Apple Cinema 23-inch HD Flat-Panel Display Reviews

• Choosing the Apple Cinema 23 HD Above All Else

  
  By A3MJNV2OLFJ8YY on 2006-02-06
  I've been looking for a new WUXGA monitor for the last month, and I've conducted a lot of research. I narrowed down my choice to these monitors: Dell 2405FPW, Samsung 244T, ViewSonic VP2330wb, HP L2335, and Sony SDM-P234/B.
  
  I will be using the monitor for coding, illustration, and DVD playback, in that order of importance. Prolonged periods of looking at text must be easy on the eyes. It also has to have natural colors with no casts or artifacts and a reasonable response time.
  
  Two of these monitors are 24" and their panels are made by Samsung, the 2405FPW and the 244T. The others are 23" and their panels are made by LG-Philips.
  
  The Dell 2405FPW was ruled out because, even though it's the cheapest by a big margin, it has a notorious high-pitch squeal problem that Dell doesn't acknowledge or address and people are still getting squealers to this day. This would surely drive me crazy. In addition, I don't like the shiny Dell logo at the front bezel, and the silver plastic stand looks very cheesy. I also heard reports that the brightness is so strong it would fry your eyes, even if you turn it all the way down. It might be good for gaming, but staring at texts for extended periods leaves you with eye fatigue. Dude, you're NOT getting a Dell!
  
  The Samsung 244T is the most expensive of the bunch, and it has the fastest response time. However, since its pixel pitch is 0.27, text doesn't look as crisp as it does on the LG-Philips monitors, which have a pixel pitch of 0.258. Add to this the excessive brightness and an ugly stand that looks like a shovel handle and it's a no go!
  
  The main problem with the HP L2335 is that it's been discontinued by the manufacturer, and that doesn't inspire confidence. The earlier batches of the LG-Philips 23" panels had pink and yellow cast problems, and if you want to buy a monitor that uses these panels, you need to make sure its one of the latest batches. In addition, the stand doesn't have cable management, so the wires droop all over the place. No go!
  
  The Sony looks pretty good, but its scarce reviews on the web aren't encouraging, especially those about units that die after a couple of months and don't get replaced for weeks. Furthermore, I'm not a big fan of sliver/black monitors (like the 2405FPW, L2335, and SDM-P234/B). I prefer either all black or all silver (like the 244T, VP2330wb, and Cinema 23 HD). No go!
  
  The ViewSonic VP2330wb is very close. It looks pretty good, pivots, and has a very good response time. In addition, my current monitor is a ViewSonic VX2000. I had it for more than two years and I'm very satisfied with it. So I was kind of inclined to go again with the same brand. According to a ViewSonic rep, however, it won't launch till February 13. In addition, its predecessor, the VP231wb, didn't have good color reproduction, and I prefer a lighter color bezel because it gives a more natural look, so it's skipped for the Apple.
  
  When it comes to looks, the Apple Cinema HD is Miss Universe of the monitors. It's not just a monitor: it's a piece of art (and I'm not even an Apple fan; I use Windoze). On paper, the specs look fantastic. Small pixel pitch for extra clarity, moderate brightness, good response time (not spectacular, but then again, I'll be using it mostly for development), and according to most reviews, its colors look more natural than all the other LG-Philips-based monitors. It doesn't pivot, but that's a non-issue because I'd rather have more windows side-by-side than a single long window.
  
  However, I had misgivings about the Cinema 23 HD because it has a bad rep from all the negative reports about pink color casts and uneven lighting. It seems that most of these complaints are from the earliest LG-Philips batches. But I wasn't really sure, and I had to take my chances.
  
  The first one I bought didn't have bad pixels or a pink color cast, but it had a severe uneven backlighting defect. In a dim environment with a black background, you can easily see a golden/yellow spot at the upper right corner. It's very annoying and distracting when you watch DVDs in a dark room. And if you change your viewing angle vertically, you can see that blacks shift immediately to faint yellow. So I took it back to the Apple Store and got a brand new replacement.
  
