ColorVision Spyder2 Express Win/Mac

After carefully following the instructions several times and getting unsatisfactory results, I contacted technical support. Their answer: "Compared to default yes it appears warmer, but that is expected."

What a waste of money.

Very good color correction. I use it for photoshop editing and with lightroom. It niceley corrects the color even with the FL. sun behind me all day.

I have owned a lot of really nice monitors. I use an Apple MacBook Pro and have had Apple monitors and then some. I used the Spyder 2 Express to calibrate my MacBook Pro today and what a difference it makes. I always thought the default display was the way Apple set it up, so that's the way it should be. In fact, I judged my new Dell 2408WFP monitor against my MacBook Pro display and found the Dell to be very saturated.

Now, it's a fact that that monitor is very saturated out of the box, but looking at the uncalibrated MacBook display I thought the Dell would have to go back because it was horribly saturated. When in reality, my MacBook Pro display was simply dull and lifeless. That isn't to say that the Dell was correct, only that the MacBook was muted and not vibrant, or contrasty in any way. I fixed that in 10 minutes with the Spyder 2. My display is now gorgeous. The colors pop, but are not saturated, the contrast is beautiful and the whole thing just seems more lifelike to me. I can't wait to get the Spyder 2 home to work on my Dell 2408WFP which I have played with and gotten great results with, without this tool.

I highly recommend this to anyone looking for more lifelike colors, better contrast and more control over the default settings from the manufacturer. The manufacturer's settings are nothing compared to what this creates. My only problem is that this version doesn't control Gamma and I think that's the main issue with the Dell 2408WFP. We'll see.

I recently purchased the spyder2 express to calibrate my ibook monitor. WOW what difference it made. I have used several shareware calibrators and they aren't even close. Now what I see is almost exactly what the lab prints. I wished now I had done this months ago.

Cheap, quick, and easy to use (on my Mac, and until I get around to calibrating my Windows machines, I'll assume the Windows functionality is at least as good). BE WARNED that this is only set up to do ONE MONITOR PER COMPUTER, and on a laptop it doesn't let you choose, and of course laptop displays are not particularly suited to colour-critical applications. There are complicated ways around this, but it is simply not what this product is intended to do, and it is not a particularly well-advertised fact. That said, you absolutely get your money's worth here: This is the same hardware as in ColorVision's professional-level Spyder2 products, they just took some of the professional features out of the software to force pros to buy pro-level while giving everyone else an incredibly good value.

I recently changed over from a PC to latest iMAC. Transferring software for this product I found a prompt for a serial number. However I had long since thrown the packaging. Reading general customer comments on the web I found a lot of negative press for Data Color help desk and complaint that customers could not get the serial number. However my experience was very good. I got a quick response, you just need to quote them the number on the USB plug. Calibration worked great!

The colorimeter itself seems fine, but the Mac OS X software for this unit is buggy and not a universal binary (which, if they were going to update it for Intel Macs, I would think they would have by now). Twice I had it crash at the end of a 10-minute calibration, before I was able to save the profile. The app would subsequently hang on opening, so that I had to completely uninstall it to get it to launch again. I returned it and will spend the bigger bucks on a Gretag-MacBeth or Xrite unit.

This made a big difference on my gateway laptop. Before, some things just didn't look right. This brought a new level of quality to my laptop monitor. I highly recommend it. It is pretty easy to use.

The product is easy to use and worked well for me, except I had to send it back because it cannot handle a dual monitor setup with 2 profiles. I confirmed this with the vendor. So, go for it, but only if you have one monitor.

I have a webcam site and I do extensive photography. I use Photoshop CS3 and have used Photoshop and Premiere since they were introduced. I thought I was good at monitor calibration with adobe gamma, nvidia calibration, etc etc.
The Spyder2express did a better job in 5 minutes than I can do in a hour (or forever). It was a huge improvement in all my color matching, print, monitor, and webcam color balancing.
I have two computers that use the same monitor. I switch back and forth with an iogear kvm. One PC has a high end graphics board, the other a cheap board for my webcam. The spyder2 calibrated both PC's to the same monitor so well that I can't tell the difference when quickly switching between computers on the display. It worked better than I had hoped. I may not need to upgrade to the spyder3 but I may do it to get control of monitor color temperature.

Color calibration is a necessity for any serious amateur digital photographer. What is the point of spending valuable time in Photoshop or other software fine-tuning white balance, brightness, contrast, color saturation, and so forth, if your monitor is not calibrated correctly?

