Monitors 'R' Us

[ music ] ^M00:00:05 >> All right, good afternoon, guys. Welcome to Editor's Office Hours. I am Brian Tong, editor here at CNET TV. And today, we have the big guy, Mister Eric Franklin. He's the senior associate technology editor, and Eric, this is your first time here. >> It's my first time. >> How do you feel? >> Uh, I'm okay. I'm a little nervous. I don't know what to expect. You know, I've never done this before. >> Expect the unexpected, man. >> Exactly. I just have to be kind of prepared for anything. >> Now Eric, could you tell people watching you right now, what do you do here at CNET, and you know, kind of explain your role. Because senior associate technology editor, that can be very, that can be almost anything. >> [Inaudible] >> No, I'm trying to figure it out right now. >> Yeah. Well that's kind of a title I kind of made up, actually. >> Are you serious? >> No, well I mean, that's my official title. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> But I did come up with the title. >> No. >> No, seriously. So before, like about a year ago, I was assistant labs manager for CNET labs, and I worked in CNET labs and I managed the San Francisco lab. And you know, basically that's you know, I just did mostly testing and mostly just managing the lab and stuff like that. And then recently there were some changes structurally in our department where the labs guys had more opportunities to start writing. >> Create editorial content and what not, yeah. >> Exactly. So we started doing blogging. We started doing more reviews, yet we're still testing. So that's where the whole technology thing comes in there. So when it came time to you know, come up with a title for myself, you know, my boss wanted just to give me senior associate editor. >> Yeah. >> And I was like well, I still test. It's a little different, takes more time, so I just want to have that in there. So I added the whole technology thing. >> Yeah, I mean basically when you say senior associate editor of technology, that's everything. All encompassing. >> Yeah, yeah. That's kind of misleading probably, a little bit. >> No, no. I mean every time I go to grab products that they're testing, I mean it could be anything, an MP3 player, a cell phone, so it's accurate. >> Yeah. I mean we cover most of it. >> Yeah. >> Now one of your features that you focus on that people have seen videos that have obviously been coming out to CNET TV is a lot of the, you cover a lot of monitors and do reviews with those right? >> Yes, yes. >> And so I guess, one of the things is we were talking a little earlier and you were talking about two monitors that you recently got - >> Yeah. >> - from Lenovo. I mean you could kind of just talk about what you discovered and what they were and, you know, that we just talked about. >> Yeah, sure. Do I have to look at the camera? >> Yeah, yeah, sure. Do whatever you want. >> Okay. This is my first time. >> It's a human. >> Yeah, okay. Well all right, sure. So basically I got these two monitors in from Lenovo, the 2440P and the 2440X. See this guy's over here being distracting. >> That's cause my necklace was touching my mic. >> Yeah I know. >> That was my fault, sorry. >> It's like the live aspect. I can call people out and stuff like that. >> Yeah. >> Anyway, let me get on. I got these two Lenovo's in. One's a CCFL backlight base monitor, and the other is a LED backlight base monitor. And what I discovered while testing them is that they pretty much look the same. They're exactly the same form factor except for that one difference. The thing I discovered is that they look pretty much the same as far as games, as far as text, as far as movies go, pretty much. There were subtle differences but not anything too noteworthy. But the thing I did notice was that when looking at the CCFL monitor, my eyes immediately began to strain. >> Mm-hmm. >> And looking at the LED monitor, it was, it was just the opposite. My eyes were very relaxed, and it happened almost immediately. When I would look at the CCFL monitor, it was like I could feel my eyes start straining, and I'd go back to the other one, and they're right next to each showing the exact same screen, my eyes would start to relax. I'm not sure what that is. >> Mm-hmm. >> I'm sure some of our readers might even know, have an idea what that is. >> But it was definitely clear, like physically you could feel something different. >> I totally, yeah, I totally felt it. At first I thought it was my imagination and you know, I waited a day, I thought maybe I was going crazy or something. So I waited a day and came back and it was the same thing, so yeah. >> Okay. Well now Eric knows a bunch about the monitor beat. He also really gets his hands on almost any product, so here today you can ask us any question you want. We'll do whatever we can to answer them, and also the big news obviously is Apple's announcements with their