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New Monitor Search... Looking for Opinions


Tom Wills

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Well, my trusty 2 and a half year old Marshall 651 decided to give up the ghost today. Smells like one of the ICs on the main board burned up, but I can't tell which one. I'm waiting to see if Marshall will even take a look at it, with the mods I've done to it, but I doubt it's going to be economical to repair.

 

I've been drooling over other monitors for a while now, though I was hoping to not have to purchase one so soon. The models I've been looking over have been the SmallHD DP7HB, the refurbished Cinetronic Gen1, and the Ikan MD7.

 

Obviously, the Cinetronic is a beast of a monitor size-wise, but being refurbished, it's a good deal cheaper than the DP7, and also has a pretty proven track record. It's got all the inputs I need (including DVI, which can be converted to HDMI, which can come in very handy), but I'm concerned about the size. Did those operators who had it find issues with getting through tight spaces with it? Is there any big caveat that I would need to know when buying one?

 

The DP7 looks lovely - I certainly have used a lot of SmallHD's monitors, and from the reviews I've read, the screen on this one should still be a marked improvement from my 651 in all ways. I'm concerned about how long it might take to get one however, and I honestly don't need 90% of the "DP" features on it. I just need something bright and usable. It also has plugs on all of its sides, which I absolutely hate! WHY would someone design a monitor like that? Also, it's $1000 more than the Cinetronic, which would basically clear out my cash reserves.

 

The MD7 looks like the natural upgrade from my 651. It's a rebadged BON monitor, which clocks in at 1100 nits, and looks to have the features I'd need. Since it's the same price as the Cinetronic, can anyone see a reason why I should pick this one? Is the smaller size of the MD7 worth the lower brightness?

 

All in all, my head's spinning with options. I'd love it if anyone could chime in and help me out here, especially if any of you have used multiple of these monitors, and could give opinions on them.

 

Thanks all. Here's hoping for a lucrative next few months so I can get back to making money with this damned contraption, rather than just spending money on it! :rolleyes:

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A lot of people are flying the Cinetronic Gen 1 still. Size was never an issue for me and I've yet to hear other owners of a Gen 1 complain about it to any degree. The monitor is no larger than most matte boxes. For the price you'd be hard pressed to find anything better. Plus it's made in the USA.

 

Robert

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Have to agree with Robert on this. My Gen 1 just worked and was amazing. It was the monitor that got me to relegate my TB-6 to backup and that says a lot. Yes, I've moved on to a Gen 2, but part of me misses the Gen 1. The weight was a good thing if you fly full sized set-ups and it was reliable as could be.

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The Cinetronic Gen1 sounds like a no-brainer given what you've described.

 

As for the 651, I use a top-notch engineer here in Nashville for nearly all my gear repairs. I had problems with a Marshall monitor (fried SDI board) and he diagnosed it, ordered the parts from Marshall and did the repair quickly and reasonably, and the monitor never had to leave town.

 

I previously sent a monitor repair/upgrade directly to Marshall and had pretty decent communication and turnaround from them, too. No complaints. But if you're concerned about them getting weird about your modifications, then consider an independent repair shop/broadcast engineer.

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A lot of people are flying the Cinetronic Gen 1 still. Size was never an issue for me and I've yet to hear other owners of a Gen 1 complain about it to any degree. The monitor is no larger than most matte boxes. For the price you'd be hard pressed to find anything better. Plus it's made in the USA.

 

Robert

 

I will say, the size of the Gen 1 IS an issue. My Gen 2 had to go back for service recently, so I mounted up my old Gen 1 and it wasn't long before I was banging it into everything on set. The matte box comparison is some strange apples/oranges comparison that was made a while back in defense of the Gen 1's size, but is very misleading.

 

That said, I loved my Gen 1 for the couple years I had it and never had a problem. I got used to its size in a relatively short period of time and it was no longer much of an issue. There will be a small adjustment period where you retrain yourself to know the size of your sled, but after that, you should be good to go. At its current price point, a refurbished Gen 1 might be your best buy.

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I want to put together a group buy for the BON FM-073SCH, the new model coming out around late this month or Early next month. I personally ordered one already but I just found out I can make a really good deal for both Steadicam operators and RedUsers.I don't know why I am doing this since I already ordered mine but why not passing some great deal to the fellow operators!

 

I will start the new thread soon so stay tuned.

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Thanks for the help, everyone. I ended up going for the Gen 1 Cinetronic. The holiday sale made it just too tempting - it was about the same price as a new Marshall, and I think I'm going to get a whole lot more out of it.

 

Now just to see how much my insurance will cover of my old blown up monitor! The fun never ends.

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