While the Spyder2 Express lacks many of the features of professional grade color calibration products, it works as advertised. It is also relatively inexpensive and simple to use. I have found that it significantly improves the rendition of skin tones in particular. It also produces more precise results when adjusting highlights and shadows. The installation of the software took about five minutes, and each calibration run takes about the same amount of time.

It is, however, important to precisely follow the instructions that come with the product. All other color calibration products installed on the computer need to be turned off (for example, Adobe Gamma); this can be done, for example, by using the Windows MSCONFIG utility. Moreover, calibration is best carried out in a room that is dark or only dimly lit.

I have also found that laying my Dell 19" LCD monitor flat on the table ensures the closest possible contact between the calibration device and the screen. Under no circumstances should the suction cups be pressed onto an LCD monitor, as this can quite easily destroy some of the pixels.

A final note: the benefits of calibrating your monitor will be negated to a considerable extent if you use a photo lab that applies its own software-based adjustments to your image files, or that does not calibrate its printing equipment correctly. If accurate color and grayscale are important to you, there is no substitute for working with a quality (possibly professional) lab or printing service. If you are printing your photos yourself, you obviously need to pay attention to the calibration of your printer.

I bought this product without doing a lot of research on it first, so I thought I'd write about this so other people won't make the same mistake. If you are a multiple monitor user (dual, triple etc) DON'T BUY THIS VERSION. You have to get the Spyder3 Pro version (which of course costs almost twice as much). Thankfully amazon's return system is pretty painless, so I'll be dropping it in the mail tomorrow. There really needs to be a better explanation of this in the product description to cut down on confusion. Other than that, the software calibrated ONE of my monitors perfectly, so if you only have one monitor, it's easy to use and pretty fast. It gets 3 stars for not supporting multiple displays though.

I read a lot about monitor calibration and asked several people their opinions before purchasing this product. I found good and bad reviews on every product out there. In the end I went with this one because a friend had purchased it and was very happy with it and the price was affordable. I have calibrated once so far and have been happy with it. The advice I received was to calibrate at night when you can make the room totally dark so the ambient light does not effect the colors on your monitor. I would recommend this product to anyone in need of an inexpensive monitor calibration software.

Used Spyder 2 Express on 20" lcd with total satisfaction.
Could visibly see 2% deviation from full black/white easily.
An easy set up and go no brainer....good value for the $$ IMO

Good tool. Doesn't make that much difference in LCDs but made a huge difference on my Dell laptop.

Look into the Microsoft Control Panel color applet if you use a docking station.

OVERALL, seems to be a good device and helps give you some piece of mind.

I purchased this software from Amazon a week ago. It does everything that's claimed for a price I can afford. Can't ask for much more than that. It did an excellent job of calibrating my VeiwSonic VA1912wb monitor. Colors are more saturated now and it took the red hue out of the orange colors. Glad I bought the Spyder2Express.

This is not what I would consider a "Pro" unit. But it does what it does very well.

I calibrated both my MacBook screen and my huge 30" screen. Both look better then before. I checked the gamma best I could, as well as compared it to color chart printouts. The accuracy was better then before.

I did notice it made the screen seem warmer by a very subtle amount. This was due to the fact my screens originally had a blue cast to them.

There are no controls that allow for "tweaking" things such as gamma and color temp, but my video card supplies these so I can still adjust the look.

This only calibrates at one point (center of the screen) so it will not fix spacial discrepancies.

Overall, a very good buy if you are looking for a cheep way to calibrate your screen with good accuracy.

--
Kevin

This product was simple to use and worked great on all my computers. It was a good buy at a good price

I bought this product because I didn't feel I was getting the most out of my new monitor regarding accurate color. After calibration with the Sypder2 Express, my Gateway FHD2400 monitor's colors are more accurate and I can see more detail in pictures, especially in dark areas. The image quality has definitely improved and the colors are more true-to-life.
Installation was a bit of a pain, probably because I have XP x64 but I did get it to work just fine. It is very easy to calibrate, you just launch the software and follow the menus. Calibration takes 5 minutes or so.
If you're searching for a high-value monitor calibration tool, this is the best you can get according to my research. This is basic but it gets the job done.

easy to use. just install the software and follow the instructions. Keeps my monitor calibrated and reminds me when it is time to recalibrate.

I can't vouch for this thing the way a professional photographer/graphic designer might, but it did what I needed. I have a Samsung SyncMaster 226BW 22" LCD Monitor (did not get it at Amazon, BTW), and 3 different manufacturers make the panels that are sold under that name (thanks a lot, Samsung). Mine was way too blue, and I couldn't fix it very well with the monitor settings. But after I used the Spider2 Express it was like a blue plastic filter was just detached from the screen. Its colors' now match monitors I know are fairly accurate, so I am pretty happy.