MacBooks and their new display. So you know, we're pretty much fair game to ask, to take any of your questions. It doesn't look like, or I can't see any questions right now, so if you guys haven't done - >> [Inaudible] >> Yeah, this is great. We're just gonna freestyle. So if you guys haven't done it already, up here in the top right hand corner there is a box. It says submit questions. All you have to do is, if you don't have an account with CNET, create a user name, password, we just need your email. It's really quick and easy, and you can get a question to us. >> Yeah, get on it. >> Yeah, because I don't know. >> What am I doing here, you know? We can hang out. But we can do that anyhow. We don't have to be here to do that. >> We can talk about anything. We can talk about anything. Now, I guess we'll kind of talk about some of the MacBook announcements, and because you are a monitor display guy, are there, there's obviously LCD screens and OLED screens, but what are, I'm sorry, not OLED, LED screens. What are some of the you know, main advantages or differences for people at home that stick out? >> Right. So they're both LCD screens, they're both liquid crystal display screens. The differences between the two, of the LED technology and the CCFL which is cold cathode fluorescent tubes, which is what most LCDs use. The difference is that, well reported differences are that LEDs are supposed to be a lot brighter. I mean they use LEDs, they don't use fluorescent tubes, so they're supposed to be able to get a lot brighter. There have, they're supposed to be able to have more control over individual areas of the screen, since they're using a bunch of LEDs and not the tubes, so that you can turn off sections of the screen more precisely. >> To get like truer blacks. >> Yeah. >> Because they'll essentially like, turn off the - >> Yeah, exactly, exactly, truer blacks, which is very important. It's probably the most important - >> Yeah. >> - thing when buying a monitor is the black level. The other thing is energy efficiency. LED screens are supposedly much more energy efficient. I haven't tested this yet, actually I don't have any tools to test this yet. >> Yeah, I was curious. I was gonna ask you about that. How do you actually - >> Right. >> - other than just actually getting some sort of power meter that shows - >> Exactly, that's exactly. That's probably the only way I know of that I'd be able to test that. And right now I haven't made any, I haven't gone towards testing that kind of stuff. But at some point I'll probably start testing that. Other than that, yeah, those are the main differences. There's supposed to be, they're supposed to have better, or more accurate color, probably because of the black level - >> Yeah. >> - because they're able to make - >> The wider range of - >> Well so black level's like a lot lower, so the colors, so like where you'd be looking at, let's say you're looking at a dark red on both screens right, and for the LED you'd probably see a dark red, but for the CCFL because of the back light, because maybe the black level isn't as low, you might see a shade of pink instead. >> Got it, got it. >> So the colors are supposed to be more accurate in LED displays. But those are the only ones I can think of. >> No, that's great, that's a lot of good stuff. >> Yeah. >> Okay, now here we go. We already have some questions right here. >> Okay. >> So I will help - >> Okay. >> What were you gonna say? >> Well before you go on with the questions - >> Yes. >> - I just want to say that there, I know that you know, just people ask any questions you want, there are no dumb - >> No rule. >> - no dumb question. >> So you know, this whole time that I've done this show - >> Yeah. >> - I have never said that. >> Yeah, well I figured you know, you're kind of insensitive, so I decided to jump the gun. >> I got a heart. >> Okay, here we go. >> All right. >> Okay, this question is from Mister Ninja Bob. His question is why would I buy a Mac thirty inch cinema display over a Dell thirty inch 3007WFP monitor, other than the Apple aesthetic? Off the top of your head, are there any major benefits, off the top of your head? >> Well first off, I just want to say, that's a really dumb question. But - >> [inaudible] cut it out dude, no I'm kidding. >> So why would you by a Mac thirty inch display over a Dell? You know what? They're pretty much the same. You know, we tested both of those about a year ago, and what we found is that the difference is negligible. And pretty much the only difference would be price, and you know, the aesthetic. >> Yeah. >> You know, that's pretty much it. Because they both are very, none of them have a lot of customization options, they have brightness, and I don't even think they have contrast control. But they have brightness control, and that's it. And they both have DVI, VGA and that stuff, I think that's about it as far as connection options