Mac Mini Video

I was browsing the Apple Store today and added the 30" Cinema Display to my cart -- not that I intended to buy; I just wanted to see if it had any 'options' -- and I noticed they put the Mac Mini in the 'accessories' for this product. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no way the Mini could be used with a 30" display, right? Its card is not one of the 3 the Apple site lists as being compatible with the 30". That kinda almost counts as a deception, doesn't it?

But it got me to thinking -- if there ever is an update, is there any chance they would upgrade to a card that CAN run the 30" display, or are they all just too high-end and expensive?

And failing that, is the card in the mini replaceable, and would it even fit one of them high-faultin' cards?

(And yes, I realize the Mini and the 30" display are intended for vastly different kinds of users. In my situation, though, I would love to get the huge display eventually -- preferably before I replace whatever my next system will be -- but the PowerMac is way overpowered for my needs and I couldn't justify such a massive expense just so it could run an already extremely expensive display. The 30"+a mini would thus be preferred configuration, were it possible).

homerjward said:

presentation mode. the 30" display supports 1280x800 presentation mode which looks just as good as full-res cause, well, it's half the pixel dimensions. but why the hell would you use a $500 computer with a $3000 monitor...?

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Already covered that. Cost! Want the big monitor, don't need the souped-up computer. Besides, I'm not just looking for size, but resolution as well. I'm the kind of user who regularly has like 30 windows open (plus Stickies), and I'm getting sick of having to constantly command-tab between them. And since they're usually just documents of some kind or Finder windows, they all kinda look the same in Expose, so that's not much help. It'd be great to be able to see everything (or close to everything) on the screen all at once. I have a 19" monitor at work running at I think 1300xsomething and it's just not enough anymore. I could run it at a slightly higher resolution but the tiny type does a number on my eyes. As a stopgap I might try to steal my coworker's old monitor once he upgrades to an LCD and have a dual monitor setup, but I don't consider that ideal, and I'd really love to have an all-in-one thing at home...

Good thing u didn't buy it!! When theres the option to buy a iMac g5 (a 20 inch), you can save a heck of a lot of money and get a lot more performance..Don't want to discourage you, but a 30 inch screen would be awesome, but why not go for an all-in-one, when you say the powermac is too much power?

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Oh I'm not thinking of getting the 30" immediately -- not before I move to a new place where I can actually fit it (which I plan on doing sometime in the next two years)! I will be purchasing a Mini in the near future and using it with an existing 17" monitor, KVM'd to my PC (I did seriously consider the iMac 20" but I simply have no place to put yet another monitor at present. The mini will fit anywhere, so it's perfect for my at present very limited setup). That said, I want the option of getting a massive LCD at some point in the future when I do have the space -- without having to buy a completely new (and equally expensive) computer just to drive the thing.

A good point to make is that currently, no video card able to power the 10: would even fit in the mini's enclosure.

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Yeah, why is that? Plus, all the cards I've seen pics of seem to have two DVI ports. I don't understand why they can't make a card with only one port that's still capable of running the 30". I mean if they can do it for the two smaller ones...

I really like how a computer was an accessory..

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Yeah.. woulda been nice, too! Oh well. When the 30-inchers came out they said you HAD to have a particular NVidia card to run it and it was an expensive upgrade option on the PowerMac G5. Now, there's at least 4 cards to choose from, one of which is installed by default in the G5, and another that works with the PowerBook. So if things keep going this way, maybe in another year all Macs will be able to run the 30", just as they can run Apple's other displays..? Unfortunately, by then I will probably have bit the bullet and bought a Mac anyway.