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Nice Deal on some Monitors.

eforer

eforer

New Member
LOVE CALDERA! We have onyx production house and SAi but just got Caldera and I think it's tops! Just make sure you have a compatible spectrophotometer, it has less hardware support than the other two.

Suz said:
OOOH, that's nice! Did ya get it?

Yesterday, we went down to the Best Buy and got a laptop ($349.99 with 10% off to run trial of Caldera!!) Hope it works! No big double monitor for me, at least not for a while! But it would sure be nice!
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WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
Suz said:
OOOH, that's nice! Did ya get it?

Yesterday, we went down to the Best Buy and got a laptop ($349.99 with 10% off to run trial of Caldera!!) Hope it works! No big double monitor for me, at least not for a while! But it would sure be nice!
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Did you get a mac or are you going to run or dual boot linux off the laptop? If I recall, Caldera only supports those 2 OSs unless that has changed.

That is a nice deal, I wish I was in the market for another set of dual monitors.
 
S

Suz

New Member
eforer said:
LOVE CALDERA!

Pickles - Glad to hear you are liking it!! Spectrophotometer, ha? :) Is that a "Gotta Have Now" or a "Can Get Later" sort of thing?

WildWest- I'm liking your new logo. He's like a Chubby Honeycomb Kid Cowboy. Cute! Anyhow, gonna turn this laptop into a Linux machine. It is a dual core though, so we could do a dual boot - thanks for that suggestion in your previous post/response to me. That opened up my thinking! We haven't done anything to it yet but we do have 14 days to return it if it does not meet our needs. So your advice is very much welcome!
The computer we got is below - do you think it willl work?
TechTack - Lessons, Reviews, News and Tutorials: Asus X54C-BBK3 laptop
Thanks Wildwest!

Raged, No, I'm not very familiar with the Linux, but I will wrap my brain around it. I have run Mac and PC platforms in the past. It will be good exercise for my brain and I do enjoy learning. I do want to keep my hair though, haha! Luckily for me, hubby is a brain-e-ack and loves these kind of challenges. Hey, that is why he has me!
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WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
Suz said:
WildWest- I'm liking your new logo. He's like a Chubby Honeycomb Kid Cowboy. Cute!
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Wow, I haven't thought of that character in a long time. Thanks for the kind words and the memory flashback.

Suz said:
Anyhow, gonna turn this laptop into a Linux machine. It is a dual core though, so we could do a dual boot - thanks for that suggestion in your previous post/response to me. That opened up my thinking! We haven't done anything to it yet but we do have 14 days to return it if it does not meet our needs. So your advice is very much welcome!
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For me, I prefer to run 1 OS on a machine if budget and other constraints allows for it. Not having to partition resources for another OS. Linux is a really good OS (in my opinion) that is "lightweight". I have it on one of the older Acer Netbooks (which is even more limited then the newer ones) and it works great. I also have Ubuntu on the shop computer that is just for entertainment while I'm doing embroidery and/or sublimation. The only reason I don't use it on a design computer is that there isn't any embroidery software at all for it, even basic software and I know Wilcom Level 3 won't run off of it. Xara Xtreme would handle the vector end for what I need anyway, it wouldn't have to be compatible with outside files as far as I would be concerned.

The only thing in your case, is that once you change the OS, you'll be stuck with it, I'm thinking. I don't know return policies on that, but I would be inclined to doubt it. Asus makes good computers and parts for computers. I just put in the Maximus IV MB in my dad's computer awhile back. My niece got an Asus laptop for Christmas since she was starting Belmont this year (I picked it out for my sister). So they do have good stuff.

http://basic-electronics.blogspot.com/2011/12/asus-x54c-bbk3-laptop.html
Suz said:
Raged, No, I'm not very familiar with the Linux, but I will wrap my brain around it. I have run Mac and PC platforms in the past. It will be good exercise for my brain and I do enjoy learning. I do want to keep my hair though, haha! Luckily for me, hubby is a brain-e-ack and loves these kind of challenges. Hey, that is why he has me!
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Linux is really good, but it is something that you should "read the manual". If there is anytime for it, it is going to be with Linux. So much can be done with it, just have to know how to do it. I feel like I'm going back to my DOS days every time I'm on one of the machines that has Linux on it.
 