go. So that's pretty much it. You know, if one's cheaper and if money is important to you, then get the cheaper one, because they're both pretty much the same. >> Is there, now you know, there are screens that have a lot more customization features. Do you, I don't know this but I'm just asking, is it because of the larger screens, they just choose not to give people as much technology? >> You know, it's the technology, it's a limit, I don't know exactly what it is. >> Yeah. >> But I've asked this before, and it is a limit in the technology. For some reason, these really larger screens - >> The massive displays. >> Yeah, they're not able to you know, put a lot of customization options in there. I'm not sure why. The actual, the Dell 3008 actually did have, was the first thirty inch monitor I tested that had you know, contrast, color, brightness, and a bunch of other stuff. But I have to say that the performance was really lacking. So I'm not sure if that has something to do with it, but it is a technology that kind of holds it back. >> Okay, great. That's, see? Your first question. >> My first question. >> You rocked it out. >> There you go. >> Okay, here's a question from Edgar Beas or Biaz, I hope I said that right. Bea is number seven, he asks or she asks, he, what is a good monitor for gaming? I don't want to buy a monitor with too high of a resolution that I don't need, and will overpay for. What is a good monitor for a good price? >> What's a good monitor - >> What's a good monitor, yeah. ^M00:10:02 I guess the first question maybe we should, we could kind of help answer is are there any fundamental things, refresh rate or things like that, that are key to having a monitor that's a good gaming monitor. Cause I always see this World of Warcraft background on your reviews. >> Yeah, yeah. >> So obviously there's some gaming going on in the CNET a little bit. >> A little bit. >> A little, just a tiny bit. >> Yeah. So basically yeah, basically it comes down to the speed of the monitor, for gaming, and that's pretty much the only thing. Because as far as color and you know, black level and stuff like that, it's not, doesn't really pertain to gaming as much. It's the speed of the monitor and the faster the monitor, the better your gaming experience is gonna be. >> You don't get like those ghosting effects and things like that. >> You don't get any ghosting effects. And really these days, with LCDs, it's very hard to come, you know, to see any kind of ghosting effects. The worst thing about LCDs and gaming these days is viewing angle. So if you're getting, most TN monitors will have a really bad viewing angle, so that if you're like gaming, and you're kind of below the screen, or you're off to the side, I don't know if you're off to the side, but if you're below the screen, which a lot of people do game like that. >> Like they'll have their screen set higher and they kind of go back. >> Yeah, back like that. >> Kind of like [inaudible]. >> The viewing angle will be you know, just completely messed up, and like the top portion of the screen will start to get really dark, you know, the colors will change. And that's just, you know, that's probably the biggest, that's probably the biggest problem I've seen lately with LCDs and gaming. Because you know, the speed for most of these monitors are you know, even for VA monitors I've seen the speed you know, is at least you know, good enough so that you don't see any kind of trails or ghosting or anything like that, so. >> Okay, excellent. >> Does that answer your question? I'm not even sure if I answered the question. >> Yeah. >> I came close maybe. A good monitor for a good price. So a good monitor for a good price, I keep going back to this one, and maybe it's, okay. So I'm gonna recommend my favorite monitor first off. My favorite monitor is a Dell Ultra Sharp 2408WFP. This has an excellent viewing angle from any angle you can see. >> What's the size of the screen? >> It's a twenty four inch monitor. >> Okay, it's a twenty four inch, okay. >> Yeah. >> I've been wanting [inaudible] like oh a twenty four, it's twenty four inches. >> Right. Usually that's the case with the [inaudible]. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> And that costs about six to seven hundred bucks right now, which is kind of expensive. But it's still, it's the best gaming monitor out there. The one I would recommend other than that one, probably, I'm really liking the Lenovo, the 2440X, the LED one. >> That you were looking at - >> Yeah, that I was talking about earlier. I'm really liking that one. And also the Samsung T240D. I really, really like that one. >> So if you guys are writing all these things down - >> Yeah, I remember all these model names. >> When you dream, when you sleep. >> I know, it's like ahh. So it's like, so that one's, I really like the Samsung T240D, that's about five hundred bucks, and that's a great monitor, not