23" Cinema Display Compatible with my G4?

[cleaner416]

I have a gray PowerMac G4 400 Mhz that I recently upgraded with new memory. Now I would like to update the display to a 23" Cinema display, which I figure I will ue when I upgrade to a G5 in a few months. The question is, how can I tell if my vido card will support the display? I see nothing about video in the system profiler (10.2)

Thanks!

 

[MacRAND]

Wait on getting the Cinema display until you buy your G5

I have a gray PowerMac G4 400 Mhz that I recently upgraded with new memory. Now I would like to update the display to a 23" Cinema display, which I figure I will ue when I upgrade to a G5 in a few months. The question is, how can I tell if my vido card will support the display? I see nothing about video in the system profiler (10.2)
Thanks!

You have one of the first G4 PowerMac towers; it was originally sold in mid-2000. Only the 350MHz model is slower. You do have a good Mac and it is a solid G4; I believe its nickname is Sawtooth.

Besides maxing out the RAM (which you appear to have done) I strongly recommend that you install a fast (7200 rpm) 80GB plus (160 or 250GB is nice) hard drive with 8MB cache (IBM, Seagate, or whatever you like) and look at the discounts and rebates. Rule of thumb - $1.00 USD per GB net.
Install it yourself internally and you will be amazed at the increase in speed for OS X in particular. Leave OS 9.2.2 on the old drive and focus OS X completely on the new fast drive.

You are going to have to do substantial modifications of this Mac to get the digital Cinema monitor to work. There are boards and conversions, but you may be looking at more money and trouble than it is worth. Specifically, you need to ask Apple and take notes.

You are so much better off to wait until you buy your G5, because if you put the G5 under AppleCare and get the 23" at the same time, the Cinema Display is covered for FREE; so, you save money. Plus, there is always the possibility that the NEW Cinema displays will be out by then. If you can wait, do so.

Welcome to MacRumors Forums. It helps others know how to help you better if you will go to your Profile (just click on your name) and fill it out more completely, especially about your computer and where you are located in this Earth, and what you do (student, computer salesman, web designer, etc.). There are 30,000 of us and we are all over the world.

I assume that you have only a Combo drive in it which only plays DVD or CD discs. If you want to burn both, the new 8x DVD burner Pioneer DVR-A07 (or DVR-107) is out and available at as little as $170 USD. List $229.
There is a $30 mail-in rebate on them if purchased before March 31, 2004. It is not difficult to install yourself.

Likewise, other people are selling their old 4x and 2x DVD/CD±R/RW SuperDrives so they can install the new 8x instead. Lots of bargains out there.

Anything else you want to know?

 

[cleaner416]

Thanks for the very helpful response. You are right - this machine was purchased by my wife in early 2000.

The RAM upgrade made a HUGE difference (purchased from Crucial per earlier post you've seen) in the performance of the machine. So much so that I considered the cinema display.

My needs for a solid Mac are somewhat specialized - my wife and I have a small recording studio and have been using Emagic Logic on a Windows PC as the main sequencer (brain) of the whole thing. When Emagic was bought by Apple, they discontinued the Windows product, which is actually good for us because I wanted to get on a Mac ever since OSX came out. (I have a Unix/development background and can't stand Windows - my other 3 machines are dual boot Linux and Windows, and Windows only gets booted when our software needs demand it)

However I think I will heed your advice and just wait (end of March/early April?) for the next G5 update and buy the display with the G5. More expensive in the short run but definitely worth it for the 64 bit processing, faster disk speed etc.

I'll fill out my profile per your suggestion. Thanks again for your response and advice.

 

[rubberx10]

I have a gray PowerMac G4 400 Mhz that I recently upgraded with new memory. Now I would like to update the display to a 23" Cinema display, which I figure I will ue when I upgrade to a G5 in a few months. The question is, how can I tell if my vido card will support the display? I see nothing about video in the system profiler (10.2)

Thanks!

I figure you are still going to wait for the G5 but i thought i would give you my specs just so you know what you could do if you wanted. I have a 450 Mhz sawtooth and a 23 inch cinima display. All you have to do is upgrade your video card to a ATI Radeon 8500 and get a DVI to ADC connector and you are set. I also have 1.25 gb of ram and a second internal drive for panther.

 

[Chaszmyr]

In my opinion, you'd be a lot better off buying a 20'' iMac than buying a 23'' cinema display. Or maybe waiting a little while or spending a little more money and buying a G5 of some sort with a 20'' screen.

 

[cleaner416]

In my opinion, you'd be a lot better off buying a 20'' iMac than buying a 23'' cinema display. Or maybe waiting a little while or spending a little more money and buying a G5 of some sort with a 20'' screen.

Specifically, why do think we're better off with a 20"?

 

[26139]

Better off with a 20"?

Price. Old G4 (free, let's say) + RAM, new video card, adc-dvi connecter $500 approx) + time and effort + 23" display($1999)=about...$2500 plus whatever your time is worth. Or....
New 1.8DP G5 [or whatever is out in a few months] ($2499) + 20" display ($1299)= $3800

But...since you "saved" $700 by going with the 20" screen, you can load the G5 up with RAM, which will make your life a ton more easier than an additional 3" screen size would. Or, you could buy a 17" screen for $699 and have 37" of screen space with dual displays (yes, I know it's not "actually" 37", but I am simplfying here.

In the end, I would go for the 20" and either the extra RAM or additional monitor. I just can't see the huge advantage of a 20" versus a 23" for the extra $700 bucks.

 

[MacRAND]

20" is more economically feasible

Specifically, why do think we're better off with a 20"?

I agree with the other guys, the 20" is Sooooo much better than the 17", being wide screen (16:10 aspect ratio), but
it's hard to justify $700 more than a 20" price for a 23",
unless money is unimportant.

Besides, instead of 1 x $2000 for one 23,
why not $2600 for 2 x 20"

 

[Chaszmyr]

Specifically, why do think we're better off with a 20"?

The 20'' is higher quality and more cost effective. Ofcourse, Apple's displays are due for an update in the next 2 or 3 weeks probably, and that might change


And if you got the 20'' in iMac form, then not only would you be getting a good monitor, but you'd be getting a computer which performs substantially better than your old powermac

 

[wdlove]

I have a Graphite dual G4 45 that I purchased in September 2000. I found out the hard way that the 20" display doesn't work. The clerk at the Apple Store forgot. When I tried to boot it up all I got was a gray screen. I decided not to spend $250 on an upgrade video card. Able to enjoy my 17".

 

[MacRAND]

Thanks for the very helpful response.
I think I will heed your advice and just wait (end of March/early April?) for the
next G5 update and buy the display with the G5.

Oh, it looks like your patience will soon be rewarded - have you read the page 1 article?

Dual PowerMacs and Aluminum Displays?
Wednesday March 17, 2004 11:14 AM EST
Posted by arn ​

MacRumors has received word that PowerMac and Display updates are in the final stages and should be released shortly. While we've not received a specific date for updates, previous unconfirmed rumors have hinted at March 23rd as the release date. Both PowerMacs and Apple Cinema Displays are expected to be updated simultaneously.
According to sources, the new displays do resemble the recent artist rendition of upcoming Aluminum Displays based on a slide seen in a routine Apple presentation -- with monitor feet resembling the PowerMac G5 handles.

Santa Claus is coming to town...on March 23rd

 

[Doraemon]

cleaner416,

you either have the AGP G4 or the PCI G4. Either way, neither have ADC and only VGA. And since the 23" Cinema Display requires a better graphics card, you are not going to be able to use that display with the G4 (or at least not without changing the graphics card).