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LATEST 20in iMAC USING AS PC SCREEN
- Thread starter tan
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AdamR01 said:Open a RDC and try to run a DirectX program.
As I do not possess a PC that will be rather difficult don't you think?
Krizoitz said:
That is very true. That made me start to think about the number of people that have no passwords on their administrative accounts, and the fact that all you need to do to enable Remote Desktop is check one box. Although, I'm pretty sure it will not allow accounts with blank passwords to login. Otherwise you could just find an XP Pro machine with Remote Desktop enabled and give 'er a try (and hope you don't go to jail).
AdamR01 said:Open a RDC and try to run a DirectX program
back this :
Does anybody have any idiea how the latest 20in iMAC can be addapted
so the screen can have a dual purpose where by the screen can be used as a pc screen, by connecting it to the DVI output of the graphic card of the pc
I think you would have to open up the imac to find the connective wireing between the imac graphic card and its screen ; rewire this to a multi switch witch can be mounted on the back side of the iMAC and also mount a DVI in put plug on the back of iMAC.
The switch can be used to switch between the iMAC graphic card and the dvi input from the pc graphic card .
I know there will be a fair amount of complex wireing and some holes in the back or the side of my new iMAC
Can this be done ? can anyone do it? and if so can anyone make any suggestions how it can be done ?
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Last edited by tan : 09-13-2004 at 08:42 PM. Reason: to make it more obvious
tan said:
Here is another vote for RDC. I use it just about every day. While I would not recommend it for gaming it works fine for day to day activities such as email, Office, and web browsing. I plan on getting a new iMac and doing just that with it. My PC is a 10" Acer Tablet and the screen is just too small for prolonged use. I also design all my web sites on my Mac but then use RDC to view them in IE to check for compatibility. The Acer is perfect for that type of use. It doesn't take up too much room in the office and I can use it on my Macs screen.
RDC is great for simple stuff, but it cannot run anything graphical. I use a PC to run AutoCAD and my G4 for everything else. I use a KVM to control them both. I think the idea of an iMac that can be a monitor to another computer would be awesome. I am going to buy an iMac G5 but I still can't figure out how i am going to run AutoCAD. It would be nice if I could use the iMac as the monitor so I wouldn't need to buy a more expensive PowerMac that I don't need and a monitor.
kgarner said:
Yes, Auto Cad is the "missing link" in total PC business/office compatibility. I'd love to see a Mac version or an emulator that lets you run it with no performance loss.
OnceUGoMac said:
I think someone mentioned it in an earlier post but incase you didn't see that its from a british comedy called "Black Books" its very VERY funny. There have been 2 series or seasons as you say in the US. I personally think that the first series is the best by a long way, the second series ventured too far from the shop which was where all the best stuff happened. Still good, just not as good as the first series, if you are interested you can buy it off amazon's uk site, they'll import it to you. I don't think its actually available in the US.
Remote desktop works well if you're just logging in to use your PC for a few quick things, but any longterm use will make you want to cry. I used it to burn a CD from ACID Pro 4.0 once because all i had the computer hooked up to was the network, but dont even try to edit a song.
The thing that bothers me about RDC is that it can't scale the responsiveness in accordance with the network speed. I get the same performance on a 100 Mbps network as I do on a Firewire (400 Mbps) network. If they could scale it better (or at all) a nice gigabit network would be almost like using the PC directly.
Why in the world would you want to do that to a brand new iMac?
I love me Mac far too much to do somthing like that.
I love me Mac far too much to do somthing like that.
OK, so alot of people have said they don't THINK that RDC can be used to run games but has anyone actually tried it or come across evidence that it can't be done/will be really slow?
Krizoitz said:
Yes I have tried it. If you run a DirectX program it tells you DirectX cannot be used over RDC. If you dont beleive me I'll take a screenshot. Performance is fine for small basic tasks, but if you wanna use a substantial application it is painfully slow.
AdamR01 said:
Why wouldn't I believe you? Up to this point a few people had said they don't THINK it would work but no one had actually said whether they tried it or not.
Krizoitz said:
yes they did. they said you cannot use directx over rdc. end of discussion.
back to the much more interesting and fun topic at hand... If I wanted to play games or use graphic intensive windows-ware, then I would think of this as a serious option. In fact, in 5 years time, if I have not hacked my new, 20in iMac to death, I probably will.
I like to fiddle with things. Overlclock them, replace parts, maybe mod the frame, etc... I am yet to see clear photos of the iMacs video layout or pll tables. I reckon I can get my iMac going 2.0ghz no sweat. =)
mac users are so afraid of modifying their computers. it's weird. they think it's sacreligious to open their cases or something. every man and woman can be an engineer! what's the point of having a computer that 'just works' if you don't know *HOW* it works?
melchior said:
Well, there are much easier ways of figuring out how computers work than ripping apart one worth $500+ (might I suggest http://www.angelfire.com/mac/mactari/mactari/mact.html ?)
The point is that Apple has tried -- quite successfully, I might add, imo -- to make consumer models models you have to upgrade by ditching and buying again. I've owned three iMacs now and am typing this on an iBook -- up until the G5 iMac, opening was a real hassle on purpose. Heck, Apple even removed that mezzanine slot from the iMac "way back when" to do all they could to keep consumers from upgrading -- the spot for the connector was still on the logic board, but for whatever reason, Apple didn't want anyone to have a decent Voodoo2 3dfx card to happily game on those machines. (The reason, of course, is obvious -- "Buy or bye")
And, as I say, they've done a great job. Ever upgraded an iBook hard drive? Good heavens. I'm lucky the thing still boots. If you want to learn how a machine works, try a whitebox x86 project, or at least grab something a little easier to work on, like an old Powerbook.
Now that apology said, I do wish someone would figure out how to mod iMac screens, especially the lamp-mac. That's a great screen with a great stand for not much dough. But it's certainly not a general public kind of project, there.
I can't even use AutoCAD over RDC. When I try to draw a line I can't see the line following the cursor after the first click. I only see the line appear after the second click. This is like drawing blind. If it can't handle this simple level of graphics how can it handle full 3D?Krizoitz said:
good grief people, why don't you stick to what he asked!
he's not really interested in RDC, so take it to another conversation.
this may be technically feasible, as in this iMac, the mid plane (or whatever they're calling it) can be removed. since the graphics card is on this board, the display connection *must* have some way to be disconnected. if that's the case, if you can find a pinout of the connector, it can be done.
obviously, as anyone can say, it's not smart, or advisable.
but that's not what he asked.
yes, it's semi feasible, but not until someone can get the pinouts for the display. that and the cabling after that might be a little tricky. it's pretty tight in there to begin with.
he's not really interested in RDC, so take it to another conversation.
this may be technically feasible, as in this iMac, the mid plane (or whatever they're calling it) can be removed. since the graphics card is on this board, the display connection *must* have some way to be disconnected. if that's the case, if you can find a pinout of the connector, it can be done.
obviously, as anyone can say, it's not smart, or advisable.
but that's not what he asked.
yes, it's semi feasible, but not until someone can get the pinouts for the display. that and the cabling after that might be a little tricky. it's pretty tight in there to begin with.