just for gaming, but for HD video as well. And it has, it has a TV tuner - >> Great. >> - an HD TV tuner, and an [inaudible] HD TV tuner. So it's, it has a lot of - >> It's all set up already with the hardware, ready to roll. >> It's basically a TV disguised as a monitor. I keep saying that a lot, but that's exactly what it is. >> So this might help answer that question, because we have a question from Broad Bandito. >> [inaudible] this like you know, like kind of keeling. >> Yeah, like listening to you, I'm talking to you, I'm like - >> Yeah, I know, this is good, man. >> This is how we roll baby. Okay, this is - >> I'm impressed. >> This question is any monitors that you suggest for watching BluRay movies. So that kind of falls in line with what you were just talking about, right? >> Yeah, exactly. I actually wouldn't recommend anything over a twenty four inch display. I find that just from my testing, BluRay movies look better on monitors that have you know, on lower size monitors. I find the thirty inch ones kind of spread out the image. >> Yeah. >> The image is kind of like just stretched. So yeah, the Samsung that I just mentioned, the T240HD, that's an excellent one for movies. Probably the best one for movies. And it's you know, it does a lot of other stuff, and it's only like five hundred, five fifty, five hundred and fifty bucks or something. Is it four ninety nine? It's about five hundred bucks. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> Basically. So for BluRay movies, that's probably my favorite one. >> Okay. Well you know what's so funny about that? >> What's so funny? >> Guess what the video we have coming up is all about? >> I don't know. >> The Samsung T240HT baby. >> Okay, that's the video? [ laughter ] >> You've been going off about this screen. We're gonna play this video for you guys, and we'll take you back in a few minutes, all right? ^M00:14:52 [ music ] ^M00:14:55 >> Hi, this is Eric Franklin from CNET.com, and today we're looking at this guy right here. Now you may be wondering is it a TV or is it a monitor. Well you're probably not wondering that, but it is in fact a TV disguised as a monitor. For one, the OST main design is taken directly from the menus using Samsung's HD TVs, it has tons of connection options, including two HDMI ports, and an ATSC and QAM tuner, all of which face towards the back, not down as most monitors do, and it has a remote control, so it's pretty much a TV. The display has a low brightness, and its color reproduction in games was unimpressive. But it produced accurate flesh tones and sharp clarity in DVDs. It also reproduced text sharply, making it good for normal office use. With all its connection options, the TV tuner, and its great performance in movies, the Samsung Sync Master T240HD is a steal at four hundred ninety nine dollars. While it doesn't have quite the overall performance of the Dell Ultra Sharp 2408WFP, which costs six hundred eighty nine dollars, its lower price, connection options, and features make up for that. The four hundred eighty two dollar HPW248H is a little bit cheaper, but it skimps on video connections and features. For movie watchers, TV addicts, and those who simply want a large productivity display, we easily recommend the Samsung Sync Master T240HD. Still, twenty four inches is twenty four inches. So if connection options aren't important to you, but price is, check out the three hundred eighty five dollar V7D24W33, and the three hundred ninety nine dollar Ben QV2400W. Both are very good displays for less than four hundred dollars. Once again, this is Eric Franklin, this has been the first look at the Samsung Sync Master T240HD. ^M00:16:38 [ music ] ^M00:16:43 >> All right, we are back. That was a great video. >> Was it? Okay. >> We were talking the whole time, I should go and watch it before I say that. >> Yeah, you should say it's horrible. Horrible video. No, no, no. I don't even remember what I did, probably something stupid. >> Now we also want to get to know a little bit about Eric Franklin, and we have a question from Dig Dug who always likes to ask these personal, intimate questions. >> Does he? >> Yeah. >> Is Dig Dug a regular? >> Yeah, he's dub, he's dub. So Dig Dug's question is what video games have you guys been playing. So let's start off with you. >> Okay, pretty much all I play these days is World of Warcraft. >> During work hours. >> Yeah. Well you know, yeah, I mean when I come in I'll like eat my breakfast and have a World of Warcraft session, whatever. But like this whole last weekend - >> Yeah. >> - that's all I did was play Warcraft, because you know, you don't know this. >> The wrath of [inaudible]. >> Wrath of [inaudible]. >> Come on. >> Okay, all right. I didn't know, but you're not a Warcraft, you're not a Warcraft player. >> Just cause I don't play World of Warcraft, I know about it, man. >> All right, all right, all right. >> I'm in