[geeks] Spyder 2 Express

[John Francini]

So where did you find it for $50?  The cheapest Google Shopping can  
come up with is $60...

john



On 11 Jan 2008, at 16:11, Shannon Hendrix wrote:

> I ordered a Spyder 2 Express monitor calibration tool for $50 the
> other day.
>
> The good points:
>
> This is a *very* good unit.
>
> It did a far better job than i did at color calibration.
>
> The positives are pretty short, not because unit has few, but because
> when something works exactly how it should, there isn't much to say.
> Stuff that works is boring... :)
>
> The unit is a little slower than some calibrators, taking as long as
> 10-15 minutes to do calibration, but still fast enough that doing
> monthly calibration is no big deal.
>
> I'm quite happy with the results and the unit works exactly how the
> company claims.
>
> I thought I came really close calibrating my monitor by hand, but I
> was actually pretty far off.  The images now have a lot more pop, and
> I can see details even in the Mac UI that I had not seen before.
>
> I was complaining about the new Leopard shadows the other day, and it
> turns out it was my faulty calibration.
>
> The bad points:
>
> The basic bad point is that the Express version of the software is
> crippled too severely.  It is crippled to the point where even casual
> users are affected, and I think the limits actually make the product
> useless to a lot of common users.
>
> I got around the problem because I know how to fool the software, but
> for most users this would be a big turn-off.
>
> Here they are:
>
> You can only create a single profile, and you cannot name it
> yourself.  The software also places it in a location hard to get so
> you cannot easily rename it yourself, and I've not found any tools to
> do that anyway.  For some maddening reason, Apple's ColorSync tool
> doesn't let you edit a color profile.
>
> Shame on Apple and Colorvision both.
>
> You can only pick a single color temperature: 6500K.  This obviously
> could be a problem for even basic users, since some people either
> cannot use that setting, or their display can't or does it poorly.
> 6500K is common enough I can almost forgive them for this, but only
> almost.  I think they should at least support selectable temperature.
> Reserving RGB editing for the Pro version is fine, keeping people from
> doing basic color temp is not.
>
> You cannot calibrate more than one display, without using some tricks
> to fool the software into looking at your other monitors.  Spyder 2
> Express will only look at your primary display.
>
> This is why they put in the limit of not letting you name your
> profiles, since that would let you work around the single display  
> limit.
>
> The trick is to find and rename the profile, using a binary editor,
> and then swap your monitors so the other ones you want to calibrate
> are primary.  Ugly, but doable.
>
> Really, what were they thinking?  Not being able to name a profile is
> a serious problem, and multiple monitor use is increasing and common
> even among very low end computer users.
>
> It's asking a lot to have to pay double the price for the Pro version
> to get base level features that are necessary for even basic users.
>
> Several other reviewers noted the same problem and had the same
> criticism, so I knew this when I bought it and decided the hardware
> was worth it.  I may upgrade to the Pro version later.
>
> Conclusion:
>
> Despite the software limits, I'm pretty happy.  This unit does a very
> good job of calibration, and you can routinely find the Express
> version for $50, and then upgrade  your software to the Pro version.
>
> I plan to write the company about the crippling of the Express
> version, because it really does make the package almost useless, and
> maybe they would be willing to at least put multiple display support
> and/or ICC profile naming in the package.
>
> I highly recommend the Spyder 2 hardware, and recommend the software
> with the above caveats.
>
>
> -- 
> "Where some they sell their dreams for small desires."
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