can rev. A 12" PB drive 20" display?

[jxyama]

title says it all. i imagine yes, but i need to make sure before i drop $900.

on the 20" display spec page on apple.com, it says "Any PB with G4 and DVI connection." rev. A 12" PB has VGA only. can it still drive the 20" display after DVI -> VGA conversion? for PM, it says "any G4 or G5 PM with Nvidia or ATI card later than radeon 7500." so i know my Nvidia card in rev. A 12" PB can drive it.

anyone with actual experience replying would be great. thanks.

 

[173080]

title says it all. i imagine yes, but i need to make sure before i drop $900.

on the 20" display spec page on apple.com, it says "Any PB with G4 and DVI connection." rev. A 12" PB has VGA only. can it still drive the 20" display after DVI -> VGA conversion? for PM, it says "any G4 or G5 PM with Nvidia or ATI card later than radeon 7500." so i know my Nvidia card in rev. A 12" PB can drive it.

anyone with actual experience replying would be great. thanks.

The 12" PB should come with mini-DVI to DVI and mini-DVI to VGA adapters.

A friend of mine has a 1.33Ghz 12" PB connected to a 20" Cinema Display through DVI and it works perfectly.

 

[wPod]

the rev A only comes with the mini DVI to VGA adapter. you would have to get an adapter to go from the mini DVI of the rev A to standard DVI then you should be set. i think those are $20 or so at the apple store.

<edit>
hmm i just read this on apple's site
"The Apple Mini-DVI to DVI adapter was specifically designed for use with the latest PowerBook G4 with 12" TFT display with the new Mini-DVI port (models introduced in September 2003)." it doesnt say what revision that is. i dont remeber off the top of my head when the rev A was introduced.

i am curious to know as well now b/c i have a rev A and have been craving a 20" monitor!

 

[_pb_boi]

Heya,

I used my revision B pb 12in with an aluminium cinema display for a couple months, with no problem at all. Expose got choppy, but sure. Games were out, but you expect that. For productivity apps, internet, msn etc., it was great.

That was a revision B; I can't imagine why rev A would have a problem.

Just my POV, anyways 🙂

andy.

 

[jxyama]

thanks for replies.

the rev. A 12" PB came with a VGA adapter. that's the only accessory. since the port on the PB is not a standard VGA port, it needs a dongle to connect any VGA monitor.

what i'm wondering is, can i do the following?

20" monitor -> DVI to VGA converter (which is included, i believe) -> VGA dongle -> 12" PB rev. A

 

[wPod]

oh man. . . i did some research and it sounds like us rev A users are out of luck!

here is the bad news from apple.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86283#pbg43
that shows that the rev A and ONLY the rev A uses an analog mini VGA port and all of the newer powerbooks use digital mini DVI ports. all of apples adapters only fit the mini-DVI not the mini-VGA of the rev A

there are adapters such as this one :
http://www.pcnation.com/web/details.asp?affid=808&item=D60118
which convert VGA to DVI, BUT that is only analog.

the question is are the apple displays DVI-D (digital only) or DVI-I (both digital and analog) apple's site did not have much information, everything i could find in tech specs just said DVI. i found that the powermacs and the mini-DVI to DVI converters apple sales are both DVI-D (which means digital only) that along with some random web-sites (do not know how reliable they are) leads me to believe that the monitors are DVI-D or digital only. in which case we would have to throw down a few hundred dollars for an analog to digital converter.

that seems like dissapointing news. but i guess you can always get a monitor of a different brand (which tend to be less expensive)

im sad to find this out, maybe someone has some info that proves me wrong, please?!

 

[davegoody]

Take your PB to the shop and try it out !

title says it all. i imagine yes, but i need to make sure before i drop $900.

on the 20" display spec page on apple.com, it says "Any PB with G4 and DVI connection." rev. A 12" PB has VGA only. can it still drive the 20" display after DVI -> VGA conversion? for PM, it says "any G4 or G5 PM with Nvidia or ATI card later than radeon 7500." so i know my Nvidia card in rev. A 12" PB can drive it.

anyone with actual experience replying would be great. thanks.

To be safest, I would take the laptop to the store (or any store that sells the monitor) and try it out. I personally think that you may be disappointed, the rev A does NOT support DVI output on the VGA port, despite the fact that the 17" did (at the time there was no 15", it was still the TiBook which was a different beast) - Do wish you luck, AFAIK the 20" Apple display does not support any Analogue inputs so don't think it will work.

 

[Koodauw]

The answer sadly is no. The Rev. A has a mini vga. there is no mini DVI on it. DVI only Came on Rev. B. and above. So, unless you buy a VGA-> DVI converter, (which will prob degrade the quality enough to where it doesnt make sense to buy an Apple display.) You're SOL. It sucks cause I have the same dilema.

 

[jxyama]

dang. i'll go try it out at a store to see if it's worth it...

i was hoping to ride the PB a little further by adding the display, but i may have to change my mind... (with the thought of adding a Mac mini when my PB died...)

maybe i'll just get an iMac instead..?

 

[iRez]

Don't mean to derail the thread, but you would have to get a pricey adapter to connect your Rev A 12" to a 20" Cinema display seeing how the ACD only has DVI. The 20" Dell on the other hand has VGA DVI and vid inputs....which basically means you wouldn't need the pricey adapter, and you would save $500 on your display purchase alone. I can't see how you could pass that up, but to each their own. Again, I'm no Dell fan boy, but think that is a terrific deal, especially considering your situation.

 

[debroglie]

Don't mean to derail the thread, but you would have to get a pricey adapter to connect your Rev A 12" to a 20" Cinema display seeing how the ACD only has DVI. The 20" Dell on the other hand has VGA DVI and vid inputs....which basically means you wouldn't need the pricey adapter, and you would save $500 on your display purchase alone. I can't see how you could pass that up, but to each their own. Again, I'm no Dell fan boy, but think that is a terrific deal, especially considering your situation.

I think that the 20" Dell would be perfect for you. It might not have the same aluminum look, but it has better specs, adjustable height, 4 inputs (VGA, which is great for you!), USB 2.0 ports AND it is going for 487 shipped right now! You need to use the coupons

In that same thread and the thread on the new Dell 24" screen, people are raving about the screen quality. I ordered one yesterday, and I can't wait until it arrives on Monday!

 

[chaosbunny]

Too late for me!

Well, it's a good thing to ask first, but it doesn't help always.

I did ask my local Apple Store on Wednesday if my Rev. A Powerbook 12" could support a 20" Cinema Display, and they said "Yes!". So I ordered, it came today and surprise, surprise it doesn't work (wish I had asked you guys before). But they were very nice when I complained and are going to lend me the very expensive adapter cable until I'll buy my new Powermac when the next revision comes.

Have to wait until next week though, but then I'll be driving a 20" Cinema with my little baby. 😉

Would not recommend doing it this way on purpouse, though.

(Sorry for any mistakes, me no native speaker)