the know at least. >> I keep underestimating you Brian, I shouldn't do that. >> You know, I'm just kind of a little smaller than you, that's all right. >> A little bit. So yeah, and like this last weekend, like my girlfriend and I usually hang out on the weekends and stuff. >> Usually. >> Well she was doing her schoolwork this weekend - >> Yeah. >> - and stuff, so you know, this whole weekend I was just, I was playing. I got my warlock to level seventy. >> Whoa. >> Finally. So, this guy's laughing over here. >> Was sixty the highest level before Wrath of [inaudible] and then you got to seventy? >> No, no, no. Wrath of [inaudible] isn't out yet. But sixty was highest before the Burning Crusade, which came out two years ago. >> Oh, okay. >> That was the first expansion. >> Okay. >> Then they raised it to seventy. >> Okay. >> And now when Wrath comes out next month, it'll raise to eighty. >> Dear God. [ laughter ] >> Yeah, I can talk about this for hours. You want to hear about this stuff, I'll talk your ears off. >> Or we could also help out with people's questions too, I guess. >> I guess so. >> All these horrible questions. >> So Warcraft's all I've been playing. But you didn't answer the question yourself. >> Well right now, I've been, I got into, I've been talking about it before so people are probably tired of me talking about it. But on Playstation 3 which I just got, I got a PS3 a week ago, I got into the beta of this game called Little Big Planet. >> Oh, I've heard about that. >> So it looks like a kiddie game, it's like a platformer but you can create your own levels. It's like addicting. >> Really? >> It's very customizable. >> Yeah. >> You know, you have this little voodoo doll called Sack Boy, and you can decorate him to make him look like anything. Like with the clothing he could look like Metal Gear solid character, or like you know - >> But it's not like super deformed kind of stuff? >> Yeah, it's just kind of like a little puppet. I don't know, I don't want to talk about it cause people haven't really been able to play it. But just go check it out, Little Big Planet. It's gonna be hot. >> I'm gonna check it out too, yeah. >> Yeah. There's some - >> If I can pull myself away from Warcraft I'll check it out. >> I don't know about that. [ laughter ] Okay, we have some other great questions coming in. Here's a question from HBK, I'm guessing that's like Heartbreak Kid from - >> From WWF, yeah. >> Michaels. >> See? I'm old, so I just said WWF. I mean this guy's a young, he's like the next, he's like the young [inaudible]. >> We're like the same age man, we're like the same age. >> We're not the same age. This guy's like Yumba [assumed spelling]. And I said WWF, which is actually WWE [inaudible]. >> I know, I know. I know both of them though. >> Okay, all right. >> Okay, anyways. All right, the question is - >> So Sean Michaels asks is there any significant difference between a VGA connection and a DVI connection on a standard stock monitor. ^M00:19:51 >> Well you know, the difference is that you know, a VGA connection is an analog connection, and the DVI is a digital connection. And with a DVI connection, you can actually get higher resolutions. So I think VGA tops out at 1280 x 1024, I think, don't quote me on that, that's what I remember. >> Off the top of your head. >> Off the top of my head. So with a DVI monitor, with a DVI connection you know, on the monitor, you can actually get to you know, depending on the sizes of the monitor, you can get to you know, 1680 x 12 and like 1920 x 14 and all this kind of stuff. Some monitors you can go up to 2560 x 2000, stuff like that. >> Wow. >> The thirty inch monitors get that high. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, so that's pretty much the difference is that higher resolutions. >> Okay, excellent. This next question is from F Fred, and he or she asks what do you think of the HPW2207W, and is it worth the extra cost to get an HDMI monitor. >> Okay, the 2207W? >> 2207, yeah. >> I thought it was, the thing about that monitor is that it has a really nice, glossy screen. So that kind of makes certain media, mostly games, and sometimes movies look better. The problem with that is that it's very reflective. So if you're watching in a dark room where there's not much ambient light it looks good. But other than that, if you're watching where there's a lot of sunlight, you can't see anything. So I like that monitor, but depending on the setting that you're watching it in. What was the other part of the question? >> And is it worth the extra cost to get an HDMI monitor. >> It's kind of funny that she asks that, or he asks that. >> Shim, she or him. >> Yeah, one of those. I mean he says she, so it's kind of weird she asks, cause every monitor that I get in now has an HDMI connection. Okay, I haven't gotten in any that don't have that. So I was under the impression that it was just a stock feature