, 2005

Product Description

Spyde2rPRO provides step-by-step monitor calibration for better control over your digital darkroom. Get precise, repeatable results in a few easy steps. Today, all creative professionals understand that the cornerstone of the digital darkroom is a calibrated monitor. Professional photographers, graphic designers, ad agencies, publishers, and advanced amateurs now realize that a color managed workflow begins with accurate, on-screen color. Wherever color is critical, so too is a calibrated monitor. The ColorVision Spyder2PRO, the next-generation of the award-winning Spyder product line, was specifically designed to meet the needs of the new ?digital? creative professional. ColorVision Spyder2PRO sets a new standard for professional monitor calibration. Combining the all new Spyder2 colorimeter and Spyder2PRO software, this innovative and advanced product delivers unrivalled calibration results for the demanding digital imaging professional. The sleek, dual-phase Spyder2 hardware features precise calibration and highly accurate ICC profiles for CRT, LCD and laptop displays. The new software and graphical user interface provides ease-of-use previously unavailable in professional-level monitor calibration products.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good When It Works, May 23, 2005

By 

Wooyong Ee "ewoo" (Louisville, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: ColorVision Spyder 2 Pro Win/Mac (Personal Computers)

My Gripes with the Spyder2PRO (applies mostly to Windows platform):

1. You won't know if the unit itself is miscalibrated.
2. Although the basic documentation is good, it lacks details. Such as, "How does the ColorVision Profile Chooser program affect Window's Color Management Settings and how do the two interact?"
3. Sometimes, the Profile Chooser fails to load your profile when coming out of Windows' hibernation/standby state.
4. The other "value-add" software that comes with it is not that great. Just buy the regular Spyder2 package.

I work primarily with photoshop and web graphics and do not do any print color matching. I wanted to merely calibrate all my CRT, LCD and laptop monitors just enough so that there would be some tonal consistency. I wasn't going for professional pre-press accuracy.

The first Spyder unit I received wasn't properly calibrated at the factory so all my monitors turned out to be too red! Even after several attempts to recalibrate and profile... So after a few email exchanges with Tech support, I returned it for a new unit. (Thanks Amazon)

The second unit seemed to work fine. Except, now, I have this nagging feeling that if it wasn't, I wouldn't really know since I don't have a reference monitor.

In any case, it did a fairly good job of matching my two different LCDs as well as my CRT. (NEC 1760NX, Sony SDM-M51 and ViewSonic G90f) However, on my laptop, the Profile Chooser fails to reload the profile when coming-out of its hibernation state. When I asked tech support about this, they shot me a canned email that didn't really resolve the issue. Now, I have to reselect the profile each time I resume.

(Tech support was prompt in their response. But, it seemed like that they really didn't read my email thoroughly.)

Overall, I'm satisfied with the product and I would recommend the unit. (You really can't beat the price.) I think it could be better if it had the following:

1. Better documentation on how the ColorVision's color management software affects and interacts with the platforms (windows) exisiting color management software.
2. Some reference prints of some sort where I can compare my calibrated monitor with; so that I can know that I've come close to reference material. (I don't know if this is possible or not.)
3. Get rid of the software bugs!

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great...... It works!, March 6, 2006

By 

ILeason (Opelika, AL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ColorVision Spyder 2 Pro Win/Mac (Personal Computers)

After reading the above reviews I was hesitant to purchase this item. However, I own "the photosshop CS2 book" by Scott Kelby. Here is what he had to say about Monitor calibrating. He called Adobe Gamma the cheep Freebie Method.(Adobe Gamma is what I used in the past). For calibrating your Monitor the right way he recommended Spyder2PRO. I invested in Spyder2PRO and I have to agree with Scott Kelby's statement as follows:

"Chances are you'll gasp when you see how "off" your monitor was before calibration. You don't have to do anything else at this point-it will automatically tell Photoshop about your new monitor profile."

I did GASP when I saw the before and after.
Also, I called customer service and verified that I was understanding the directions before I installed. The customer service was very helpful. I had no problem calibrating my monitor. It is a very simple procedure.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I'm dissappointed and frustrated, September 15, 2005

By 

Bruce Philpott - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: ColorVision Spyder 2 Pro Win/Mac (Personal Computers)

I have a laptop and a 2nd graphics monitor at home, and bought this to calibrate both. I adjust the sliders on my IBM T40, and the Spyder software doesn't "see" that I've done it, although it's conspicuous on the LCD screen. The second monitor? It won't even recognize it. Over $200 wasted. I'm a graphics professional, and if I'm missing something, the instructions are woefully inadequate!