Apple cinema display 23" and MacBook Pro 13 inch.

[thleeal]

Hi guys,

Here is where it's at..

I have the most upto date version (ivy bridge) MacBook Pro 13".

I recently had the opportunity to pick up 2 recycled and abused old 23" cinema displays.

How do I connect.... The monitors come with dvi!

On a side note there was a power mac g5.... I only got a quick peak at it...
No hard drive or ram... And there was a strip towards the bottom of the case it said g5 dual 2.0..... That's got to be the processor speed right? The G5 processor was one whole piece not split horizontally?! I don't know if that makes a difference....

So anyway... To break it down... I would ideally like to connect the monitors as independent displays.

My questions are thus;

1, if I connect one display through a thunderbolt-> DVI, how would I connect the second one, the only viable options are to a- put it through one of the USB's on the back of the first monitor using a USB-> dvi, or B use one of the USB's on the MacBook.
Would that work? Is that the best way of doing things? Any other ideas?

2, what do you guys think to the power mac?... It does have the dual DVI graphics card so I could use two displays... But would be limited to leopard.....
It's a big sexy ass machine that on paper isn't as fast as my MacBook... How much do you think she is worth?

 

[name99]

Hi guys,

Here is where it's at..

I have the most upto date version (ivy bridge) MacBook Pro 13".

I recently had the opportunity to pick up 2 recycled and abused old 23" cinema displays.

How do I connect.... The monitors come with dvi!

On a side note there was a power mac g5.... I only got a quick peak at it...
No hard drive or ram... And there was a strip towards the bottom of the case it said g5 dual 2.0..... That's got to be the processor speed right? The G5 processor was one whole piece not split horizontally?! I don't know if that makes a difference....

So anyway... To break it down... I would ideally like to connect the monitors as independent displays.

My questions are thus;

1, if I connect one display through a thunderbolt-> DVI, how would I connect the second one, the only viable options are to a- put it through one of the USB's on the back of the first monitor using a USB-> dvi, or B use one of the USB's on the MacBook.
Would that work? Is that the best way of doing things? Any other ideas?

2, what do you guys think to the power mac?... It does have the dual DVI graphics card so I could use two displays... But would be limited to leopard.....
It's a big sexy ass machine that on paper isn't as fast as my MacBook... How much do you think she is worth?

The technical name for the connector you want in the first case is mini displayPort to DVI. (That may be easier to find than thunderbolt to DVI.) Apple make one and you can get it at the Apple store, probably about $30.
You can get cheaper clone versions on eBay and Amazon --- they may or may not work. When I bought one (which I thought was the Apple one) at Best Buy, it was a clone (could tell when I got home bcs the cable was too short compared to the Apple cable, and the color was not exactly Apple white), and it did not work (but Best Buy agreed it was a mistake and happily exchanged it).

USB to DVI will work, but don't expect any great performance. But that's always been a weird non-official Apple config, so you are at the mercy of the drivers that ship with the adaptor. Do your research first!
Should be fine if you just want to display to show documentation or suchlike, but could get irritating fast if you try to type rapidly on it.

As for the PowerMac, it makes ZERO sense to buy it unless you have a really specific purpose in mind. It will feel slow, it will use a lot of power, it will only run old SW. Really, whats the point? You can figure out some type of value by doing a search on eBay for that sort of HW --- but that doesn't mean it has any value to you

 

[thleeal]

The technical name for the connector you want in the first case is mini displayPort to DVI. (That may be easier to find than thunderbolt to DVI.) Apple make one and you can get it at the Apple store, probably about $30.
You can get cheaper clone versions on eBay and Amazon --- they may or may not work. When I bought one (which I thought was the Apple one) at Best Buy, it was a clone (could tell when I got home bcs the cable was too short compared to the Apple cable, and the color was not exactly Apple white), and it did not work (but Best Buy agreed it was a mistake and happily exchanged it).

USB to DVI will work, but don't expect any great performance. But that's always been a weird non-official Apple config, so you are at the mercy of the drivers that ship with the adaptor. Do your research first!
Should be fine if you just want to display to show documentation or suchlike, but could get irritating fast if you try to type rapidly on it.

As for the PowerMac, it makes ZERO sense to buy it unless you have a really specific purpose in mind. It will feel slow, it will use a lot of power, it will only run old SW. Really, whats the point? You can figure out some type of value by doing a search on eBay for that sort of HW --- but that doesn't mean it has any value to you

Thank you for the quick reply, that was amazing.... Which watts connect the USB monitor would be best... Via the MacBook directly or through the ports on the back of the machine. Or would either suffice?

Any chance power mac G5's will become collectors items? Lol.

Thank you again...

 

[name99]

Thank you for the quick reply, that was amazing.... Which watts connect the USB monitor would be best... Via the MacBook directly or through the ports on the back of the machine. Or would either suffice?

Any chance power mac G5's will become collectors items? Lol.

Thank you again...

I have no experience with USB displays. Some time I did some net searching and what I saw was that they do work on the Mac (at least they did as of 2010 or so) but that's all I know.
Like I said, you will need to do some research to figure that out. Things may be a whole lot better with USB3, or they may be a whole lot worse because of changes in the newest OSs.

As for "collector's items", that's a sucker's game. Buy the thing if you have some irrational love for it, but don't pretend the purchase in any way makes financial sense, not now, not in ten years.

 

[thleeal]

Thank you

I have no experience with USB displays. Some time I did some net searching and what I saw was that they do work on the Mac (at least they did as of 2010 or so) but that's all I know.
Like I said, you will need to do some research to figure that out. Things may be a whole lot better with USB3, or they may be a whole lot worse because of changes in the newest OSs.

As for "collector's items", that's a sucker's game. Buy the thing if you have some irrational love for it, but don't pretend the purchase in any way makes financial sense, not now, not in ten years.

Thank you for your comments.

 

[pagansoul]

On ebay you have to look for a DVI adapter #A1006 (not the mini adapter) and they end up being around $70-$100 (they start at $30 but always climb fast) depending on the condition as most of them are used. The 22/23" Cinema Display is so old the hookups only come on Apple Cubes and the early Mac Pros.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/APPLE-DVI-t...=US_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item4179544b88

The reason I know this is I came across a beautiful Cinema Display for $40 at a Flea Market. I could not resist. The thing is heavy so shipping would have been as much as the display.