now, this year at least. You know, maybe there could be some models from last year that don't have HDMI connections, but is it worth it. Well that depends on you. I mean if you're gonna use it then yeah. If you're going to you know, hook up your PS3 or X-Box, which probably, or you know, your cable, you know, your HD cable, those are probably the only three things I can think of, because no one's gonna buy a stock BluRay player, they're gonna buy a PS3. So that's what I recommend. >> Everyone who's watching that has their own standalone BluRay player, they're like hmm. >> Ohh. Wah-wah. So yeah, I would say if you're gonna play those kind of things on it, then it's worth it to you. If not, if you can't perceive of ever playing that kind of stuff, then probably not. You know, but what I've seen is that they all come with that. So I don't think there's gonna be much choice soon. >> Got it. Okay, now one thing that you touched upon, you were talking about the, a glass screen, which can be reflective. Do you have a preference, whether it's let's say a desktop screen or a laptop screen, choosing, or do you prefer a glass screen or the matte finish screens? What do you like? >> Right, right. I like the glossy screen. >> You like the glossy. >> I really do. I actually - >> You like to floss with the gloss. >> What does that even mean? [ laughter ] Yes I like to floss with the gloss. >> I make up [inaudible] phrases all the time. >> That actually makes sense though, cause you can floss with, you can, I don't think we have to look in the mirror to see, but anyway. >> Sorry about that. >> I'm kind of limp wrested today, I don't know what's going on. Anyway, so yeah, actually I bought a Samsung, this is actually, it's an LCD question, it's an LCD answer but for a TV. So I bought the Samsung a couple of months ago for my own TV, an LCD screen, and it was a matte finish. And I remember being at Best Buy and trying to choose between the two, the model up was a, had a glossy screen. I was like man, the glossy screen looks great. >> It's popping, right? >> Yeah, it makes the blacks look blacker - >> Yeah. >> - and the colors just pop more. And I was like but it's like five hundred bucks more. So I actually went ahead and bought the matte version, got it home, very dissatisfied with it. You know, it's like - >> It's poop. >> People would come over and be like oh, looks good, you know? So I was like oh I got to take this back. So I take it back. >> Aren't you a senior associate technology editor? You should know better. >> I know, right? But you have to go through these things sometimes. >> Yeah, totally. >> And I took it back, and I went to Amazon.com, and I got actually the glossy screen for like five hundred bucks less than what Best Buy was selling it for. >> Nice. >> Yeah, which was awesome. And I much prefer the glossy screen. Sometimes when there's a lot of ambient light it kind of looks kind of weird. But most of the time - >> When you have those mood lights on in your room, yeah. >> Yeah. [ laughter ] You know me. But most of the time it looks great, and I just you know, the colors just pop more, the blacks are deeper, the contrast ratio just looks a lot more full and I don't know. >> Beautiful. >> Looks better. >> It's vibrant. >> It's looks crisper, you know? >> Yeah. Okay, excellent. All right, this question, I don't know if you might know this off the top of your head. This question is from Ted 1508. Ted asks the best monitor for under two hundred fifty dollars, with a built in webcam? >> Ha. >> Okay. >> I love these great questions. So actually you know, I don't remember the one, the name off the top of my head. But there's a Dell, there's a Dell I think twenty two inch that we reviewed, I didn't review it, Matt Elliot, one of our other editors here at CNET reviewed it a few months back. And it had a webcam, it's twenty two inches, and it was pretty cheap. It wasn't two fifty cheap, I'm not sure, but it was very cheap. We can actually, I mean we can, are we doing another break or anything like that? >> No, we don't, but [inaudible]. >> You know, I mean I can get back to you on that if you know, if you want to send me an email at efranklin@cnet.com, I can point you to that review to see if that's the one that I was thinking of. >> Giving out your personal info like that. >> Well it's not personal. >> It's that easy, it's that easy. [ laughter ] >> Hey man, I'm easy, what can I say. My girlfriend knows that. [ laughter ] >> I'm not gonna ask her, I don't want to know that. [ laughter ] >> Okay. You want to know. >> So anyways, Ted hit up Eric and he'll hook you up with that information. >> Yep. >> He'll do a little digging for you. >> Yep. >> So that's very cool. Okay, another question here we have from Ninja Bob again, or yeah, Ninja Bob, I almost said Ninj Bob. He asks with thirty inch monitors, sometimes a higher powered graphics card is required to drive it. Are the