Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mini Display Port to DVI/VGA Cables

A

Aboo

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 7, 2008
1,017
110
Hi Guys,

I wanted to ask all of you experts on here for some advice. I recently got a macbook pro unibody and I ordered the mini display port to dvi adapter with it. At home, I have a Dell 2007FPW to which I would liketo connect my MBP using the above-mentioned adapter. So far no problems. At work however, we still have an older projector which supports VGA input only. Honestly, I dont want to spend another 30 bucks so that I could get my MBP to work on the projector so I was wondering if this option might work. Our office has a dvi to vga adapter that was used with the older gen MBPs. I was wondering if I could still output my MBP to the projector using the mini display port to DVI connector plugged into the DVI-to-VGA adapter (and then use a regular vga cable to connect to the projector). Would this work or am I better of just spending the money on the VGA adapter?

Besides, purchasing a DVI to VGA adapter would cost less then 10 bucks as opposed to 30 for the mini display port to vga adapter.

Thanks in advance!
 
K

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
Nope - you have to buy two separate adapters. I fell into the same boat when I tried using my existing DVI to VGA adapter.

Read about it here.
 
R

raymondu999

macrumors 65816
Feb 11, 2008
1,009
1
I believe the Mini-DP to Dual-link DVI adapter, however, can be then linked up with DVI to VGA for such an outcome.
 
A

areusche

macrumors regular
Jun 24, 2008
168
1
TBi

TBi

macrumors 68030
Jul 26, 2005
2,583
6
Ireland
raymondu999 said:
I believe the Mini-DP to Dual-link DVI adapter, however, can be then linked up with DVI to VGA for such an outcome.
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if this is true. The Dual-DVI probably has the same digital-only limitation that the DVI one has.

areusche said:
I understand your frustration. He's a website I buy from with a converter cable for 8$.

http://www.cablesforless.com/p-420-high-quality-6-foot-dvi-a-male-to-vga-hd15-male-cable.aspx

It's 6 ft long, which I find to be too long.

He's a super small one that I believe would help you out the best!

http://www.cablesforless.com/p-436-dvi-i-female-to-vga-male-adapter.aspx

Sells for 6.30$ Hope this helps! Sorry I didn't include shipping.
Click to expand...

You can't use these with the Apple Mini-DP to DVI adapter because it is digital only.
 
Anonymous Freak

Anonymous Freak

macrumors 603
Dec 12, 2002
5,578
1,333
Cascadia
areusche said:
I understand your frustration. He's a website I buy from with a converter cable for 8$.

http://www.cablesforless.com/p-420-high-quality-6-foot-dvi-a-male-to-vga-hd15-male-cable.aspx

It's 6 ft long, which I find to be too long.

He's a super small one that I believe would help you out the best!

http://www.cablesforless.com/p-436-dvi-i-female-to-vga-male-adapter.aspx

Sells for 6.30$ Hope this helps! Sorry I didn't include shipping.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, neither of these will help.

Apple's Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter does *NOT* pass the VGA signal through. This means you cannot just use a DVI-to-VGA adapter, at all.

The underlying problem is that DisplayPort doesn't contain enough pins to pass through both DVI and VGA at the same time. You *NEED* a dedicated adapter for each type. The DisplayPort senses which adapter you have, and passes through that signal, and only that signal.

Same is true for the Dual-Link DVI adapter. DisplayPort doesn't contain enough pins for Dual-Link DVI, so this takes an active signal converter. (Hence the high price.) But again, Apple makes no effort to pass through a VGA signal. (Which would be silly, since it would make the DL-DVI adapter even *MORE* expensive, since then it would require a VGA DAC as well.)

Sorry, but when converting from DisplayPort to anything, you need separate adapters. This is not an Apple limitation, this is not a Mini DisplayPort limitation, this is a DisplayPort-base-spec limitation.
 
A

areusche

macrumors regular
Jun 24, 2008
168
1
ehurtley said:
Unfortunately, neither of these will help.

Apple's Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter does *NOT* pass the VGA signal through. This means you cannot just use a DVI-to-VGA adapter, at all.

The underlying problem is that DisplayPort doesn't contain enough pins to pass through both DVI and VGA at the same time. You *NEED* a dedicated adapter for each type. The DisplayPort senses which adapter you have, and passes through that signal, and only that signal.

Same is true for the Dual-Link DVI adapter. DisplayPort doesn't contain enough pins for Dual-Link DVI, so this takes an active signal converter. (Hence the high price.) But again, Apple makes no effort to pass through a VGA signal. (Which would be silly, since it would make the DL-DVI adapter even *MORE* expensive, since then it would require a VGA DAC as well.)

Sorry, but when converting from DisplayPort to anything, you need separate adapters. This is not an Apple limitation, this is not a Mini DisplayPort limitation, this is a DisplayPort-base-spec limitation.
Click to expand...

Ahh my bad sorry I was misinformed!
 
S

sesnir

macrumors 6502
Sep 21, 2008
368
306
MD to DVI

MD to VGA

You could buy both for the price of the one from Apple - available tomorrow.

Since you already bought one, at least you can get the VGA one at a cheaper price.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom