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Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

Brilliant!!

Written by TC from Newbury

Oct 17, 2009

I have had a 30 inch display for about a year, and it is splendid. Brilliant colours, massive viewing area, and nice rich blacks. I would recommend this to anyone, with no problems yet. 10 / 10 Apple.

13 of 14 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

Reviewed after 18 Months

Written by GU from Eastbourne

Oct 4, 2009

I have not added my say to these reviews but now feels like a good time.
Having owned and worked with Apples 30" display for just over 18 months on a daily basis, for my pro photography and other retouching work. It is colour calibrated with a third party device. I watch a few HD documentaries from time to time on it as well. My verdict: Absolutely Stunning!!! The colour is accurate, the build quality is first rate. HD video content in playback is awesome. One thing i really love is the space one has. Weather working with multiple programs open, or an individual program taking up the working space is a really joy. My work process has speeded up as a result as well.

For those that have had the 'dancing' pixels etc. I can only say that it is an annoying thing but seems very random and not a common thing throughout. All manufacturing processes are not 100%. Let me say to those that are thinking about this monitor. Go right ahead!!! No regrets from me, and if you happen to worry think of using Apple Care extended warranty. Highly recommended to anyone who needs professional results.

18 of 20 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

Fabulous - just one small flaw....

Written by CM from Rochester

Sep 8, 2009

This display is fantastic - I haven't seen any evidence of the so-called 'dancing pixel' problem. It is truly a great piece of kit. I do however have one minor issue with this purchase.

The display has 2 FW400 ports and 2 USB ports on the back - designed for iPhone / iPod dock and iSight attachment etc. All of the connections for the display travel down one wiring loom that runs to the back of your Mac. This loom connects to the Mac using a DVI, a USB and a FW400 connection. The problem is the new Macs do not have a FW400 port and therefore the FW ports on the display cannot be connected.

After some digging around I found that Sonnet make a small converter to change the FW400 plug to a FW800 one. I went to my Apple store to get one and they do not sell them. They told me they "currently had no solution in store" (or online).

I would have thought that when you spend £1100+ on a display Apple could include a £10 adapter in the box so you can actually use the display as it is intended... or at the very least sell one in store. I now have to wait for mine to be delivered so I can hook up my iSight and audio interface. Doh!

Oh yes, be warned. In a small room you won't need any additional heating - this thing throws out a lot of heat :)

40 of 43 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

WOW!!

Written by PG from Chorley

Aug 27, 2009

That's the comment I have had from everyone who has seen this display in the few weeks since I purchased it. It's absolutely amazing. As a graphic designer beforehand i had 2 monitors side by side, using programs such as Quark, Photoshop etc, I used the smaller monitor to open all the menus, and then had a 22" monitor to work on. No need now I can view an actual A3 page at 150% if necessary and still have room for all the menus alongside. The quality is stunning and consider it to be one of the best Apple buys I have ever made. Its a far cry from the 9" mono monitor on my Mac SE when I started. I also watch BBC HD channel on the monitor - unbelievable!!

11 of 15 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

Dancing Pixels

Written by WD from Bournemouth

Jun 23, 2009

Great quality display - let down by dead pixel lines issues and dancing pixels issues. I was told by Apple support that these problems have been fixed. Dead pixel lines (black vertical line down) maybe, but NOT the dancing pixels. This is horizontal and vertical, often yellowish, flicking pixels, looking like a negative image at times. To add to this, changing from a blue tint to a pink tint (very subtle) can also accompany this fault. At worst, the pixels will dance aggressively in heavier colour, looking very grainy, then suddenly reverting back to normal (up to an hour or so), then back to flicking (and so on). This starts to grind on you while working. Regardless how old your 30" monitor is, this can happen and if out of warranty, like mine, you are stuffed, and will get a very large repair bill. Apple do not acknowledge this issue despite many users comments saying it does! Be warned, a very expensive product (not saying its bad when working!) with a potential of a very expensive repair. Is it worth the money with that risk??????????? Like a previous customer said, 'luck of the draw'! For a top of the range product, I consider a 'luck of the draw', an issue within itself. A £1,173.00 of an issue!!!! Good luck!

70 of 77 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

Stunning Performer

Written by MD from Banbury

Apr 27, 2009

We use this for professional data visualization and for HD TV. Our package shows massive data sets that become simple to interpret with the huge area and high quality representation. We also use the DBWorld USB HD TV box into a MacBook Pro which produces the most stunning video. Everyone who has seen BBC HD Channel at full resolution on this screen, has just gawped. I rarely feel moved by technology but the realism rendered is quite scary. Worth every penny.

