I'm in the market to replace an 21" NEC with a 30" monitor for a Mac Pro. Apple Cinema is on option, but, not sure it is the best option. What is the best 30" monitor for under $2,100? Or, would a 24" be a better option?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Best for what? Colour critical photo work only or general use such as web surfing, office tasks like Word, Excel, etc, gaming?

If photo work only, you could consider a wide gamut monitor but be aware that they can be problematic for other uses. Most browsers are not colour managed and colours will look off using a wide gamut monitor. Firefox 3 can be colour managed, but you have to enable it.

NEC, Lacie, Dell, HP and yes, even Apple make/sell very good monitors.

Well, you have your work cut out for you. The market is so flooded with what I call lousy panels it's hard to find a good one unless you know how to look.

There are several kinds of panels but a few common ones are from worst to best, TN, PVA, S-PVA, IPS, S-IPS. IPS has been mentioned as the better but where can you find one?
Eizo's calidac is an S-PVA.

Anyway, why not a TN? Viewing angle suffers, the screen contrast and/or colors can be gradient from top to bottom of the panel, and somewhere in the area of 260,000 colors where the next grade of panels are something like 16.7 million.

Just try and find out which type panel is in the panels on the market today. Heh! It's like a military secret.

I took the liberty of looking up 30" S-PVA panels on http://www.prad.de/en/index.html. there are plenty.

You will have to convert the currency or just google the model. Sometimes there will be discontinued ones listed. Fun Stuff.

Do a Monitor selection and enter S-PVA and the inch and scroll to the bottom and hit the find display you will come up with all makers of the configuration. Look at who makes the panel hardware. Samsung !

I got lucky and got two 21" Samsung 215TW S-PVA displays before they disappeared and now you can perhaps find open box units on ebay for $199.99 buy it now. A steal if you ask me.

A LITTLE MORRE THAN YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT PANELS.

TFT Types Explained and more.

If you want 24", get the Dell 2408WFP. It's an s-pva panel and has something like a 102% color gammut, but can be calibrated quite nicely.

I have the 2007WFP (20" version) and I love it. S-IPS 8 bit panel, colors are amazingly accurate. I got it for $220 shipped off ebay.

Thanks for the responses.

Hi James,

Being in the market myself for a MacPro and monitor, might I suggest taking a look at the NEC's. I made the mistake of visiting B&H a few weeks ago to get some hands-on with their 26" 2690WUXi and got to check out their 30" 3090WQXi sitting right next to it...big mistake...now I'm struck with monitor lust! (Me thinks they do that on purpose!)

Specs here...

NEC 3090 WQXi
http://www.necdisplay.com/Products/Product/?product=4af7b335-9302-4429-8d73-74c35a363b57

...and here...

NEC 2690WUXi
http://www.necdisplay.com/Products/Product/?product=1713e080-c8e3-4aab-9447-73dacb301b84

...the 30-incher can be had within your budget. Information provided solely as FYI.

Best of luck with your shopping! Let us know what you decide!

Peace,
Jimmy G

Jimmy,

I have decided to go with NEC, but I'm deciding on 26" or 30". I'm gong from a 21" monitor, so both are much bigger and better.

Thanks for the links.

Between the NEC 26" and 30" you may want to consider the difference in dot pitch (pixel pitch). Text will appear about 9% smaller on the 30" while images look a bit sharper.