  The replacement was awesome. Uniform backlight, no color casts, not a single dead or stuck pixel, and absolutely gorgeous, clean, sharp, vivid, natural picture.
  
  I really love this monitor, but I had to take one star out because Apple has major quality control problems. Apparently getting a good unit is a hit-and-miss proposition, and if you can lay your hands on one, it's worth every penny.
  
  
  

• The most beautiful display ever...but PINK!!!!!

  
  By A1TDKHWTAZBTY5 on 2004-09-12
  My first new 23"display had the famous PINK casting problem (see MacFixit.com or Apple forum) and I returned it. 2 weeks later, I received a new one with the same problem... PINK...and a slightly darker area in the middle of the display. I tried in vain to calibrate the monitor with SPYDER PRO, but the pink casting usually comes back 1-2 days later. The display is gorgeous, and I'm really disappointed that I need to return it. Hopefully Apple will soon fix this problem or recall this product.
  
  

• Buyer beware...

  
  By AN82QRTRVNL0Q on 2004-09-12
  I am having color problems with this monitor; it has a pinkish haze and the left side of the screen is washed out about an inch. It was OK the first day I had it, but the problems showed up after a day or two of use. Re-calibrating the monitor does help -- but does not eliminate -- the pinkish haze, and the washed-out part is there no matter what.
  
  There are many posts on the Apple Support boards about others with the same problem. You may want to consider this, and hopefully Apple will adknowledge a design flaw in these models soon.
  
  

• Comparison of Apple 23" vs. Dell 2405FPW

  
  By A2RM9RJZD33DP7 on 2006-06-09
  I have had the Dell 2405FPW for about a year and bought the Apple 23" yesterday. The Dell is quite a bit cheaper for the same size display. However, I find the Apple display to be quite a bit sharper. On the Apple, I can read text clearly even in very small font sizes. The fonts are smoother and easier on the eyes--I can comfortably read 8-point font on the Apple, and can even make out 6-point. On the Dell, I have to make the fonts larger to read them, and the text is more jagged. The Dell is very serviceable for apps that don't require extended viewing. But I would not want to read for extended periods on it, and indeed I found myself printing out many documents over the past year instead of reading them on the screen.
  
  I find the Apple is the first monitor I have had where the text is just as clear as on a printout (well, almost as clear--I don't think I could read 4-point font on the display, but then that is very fine print indeed). At 8-point font and higher, I find the Apple to be just as comfortable as reading a high-quality printout or book. That is a real jump in quality and will help me cut down on printing.
  
  In deciding whether the Apple is worth the premium price, you should think about what your intended uses are for the monitor. In my experience, there are definitely uses where the higher quality of the Apple monitor justifies the higher price.
  
  

• Pricey but brilliant

  
  By A2RPZNGBSCW0WH on 2004-08-12
  One star off for price...
  
  PROS:
  *Lightweight, great fit & finish, excellent picture quality, thin bezels
  *"widescreen" 16:10 aspect ratio great for photo editing work
  * no noticeable motion artifacts with games or video
  *Apple brand means good resale on ebay when it comes time to replace it.
  
  CONS:
  *Stand does not "stick" display to the table... too easy to accidentally slide it around *16:9 HD/DVD video does not fill the screen
  * no support for widescreen resolutions in a lot of games
  *Similar quality 1600x1200 (non-wide) displays MUCH cheaper (approx $1200)
  *HP L2335 etc have similar specs but additional features (swivels to portrait mode, HD component video input etc) and are slightly cheaper, more readily available.
  
  Overall, I think most people looking to move up from a 17-19" CRT or LCD display will be better served with a quality 20.1" 1600x1200 rez LCD from Samsung or Viewsonic or the Apple 20". That seems like the price/resolution sweet spot for large displays right now. However, if you already have a 21"+ CRT display and want something larger, this 23" model might be for you. There is definite sticker shock but the bit of additional resolution and general sexiness of LCDs makes it a bit more palatable.
  