As the author of likely the most extensive "Greyscale & Colour Calibration for Dummies" guide available, I thought I should chime in on my thoughts on the Spyder2 sensor vs. the other less expensive sensors out there (such as the Eye-One/i1):

In my tests and speaking with various calibration experts we've concluded that: Approximately 1/3 of Spyder2 units are very accurate. The next 1/3 are off making their use questionable. The last third are considerably more inaccurate making them useless. Unfortunately there's no way to know how your Spyder2 unit rates unless you have a known accurate colorimeter to compare it against.

The Eye-One on the other hand is consistently accurate and readings do not vary between units. Those of you that would never consider spending more than $70 on greyscale calibration may consider using the Spyder2. You may luck out. Those that want to do this right should order the Eye-One at approximately twice the price as it's the cheapest probe recommended by the pro's.

I am not affiliated in any way with Spyder or Eye-One. I'm simply a home theater enthusiast who looks for accuracy and value in equipment. The Spyder2 is certainly inexpensive but given that most units are not very accurate, it does not represent good value to me or anyone else serious about correct greyscale.

This is a great product but you are better spending more money on the pro version because you cannot change any of the settings with this one it is all preset.

I don't think this could be much easier. The on screen step-by-step directions are pretty easy to follow. The one issue I did encounter was with setting the contrast/brightness of my (old) monitor. The first time I ran the calibration I set the monitor to the factory defaults and the result left all my whites looking yellow. I tried a few more times but the results weren't much better. This wasn't the fault of anything other than using an ancient monitor.

Shortly after I tried to calibrate the old monitor I went and bought a new 22" widescreen LCD and fired up the Spyder2 - this time with pleasing results. Quick and easy to use, but still not 100% perfect - of course still way better than what I've ever had.

i was a little skeptical, but after i ran this, i was amazed by the difference the Spyder2Express has made on my laptop monitor. the "before and after" feature really shows you the difference. initial setup (you have to install software first) and calibration took under a half hour, and was fairly straight forward. calibration alone only took 10-15 minutes. i plan to use this on my desktop LCD as well. as a photographer, this is going to be an invaluable investment.

Does what it is advertised to do, and does it pretty quickly and easily on both Windows and Mac clients. (I used it on my XP desktop and MacBook Pro Laptop)

Biggest drawback is that you can't specify the white point. This is only available in $$$ version. But it certainly improved my monitor output and now the output from my monitor and my prints (printed at Costco using a profile for the local costco downloaded from drycreekphoto.com)are much closer than they have ever been. I wouldn't say it is exact, but much better.

Works as described - monitor never looked as good. Colors are bright and true.

The software is easy to install and calibrating is straight forward. Works with XP and Vista. Before I got this I used a calibration picture and thought I was doing pretty well but after using the Spyder2Express I was surprised to see how far off I was, not that it was miles off just that it was noticeably better.

I was a little weary of spending such a low amount on a calibrator. Glad I took a chance! The software is fairly straight forward, and the results are extremely accurate!

The Spyder express 2 is a great tool for anyone...especially a photographer. It was simple and easy to use...and it hardly took anytime to calibrate my monitor.
I am totally satisfied with it and will suggest it to others I know.

I was skeptical of buying Express edition due to the big difference between Express edition and other Spyder editions. I was pleasantly surprised to see the outcome out of this $70 product.

I highly recommend this product. A must buy for every digital photographer with out breaking the bank.

This made a huge difference on my laptop and a slight difference on my desktop (which has a far better graphics card).

just as advertised, it was plug and play, made the adjustments to the screen. Only modification I made was to adjust the default reminder for when to recalibrate from one week (too often) to 6 months.

This is a good colorimeter, and it improved photographic display on my Mac greatly. The Spyder2 hardware is very good and used in the entire range of products. The express software bundle is very basic, does the job, but offers absolutely no flexibility and doesn't support dual-display systems. This colorimeter really shines with the pro version software, but the express will do the job.

I purchased this color calibration software after a dreadful experience with the Huey Pantone Pro, where both my MacBook Pro and Apple 23" were calibrated with an orange/pink tint to the image. Just ghastly.

Anyway, the Huey went back, and I ordered the Spyder2Express. There's no question the Spyder2 is a quality product. The colors I ended up with after calibration are spot on. Wonderfully neutral. The device itself is a bit clunky looking, but it's not as if you need to have it sitting out the whole time. From calibration to done took about 5 minutes, and now I'm extremely happy with the way my displays look. Highly recommended, especially with the Apple display! If you are at all into photography and printing photos, this is a must. There's no excuse to not have one of these.

