Mac Mini "Fail"

So I picked up a Mac Mini because I already have an Apple 17" display that I use with my "ancient" Power Mac G4.

Well it was time for the G4 to go so I figured may as well get the Mini since I already have a perfectly good functioning monitor.

Sorry! Apple no longer makes the adapter to hook the two together. So now I either have to get a new monitor or swap out the Mini for an i-Mac or something.

WTF? Why is it so hard to make something that lasts or has a useful lifespan of more than a few years. Sure I bought the computer in 2003, but it just seems unnecessay to have to replace all the components after 8 years. What a waste.

Anyway I just need to rant. If I have to get a new system then I will give the old one to my daughter's Kindergarten teacher and move on.

J.P.

I believe this is a "physical" problem as there are no adapters which will combine together to make the connection from my monitor to the new computer.

J.P.

It has an ADC cable.

http://www.macmall.com/p/Belkin-Adapters-and-Gender-Changers/product~dpno~7362892~pdp.ecjffgh

The above adapter is all that is available for our monitor, but it won't work for the mini since the DVI plug is the wrong kind.

J.P.

It is not the Mini, well in a way it is, but the monitor will hook up to the adapter but the adapter will not hook up to the hdmi(mini) adapter.

It appears as if Apple used to make such an adapter but when the newer G5's came out, they changed the pin layout and basically made it impossible to use older displays with their newer models. I believe that the adapters were able to be used with the "G4Cube" but when the switch was made to the Mini then all bets were off with compitability.

I know I can get a new monitor, but I just wish that this whole "green" thing that Apple and other's talk about would be a reality.

I mean, how hard is it to keep a monitor compatible with a processor? I guess this is just the curmudgeon coming out in me.

J.P.

woodgeek said:

SmokinJoe said:

It has an ADC cable.

http://www.macmall.com/p/Belkin-Adapters-and-Gender-Changers/product~dpno~7362892~pdp.ecjffgh

The above adapter is all that is available for our monitor, but it won't work for the mini since the DVI plug is the wrong kind.

J.P.

Click to expand...

Ok, I'm still confused....The ADC end fits your old monitor, and the DVI end of this cable is a standard DVI. Yes, all
mac products (e.g. my laptop) use funny mini-DVIs that they seem to change every 6 mos (and that is annoying). But,
is I understand, you can adapt the mini to a standard DVI (either with the cable that came with it or an apple-brand adapter),
and then plug it into this Belkin ADC adapter. Prob $60+ for the two adapters, maybe you should buy a new DVI monitor?

I like a rant as much as the next guy, but you might actually have to settle for a solution.

Click to expand...

The problem is that the standard DVI is the same on the Apple as it is on the Belkin. So you have essentially two female end adapters, so they won't go together.

There is no way to get a male DVI to fit the female DVI for the mini conversion, if I am making any sense.

I went to Best Buy with all the plugs and my monitor and they had nothing that would work.

So I sent back the mini and picked up an i-Mac.

I found a nice monitor,non-HD, that I liked with pretty good resolution and it was $300 including tax. I could get a smaller monitor but the one I looked at was 27" and pretty nice.

So when you factor in $700 for the mini and $300 for the monitor your up to a grand. My wife gets a discount on the i-mac for some reason thru work so we got the one with a smaller screen 21", but double the memory and pocessor speed of the mini for only $175 more.

Plus I am donating my complete G4 display keyboard and mouse to my daughters school.

So I guess it is a win win.

J.P.

Part of the issue also is that when you try and adapt an older monitor to the newer (Apple)system, the monitor is unsupported by the new system and all of the monitor functions may not work. It appears that with the older converters that the USB ports on the monitor would not function because the non-Apple adapter was missing the power pins on the ADC end.

This is why I sent the mini back. I did not want to have to settle for a partial fix and then have to buy more cables to make up for the lost USB ports.

Had I waited 6 more months when I bought my old G4, I could have had the G5 with the newer monitor and this would have been a non-issue.

J.P.