  
• The pink cast that won't go away
  By A1IBY9GUU1UROY on 2005-08-04
  After months of pondering the idea that Macintoshs are somehow better than PC's, last October I splurged over $5,000 on a Macintosh G5 Powermac with two 1.8 MHZ Processors, 2 MB of RAM, an ATI Radeon
  Mac Special Edition Graphics Card and one of those then new aluminum 23" Cinema Displays.
  
  After managing to haul the boxes filled with my new equipment up the stairs (they must be made out of heavy aluminum), I set up the system and booted it up. It was the first time I had owned a Mac since 1993 when my employees at Mindware bought me a Pentium 2 for my birthday. I was excited since had heard so much about the superior graphics of the Mac.
  
  Well after getting rid of their one button mouse and putting on a two bottom Microsoft IntelliMouse, I had a good look at the new interface. I noticed something odd. The display had an odd pink cast to it. I talked to my friend Clay by phone and he told me that this is how Macs are supposed to look. I thought, I guess I'll get used to this. If you want to get an idea about the problem, take a look at " Color Consistency Problems with the New Aluminum Apple Cinema Display HD 23" To read a weblog that chronicled this problem, read Cinema Displays.
  
  I never did get used to it. A week later, I found an article on Apple Cinema Displays have faulty LCD panels: Bad Batch in Barrel. When I read this, I immediately called Apple Support. The tech recommended I read the Apple Forum on their Tech Support Site so I did. I read story after story about people who had gotten Apple to swap their pink-eyed monitor for a new one -- only to get another one with similar problems. When I went to computer stores that sold Apples, I always looked at the 23" Cinema Displays and they are always pink.
  
  Here is a post from AppleNova Forum:
  
  Just a quick note for those suggesting color calibration:A good percentage of the 23" apple displays are permanetly pink. This is a well known and documented problem which no amount of calibration will ever remedy.
  
  Granted, there are people that have a slightly pink display that can be fixed by calibration. Yet, this is of no help to those with one of the defective displays.Do a quick google on pink apple display problems and you'll turn up a billion reports. It really is astounding that there hasn't been a recall. I'm not one to scream the sky is falling, but in this case, the product has a widespread, major defect.
  
  I predict a class action lawsuit relatively soon...(authors note: see story in Forbes)
  
  The day before yesterday, I spent an hour trying to adjust the monitor "just one more time." I could not get it right so I went to the forums again. All of the posts that I had made about the pink problem had been deleted. But new ones had proliferated. One person said that he had gotten a new monitor and that it was good. White was white again.
  
  So I called what has always been called the Superior Apple Technical Support. After all, I had paid several hounded for an extended warranty, maybe they might swap my defective screen for a good one, like the fellow on the forum. Well I think that I reached all the way to India on the first call. After going through all sorts of tech support steps read off a cue sheet or screen, I told the guy, "Look, I think I should get a new monitor."
  
  No, you have had the monitor too long. We are going to repair it. So he told me to call CompUSA and schedule to have it repaired. When I called CompUSA, they told me that they no longer serviced Apples and to take it to Century 23 near the Meadow Mall (I live in Las Vegas). So the next day, I packed the monitor in its original packing and took it to the store. They told me "they had heard about this problem before" but that I had better be prepared to have Apple "repair" the monitor several times before they finally replace it.
  
  Now I ask you, why does a rich company like Apple continue to stonewall its customers on something like this. They will not admit that there was a problem. Apparently they bought a large lot of defective panels and they can't afford to take a hit on them. So their customers are paying.
  
  So those of you who are considering switching to Apple -- remember this story. And also you should know that if you are every unhappy with Apple as a vendor, there is no other company to turn to and still continue to use their operating system. And they want to keep it that way.
  
  Not only is my expensive Cinema display a joke, now they decided to switch to Intel processors. So my expensive aluminum tower is now an instant antique!
  
