Want to be more productive? Get a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display

I have the 30". It is seriously decent but the weird thing is how fast you acclimatise to it and having thought previously that I'd have loads of different apps up at once, I don't - I just have the same user experience, but bigger!

Really helpful for layouts in InDesign etc though (which is why I popped for one).

That was "3.0 ghz" not "30ghz".. Missed the decimal point.

Andrew

I'm debating a purchase of the 30" myself. I'll primarily be using it for video/photo/music work. I've read reviews all over the place. What I need it real-world experience. For those of you with a 30", do you love it? Does it play video smoothly? Do pictures look good with vivid color? And insight you can provide?

It'll be attached to my new Mac Pro with the x1900 video card, 30ghz, 4gb ram.

Thanks.

Andrew

I've had a two-display setup at work for years; recently had the main display replaced with a 30" Cinema Display (had a 23" before). I'm still using the 19" CRT as a secondary display. This is a nice setup and is a big boon to my work, but I could easily make use of even more screen real estate. I'd love to have a second 30" display.

But to be honest, if I had to choose between a single 30" display and a dual setup with a 23" and the 19" CRT, I'd pick the dual setup. Thankfully my employer didn't make me make that choice.

Its not the productivity I'm worried about its the price. I use 2-19" monitors at work at and yes it is definately more productive to have more screen realestate/resoultion... At home I'm down to one and I can feel the difference. I like the idea of having 2 monitors vs. 1 large monitor actually. I can get 2-20" monitors for under $800 or 2-24" for about $1600. It would cost $2K for a 30" display. I agree having seen one more than a few times in the Apple section of a store nearby that its a thing of beauty but just can't justify the cost on my budget.

I would buy better a imac 24".

Productivity doesn't increase by screen size, but by screen resolution. It's all about having all the windows you need on screen at the same time, at the size you want, find anything at a glace, withour the need to scroll or constantly switch from one window to another. And that depends solely on screen resolution.

Increased screen resolution comes with a bigger monitor, but 30" may make you move your head more than you move your mouse.

Finding the perfect combination is a matter of personal preference: how big is too big for you, how far is too far, etc.

My old 17" CRT is set at 1600x1200 and I'm happy with it. I wouldn't reject a bigger TFT, as long as it gave me even more pixels to play with.

whatever

I have an 30" apple monitor and I will never give up for just 2 smaller

an huge space to organize windows and work on complexe document or projets are that useful.

my 20" cinema display (old style) which was my pride and joy and which cost the proverbial arm and leg (and batwing) has now developed a fault. Basically the backlight is faulty causing the top half of the screen to dim but worse of all the power button flashes incessantly. Identical problem as here - http://homepage.mac.com/wysz/Studio_Display/. Anyone know if such issues affect the newer style displays?

btw the monitor is or was great. Though i think 23 or 24" is the real sweet spot for most users. Power users need as much real estate cos applications' guis take up so much room and you can edit an A4 spread at actual size...

For most non-photo/video type work, I think multiple monitors is more efficient than one huge monitor. Having a monitor with all your constant windows (mail, im, itunes, etc) and one with your current working app/document i think is a really good idea. Personally I use 3 for web development: one for mail/im/itunes/terminal, one for IDE, and one for browser. I could see adding a 4th for dedicated sling/tv/music (and making room for a poker spot on monitor 3). :)

Also, in this scenario, monitors can be too big (i never thought i'd say that). I'm thinking maybe a 23" primary and maybe 2 17" secondaries.