rslifka's Full Review: Apple M9178LL/A (Silver) 23 inch LCD Monitor
I should have listened... countless PC users have had nightmarish experiences getting this monitor to work (see the Apple support forums, and Google of course). We've tried 4 video cards (with increasing 'horsepower') on an otherwise perfectly functional computer. None of them work.
The requirements for this monitor on the PC are clearly listed on the Apple website - a video card with DVI port. Easy enough, right?
Wrong.
If you dig around the support section however, you'll see a page listing "supported" cards - they're all nVidia Quadros. FYI those are professional workstation cards that start at about $1000. NOTE: This page is NOT mentioned or linked to from the monitor product page.
So, we called support for ATI and Apple. Both said to buy a more powerful card. We did. Then we called again when it didn't work. Both said to buy a more powerful card. We did. Then we called again when this one didn't work. Apple's response now, "you should use supported card".
Apple support has been abysmal as has the video card manufacturer (ATI). They both point the finger at one another, leaving us stranded with a $1500 hunk of plastic and electronics. Great job guys.
(aside: Having a lot of experience with custom built PCs, this is precisely the reason I bought a Mac - nobody but Apple to answer for problems, if it's rare enough you have one)
For all their hipper-than-thou posturing, Apple is not a consumer friendly company when something goes wrong. Bought your computer a week before iLife '05? SORRY, shell out $ for an upgrade. Bought a $1500 monitor and can't get it working? It's a driver problem. Hmm... where have I heard this before? Oh about a billion times a year when I used to have a PC.
This hunk of schyte is going back.
PC users, stay far away unless you like to gamble with your money. Oddly enough, problems with the 30" and 20" models appear to be few and far between.
(UPDATE) We shipped the monitor back to Apple and it came back with a replaced power adapter. The less-than-stellar employees of the local Apple store failed to test the monitor with our adapter and instead used their own, sending us down this perilous path. The monitor now works great.
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