Can't connect mini to monitor

I believe that the HDMI (smaller one) goes into the Mac Mini and the DVI (bigger one) goes into the monitor with a DVI cable you must supply. if you are using a TV or a monitor that does not have DVI or you do not have a DVI cable, you need a double ended HDMI cable.

 

Is the confusion here that you were expecting an HDMi cable in the box that came with the Mac Mini? If that is the case, then the Apple page for the Mac Mini should dispel this belief. It clearly lays out what comes in the box:

You will need to either get yourself an HDMI or DVI cable.

I might have misread your post, but that seems to be the confusion to me.

 

You don't need to use the HDMI adapter that came with the mini. In fact, you can't use it with your new monitor, which has HDMI, and VGA.
All you need is an HDMI cable, with that same HDMI plug on both ends. That's just a normal HDMI cable that you can find virtually anywhere that sells TVs or accessories for TVs.

 

To eject devices from the mac just click the little eject arrow in a finder window:


Or if you would rather have all devices show up on the desktop and eject them using the right-click option add external disks to the desktop items in the finder preferences:

 

I am also looking at buying an LG monitor for my Mac Mini...

...and from what I have read elsewhere the ideal connection between the two is via a thunderbolt to display port cable.

 

bettei wrote above:
[[ I found out that I needed a double ended hdmi cable. The monitor did not come with one. ]]

You can try an HDMI-HDMI cable and see how that works for you. Be aware that some folks have experienced glitches while running the Mini via a direct HDMI-to-HDMI connection. The chances that this will affect you are probably small, but be aware of it nonetheless.

If you are dissatisfied with the results via HDMI, my suggestion is that you buy a minidisplayport-to-DVI cable, and try that instead.

Monoprice.com is a good source for cabling.