  
  
  
• Watch out for bad pixels!
  By A1F9Z42CFF9IAY on 2005-09-09
  NOTE-It seems that the 'pink' color cast issue is more or less resolved now with the current stock of these monitors as I've looked at several current ones and none of them had the bad pink color cast or a dark spot in the middle like the first batches had. Now on to my review and other issues:
  
  LCD monitors inherently can be manufactured such that they end up with a few dead/bad pixels. This shows up as a colored dot on the monitor when certain colors are displayed. Apple needs to do the right thing and take a stand on quality control. Samsung has recently adopted a 'no bad pixel' policy on their monitors and Apple should do the same.
  
  Apple's policy is that it's not considered a defective monitor unless there are 5 ore more bad pixels or a cluster of 3 or more clumped together. Apple states that out of the millions of pixels that high resolution monitors have, a few dead bad ones isn't considered a problem. This policy is not fair when such a large number of these Apple monitors do actually make it to the retail stores with bad pixels. The first one I received had a bad pixel that was visible all the time and the replacement also has 2 bad pixels that are visible sometimes, when certain dark colors are being displayed. I was told point blank by the Apple Store that I would not be able to return it again, without paying an exhorbitant 10% restocking fee.
  
  While the monitor is beautiful in case, design and quality of the overall picture, the pixel issue is a serious issue for me. I feel it's unfair that I have to pay so much for a monitor that contains visible defects. And while I'm living with the bad pixels right now and don't notice them all the time, it still bothers me that Apple doesn't step up and do the right thing, especially on such an expensive item.
  
  
• Works great on PC's (With the right card)
  By A1RV8SHVZ6UDJF on 2004-10-23
  I picked up this monitor to replace 2 of my aging trinitrons. If you have a Mac, this monitor is absolutely awesome and totally plug and play. However, if you have a PC, this monitor requires a little extra to truly shine. In my case, my Matrox Parhelia card (with Dual DVI) would not recognize this monitor. After I installed a ATI X800 Pro, this thing works like a dream and so far is a great replacement for my old ones. The one catch is that the monitor does not engage until the computer loads windows. You can always attach a VGA monitor to the free slot in the ATI if you need to debug. Performance wise, it's great and sharp and looks really cool to top it off. It has no contrast controls (only brightness) so prepare to use Adobe to tweak the color settings with software but to be honest, I haven't needed to tweak in any way yet. From a graphic designer point of view, this thing is sharp. DVD motion pans look pretty clear on it as well. If you're serious about detail and color, I suggest checking this monitor out.
  
  
• Couldn't ask for a better display.
  By A1O7OEZM7VA083 on 2006-02-25
  This was a no-brainer. The monitor arrived on time, and it took longer to unpack it than it did to plug it in to my G5 tower, turn it on, and be up and running. Literally plug-and-play perfection! The quality of images on the screen is as advertised. It would be hard to find a better high-quality monitor for color-critical graphics work.
  
  The only tweaking I did was to create a color profile with a Spyder 2.
  
  [sidebar:] This 23" Cinema HD Display replaces an excellent 21" Sony GDM-F500 CRT with no regrets; no looking back.
  
  
• poor color consistency
  By A34LYZ1X2PCOAP on 2004-09-25
  Lots of great features in this display plus it's design is very appealing especially next to the Apple Macintosh G5 tower........But, the color inconsistency and backlighting problems with the two monitors I have had are a big problem if you plan to do serious photo editing or any application that requires accurate color. If that is not the case it should be fine. However, it seems to me that for this price there should be little if any compromise. I'd suggest checking out Apple's discussion forums before buying this display
  
  
• Not just for video professionals
  By AFXMTGF9XLJM1 on 2004-08-30
  The new 23" display with the aluminum bezel is invaluable to professional writers / page compositors for its ability to display full-sized pages (side by side).
  
  This display is sharp (edge to edge), bright and easily driven by G-4 laptops as well as the desktop line. It has industry-standard I/O and (for Apple users) two each firewire 400 and USB ports on the back of the display. These act as a pass-through to the computer driving the display and are very discrete.
  
