Mac Pro suggestions?

Hello,

I'm new to the forum but wanted to ask for some advice before purchasing. I am looking to buy a mac pro (2.8GHz quad core) and have a few questions: I'd like to also purchase an lcd tv to use as a secondary monitor. I'd like to get either a 40" or 42" - can anyone recommend a particular model that they are happy with? Also, will the graphics card I select make any difference for this (ati radeon or nvidia geforce 8800)? I do a fair amount of video editing for coaching and would like the display to work well. Finally, can anyone recommend a good monitor in the range of $300 - $350 that works well with the mac pro? I would really appreciate any help! Thanks

I had a 32" LCD here at my shop and it was no good. You can't get the resolution right, over 27" I believe. 1920 x 1280 or something like that.

I've since went back to my dual 23" monitors. They are viewsonics with a matte screen. Pretty nice, I think I paid about $500 each.

As for the video card, I have the ati card in mine, and haven't had any issues. Depends if your hard on the gpu or not.

I have the quad 2.8GHz with the 8800 GT and love it. I have it hooked up to a NEC 20" LCD that cost $350 new and a 32" Samsung HDTV.

I don't know how intense you work so I can't recommend the 8800 GT over the ATI card. It's significantly faster but I don't know if video editing will make use of it's full power.

I love my Samsung TV and would recommend it to anyone. I was told to go with a Samsung, Panasonic, or JVC from a video person. Samsung fit my price range and it looks great.

I did make the mistake of purchasing my LCD monitor by thinking I could get something decent for $350. It's not bad but it isn't good for color correction. Dell makes great monitors actually. Take a look at their Ultrasharp LCD's, they're pretty good.

Thanks for the tips! I'll for sure look into Dell for monitors. I'm wondering, are you using your samsung tv much as a monitor? If so, I know the resolution won't be as good as a computer montitor, but how do you find it? I guess one of the things I'm puzzling over is if the resolution is only slightly less on a good lcd tv, why aren't more people using them as monitors/secondary monitors? Isn't it a nice convenience to have a sort of all-in-one entertainment/work centre? I'd love to hear any thoughts on this subject. Cheers

mc77 said:

Thanks for the tips! I'll for sure look into Dell for monitors. I'm wondering, are you using your samsung tv much as a monitor? If so, I know the resolution won't be as good as a computer montitor, but how do you find it? I guess one of the things I'm puzzling over is if the resolution is only slightly less on a good lcd tv, why aren't more people using them as monitors/secondary monitors? Isn't it a nice convenience to have a sort of all-in-one entertainment/work centre? I'd love to hear any thoughts on this subject. Cheers

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TVs are designed to display motions better than static objects so a LCD computer monitor will look better if you compared the two. The computer monitor is designed for static images.

If you're thinking about using a TV to fully replace a monitor, I wouldn't. I bought my TV before the computer. When I realized I could also hook up the TV, it is great as a second monitor so I can watch movies saved on the HD or so I can toss windows I have open like Mail or iTunes without cluttering the monitor's screen.

I had my dual monitors sitting there and tried just hooking up the 32" tv to my mac pro with an hdmi-dvi cord. At first it was cool and all....great for people coming and looking at proofs or something like that...except, they will not calibrate well. at least not for me and my huey pro. I don't think the tv even knew what a white point was.

Then I hooked up one of the 23" and holy crap, you could tell that was a digital signal. heh. Everything was so nice and SHARP and the matte screen was so nice to look at again. And they calibrate and match perfectly.

Tv's are for watching dvd's. So I agree with Bry /\/\ and wouldn't use one to replace a good monitor.

dual monitors = extras spaces. whooo

I have Mac Pro 2.8ghz and I'm running a 2408 Unltrasharp dell Monitor on it and it works great. The specs are the same as the Apple monitors and cheaper.

I would always have said no don't touch TVs they are no good with computers! Until a few days ago when my Sharp Aqeuos TV broke due to a slight knock! I bought a Samsung 37" full HD TV to replace it whilst the Sharp was repaired demoting it to the back room.

I connected my PC to it and was shocked by the output! The PC managed 1960 x 1080 on the 37" screen and it was readable from 6 feet away. I moved nearer and realised that it was high enough resolution to use. After connecting the Huey pro the output was nearly as good as a dedicated monitor and considerably cheaper. I have a Dell 2407 and use it for my photography but having used the Samsung for an hour I would say that it was certainly an option.

So in my opinion FULL HD TVs are certainly useable (ie 1900x1080) I would say that the 760p ones are just not high enough res.