Apple Cinema Displays

I'm a huge fan of Apple's products - premium-priced but well-designed and built and with resulting longevity. I've got a Mac running my mini music studio (another passion) which is over 10-years old.

I've just had my first problem though. I bought a 23" Apple Cinema Display (£600) last year and declined to purchase the 3-year Apple Protection Plan (£69). The products are so robust and I treat them very well so why bother? Wrong answer this time. Last week the screen remained ominously dark when I switched on the computer so I took it to the Apple Shop at Bluewater. They couldn't get it working with its power supply but, by complete chance (and in retrospect very good fortune), it was tried with a power supply for the 30" Cinema Display they had to hand and it worked fine. They therefore concluded my power supply was at fault and ordered a new one for me. I returned 3 days later to try this out but the screen still refused to work. I was asked to leave the screen with them and told that if it was at fault Apple operated a full-unit replacement only and it would cost me £400 for a new one with a limited 90-day warranty. Not ideal.

I needed a screen straight away (and also realised it was probably a good idea to have a back-up) so I bit the bullet and invested in a 30" cinema display (with Apple Protection Plan this time). Outrageously expensive but a magnificent bit of kit and with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels perfect for photo processing.

I got a call from the Apple shop the next day to let me know they couldn't get my screen working so I suggested they try a power supply for a 30" display. They called back shortly after to say the screen worked perfectly. For some reason my old screen seems to require more power now - any suggestions as to why are most welcome.

I just need to buy myself a new power supply then - so I seem to have got off relatively lightly. I haven't checked the price yet but, knowing Apple, I'm sure it will be in 3 figures.

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