  The mounting options are superb and the quality, fit and finish are museum-quality. If you need a great (big) display for failing eyesight, video or book compositing or you just want to see HD DVD playback at the highest resolution available - this is your display.
  
  
• The biggest display you can get for a Mac Mini
  By A2WM1KL9DQSQ18 on 2005-09-27
  As other reviewers have pointed out, Apple seems to have solved the "pink issue". I have been using this display for over a month now, with no issues. No dead pixels either.
  
  I bought this display for use with my Mac mini. I started with a Mac hooked to my PC monitor/keyboard/mouse. I've always been a fan of using dual monitors on my PC's, but had no way to do this with a Mac mini. So I decided to get the largest single monitor that I could.
  
  The 23" cinema works just as well as dual monitor for me. The extra wide display allows me to place applications side-by-side and not have to be flipping through windows. The display is very clear. It does produce more heat than I expected, but it is by no means "hot to the touch".
  
  The extra USB and Firewire ports are nice. But I wish Apple could have put more than 2 USB ports on it. They certainly had the space.
  
  
  
• Apple 23" Cimema Display HD - No Silver lining
  By A2URRG6XPBC8P4 on 2005-04-29
  In short I returned my 23" Apple Cinema Display and got back the 20" Apple Cinema display I had bought the day before. The 20" was so good, so I reasoned - wow, go get the 23" it will be even better - wrong. The 23" Apple Cinema Display did actually run under Windows XP but the color fidelity was 0/10. It is almost as if the 23" display is built at a lower standard, or that there is no Quality assurance with this product. This was due to 3 things. 1) a pink color cast to all neutral grey/white areas. 2) A noticeable squeeze effect at the edges where the display looked like it an LCD being squashed. In these edge areas the color of white or grey changed to green and was darker. I also noticed a minor shift in hue on many of the grey pixels across the screen from left to right edges. 3) A noticeable blur compared to the 20".
  
  My work station area is a mixed Mac/PC affair to maximize productivity and cross platform work. I already run a first generation polycarbonate style 23" Cinema HD for OSX - 2 years now with no drama. I use the PC in Photoshop and wanted a top quality display for scanning Velvia and manipulating large files of 60Mb or more with quick response. I installed a new silver 20" Apple Cinema display to run under Windows XP SP2 using an ATI Sapphire Radeon 9600XT Atlantis 256Mb graphics card and an ASUS A7V8X mainboard. It is a good card for the 20" and the 23" Apple Cinema Displays. The Asus BIOS had to be set to activate the AGP 8x first. The only fault with this combination was that during a hot-restart, the display would remain off (black) and I had to shut down first, then start. Once the display was in this "apple sleep mode - cannot be woken by XP" I could not tell where the XP launch was at and after pressing the restart switch the BIOS would halt at the error report page (I was guessing, the Cinema display was black) so it required a full power-off - disconnect the apple display from the PC card and then start everything again. Otherwise the results were 5 star for the 20" with excellent color accuracy and evenness, brightness and sharpness. I am very experienced with color accuracy in Photoshop and usually have a neutral desktop background so as not to bias any colors which appear on screen around the Photoshop scans I am working on. I found under windows XP that the Adobe gamma panel was not as good as the ATI color panel (right click desktop/properties/settings/advanced/color) where I could make more precise corrections to the lower/mid/upper ranges of the gamma curve by eye. So far the 20" Apple Cinema display was fantastic and I was again marveling at how well Apple engineers can build or subcontract others to built their gear. Time to rush back to the store and get the BIG brother. Wrong - trouble came to town. See 1/2/3 above. I thought the problem was the Ati 9600XT card - so I switched over the display to run as a second monitor on my Mac Ati9000. So now I had the two 23" displays running side by side, one brand new and silver and the other two years old with 60 hours a week under the hood - that's a lot of hours. Well it was then I knew that the NEW 23" Apple Cinema Display was going straight back to the store. It seems obvious that the display was being squashed at the edges thereby changing the colors in a kind of Newton Ring effect you get with a cheap digital watch.
  
