24 inch LCD Recommendation?

[mccartney]

Hi

I am sorry if this is the wrong place to post this, but I couldn't seem to find a better forum.

I am currently using an NEC 17 inch LCD which I absolutely love, but the eye strain during editing is getting to me.
So I have been reading reviews on 24 inch LCD monitors and the Dell 2408 seems to be highly recommended but quite a number of people have issues when connecting to a non - Dell machine such as a clone which I have.

I am drawn to Samsung's 245T which uses S-PVA technology, but I can't find one in any of the stores to actually have a look at it.
My price is about $600 Canadian max.

Oh and if I could find free or inexpensive software to replicate the PC applications that I currently use, I would bite the bullet and buy one of the new Apple iMAC's with their incredible screens.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

[prinothcat]

Which PC apps would you need if you switched to MAC? There is a superb Office clone, which is free. There is a photoshop clone which while not Pshop is quite good, also free. It as much a question of which apps you need to use and how flexible you can be in terms of learning new apps. I know some folks can do it, and some have real difficulty when confronted with programs that are close to, but not quite what they are used to using.
Chris

[mccartney]

I currently use FastStone Image Resizer (freeware) which I use to resize, frame and add copyright all in one step - love it! Also use Adobe's Lightroom for editing RAW images, so I would have to purchase Apple's Aperture to replace Lightroom and I don't what I would use to replace Faststone's Photo Resizer.
There is also another option for the MAC - a program called "Parallels" - lets you run Windows and/or Linux at the same time as MAC OS - not sure how cumbersome that may be though.

Which PC apps would you need if you switched to MAC? There is a superb Office clone, which is free. There is a photoshop clone which while not Pshop is quite good, also free. It as much a question of which apps you need to use and how flexible you can be in terms of learning new apps. I know some folks can do it, and some have real difficulty when confronted with programs that are close to, but not quite what they are used to using.
Chris

[prinothcat]

Lightroom is available for mac I'm fairly certain. iPhoto comes bundled, but has it's drawbacks. The GNU LInux/MAC app Gimp is a full featured editor like photoshop. It's not as intuitive as shop but it does all that a person could ask. For batch resize and sharpen, I'm testing a EasyBatchPhoto, it's pretty simple. Set parameteres and drag & drop. There are plenty of tools out there, as noted it;s a question of how willing one is to forgo the familiar and take the leap to a new platform. One also must weigh the investment in software already made for PC before making the transition. I'm a recent convert to MAC from PC by way of linux and I'm sold.

[mccartney]

prinothcat
Thanks very much for the info and suggestion for EasybatchPhoto - I will check it out.
Barry

Lightroom is available for mac I'm fairly certain. iPhoto comes bundled, but has it's drawbacks. The GNU LInux/MAC app Gimp is a full featured editor like photoshop. It's not as intuitive as shop but it does all that a person could ask. For batch resize and sharpen, I'm testing a EasyBatchPhoto, it's pretty simple. Set parameteres and drag & drop. There are plenty of tools out there, as noted it;s a question of how willing one is to forgo the familiar and take the leap to a new platform. One also must weigh the investment in software already made for PC before making the transition. I'm a recent convert to MAC from PC by way of linux and I'm sold.

[xtranch]

I am using a hp lp2465 which is the commercial version, hooked up to a dell desktop. it works great but you have to watch the brightness because when printing the print will need to have the brightness boosted at least 10% because the screen is so bright.

[mccartney]

xtranch - Thanks, I will check that one out - much appreciated.
Barry

I am using a hp lp2465 which is the commercial version, hooked up to a dell desktop. it works great but you have to watch the brightness because when printing the print will need to have the brightness boosted at least 10% because the screen is so bright.

[press_on]

Go buy the apple. It will then pay for it self in loss time saved. By the way, do you not know that you can run PC Software on a Mac. PC dealers don't tell you that.

I have been on Apples/Mac since 93 dues to less problems but their screens have saved my eyes.

Just go to Yorkdale Apple store and test one.

Robbie

PS They even have Credit accounts and Airmiles.

[press_on]

To set the colour use a " Huey" by Pantone to colour correct your screens. Cost under a hundred and does a real true job. Just recal once a week. It also has a Ambient light setting so the when the viewing light changes so does your screen colouring to give you true wusiwug Prints.

[prinothcat]

Go buy the apple. It will then pay for it self in loss time saved. By the way, do you not know that you can run PC Software on a Mac. PC dealers don't tell you that.

heck with bootcamp you can even run winderz as "native" code.. That's the beauty of *nix based systems. Safe. secure, and when you understand them, very flexible.

[jypsee]

the price has dropped since I bought mine in Aug-08 and I merely upgraded my Photoshop to CS3 and Adobe did a cross platform at upgrade price. I don't miss having windows programs (well, except for a plug-in that isn't available for Mac... which I used infrequently). Prior to leaving the windows platform I thought I'd be lost without my favorite software; now I can't recall what the big problem was...
HTH,
Mary in SW Florida, USA

[junqbox]

Another great image app available for the Mac is Graphic Converter. There is barely nothing which is not made for Mac, remeber, even MS office even started on the Mac.

Cheers

[mccartney]

Thanks for all of the responses since I first started this thread. I went out and bought a 24 inch Samsung 245T monitor the other day, but had to return it as it was defective. It was flickering, hard on the eyes and although the picture was very nice, it wasn't as good as the iMAC.

Have been pricing the 24 inch iMACs and have found that the price is going to be more than double that of a PC of similar specification. Then I still have to purchase additional software such as Apple Aperture and Photoshop and an external backup drive.
I am looking into the MAC and still finding a few issues - i just discovered that my Canon 4200F scanner is not MAC compatible, so that means buying a new scanner as well.
I do absolutely adore the look of the iMAC and I may still make the switch.

Barry