20" Imac image next to 24" Dell LCD - anyone?

[Cesar R]

Hi guys,

 

I am going to be buying a mac =)

I have done the xeon thing a bit with my precision 490 which I am going to sell (if anyone interested PM me)

 

What I have at the moment is a 24" DEL LCD 2804. And I am comparing the 20" and 24" imac. I plan to use the DELL LCD as either the primary or secondary screen - maybe ill put it up for sale also.

 

Does any one have any image of the 20" Imac next to a dell 24" or 20" ultrasharp?

 

I have found this which is a 24" DELL LCD with the 24" I mac

 

 

And I have also found this which is a 20" imac I belive, but I am not sure if the dell LCD is a 24" - does anyone know?

 

 

In short I need recommendations based on the 24" screen I already have plus either 20" / 24" - I could also sell the 24" and get a 20" dell ultrasharp.

 

I remember having two 21.5" dell ultrsharps side by side a few years ago and they combination was too stretched to be productive. The ram and HD differences are important but not as much as having the right combo w the screens.

 

In case you are wondering what this new computer will be for:

 

I plan to install XP

Revit

Autocad

3dsmax

 

sketchup

archicad I want to do an apple to apple's

Photoshop

Illustrator

Flash

 

Basically it will be my home/studio machine. Used for architectural design (homework) mostly now that I am back in school and some pro freelance.

[AJLynn]

You should go with the 24" iMac. The 20" screen is a TN display but the 24" is... I can't recall off the top of my head, it's either S-PVA or S-IPS. Either is superior to the TN display, and if your Dell is one of the higher spec series it is comparable. Then calibrate both monitors and you're good to go.

[Cesar R]

interesting fact I had not considered.

I am mostly concerned with having "too much" screen - does that make sense?. Too much screen to where it is being wasted or too far too look at or be used productively.

 

I have just measured an older imac here at school. It is a 20" model.

 

It is 18 1/2" high from the bottom of its base to the top of the computer case. The bottom edge of the screen where the task bar would sit 7" from the bottom (desk) surface.

 

I have to now to home and measure my 24" LDC and see how that would stack next to it. I will possibly post an elevation study of the 24" DELL LCD next to the 20" imac. I have to find and measure a 24" imac to do the other comparison.

 

Things to take into account will be the range the dell LDC can be adjusted. Hopefully this can be useful not just for me but for anyone else in my shoes.

[Cesar R]

Here we go, the elevation study:

 

 

I have to say that the 24" gives me a little more sticky notes room

 

The first is a 24" DELL / 24" imac

followed by the 24" dell /20 imac showing the screen at its fully extended height and lowered to match the lines of the screen on the imac. It is still not prefect.

[Cesar R]

On the 20" imac, when the 24" is lowered to match the top line of the screens, the dell gives you or is 1.75" lower in terms of usable screen than the imac. so there is a 2.5" step up to place windows on imac.

 

If you raise the 24" dell to its fully extended position, there would be a 1.5" step up and the top of the screen would not line up. In essense the 20" lies right across the middle of the 24" Dell.

 

The last study shows the same scenario with a dell 20" ultrasharp. The same issues mentioned above apply. However, then length of the screen is shorted. I imagine that it could be a good companion to the 24" imac as a secondary screen? as oposed of using the dell 24" as primary and still have a 24" imac.

[AJLynn]

Remember that the Mac has the Dock, which is only on one of the screens. I keep mine on the side because I find it a better use of screen space, but if you had one screen come down a bit lower than the other you could put it on that one at the bottom - that would cut off the bottom from being useful windows space and the screens would end up aligned better.

[BrianKitts]

Thought I'd throw another element for consideration into your debate....

 

I find two large montiors side by side to be too much head turning. I've been working for the last two years with a nice large primary monitor (21" cintique) and a 20" secondary monitor, rotated 90. This works great as I find the majority of our tool bars are vertically oriented. For instance the layers palette in my Photoshop files by the time I'm done with post on an image are a nice long organized chain of groups.... but sometimes I leave them all expanded, perfect on a tall monitor. Same goes for 3dsmax material editor when you're doing alot of work in the maps rollout.

 

(pardon the low res cell phone pic)

Edited October 6, 2009 by BrianKitts

[Cesar R]

I find two large montiors side by side to be too much head turning.

 

 

I have worked with 2 20" side by side in the past and yes it was too much, or too wide to work with. Therefore I am considering a 20/24 as of a little while ago.

 

I think that the imac is nice to sit in front of and nice to look at while working. I really like the "chin" as I can def use it for post it noted that I used everyday as past of my work flow so to speak.

 

So I am leaning toward the purchase of the imac 24" (which has more ram and larger) - I think the entry level has an integrated video card which uses shared memory (not ideal).

 

I plan to get rid (Sell) the 24" and try to raise 400 dollars to buy a 20" LDC and other things i may need.