  So I am back using the 20" Apple Cinema Display under Windows XP and all is well - 10/10. This is a perfect way to make Windows XP feel like a friend, even when running right next to my old 23" HD in OSX 10.3. By the way the Ati 9600XT 256Mb is very fast in 2D using Photoshop CS. My warning to buyers of the 23" Apple Cinema Display is that you should be very careful. Don't be fooled by the default blue desktop and fancy visuals they run in the retail environment. Check the product in store in a cool and calm way. Open an Application that uses white/grey like Safari and go to google.com. Set the screen to full width, then check out the fidelity of the grey/white at the edges. Interestingly when I reported this problem to the store they did not even question the fault, or open the box, the guy looked a bit sheepish - mumbled some thing which was hard to hear. It sounded like "yeah we have had this problem before".
  
  
• You will only be dissapointed by this display.
  By A3090P54CHHS5V on 2006-01-01
  I own an Apple 23" Cinema Display, and I wish I didn't. The display is very unevenly lit making it very difficult to do serious work such as retouch photographs. There are color casts that vary from side to side which make the monitor impossible to correct using calibration. It looks sexy... but the "engine" is a two stroke, smoke making, oil drippin, noisy piece of junk. After you purchase it you will want to return it so why waste the energy and the costs of shipping it back and forth. Just look elsewhere. If you NEED to have a cinema display buy the 20" or the 30" - I wish I had.
  
  
• Don't Buy This Monitor If You Want To Play PC Games
  By AAYLUT3WCXVLR on 2005-01-14
  First I love the look of this monitor, and using it at the default resolution of 1920 x 1200 is great.
  
  However, anyone wanting to connect this monitor to a pc and play games should not purchase it. Although Apple states it is pc compatible, it is not fully integrated in ATI and NVidia drivers. Apple limits the resolutions the pc can display by including only a few resolution in its "EDID". The EDID is the info the monitor sends to the pc to tell it what kind it is and what resolution it will support. My current ATI driver works fine; it overrides the EDID and lets me have a variety of options to run all games at the many VESA approved lower resolutions and at full screen. However, with my new Nvida rig, the driver will only allow the resolutions that Apples EDID states are acceptable. Disaster.
  
  This is not the case with other 23 LCDs (HP,Samsung,etc.) Its an issue only with Apple, and as of yet, Apple does not even want to admit that is a limited pc compatability. Please search pc and apple forums for this issue if you still plan to purchase. Just know what you are getting into. I didn't!
  
  
• Doesn't work reliably with PCs
  By AES43KF278B9B on 2005-01-19
  Despite Apple advertising this monitor as working with PCs - "This DVI connection also removes all barriers to using an Apple display with a PC. If your graphics card supports DVI with DDC technology for widescreen viewing, you should be able to use these two displays with a PC." - it does not do so reliably. I tried three different cards and all exhibited insurmountable problems. Even if someone has declared a particular graphics card model to work with their display, don't count on yours working with your display. Apple tech support admitted that compatibility is an issue, and could not even suggest a card that is known to work. Mine is going back.
  
  
• It went dark after 6 months
  By A2B5J0I5YXY6S9 on 2006-10-11
  I bought this monitor in April, 2006. For six months it was great. Then it stopped working. It's under warranty, so I am hoping to get it fixed at Apple's expense.
  
  But I ask you, what kind of quality control does Apple use? And what can I expect after the warranty runs out next April?
  
  I am deeply disappointed. I have been using Apple computers for 22 years. This was the first time I bought an Apple monitor. It is also the last time.
  
  
• Check the return policy on this...
  By A1SIXEWYRMYVNF on 2005-03-03
  Easily one of the best displays I've ever seen! Unfortunately I've got the color consistency problems, even after Apple has taken the display back for repair.
  
  Make sure that you can return the monitor if you experience these problems as Apple does not yet acknowledge the color problems with this model exist!
  
