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Ask DN: Apple Thunderbolt Display Alternatives?

over 8 years ago from Ahmed Saleh, UX & Product Design Instructor @ Bitmaker

  • Joe BurkeJoe Burke, over 8 years ago

    I'm using a new Dell Ultrasharp monitor. IPS Panel with a really nice thin bezel. Would definitely recommend.

    5 points
    • Marcelo SomersMarcelo Somers, over 8 years ago

      +1 The Dell Ultrasharps are pretty highly regarded. Some reviews I've seen even say they use the same panels as the Apple. They recently refreshed their 27" model: http://amzn.to/19JZ23D

      If you don't care for a warranty and possibly dead pixels, Jeff Atwood advocates for Korean alternatives that run in the $300-$400 range: http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-ips-lcd-revolution/

      2 points
    • Matt BaxterMatt Baxter, over 8 years ago

      At my work everyone is being switched from a Cinema Display to the Dell Ultra HD 4k monitors (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PC9HFO8/ref=psdc_1292115011_t3_B00P0EQD1Q) and right now they're actually cheaper than the Ultrasharps. They're honestly better than the Cinema Displays right now.

      It's a great monitor and I love having a retina display for my main monitor.

      6 points
      • Gavin AnthonyGavin Anthony, over 8 years ago

        +1 on this monitor. I've had it for about 6 months and I absolutely love it. Only things I've noticed is that color seems pretty saturated. I'm sure color syncing could solve this however.

        Definitely better than the Thunderbolt Display imo.

        1 point
      • Aaron SagrayAaron Sagray, over 8 years ago

        I was thinking about getting one of these at home. Do you know if a Macbook Air with a NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M can power it?

        0 points
        • E BensleyE Bensley, over 8 years ago

          MacBook Airs didn't come with any dedicated GPU as far as I know. The 15" Pro came with the 650m and that would run fine over DisplayPort. HDMI would only manage 30Hz at 4k.

          1 point
        • Matt BaxterMatt Baxter, over 8 years ago

          When we first started testing them one of my co-workers with a Macbook Air tried it out but it didn't run very well. He ended up swapping with me to use the Cinema Display I had instead.

          0 points