View Full Version : what's the best 20" ws f/macs-besides the apple ?


Kurth Bousman
November 29th, 2005, 08:02 PM
Has anyone used the dell and on what mac? It's got to be the cheapest . I'm looking at the acer ferrari for about $6 bills. Truth is I haven't seen it in person but it's got great specs and appears to be more attractive that apples' 20". Any other suggestions would be appreciated. thanks -Kurth

Boyd Ostroff
November 29th, 2005, 08:09 PM
Not sure about 20" screens, but MacWorld reviewed 23" screens last February: http://www.macworld.com/2005/02/reviews/23inchlcd/index.php

Also might check the Apple online store, they have refurb 20" screens for $699 with 1 year warranty. Click on the "Apple Refurbished" link at http://store.apple.com (you can't link to items there).

Nate Schmidt
November 29th, 2005, 09:25 PM
I use a dell 20" widescreen which I got during a hot deal for 599 Canadian, and I love it

John C. Chu
November 29th, 2005, 09:29 PM
I got the Dell 2005FPW which uses the same LCD panel as the Apple Cinema Display..as matter of fact..there is a coupon code I saw today for it that will drop the price down to around $334! [Direct from Dell.]

Normally this thing runs almost $450.00 on sale.

I have one and have been very pleased with it.

Kurth Bousman
November 30th, 2005, 03:52 PM
John and Nate - which macs are you using ?- Dells' site says that only for specific graphics cards will their monitors work. thanks

John C. Chu
November 30th, 2005, 04:25 PM
The Dell accepts DVI and regular D-Sub connections from your Mac.

As long as your video card can drive at least 1680x1050--you should be set.[Most new Macs will do that easily if not higher] and that includes the mini.

For me, I'm using it with a really old Blue and White G3[upgraded to a G4] along with an ATI-9200 Radeon card.[which has DVI connections]

http://www.anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=2400

One nice thing of the 2005FPW [though I never use it] is the ability to rotate the monitor into portrait orientation with the ATI card.

Nate Schmidt
November 30th, 2005, 04:41 PM
I'm on a dual 1.8 G5 with a radeon 9600 128 meg graphics card.

Roque Rodriguez
December 12th, 2005, 05:57 PM
I got the Dell 2005FPW which uses the same LCD panel as the Apple Cinema Display..as matter of fact..there is a coupon code I saw today for it that will drop the price down to around $334! [Direct from Dell.]

Normally this thing runs almost $450.00 on sale.

I have one and have been very pleased with it.

Is this coupon you speak of still out there & if so where can I get one? Thanks!

Jeff Porter
December 20th, 2005, 11:21 AM
I just got a Gateway 21" HD widescreen for my G5 and it works great. It's about 600.00 and it also all kinds of inputs for everything. DVI, VGA, S-video, composite and also has 4 additional usb ports. I could stomach shelling out twice as much for 2" on the Apple display. I think that this one even has a better contrast ratio. If you do get one like this then you will need to re-calibrate your color settings since its set up for PC's. No big whoop thou.