  
• A superlative monitor!!
  By ARSRGVHD8QEPZ on 2006-08-10
  I got a 20" cinema display last week, and just found out that Apple dropped its monitor price. I went back to the store and exchanged this 23" HD cinema display instead. I think it's a bit too big for me, but for the price I got this display; I have no complaints. I was thinking about buying an inferior monitor, such as a Dell monitor. I wanted to save money, but I'm glad that I didn't, because I would be greatly annoyed every time when I use it. Dell's computers, monitors...etc. are bulky and rough looking... (well, if you want to be like macho macho... well, Dell is the only way to go....)
  I'm an artist, so I'd rather have something that is visually pleasing. Buying a big monitor like this one is like buying a piece of furniture. You are going to see it every day, so there you go... Apple cinema display makes my room look bigger even though the monitor is way bigger than my previous one (Viewsonic 17" CRT).
  As for the performance, it's impeccable. It's bright and I have to turn the brightness setting down to the bottom. It simply blows away any monitors that I have ever seen. I like the antiglare type, not the glossy one. I heard of a rumour that Apple may produce another monitor which is bigger than 30" and it's glossy kind as their new MacBooks. However, I don't know it for sure. Therefore, I'd rather get this 23" HD cinema display before it's discontinued. In short, you pay for what you get.
  
  
• Oh sooooo bright!
  By AUZD4ESUYHS6D on 2006-10-03
  Super clean, slick design, sharp....AND BRIGHT. After a few days of solid use I noticed my eyes started to hurt. I had a burning sensation in them as I went to bed. It almost felt as though I was out in the sun all day. Finally I realized that the screen was just too bright and it was hurting my eyes. I actually had to turn down the brightness level down a few notches and now I'm in great shape! It's a great quality purchase that I would highly recommend.... But don't look at it too long at 100% brightness or you might get your eyes burned, or you may get sunburned. :)
  
  
• Love this moniter!
  By A1OC6E921YF2P7 on 2005-12-17
  After reading the reviews here, I hesitated about buying this display for a long time. Now, I have purchased one and have used it for 3 months and can state it is by far the best I've used in 20 years of all-day computer work on perhaps 16 systems. I've had zero problems with the dead pixels or the pink screens or any other issues. This is much easier on my eyes and causes less strain that my 15 inch Powerbook G4 display. I'd say buy it!
  
  
• better than a week on the beach
  By A2M1NZLZCHEP6A on 2006-02-24
  Excellent, recommend without reservation. Note: for anyone like me who is hooking it up to an older G4 desktop 450, I also needed to buy a Radeon Graphics card for about $200, which included the DVI to VGA connector. I would have considered a new hard drive, but what with the intel flurry still going on, seemed best to wait. The 23" seems huge and I am glad I did not go with the 30". I saw comments about redness, etc., and my experience is that the screen renders image color and resolution accurately and beautifully. I now see onscreen what I used to have to print out to check with the older mac 17".
  
  
• My Cinema Display is Gorgeous
  By A36WTQL2AW6NR5 on 2005-01-29
  I've had my 23 inch Apple Cinema Display for about a month. It was easy to install to my Mac G5. I profiled the monitor using Gretag Macbeth Eye One. The colors are stunning and my photographic prints look like they do on the screen. Watching DVDs is an amazing experience. Especially beautiful is the digitally remastered Star Wars trilogy and Finding Nemo. The monitor is expensive but competitively priced and stunningly beautiful. The colors on my monitor are accurate. No off colors as reported by others on mine.
  
  It's also easy to have 3 or 4 windows open at the same time. I'm a happy customer.
  
  
• Pinkish cast seems to have been resolved by Apple
  By A2LXEZJUDYXQNC on 2005-08-03
  Upgraded my Apple 20" to this 23" Cinema HD after I saw the new display in a newly opened store last week and noticed the pinkish haze/colorcast is now gone. What a big difference from the 20" in terms of size and I thought that it would not matter much. I will further calibrate this display with SpyderPro to get the colors spot on. I highly recommend this monitor now that the issue seems to have been resolved. I think this is currently one of the most beautful displays out on the market next to the 30" one and it performs beautifully on both Macs and PCs. I am switching between a PowerMac G5 (ATI 9650) and a PC with an ATI X700 PRO video card via a DVI KVM switch to have the best of both worlds. Another great product from Apple.
  
