LaCie vs. NEC

I hate to start another monitor thread but I'm embarrassed to keep hijacking the "Best Monitor" thread. After reading the good advice on that thread I thought I was ready to buy a NEC LCD2070. However, I was reading a review by Will Crockett in ShootSmarter.com where he extolls the LaCie 324. And other reviewers seem to rate it highly because it covers so much of the RGB spectrum. A refurbished LaCie 324 is around $700 and new is around $1000. I'm thinking if it's really that good maybe I'll buy. But then I see where it only has a S-PVA panel. Other people have commented that LaCie is really a repackaged (and more expensive) NEC. What's more important - S-IPS panel or wider color spectrum?

We had both NECs and Lacies at work for photo retouching. When it came time to replace them, every single artist said we should just get Lacies and we did.

As far as I know (from the Lacie tech dude, so not 100% reliable given his bias) the Lacie LCD panel is made specifically for them by NEC and is not the same specification as any of NEC's own models.

the 324 has a Samsung LTM240CS S-PVA panel
the 2070NX has a LG.Philips LM201U04 S-IPS panel

I always heard that Lacie monitors are repackaged NEC monitors but are calibrated slightly better or something, so they are almost the same thing but for more money. I'm sure the Lacie's are better, but it probably just depends on how good of a monitor you really need. And i thought the NEC 2070 has been replaced by the 2090?

Thanks for the responses. Either monitor will be far better than what I have now and I'm not sure I could tell the difference or need to move to that level. I do enjoy learning about new equipment and reading comparisons. The bad thing is that I generally spend more than I intended because the next higher level of equipment has great appeal.

Poaceae wrote in post #6002596
The bad thing is that I generally spend more than I intended because the next higher level of equipment has great appeal.

Welcome to the club.

After spending the day reading and re-reading posts on this forum and others I decided to open the wallet and go with the NEC LCD2490 WUXi (and also an eye1 display 2 Lite). The 2 factors that finally influenced me were:

1. A review and comparison in a really good monitor review website: http://prad.de/en/inde​x.html The site is German but you can convert to English. They have a section that allows you to do side-by-side comparisons of monitors.

2. The fact that I could get right thru to NEC tech support while I could only leave messages at LaCie. (I did this comparison because other people had mentioned that it was really hard to get thru to LaCie.)

As I mentioned, either monitor is far superior to anything that I have ever used, both are superb pieces of equipment, and LaCie is not just a reworked NEC. It's been an interesting and informative search.

Monitor came yesterday. Boy, is it big - and bright. At 1920 X 1200 resolution you don't have to do much zooming on pictures to see great detail. Had to push the unit to the back of the desk so it wasn't so overpowering.

Today I did a monitor calibration with Eye 1 display LT. Didn't adjust the brightness low enough and had the contrast too high. Things were not going well. Called tech support and they walked me thought it. So I now have a large calibrated monitor. It's interesting to go back thru pictures and see how they really look.

I suppose at some point I'll decide to get a printer and go thru this whole search again.

Hi John B:

You've invested money in your Camera gear, and now a very nice monitor; well done! Now, where do you want to spend your time? For me, I want to be out taking photographs, not working out the complexities of printing.

If you want high quality printing, find a local printer and talk to him. I think you will be surprised how inexpensive high quality printing is; and he can print photo books. The expense comes in the layout for a photo book, but you can do that with Adobe InDesign, package this is a pdf file and send it off to the printer. When I say, 'printer' I am not talking kinkos, I mean a real printer with a seven color digital press.

For small print needs, get a Zenfolio web page and just print on of your photos through their lab. I do this with great results.

So, don't go out and buy more hardware, spend your time taking photographs and have someone else get print ink on their hands.

vasi

www.lenstrek.net

vasi wrote in post #7323273
I mean a real printer with a seven color digital press.

i love it when people say Digital Press, makes me laugh

Bobster wrote in post #7325043
i love it when people say Digital Press, makes me laugh

Why? Heidelberg make some very nice ones. Of course I'm not sure why you'd use one for photo printing though

Bobster wrote in post #7325043
i love it when people say Digital Press, makes me laugh

Nothing wrong with a digital press, our company has been using them for ages.

http://gurummx.wordpre​ss.com …cts/xeikon-digital-press/

Stu