S

Suz

New Member
WildWestDesigns said:
Wow, I haven't thought of that character in a long time. Thanks for the kind words and the memory flashback.

WildWest, that was a test! Haha! Just wanted to see if you remembered anything that far back. I thought the TV Commercial where the cowboy was riding the (2) horses backs and driving the stagecoach was cool. But then I liked those Spaghetti Westerns too. :)

About setting the Computer up just for the Linux, I think we'll do that. We'll be installing the Version 9, 64 bit, Linux Debian. So, newest version. I agree, might make it much simpler. I did go back to my check-off list and it looks like this computer will meet all the requirements, glad you think it will too. I was so not wanting to spend $1,500.00 on a computer just to run the Latex printer.

About Wilcom not running off it, that's a bummer. My Embroidery Software won't run on Linux either. Oh well! I am beginning to own as many computers as I have paint brushes. Hehe! But computers are just tools, right?

Yes, I will read the Linux manual per your advice! I do remember running a business program once on Linux and it did seem very DOS-sy!!! I had it on my PC back then. That was a long time ago!

Okay, thanks again (so much) for your response. Makes me feel much better about moving forward to the next step, the install!!! Yikes!
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S

Salmoneye

New Member
Colorado, I am in need of a couple new monitors as well. What makes this such a good deal when you can buy several makes of 27" monitors with the same resolution for this price? Excuse my ignorance, just curious. I am using a 25" now and want to go with that size for my peripheral monitors and would really like to go to a 30" or 27" with the 2550 x resolution for my primary.
 
choucove

choucove

New Member
In cases like this I'd suggest just running a Linux distro as a virtual machine within Windows 7 using a free virtualization software like VirtualBox or VMWare. However, if the computer only has a dual-core pentium processor (even the newer Sandy Bridges ones) it may not be the most efficient and responsive doing this since virtualization does require a bit more hardware to do. That would eliminate the need to completely remove the base Windows 7 operating system to use for your Windows-based applications.

ASUS does make great laptops though, I've purchased a few before for customers and they are great quality. Many times they come with a one or two year accidental damage warranty as well, which can be an incredibly expensive addition for other brands like Toshiba and Dell to add on.

Salmoneye, what makes the Ultrasharp series from Dell more expensive than other standard monitors their size is that these monitors are built using IPS display panels which are much higher quality for color precision and better viewing angles than standard and lower quality TN panels. We switched to all Dell Ultrasharp monitors at our offices a year ago and the difference is astounding. For working with color precise projects the difference is worth the cost!

Recently, Dell released the updated version of their monitors the U2X12HM series. The difference between this newer series and the previous generation, the U2X11H, is that the new generation utilizes a slightly cheaper 6-bit IPS display while the older generation uses a full 8-bit S-IPS panel which is more expensive to produce.
 
SightLine

SightLine

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Yup - they are IPS type monitors which have a lot more to them than any old LCD screen. Much greater color gamut and much wider veiwing angles being the biggest factors. That was a sweet deal for a pair of those.

Personally do not like screens under 23" or so though. Everything is too dang tiny. I recently nabbed an NEC MultiSync 2690WUXi for a paltry $225 used. Amazing deal for a 26" IPS with near 96% Adobe RGB gamut and wow what a difference stepping up from a 23" at 1920x1080 to a 26" at 1920x1200. Few monitors sport 1920x1200 resolution but that extra 120 pixels does make a nice difference and of course the overall size makes a big difference as well.
 
smdgrfx

smdgrfx

New Member
I would like to see some higher resolutions at these prices. 24" + 2560 x 1600 or better...just haven't seen anything at a price I am willing to pay ($250-$300 each)
 
S

Suz

New Member
choucove said:
In cases like this I'd suggest just running a Linux distro as a virtual machine within Windows 7 using a free virtualization software like VirtualBox or VMWare. ...