stock video cards in the new Mac Pros able to drive those large screens out of the box. So Ninja Bob is probably referring to the recent Apple announcements, how they have integrated with the new MacBook Pros, a dedicated or additional nVidia graphics card. I don't, personally I don't see why not, but we haven't been able to, the announcements just happened like, finished up half an hour before we started. We haven't physically had these you know, laptops in front of us to test it. I don't - >> We could - >> I just don't know. >> - probably look at the specs. >> Yeah. >> If the specs say anything like, if they're capable of resolutions of I think it's 2560 x 2048, or something like that. >> Okay. >> If they're capable of that resolution, then they can run those thirty inch monitors in their native resolutions. >> Okay. >> But the card has to be capable of that, and you need a dual link, dual link cable in order to connect the MacBook to the monitor, or else you wont be able to get that kind of resolution. >> Okay. I'm just trying to - >> Yeah, Brian's checking here. I'm trying to see if I can filibuster some stuff while you're doing that. I don't know. >> I'm looking up the tech specs. >> But that's what it's gonna depend on. It's gonna depend on the resolution capability of the new MacBook Pro's graphics cards, the new nVidia base graphics cards. >> And I mean the memory on the graphics card, for the higher end one is five hundred twelve megs. >> Oh really? >> Which is pretty chunky, so. >> Yeah, that's pretty - >> I mean that - >> - especially for a notebook. >> Yeah, so again, yeah there's no. >> Video, video, video, nope. >> Yeah. >> Nope. We probably, oh there it is. >> There we go, here you go. Okay. >> 2560 x 1600 external display. You know, I'm not sure if that's enough. I think actually that may be enough. >> Yeah. >> It's possible. I thought it was 2560 x 2048, but it could be 2560 x 1600 to run a thirty inch display at native resolution. I'm not sure though. >> Okay. >> I have to check on that. >> Okay. So we'll do a little more digging on that. I guess you could also email. >> You could email me, again. Like if I don't know an answer right here, I'll be happy to get back to you later. It may not be right away, but I'll get back to you eventually, at efranklin@cnet.com. >> Okay. Oh, we have a question from our boy, Justin Yu. >> Oh God. >> Do you know this guy? This guy's garbage. No, Justin. I love you. Justin Yu from the 404. Here he asks, okay here's the question. Are there any monitor brands that we should absolutely steer clear of? I like to call them doodie brands. [ laughter ] So are there any doodie brands that you've come across? I mean the thing is with CNET we typically get a lot of the you know, the great top - >> We do, we do. >> - top stuff. But from your experience, and you know, have you had that experience with any doodie brands, Justin? >> With brands. >> And look him straight in the eye, he likes that. >> I bet he does. >> Likes the direct answer. >> Justin. Doodie brands. You know, for the most part, most of the vendors that I, the monitors I review, they're pretty high quality, pretty name brand stuff, View Sonic, Dell, Samsung, Gateway. You know, all those things are pretty, pretty high end, and I don't really, I don't really review any doodie brands. I mean those are pretty name brands right there. I have to say though that I was very, I mean it depends. There's no brand that I found, okay I'll just say it, there's no brand that I found that is a doodie brand, I can't name a doodie brand. But some of these brands, like Samsung for instance. ^M00:30:08 You know, they come out with the T240HD, and that's a great monitor, manufactured very well, just put together you know, just awesomely. And then they have something else where, they have this 26, 2693HM, and it felt like a Fisher Price toy. I mean it felt like at any minute that back was just gonna fall off. >> Yeah, yeah. >> So there are no doodie brands, but I feel like there are doodie models. >> Construction material, like - >> Yeah, it's like - >> - put together. >> I don't know why they want to hit these budget prices sometimes, and they kind of like skimp on just manufacturing, I'm not sure what they do. But there are no doodie brands that I've come into contact with, Justin. But there are some doodie models. >> I know doodie brands. If you go and it's like the one ninety nine like forty inch flat panel LCD from Frye's on the corner, that's a doodie brand. >> That's a doodie brand, like who is that by, you know? >> If you haven't heard of them, you should probably like kind of be apprehensive about you know - >> Yeah. >> - something in there. If you can't spell or pronounce the company name, that's a doodie brand. >> Right, yeah. Or if it's like 3M, like 3M starts making monitors, I don't want to see those. >> All right, cool. Thanks Justin. Now we have another question from