30 of 38 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

Great Display for Graphics

Written by SG from OAKHAM

Mar 21, 2008

I have 2 of these. One purchased 8 months ago and has always been perfect. One purchased last week.
The one purchased last week arrived with the 'blue lines' problem (lines in solid blue) and was too pink. The replacement which arrived 2 days ago has too much anti-glare coating on the screen, making it very visible when working with white backgrounds.
Overall an excellent display, its the luck of the draw.

78 of 98 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

Great display, pretty reliable

Written by DW from LONDON

Mar 15, 2008

We have four of these displays, two were bought when they first came out a few years ago and are still going strong. Bright, punchy display (you have to turn the contrast down if you are close to the screen but we work in darkish rooms) great for graphics and video work. Best sited further from the user than a normal monitor.

Out of the four we had one which would very occassionally turn off by itself. The display went to an Apple authorised service agent who failed to find a fault. However a month after coming back it failed again. We reseated the ribbon cables inside and it has been fine for two years! I would have thought the service agent should have tried this. But overall very good, I think you expect the odd problem.

42 of 59 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

Lots and lots of problems with this product

Written by JM from Turku

Dec 15, 2007

Many people (myself included) have suffered severe "dancing pixels" problems with this display. Seems that some problems are software-related, but most are only solved by changing the display, some have even had to do that two to three times and even then the problems have been persistent. At that point I myself decided to give up and returned the product. Otherwise this is a fantastic display, but these problems make it very annoying to use.

I am still going to buy a new Cinema HD when these problems have been dealed with and Apple has made an announcement that the problems are gone. I hope that it is not only the new background image that has been changed from last month...

Check out apple discussions for more information.

200 of 275 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

Worth every cent

Written by BF from DUBLIN 13

Dec 1, 2007

Originally I was not sure if this was worth it, but it has been great. It has speeded up my work and within a year has easily paid for itself.

29 of 40 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

missing iSight

Written by PA from LONDON

Oct 20, 2007

the display itself looks wonderful, but i wonder when, and if, Apple are going to bring out one with an in-built iSight camera (as it has on all laptops and iMac's for quite a while now)

43 of 55 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

30 inch screen is excellent

Written by JD from LONDON

Jun 3, 2007

I'm a photographer, I picked up the 30 inch a few months ago to use as my main "light room" screen. The monitor is simply incredible, of course I've calibrated it for my pro-work but it can display stunning A3+ (European paper size) images in life-size and perfect detail.

It's actually larger than my TV, I'm not a great TV watcher but I now lug the 30 inch screen from my office down to the living room to watch DVDs in full glory, it's not exactly portable but manageable enough to carry from room to room.

I highly recommend this monitor for pro and semi-pro photographic work, it's made a huge difference to my productivity.

177 of 212 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

Superb!

Written by BG from LONDON

Jan 20, 2007

I got my 30" Cinema Display delivered this morning and I am in awe with it!

It is surprisingly lightweight for a display this size so I had no problem lifting it onto the desk top. The picture is perfect, crisp and clear. It provides me with 4 times the screen real estate I used to have with my old 19" CRT, which is great for software development. The colours are perfect. Pixels are crystal clear even at the highest resolution.

The only small glitch is in the installation manual. Although the diagram shows it, it doesn't emphasize that, if you are connecting it to a PowerMac G5, you absolutely have to connect it to DVI port #2 otherwise you won't have access to resolutions higher than 1280x800, which would be a shame.

72 of 89 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

great!

Written by YG from NORTH MIAMI

Aug 15, 2006

what a great product!

7 of 54 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

Unbelieveably good - simply stunning.

Written by GS

Jul 20, 2006

I'ts been a very long time since I bought anything IT related that was perfect - I mean faultless in every way. The 30" CD is and I'm delighted with it. The ATI Radion X800 XT that I also bought to drive the display works fantastically and I can run World Of Warcraft at full res (2560x1600) at high refresh rates.

No dead pixels, bright, contrasty, fantastic. I really have been blown away with the screen and can heartily recommend it.

26 of 38 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

its great

Written by RL from enfield

Jun 27, 2006

its an amazing product bought it and i really like it its highly recommended.

8 of 30 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

Stunning, nothing comes close

Written by MH from Bromsgrove

Mar 16, 2006

I have been using my 30inch for around 3 months now and all I can say is it never fails to impress, Ok it's not cheap but for me it's worth every penny. Great for imaging and video work, can only assume the first reviewer doesn't actually own one!!

If you can afford one buy one NOW!

12 of 24 people found this useful

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

30" screen is sublime

Written by MD from Reigate

Mar 4, 2006

This screen is superb. The colours and resolution are fantastic. The height of the screen is also carefully considered, making it a joy to work with, over long periods of time. Admittedly, it is expensive - remember that you need to buy the additional graphic card to run this screen.

19 of 29 people found this useful