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Old 17 inch Studio Display M7649

R

Retrosonic

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 13, 2009
107
0
My old MDD g4 has a 17 inch Studio Display M7649, a nice white MAc keyboard and mouse.

I'm planning on getting a Mac Mini when Apple does the refresh this summer.

Question......can I use the 17 inch M7649 with the Mini and still get good video resolution to do video editing and photo work? or does the Mini demand a newer monitor?

Thanks for any help.
 
If it is an ADC connector, no, it will not work with a Mini. The monitor gets it's power from your G4, which the Mini cannot do (the Mini's do not have an ADC port). Apple did make a DVI to ADC adapter, but it still sells for $100 or more, and I'm not sure you could even use that with a Mini. Maybe someone else knows, but for the price of the adapter you might as well sell the monitor and buy a new one.
 
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Thanks

Wow......yes, its looking that way. I'd almost buy the adaptor, but I have no guarantee if it would work with the NEW minis, thats the problem. The scan rate and all that might be different. Wish i knew.
 
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I did some more digging around for you and it looks like it does work with several adapters if you wanted to do it (although the main adapter is so expensive it might just make more sense to sell the Apple monitor and buy a new one).

Several forums had the same question and people giving advice said you would need either a Mini Display Port to DVI Adapter (Which comes with the new Mini) (or an HDMI to DVI adapter), and then the DVI to ADC adapter, which is also a power brick for the monitor.

The first commenter in this thread confirmed he is using this method with a 2010 unibody Mac Mini and it works...
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:wiBGXTC9GYIJ:plugable.com/2010/09/29/displaylink-release-new-mac-driver-beta-1-6-beta-3/+mac+mini+2010+to+adc&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com

So now you can try and track down the cheapest DVI to ADC adapter. There are a couple on eBay around $75, the next ones are $100+, I didn't search any other sites for you, but there's a positive answer.

Good luck, and if you do get it all working, please come back and post in this thread so future people searching for an answer can find it.
 
Cocacolakid:

Thanks so much for doing that. My first thought was that It's not worth the money for the adaptor, seeing as my monitor is only 17 inches.

However, over the weekend, a local computer store near me has another Apple monitor, a HUGE 16 X 9 Hi-def one, but also with an ADC connector at a very attractive price. The right move might be to get that monitor, buy the adaptor, and then the new Mini when it comes out and load it with ram.

And I'd be able to use the new monitor with my MDD machine in the meantime also.

Any one have any thoughts on this?

thanks!
 
Retrosonic said:
Cocacolakid:

Thanks so much for doing that. My first thought was that It's not worth the money for the adaptor, seeing as my monitor is only 17 inches.

However, over the weekend, a local computer store near me has another Apple monitor, a HUGE 16 X 9 Hi-def one, but also with an ADC connector at a very attractive price. The right move might be to get that monitor, buy the adaptor, and then the new Mini when it comes out and load it with ram.

And I'd be able to use the new monitor with my MDD machine in the meantime also.

Any one have any thoughts on this?

thanks!
Click to expand...

If its the 23" 1920*1200 display, Id go for it. If it was a 22" 1600*1024 Id probably avoid it (As it has a slightly weird aspect ratio, and a more modern 1920*1080 display at 21.5" would be a much better choice)
 
Monitor

Chris,

thanks for your post.

I *think* it may be the 22 inch one with the wierd aspect ratio.

On the other hand, they are only asking $125, so it may still be a great bargain. This store doesnt really sell old mac stuff, they must have gotten it in a trade in.

Hard to pass that up for $125, no matter which one it is.....:)
 
Both Apple 17 inch and 23 inch LCD Studio Displays work with a Mac Mini using Apple's US$100 DVI->ADC adapter. I know; I've done it. You will also need a MiniDP->DVI adapter or a MiniDVI->DVI adapter, depending on the MacMini hardware in use. Full monitor resolution is supported in all cases.
 
Retrosonic said:
Chris,

thanks for your post.

I *think* it may be the 22 inch one with the wierd aspect ratio.

On the other hand, they are only asking $125, so it may still be a great bargain. This store doesnt really sell old mac stuff, they must have gotten it in a trade in.

Hard to pass that up for $125, no matter which one it is.....:)
Click to expand...

Either way for $125 thats a pretty good deal, and it will still have more space than your current 17" model. And you can always just use the current 17" with your MDD and use it as a spare or server :)
 
Monitor

Yes, thats what i was thinking, I could just keep the 17 inch with the MDD and maybe make an huge itunes library with it. All I'd need is a big external drive for storage but those are dirt cheap now.

I sure wish that Apple makes the new Minis with a quadcore processor. Anything else would really be a dissapointment. I dont mind paying an extra 100$ or so, to me its well worth it. Really looking forward to what they come out with!!
 
I have 2 of the 20" monitors (I've upgraded to a 24" Apple LED display, but still have the monitors). They work fine with the mini. The new mini shouldn't have any trouble. You need an ADC-DVI adapter and a DVI-MDP adapter.

4294426672_5135f3473d_z.jpg
 
Retrosonic said:
Question......can I use the 17 inch M7649 with the Mini and still get good video resolution to do video editing and photo work? or does the Mini demand a newer monitor?
Click to expand...
First of all a 17" Display isn't very good for video and photo editing. Secondly, how old is the display?

If you're short on cash, you can buy nice 3rd party displays for under $200 that won't require the mess of dealing with the necessary set of adapters. Think of the mass of cables you'll need form your system to the display.

The $125 used display also has the issue of how old is it? While the flat panel displays last longer than CRT style displays, their life isn't infinite.

To sum it up, I'd say any display with an ADC port on it is probably not worth spending much money on due to its age.
 
It'll work just fine. I have my 17' Studio connected to by brand-new MBP. It needs a MiniDisplayPort (or Thunderbolt) to DVI adapter ($5 on Amazon) and then it needs the outrageously expensive Apple DVI to ADC adapter. I found mine, locally, on Craigslist and paid $35. All the others that I gave seen are $80+, mostly in the 100-150 dollar range. It's a great display. The 22' one is also fantastic.
 
Lautensack said:
MattA,
Did you need an ADC-DVI adapter with external power to pull this off or did you use something similar to this: Belkin Apple Monitor ADC to DVI Adapter

Regards
Click to expand...

Both monitors have ADC->DVI adapters. I then used a MiniDP->DVI adapter to plug into the MDP and the Mini-DVI->DVI adapter for the other one. Worked like a charm. Both monitors ran 1680x1050 resolution and looked great

----------

This is the adapter:

adc-dvi-adapter.jpg
 
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