I wrestled with getting this or the new Spyder 3 (which calibrates your printer & scanner too) but didn't want to pay that much, so I took a chance & got the Express (why would I need to calibrate my printer too if I print in PS? hmmm) & it worked great!!! I'm now printing what I see on my monitor! :D ..no more too contrasty, no detail in my whites/blacks, greenish prints :P Just took a little research & time to get all the variables to work together (printer & PS options + ICC profiles)

This product was easy to set up and my photos print out the way they look on the screen. It does what it is suppose to do.

However, I do find it quite funny that people were paying more on Ebay for the identical product, used.

I am an oil painter and I like to archive photos of my work. I have long been frustrated by the color alterations that I see on my various monitors and when printing. The ColorVision Spyder2 should at least give me a more trustworthy on-screen representation. I do see the difference after calibration, but have yet to do exhaustive tests of my own to see how the color realism compares with the original paintings. The product was very easy to use and appears to work as advertised.

Since I got a new printer, my monitor was way out of callibration (printing way too dark) until I bought, and used this. It's not hard to use and very effective.

Seems like it would be a great product if the software wasn't so bad. The profile chooser software is terrible. Constant messages and errors and they still haven't fixed it. I have to constantly select the correct color profile at bootup and nothing I've tried seems to fix that. When I do run with the color profile, it's great though, so I give it 3 stars. 5 is the software was good.

The Spyder2 is very simple to use.
However, the provided software give only limited setting.
The calibrator and the weigh not balance well while hanging
on the monitor. I have to hold the cord while calibrating.
Otherwise, it's very good.

Really not evolved beyond what SuperMac Technology was doing via ADB connections 15 years ago... and completely useless for calibrating a multi-display system. That basic capability is only supported via the "PRO" model for $100 more, which Amazon's description fails to mention.

I spend a lot of time processing photos on my computer, but I waited for years to calibrate it because it seemed complicated and expensive. This device makes it easy and reasonably priced. Instructions are simple and you'll be done in 15 minutes from opening the box. My monitor is noticeably more color neutral, and brighter. I work on a Mac with a Dell LCD monitor, and the images I put on the web now look better on my Windows PC at work.

I'm not a techy person so I thought I would have trouble with this, but it was pretty easy to use on my LCD monitor. The process was quick, and I'm pleased with the results. Amazing how many different shades of color I can see now that were missing from my display before. This product is a good buy.

I used the Spyder2 Express to calibrate 2 laptop monitors and it worked easily. Both machines are running Vista and there were no issues at all. Calibration took about 20 minutes per machine and what a difference!

Spyder2 Express makes color calibration quick and easy. Can't be much more simple than this.

Very good tool. Easy to install and easy use. requires bout 15-20 min. to calibrate the screen. I'm very happy with it.

So, it does what it's supposed to do -- calibrate your monitor.

HOWEVER, if you prefer a slight variation to its calibration (say a bit warmer or cooler), you're out of luck! Once it calibrates, you have to use it's automatic settings -- no fine tuning.

So, why is this a problem? It's automated settings may not always be the best choice. Basically, it samples each color and intensity (dark red through light red, etc.). Then it creates a profile based on what it measured. It does NOT recheck the screen after it calibrates it though. And sometimes, it doesn't create the profile correctly. I tried calibrating my laptop (Dell D600) and ended up with a yellowish casting. It worked better on my desktop (which is what I actually use for photo editing), but still wasn't perfect.

They should have done two things -- 1) Add custom fine-tuning options (allow you to warm/cool the calibrated profile a bit), and 2) re-check the monitor AFTER it applies its profile to confirm that it applied correctly.

By the way, as for the yellowish cast on my Dell D600, the support site suggested updating the video driver. I have the latest driver available and still no luck.

Perhaps the professional version works better, but I'm a bit disappointed in this one.

Don't be fooled by the inexpensive price - this Spyder will calibrate your display. Since my LCD monitor was fairly new I had been able to get colors out of my printer that were similar to my display. But now that I've calibrated the monitor, my HP 7360 printer duplicates my display on my Windows XP/SP2 system. This product will not calibrate your printer (which I knew before I bought it) but it works much better than software only products. In addition, the accompaning software was not difficult to install and the combination hardware spyder and software is simple to use.

Lacks Flexability- It adjusts screen to Kelvin 6500 (yellow). For most, especially if you are into photo editing, that is far too warm. I personally like about 5500. The result is that it makes the screen look warmer than what the photos are, or when printed. I have contacted ColorVision, and there is no flexability on this unit. You have to move up to a more expensive package to have the flexability.