24" screens for new Mac Mini

7enderbender · Nov 19, 2012

Can anyone recommend two screens in the $500 class to be hooked up to one of the new Mac Minis? I'm looking for the most work space for Lightroom and Photoshop (and some audio applications) and figured I may be better off and actually get better screen quality than when going with a shiny 27" iMac. Not sure yet obviously how this will compare to the new model coming out in December or so but I have a feeling that I may still like to 24" screens better than one 27". Obvious choices seem to be some of the better Dells, NECs or the lower cost choices by Eizo.

I have the x-rite Colormunki Display for calibration and have confirmed that it would work in a dual screen setup on a Mini.

If anyone can convince me that it's better to spend 600 or 700 on ONE of the better 24" screens now and get the second one later I could see that as well, but I'm still hopeful that in the 400-500 range I could find something that has true colors and good resolution. This not for gaming or video or anything.

henryk1 · Nov 19, 2012

I use—and love—the HP ZR24w S-IPS monitor. It's now officially discontinued but is still available new on Amazon.com for $499.95. The screen resolution is 1920x1200, supersharp, and the colors are exquisite. Using Lightroom 4 on it is a downright pleasure.

I'm driving it with a new 2012 Mac mini and the included HDMI-to-DVI dongle.

I don't know what its HP market successor is, but it's probably more expensive.

--

The Whodunit Photographer

When a mystery writer puts aside his pen and picks up a camera

www.hkisorphoto.blogspot.com

bdkr65 · Nov 19, 2012

I use a Dell U2412M on my 2011 MBP and I couldn't be happier. Calibrated it matches my printer to a 'T' and because it has both VGA and DVI ports, I can use one of my earlier NEC's as the 'less important' displays.

Was $368 when I bought it almost a year ago. Calibration does not fall that far off, it is an IPS screen. My only not is that when looking at a text document, the Anti-glare 'coating' does seem to make the pixels more visible individually. When I'm editing snow scenes, Ihave to remember that. In the beginning I went hunting for artifacts that weren't there.

Hope this helps.

Stu 5 · Nov 20, 2012

7enderbender said:
7enderbender wrote:

Can anyone recommend two screens in the $500 class to be hooked up to one of the new Mac Minis? I'm looking for the most work space for Lightroom and Photoshop (and some audio applications) and figured I may be better off and actually get better screen quality than when going with a shiny 27" iMac. Not sure yet obviously how this will compare to the new model coming out in December or so but I have a feeling that I may still like to 24" screens better than one 27". Obvious choices seem to be some of the better Dells, NECs or the lower cost choices by Eizo.

I have the x-rite Colormunki Display for calibration and have confirmed that it would work in a dual screen setup on a Mini.

If anyone can convince me that it's better to spend 600 or 700 on ONE of the better 24" screens now and get the second one later I could see that as well, but I'm still hopeful that in the 400-500 range I could find something that has true colors and good resolution. This not for gaming or video or anything.

Are you aware of the current issues with the HDMI socket on the new Mac Minis? At the moment the only way to run 2 screens on it is to use a thunderbolt to two dvi connectors which will act as one large screens.

Hopefully Apple willl be able to sort the problem out but the cause of it looks like it is down to Intel with their HD4000 graphics card as the problem has also been reported on PC's.

Loading…

discussions.apple.com

Loading…

forums.macrumors.com

The other thing is there are rumours that the new iMac range will be delayed to early next year. January time. I think I read this is due to manufacturing issues but you will need to do a search for that. Nothing official from Apple yet though.

henryk1 · Nov 20, 2012

I have had a 2012 Mini for a week now, and am running a 24" HP ZR24w with the supplied HDMI-to-DVI dongle just fine. This suggests that not all of the Intel 4000s are defective. (What proportion of them are, I have no idea.)

So far as I know, no problems have been reported with the miniDisplayport-to-DVI interface. (I tried it, and it also worked well.)

--

The Whodunit Photographer

When a mystery writer puts aside his pen and picks up a camera

www.hkisorphoto.blogspot.com

Stu 5 · Nov 20, 2012

henryk1 said:
henryk1 wrote:

I have had a 2012 Mini for a week now, and am running a 24" HP ZR24w with the supplied HDMI-to-DVI dongle just fine. This suggests that not all of the Intel 4000s are defective. (What proportion of them are, I have no idea.)

Unfortunately a lot of people have said this only to find the problem often starts after a week. People finally not reporting a problem is close to zero if not in fact zero.

henryk1 said:
So far as I know, no problems have been reported with the miniDisplayport-to-DVI interface. (I tried it, and it also worked well.)

A couple of people at least have reported a problem. It is possible they have got confused with the name of the connector they are using but one seemed correct at least.

henryk1 said:
--

http://www.hkisorphoto.blogspot.com

elliotn · Nov 21, 2012

Stu 5 said:
Stu 5 wrote

Unfortunately a lot of people have said this only to find the problem often starts after a week. People finally not reporting a problem is close to zero if not in fact zero.