  
• Stunning!
  By A3M3OUFOKY2TXY on 2005-01-20
  I have had mine for a month and it has been near perfect right out of the box. Only very subtle uneven backlighting in the lower left corner. Bright, sharp and beautiful. I'm a graphics pro and work all day in Photoshop and Illustrator and this is the best monitor I have ever seen.
  
  bit
  
  
• Excellent Apple Screen
  By A2X4AY0JTKTM5J on 2006-02-03
  Replaced my old 22" Cinema Display that was 5 years old. What a difference. Clear screen, flawless finish, solid and adjustable stand. Easy hook-up, it took longer to clean the dust off my computer than hook this up!!
  
  
• Nice monitor need replacing every two years
  By A27PK8DOILHCZZ on 2007-07-06
  I had a 22 inch cinema display. After a year and a half it would not start and gave me an intermittent black screen when I started up my G5. I decided to get a newer 23 inch display thinking nothing of it. After another year and a half, the same problem happened. I must say that this is an overpriced piece of hardware and I will never buy another one again. I have a viewsonic monitor that cost me almost nothing in comparison to the cinema display and it is still going strong after 3 years.
  I would advise do not get one unless you don't mind wasting money, or want to use it as a TV tray when it breaks down, which is usually after the warranty.
  
  
• 18 months death
  By AVAZ6I8E2NVFA on 2007-12-22
  My husband bought this monitor in September of 2006. Now it is dead. If you don't have money to burn, don't buy this monitor.--Rene
  
  
• Happy birthday to me.
  By A2NH9ZFANMDHWJ on 2004-10-30
  have a wonderful wife who just bought me a 23" Cinema display HD for my birthday.
  
  I have to say the thing is amazing. I use it with my powerbook G4 as the main display when I'm at my desk. A single cord comes from the monitor and carries power to the small power brick and DVI, Firewire and USB 2.0 to the powerbook. I've got my iSight and iPod plugged in to the Firewire hub on the beast and my ergonomic keyboard and Wacom tablet plugged into the USB.
  
  With the lid closed, press a key and the computer wakes up and uses all 23" of goodness to display my desktop. I'm much more productive when programming or doing anything else.
  
  When I showed it to her she was in awe. My wife, who is about as non-technical and non-impressed with technology as they come said it was "beautiful." And it is.
  
  I also got the Star Wars box set and watched Episode IV on it last night from the office recliner. Fabulous.
  
  Lucky me.
  
  
• Absolutely Breathe-taking
  By A3VPG38384R0OD on 2005-01-18
  I know there are many cheaper LCDs out there with comparable output, but after doing research and comparing the Samsung with Apple, I fell for the aesthetics and the brilliance from Apple. Granted the Samsung was a close runner up.
  
  What I love about this LCD?
  
  1. the screen- it gives me a whole lot more working space- palettes, and workspace. Also, I use it to watch movies while lying in my bed. The widescreen makes it so much more fun.
  
  2. the ports. USB, FW... enough said. iPod... printer... blah...
  
  

• Apple NV40 Graphics Card Kit M9593G/A
• Apple Mini-dvi To Video Adapter
• Apple Wireless Pro Mouse ( M9269Z/A )
• Apple iPod 40 GB White M9268LL/A (4th Generation)
• Apple iSight Video Conferencing Webcam with Autofocus -M8817LL/B

• Apple Mac Pro MA970LL/A Desktop (Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processors, 2 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, 16x SuperDrive)
• Apple Keyboard Kit
• Apple Mac Pro MA356LL/A Desktop (Two 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processors, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive)
• Apple Wireless Keyboard Kit
• Apple Mighty Mouse Wireless Kit