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(More customer reviews)Looked at many monitors with reasonable color gamut in the 27-30 inch size which would be compatible with my late 2008 15 inch Macbook Pro (5,1). Main uses are photography, web design and general office productivity (office, writing papers, electronic medical records). I looked at the NEC 3090 series and the NEC and Dell 27 inch monitors as well. I have experience with the Barco and Eizo monitors at work in the radiology department (where the is also the occasional Dell). Here are the things that eventually sold me on this monitor.
1. Comes with displayport. This is huge on a Mac. It was simple to use a mini-displayport to displayport cable (about $15) to get the monitor working with my Macbook Pro. Full resolution off the bat with no sleep/wake issues, no software to install. There are some serious issues using DVI-D with the 2560x1600 screen resolutions on both the portable and desktop macs. Not the fault of the monitors, but the fault of Apple and their implementation of video cards. You could spend hours online reading about the problems with cables and adapters. Nobody seems to be able to get them to work reliably. Check the NEC site for the latest as they have posted technical bulletins on this issue and things may have changed. Price of the monitor was not an issue for me, but the potential time trouble shooting problems was. I hate computer maintenance and trouble shooting (which is why I'm on a Mac and wish I could ditch all the PC's in the office).
2. Good color gamut, comes reasonably well calibrated, easy to calibrate further with an x-Rite eye-one display 2. That IPS technology is heads and shoulders above TN screens for any serious photography work goes without saying. Covers a good part of the Adobe RGB spectrum (and all of the S-RGB spectrum). As of early 2011, the mac OS is not capable of 12 bit color from end-to-end (OS, software, hardware, output) and therefore to a certain extent, you can't use all the capabilities of the hardware calibration of the NEC Spectraview system at this point in time. People get pretty obsessed about this kind of stuff, but the bottom line is that most pictures are seen on computer screens which have never been calibrated and will not be as good as this Dell (or the NEC) nor can you control the lighting conditions under which someone will view one of your prints. Aside from the most demanding color-accurate uses (you're making commercials for coke, printing fine art for sale), this monitor will get you 99% of the way to where you need to be. No one will ever notice the last 1% (unless they're a geek on a photog forum with lots of spare time). If you really need the best in color management and have the hardware that can take advantage of this, go with the NEC, Eizo or other high end screen.
3. Lots of connection options. USB, speakers, HDMI/DVI-D (I don't use), etc. Some might consider it sacrilege to have these sorts of connections on a professional monitor. I consider it convenient. Less cable clutter.
4. Price. Not cheap, but it is about $1000 less than the NEC which uses the same panel, but different hardware (in fact all the high end 30 inch IPS panels come from the same manufacturer). Usually can be found for between $1150-1300.
5. Screen is NOT too big. I sit with my face about 2-3 feet from the screen. No neck problems so far. I do like the added screen hight that 1600 pixels gives you. Works well with the traditional 3:2 slr format. Also, by the time you add the menu bar and some of the control panels in Lightroom or Photoshop, you tend to loose a lot of working space on the widescreen (16:9) type monitors. I didn't like the feeling that I was working on a panorama the whole time. I worried that I would need to sit miles back, but this is not the case. No real drop off in brightness and the viewing angle is very good.
This is a much better choice if you were considering an Apple 27 inch display - Apple has a much, much inferior color gamut, reflective screen which can be an issue in bright rooms, similar price and lack of other connection options make the Apple somewhat limited. The Dell really was plug and play for me.
Hope this review helps and saves you some time (esp. if you have a Macbook Pro). Hard to go wrong with the Dell or NEC.
PS - No difficulties with Mid-2008 13 inch Macbook Pro. Somewhat of a surprise because of the integrated graphics, but no glitches. Full resolution w/ the minidisplayport to displayport adapter.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Dell UltraSharp U3011 30-inch Widescreen Monitor with PremierColor - Max Resolution 2560 x 1600- 16:10 Aspect Ratio - Contrast Ratio 1000:1 - Response Time 7 ms - Supports Digital DVI-D, HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA, Composite Video - Built-in Scaler for Multiple Resolutions
Let your ideas play on a grand stage. Experience amazing wide-angle viewing and color consistency with the Dell UltraSharp U3011 30" Widescreen Monitor with PremierColor. Extensive connectivity features and customization via CustomColor mode make the U3011 an ideal choice for professionals in CAD/CAM, graphic design, photography, gaming and other fields where color precision matters. Designed for those who dream bigger. Bring your biggest ideas to life on the Dell UltraSharp U3011 monitor's stunning 30" (76cm) widescreen display area. See what you've been missing. With its 2560 x 1600 resolution and 16:10 aspect ratio, the U3011 enables a wide, generous viewing area with amazing views from any angle thanks to its IPS (in-plane switching) technology. Providing precise, industry-standard color right out of the box, the. PremierColor technology in the Dell UltraSharp U3011 monitor helps to ensure that you get reliable, true-to-life colors from day one. Incredible color accuracy: The U3011 monitor arrives factory-tuned to AdobeRGB and sRGB modes, so you can dive into projects fast without the need for extensive color calibration. For professionals in design, photography and other fields where color precision matters, the U3011 is compatible with 100% sRGB and 99% AdobeRGB standards to help meet your needs for color accuracy. When you want to fine-tune to a customized color palette, CustomColor Mode lets you adjust color values to your personal preferences. Plus, you get superb connectivity across PCs, game consoles and more thanks to DisplayPort, audio connectors (supports 5.1 channel audio connection), two HDMI 1.3 and two DVI-D connectors with High-bandwidth Digital Copy Protection (HDCP). Easily manipulate the on-screen display with capacitive-touch switches for setup and screen optimization. Easily connect to peripherals or share content using component connections, four USB ports and a 7-in-1 media-card reader.
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