Choucove,
Thanks for your ideas. We think we have everything we need now to get started with trial version of the Caldera and looking forward now to doing this. After more thinking about it, decided it would be best to just turn the new laptop into a dedicated station for the printer, and wipe out the Windows stuff completely. Less stuff to worry about. Of course we did a back up of the current Windows operating System just incase we choose to go back at any point. Who knows, we may like Onyx better! We'll see.

You know, when we visited the Best Buy store Saturday, most of what we found for desktop computers were the "All-In-One" computers with larger screens. Much less clutter for the desktop, they looked tempting. I think they started in the $500-$600 range. Not bad! But we didn't look at them seriously to see what all the features were. We were just looking for an inexpensive laptop to run our HP Latex. Gone was the wall of flat screen large format monitors they used to keep on display. Wah!!! I used to like to look at them up close! Basically, those monitors (separate from CPU) were sitting in boxes on shelves. Just noticed it all looked so different, guess the "All-In-One" desktop is the new wave.
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choucove

choucove

New Member
Yeah I have noticed a big push towards the home consumer market for all-in-one computers. In one way, yeah they are nice because it is a more compact form factor but it comes at a drawback. With many standard desktop platforms the hardware components are very standardized so that upgrading or replacing components is very simple. For instance, if a power supply dies on one of our computers we can install any other ATX compatible power supply and you're up and running. With all-in-one desktops every single part is proprietary. You basically have a laptop crammed onto the back of your monitor. This introduces a lot of heat issues and compatibility issues. Any hardware that fails has to be replaced at the original manufacturer pretty much.

All in all, the computer market, by pushing these all-in-one units and other forms of computers with very proprietary hardware is pushing other computer repair businesses out of the market. Look at Apple. Pretty much the only place to get new Mac computers repaired or replaced at is an Apple store. This is especially noticeable in rural areas like where I live. There's no place for them to get systems like this repaired, there is no Best Buy or Apple Store. Their only option is to pack up their computer and ship it off to the original manufacturer, probably for a month, and will almost undoubtedly lose all the data that is on their computer as well. I hate seeing that kind of service.
 
S

Suz

New Member
Choucove,
I agree with you. I like the sleekness and space conservation of the all-in-one, but that is about where it ends. We like to be able to put different monitors on different CPU's , use a keyboard that is laying around, swap out different components or add stuff as we go. My husband is a Technician, so that is handy. I've never had to send my computer out to a stranger for anything to get fixed. He has done it all, even fixed friends computers when they get really stuck. I try to not tell anybody how good he is at this, because then we get computers showing up that look like Charlie Brown Christmas Trees and somebody wants repairs for free of course. It isn't that he does not want to help anyone, he has done a lot of that. But he does not do the Tech stuff for a living, although he has a degree and training in it. There were no jobs in that field when he graduated, so he does something else for a living. We have the stores near us for anything Computers, but still prefer to fix our own.
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
I do like Viewsonic monitors. I have a 22" one of theirs now. I had a 15" one that we used as a second monitor for laptop, but my niece has it now for a second monitor for her Asus laptop.

I think they are good monitors. I've always had good experiences with them anyway.
 
S

Suz

New Member
WildWestDesigns said:
I do like Viewsonic monitors.

I like them too. I bought one years ago (CRT) that is still working. Bought it because I'd used them where I worked and they were so great. Then about 3 years ago, decided to go with LCD and got another Viewsonic. Sadly, that one bit the dust shortly after the Manufacturer's warranty expired, which was just a fluke I guess. Again, CRT is still kickin!

Because of the experience with the LCD though, the last 3 LCD monitors we've purchased were not Viewsonics, they were: DELL, DELL, and SAMSUNG.
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