Interesting. Can you back this up?

henryk1 · Nov 21, 2012

"People finally not reporting a problem is close to zero if not in fact zero."

This sentence doesn't quite make sense. Could you explain, Stu5?

--

The Whodunit Photographer

When a mystery writer puts aside his pen and picks up a camera

www.hkisorphoto.blogspot.com

7enderbender · Nov 21, 2012

Stu 5 said:
Stu 5 wrote:

Stu 5 said:

7enderbender wrote:

Can anyone recommend two screens in the $500 class to be hooked up to one of the new Mac Minis? I'm looking for the most work space for Lightroom and Photoshop (and some audio applications) and figured I may be better off and actually get better screen quality than when going with a shiny 27" iMac. Not sure yet obviously how this will compare to the new model coming out in December or so but I have a feeling that I may still like to 24" screens better than one 27". Obvious choices seem to be some of the better Dells, NECs or the lower cost choices by Eizo.

I have the x-rite Colormunki Display for calibration and have confirmed that it would work in a dual screen setup on a Mini.

If anyone can convince me that it's better to spend 600 or 700 on ONE of the better 24" screens now and get the second one later I could see that as well, but I'm still hopeful that in the 400-500 range I could find something that has true colors and good resolution. This not for gaming or video or anything.

Click to expand...

Are you aware of the current issues with the HDMI socket on the new Mac Minis? At the moment the only way to run 2 screens on it is to use a thunderbolt to two dvi connectors which will act as one large screens.

Hopefully Apple willl be able to sort the problem out but the cause of it looks like it is down to Intel with their HD4000 graphics card as the problem has also been reported on PC's.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4472316?start=0&tstart=0

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1478837

The other thing is there are rumours that the new iMac range will be delayed to early next year. January time. I think I read this is due to manufacturing issues but you will need to do a search for that. Nothing official from Apple yet though.

No, I wasn't aware of that. In fact, Apple just "confirmed" to me a few times that what I'm planning to do wouldn't be an issue - including having two separate x-rite color profiles for each monitor (if necessary). Thanks for bringing this up. Man, for a $2000+ solution there is still a lot of compromises and hassles involved. But Win7 or Win8 aren't really that appealing any longer to me either.

Stu 5 · Nov 22, 2012

henryk1 said:
henryk1 wrote:

"People finally not reporting a problem is close to zero if not in fact zero."

This sentence doesn't quite make sense. Could you explain, Stu5?

Basically a few people are saying they don't have an issue. Then days later on the same forums they have posted back to say the problem has started.

henryk1 said:
--

http://www.hkisorphoto.blogspot.com

birdbrain · Nov 25, 2012

If you hope to run two monitors on a new Mac Mini then I suggest you read the following.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50347954

7enderbender · Nov 25, 2012

birdbrain said:
birdbrain wrote:

If you hope to run two monitors on a new Mac Mini then I suggest you read the following.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50347954

7enderbender · Nov 25, 2012

Hello everyone again,

Thanks to those pointing out the Intel HDMI issue in the new Mac Mini. Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out the advantages and disadvantages of wide-gamut vs. "normal" on those types of screens.

The Dell U2410 is on sale for cyber Monday for $400 bucks (maybe not such a great deal but anyways). As far as I understand it is wide gamut while the newer 2412 model is not. I heard great things about the 2410 and I'm tempted to just order two of them tomorrow and store them away until I make a final decision about the Mac Mini vs iMac vs something else.

Can anyone explain to me again why I would or would not want a wide gamut screen and the 2410 in particular?

Bill Wallace · Nov 25, 2012

This may help a little...

Loading…

forums.dpreview.com

I think most of us don't need wide gamut but that is for you to say Your color management would have to follow the flow from capture to display/print using wide gamut for sure.

If you search there are a lot of threads here on this topic, almost info overload. Just when you think you've reached a decision someone else makes a point and makes you say hmmmmm.....

Bill

7enderbender · Nov 25, 2012

Bill Wallace said:
Bill Wallace wrote:

This may help a little...

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50346630

I think most of us don't need wide gamut but that is for you to say Your color management would have to follow the flow from capture to display/print using wide gamut for sure.

If you search there are a lot of threads here on this topic, almost info overload. Just when you think you've reached a decision someone else makes a point and makes you say hmmmmm.....

Bill

Bill Wallace · Nov 25, 2012

Since you don't print a lot yourself I think you may have answered you question, go for the non wide gamut and be happy. For me I think getting the wide gamut and sending my stuff out as I do would be a hassle I don't need so for me if I go your route I'd opt for a non wide.

For reference I'm using a 2008 iMac, top of the line then but it's getting real close to the time for a new machine. I am waiting to see what the new iMacs are like in real world and for Apple to get the monitor issues sorted with the mini's. I really like the minis's but don't want to cope with the black outissues.

These guys never make it easy...

Bill

24" screens for new Mac Mini

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