Apple Cinema Display or NEC E231W-BK 23?

[Generations]

Hello, I'm upgrading my monitor and I'm leaning toward purchasing an NEC E231W-BK 23 or an Apple Cinema Display (last version) in 20 or 23 inch. My budget is around $200 so I'm looking at second hand Apple displays versus a brand new NEC. I would love to hear any opinions on which would be a better monitor for my limited budget. Other model recommendations are welcome.

FYI, my primary use will be graphic design and photo restorations. I have a macbook as my primary computer, and I will be purchasing the spyder 3 or like to profile my monitor so I can print from my epson r2880 accurately. I'm sure I'll be posting more questions about calibration and profiling in the coming weeks as I'm quite new to these concepts.

Thank you in advance for any help!

Stephanie

[Heretic]

NEC, best bang for the buck.

[Tony W]

Normally I would have said go NEC but this one is pretty much at the low end of NEC - not that I think that is bad but notice that it is an LED screen. I think that most pro end NEC's use backlit LCD rather than LED - probably for good reason?

You also mention Spyder 3 for profiling and calibration. This is potentially problematic as it just may be that the Spyder will not calibrate sucessfully LED you may be better off looking at the ColorMunki Display

[andrewrodney]

NEC! There is absolutely nothing special about Apple displays. I’d see if a P221W (entry level NEC SpectraView) fits your budget.

[Generations]

@Heretic thank you for your comments. Hmm... considering Andrews comments I wonder if you agree that the LED would not be best.

@Andrew and Tony The P221W is a bit out of my price range... sadly. Would you recommend LCD over brand name perhaps? HP, Dell or Samsung?

Also, I'm game to use colormunki, I've been keeping my eye on deals for their hardware too. I'll certainly purchase the monitor before either colormunki or spyder and then check reviews to see which is the better fit based on the monitor.

Thank you for the comments and I welcome any more!

[John Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Generations

Thank you for the comments and I welcome any more!

Hi Generations
Lots of good advice so I will not repeat.
The only other issue that I would pay attention to is matte screen vs glossy. That is a personal preference for some yet a glossy screen "reflects" so the surroundings to the rear of you can show up in the screen (e.g. window behind you). That won't necessarily be obvious if you look at the monitors in a store. I presently have a glossy screen (wanted to try it out) and now I also have blackout shades to control my editing environment to minimize the reflections. A little crisper to look at on the screen. That is neither here nor there in getting a sharp print IMHO yet it may be useful if you are ever displaying images to a client (that is a whole different topic).

[Generations]

Thank you John I will certainly take that into consideration. I don't particularly want the glare.

[Tony W]

Originally Posted by Generations

@Andrew and Tony The P221W is a bit out of my price range... sadly. Would you recommend LCD over brand name perhaps? HP, Dell or Samsung?

Generations I think there may be a little confusion here over terminology.

You could argue that there is no such thing as an LED monitor or television. Manufacturers and retailers use the term LED to differentiate the method to backlight the LCD panel (common to both). LED monitors are just LCD monitors but they use LED lights for the backlight instead of the more traditional CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamps). Both employ the same liquid crystal diode (LCD) technology for the front panel.

I think that you should if possible choose one that you are comfortable working with that is within your budget (unfortunately we all have to contend with budgets!). Ideally this means a visit to a store to compare side by side - this is easier said than done.

There is no reason why you should not choose an HP, Dell, Samsung or even IIyama (they used to make decent budget CRT's) either LCD or LED. All should give you a satisfactory viewing/editing experience.

The question then comes to accurate profiling and calibration. I have some reservations about the Spyder for LED monitor (perfectly ok IMO for LCD with CCFL) although many users say that they work 'perfectly' for either! I asked for opinion Here

[Generations]

Thank you Tony for your thoughtful response. I have to say the whole decision is becoming a bit stressful and I appreciate all the great feedback. At this point I think with my budget concerns and my current monitor any monitor I choose will be a vast improvement to my workflow.

I would like to consider other monitors by HP, Samsung, or Dell but not sure where to start as far as models. If there are any viewers who have good experiences with these brands I'd love some recommendations.

Thank you again retouch board!

[John Wheeler]

You might try this web site for comparisons and ideas on where to go with your purchase decision:
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/index2.html

[andrewrodney]

The only advantage of a white LED is lower power consumption (great for laptops) and longer life. Otherwise, LED or CCFL, not a difference worth worrying about considering the other important stuff like a high bit panel that can calibrate with it’s own host software. Many Colorimeters will have issues with LED because they expect CCFL. A Spectrophotometer will have no such issues and the newer X-Rite EyeOne Pro has filters that are designed for LED.