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Are these two adapters all I need for a dual monitor setup?

galaksy said:
I'm trying to set up a dual monitor.
Will buying these two adapters ensure that I will be able to have dual monitor set up for MacBook? http://www.amazon.com/NEEWER®-Femal...398820706&sr=8-6&keywords=two+monitor+adapter
Click to expand...

First of all, what model do you have, as none of the Mac notebooks in the last 7 years (at the very least) have had a VGA port (which is what the adapter you linked to is) so that adapter wouldn't work anyway.

And it would only duplicate the same image on 2 external screens, so you would not get dual monitors.
 
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That adaptor is for displaying the same image mirrored on two monitors.

If you want a second monitor for use as an extended desktop configuration, you'd just need 2 Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort to VGA/DVI adaptors, assuming your laptop has 2 thunderbolt ports.
 
12dylan34 said:
That adaptor is for displaying the same image mirrored on two monitors.

If you want a second monitor for use as an extended desktop configuration, you'd just need 2 Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort to VGA/DVI adaptors, assuming your laptop has 2 thunderbolt ports.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking of 2010 MacBook Pro.
 
galaksy said:
I'm thinking of 2010 MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...

Then you can only drive 1 external display.

Depending on the inputs that external display has, you would want to use

This:
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=5106&seq=1&format=2

This:
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=5311&seq=1&format=2

or This:
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=5107&seq=1&format=2

And the proper male-male cable to go along with it.
 
Do you know if it works well?

The cheap ones all have a few one star ratings at Amazon saying that they worked for a short time and then didn't work.

Maybe I should buy one of the trusted apple ones that cost $30?
 
CosmoFox said:
check monoprice.com for good Apple cables. Cheap too.
Click to expand...

I have four (4) of their 6' 30-pin Apple connectors as well as one (1) DisplayPort to DVI cable.

The 30-pin cables are rugged and have all, but one, lasted for over three years.

The DisplayPort doesn't get touched. It just sits connected to my Mac Mini in my Home Theater set up since it acts as my media hub for my house.

Above that, Monoprice has got my business for ALL of my computer networking needs and most of my home theater cabling needs. I have no affiliation with them, but they are my go to place to shop. The only downside is that shipping is a little high if you are on the Easy Coast. They ship everything out of California.
 
galaksy said:
Do you know if it works well?

The cheap ones all have a few one star ratings at Amazon saying that they worked for a short time and then didn't work.

Maybe I should buy one of the trusted apple ones that cost $30?
Click to expand...
I have a bunch of monoprice cables and adapter, have had them for years, the quality is top notch and everything works just fine.

30$ for an adapter is a total and complete ripoff.
 
I also have a Windows laptop with HDMI and VGA. What adapters and cables should I buy to be able to connect an external monitor to the Windows laptop as well as the MacBook Pro depending on which machine I want to use at the time?
 
galaksy said:
I also have a Windows laptop with HDMI and VGA. What adapters and cables should I buy to be able to connect an external monitor to the Windows laptop as well as the MacBook Pro depending on which machine I want to use at the time?
Click to expand...

That would depend on the inputs your monitor has, and which one you're using with the MBP.
 
I haven't bought a monitor yet but it looks like many of them are DVI. What of they are DVI?
 
galaksy said:
I haven't bought a monitor yet but it looks like many of them are DVI. What of they are DVI?
Click to expand...

DVI stands for Digital Visual Interface - it's an all-digital signal (although some ports on computers can also output analog signals), and can be converted to/from HDMI with a simple adapter. If you get a monitor with DVI, you can get a DVI<->HDMI cable and use it with a rMBP (which maxes out at 1080p on the HDMI port) or PC. Alternatively, you can also get a DVI<->Mini DisplayPort cable and use it with the Mini DisplayPort/Thunderbolt port on your MacBook Pro (this is what I've done).

In short, DVI as an input is not a bad option and cables for it are just as cheap. Just be aware that if you exceed 1920x1200 on DVI, you'd need a dual-link DVI cable and adapter, which is a whole other expensive mess. Dual-link DVI is arguably a dying technology due to expense and complication and instead a lot of people are preferring DisplayPort for the really really big monitors (since again, you can use a cheap cable).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvi#DVI_and_HDMI_compatibility
 
Thank you. Are most monitors that come out nowadays DVI?

If your monitor also has HDMI, is it better to use HDMI to HDMI cable instead of DVI to HDMI cable?
 
galaksy said:
Thank you. Are most monitors that come out nowadays DVI?
Click to expand...

I think it just depends on what product family and what manufacturer - some tend to go with the VGA/DVI combo, while others tend to go with the VGA/HDMI combo, and others have VGA/DVI/DisplayPort. I'd say that DVI tends to be more prevalent in "business" or "professional" models and HDMI on "consumer" models. It seem rather arbitrary.

galaksy said:
If your monitor also has HDMI, is it better to use HDMI to HDMI cable instead of DVI to HDMI cable?
Click to expand...

It really shouldn't matter unless it's over 1080p - the Macs with actual HDMI ports have a limit of 1080p resolution on that port. If it's a Mini DisplayPort, you can do a much higher resolution from that to DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort through any series of adapters. To answer your question, it's probably more about what cables you have on hand and what you like from personal preference.

If it were me, I'd probably get a monitor with DVI or DisplayPort (as I'd look at one over 1080p resolution), and then get a Mini DisplayPort-to-whatever-connection cable and not deal with any sort of adapters:

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10246&cs_id=1024604&p_id=5998&seq=1&format=2

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10246&cs_id=1024606&p_id=6006&seq=1&format=2

The other nice thing is that you can get adapters from Mini DisplayPort to everything else cheaply, so you can also connect your Mac to whatever kind of display you come across:

http://www.monoprice.com/Category?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802

I do not have any sort of affiliation with Monoprice - I just like that they have cheap cables that tend to work very well. I did have a Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter not work, but it seems that it was a bug with my particular machine that Apple fixed somewhere after 10.9.1.
 
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