F Fred. F Fred asks any rotating screens that go from a landscape to letter, I'm guessing he's trying to say portrait, that you like, and is that a useful feature? >> It's a useful feature, again, this is a useful feature if it's useful to you. If you like having a vertical long screen, then yes, that's a useful feature. And most monitors will come with software, if they have that feature, that'll, like if you're in Word, you're you know, watching on a horizontal screen and you go vertical, it'll you know, it'll change to be vertical, the actual application. >> Useful, yeah, is it a useful feature. >> Is it a useful feature. >> It depends on your - >> Yeah. If you like that, then yeah. If you want to play some Galaga on there maybe, it's a useful feature. Other than that, see I'm old dude, that's what I think of, right? >> I know what Galaga is, dude, I'm still right with you man. >> But, there's a first part to that question. Any rotating screens - >> Any that you - >> Oh, that I like? >> I guess, yeah. >> There are plenty. The HP24, what is it, the HP2408 does that, I don't remember the whole model name. Let's see, what else does that. >> Well we'll go with that one, it's all right. >> There you go, that one. Oh and the Dell that I like does the portrait mode as well. >> Also, like the rotating screens never really took off. I remember seeing them you know, several years back - >> Yeah. >> - and I thought oh, this is like crazy. You know, this might be you know, a potential next evolution because you have a lot of people that do page layout designs and things like that. >> Yeah. >> But just for your average consumer, it's totally not taken off. >> Right. >> I don't know a single person - >> Because it comes down, so much down to preference. And you're not really getting that much benefit actually from doing that. I don't, I mean either way it's like, what do you call it? What's the saying? Six of one, half dozen of the other. I mean - >> Now you're really dating yourself. [ laughter ] >> My girlfriend uses it all the time man, she's like younger than me, she's way younger than me. >> - older than you I'd be like oh [inaudible]. >> No, but I mean it depends on what your preference is. >> Okay, now if this is, if I'm reading this right, it looks like Ninja Bob looked for the Dell. Is this the one that we're talking about? Okay, I guess, oh okay, Ninja Bob looked for the Dell, but I guess [inaudible] asking, it's the Dell SP - >> Yeah, that one. >> 2208, okay SP2208WFP. >> That's the one I was recommending. >> Okay. >> So look for that one Ninja Bob. >> Awesome. All right guys, well you know what? It's twelve oh four, we gave them four extra minutes of love. >> Did we really? >> We did. Because you rock like that. >> We didn't answer all the questions, I wanted to answer - >> Well do you know what? This question I'm not answering, because Justin Yu asked how long have you and Dome been dating. >> I'll answer that, you know. I just want to say - >> Hey I was talking to him. >> What? >> I've been talking to Dome too, is he two timing us? >> What? You been talking to him too? No, Dome and I have been dating for a good, no we haven't, Dome and I don't date, Justin. That's what you do. >> Oh. >> With Dome. I've heard about you guys. Anyway. >> But you guys, you and Dome do have a great podcast together - >> We do. >> - called Inside CNET Labs? Or is it CNET Inside - >> You don't even know. This guy's like, he's supposed to be in on all this kind of stuff, he's not you know, in tune with the latest, greatest podcast. >> I'm [inaudible] now. >> No, it's the Inside CNET live podcast. >> That's what I said first. >> Well yes, right, right, but you didn't know for sure. And you can check us out at cnet.com/insidecnetlabs. Click on the link on the right, and it says show all podcasts, or view all podcasts, or something like that. And you can, we have like a good twenty episodes so far, and we're still. >> Cranking them out. >> We do it, it's a weekly podcast, so. >> I've heard [inaudible], I just forget the name on the top of my head. But I would never forget your title. Senior associate technology editor. >> That's cause it's written on the board. >> All right guys, thanks for coming out Eric, thanks so much for coming out. Did you have a good time? >> Thanks Brian. Yeah, it was great. Thanks for the questions guys. >> Yes. >> I appreciate it. Send me an email if I didn't answer your question. >> Yep. >> Feel free. >> Now tomorrow we have Ms. Jessica Dolcort [assumed spelling], and she will be talking about smart phone applications. I'm sure we're gonna get a lot of iPhone app questions, but also stuff for your Trios, your Blackberries. She knows all the ins and out of that. So eleven thirty a.m. west coast time, two thirty p.m. east coast time. We'll see you guys tomorrow. >> She won't be as fun as me though, so I'm just saying. >> All right, see you. ^M00:35:38 [ music ]