Should I hold onto my old Apple Studio Display?

[jowie]

Hi all,

I have a bit of a dilemma... Having inherited a PowerMac G5 (Quad) to replace my ageing Dual G4 machine as a home server, I now can't connect my 17-inch LCD Apple Studio Display to it, without spending £70 on an adapter.

Now I've just noticed that Apple have updated their store and are no longer selling the adapter. It looks as though I could still possibly buy one through a third party, but it does leave me thinking, am I just 'throwing good money after bad'?

Obviously it would cost me quite a bit more to replace the monitor with something similarly specced. I am happy to buy second-hand, but I'm not sure what would be best to get around the £100 mark. I have put together some pros and cons, but wondered if anyone could help me make my decision:

Pros for keeping monitor: Cheaper, looks nice, size and shape work in the space I have available on my desk

Cons for keeping monitor: Spending money on old tech that may not last as long, quality of a newer monitor might be better, adapter doesn't allow function of power/brightness buttons anyway

Can anyone help me with my decision? I'd be very grateful

Thanks!

:-Joe

 

[184550]

Hi all,

I have a bit of a dilemma... Having inherited a PowerMac G5 (Quad) to replace my ageing Dual G4 machine as a home server, I now can't connect my 17-inch LCD Apple Studio Display to it, without spending £70 on an adapter.

Now I've just noticed that Apple have updated their store and are no longer selling the adapter. It looks as though I could still possibly buy one through a third party, but it does leave me thinking, am I just 'throwing good money after bad'?

Obviously it would cost me quite a bit more to replace the monitor with something similarly specced. I am happy to buy second-hand, but I'm not sure what would be best to get around the £100 mark. I have put together some pros and cons, but wondered if anyone could help me make my decision:

Pros for keeping monitor: Cheaper, looks nice, size and shape work in the space I have available on my desk

Cons for keeping monitor: Spending money on old tech that may not last as long, quality of a newer monitor might be better, adapter doesn't allow function of power/brightness buttons anyway

Can anyone help me with my decision? I'd be very grateful

Thanks!

:-Joe

IMO, it doesn't make much sense to keep old tech around at an increased cost with a decrease in usefulness.

Were I in your position, I'd save up and buy a new monitor. Looks like Best Buy UK has an LG 18.5 monitor for £90. I'm sure if you were to dig around a bit you could do much better.

 

[cburton04]

Hi all,

I have a bit of a dilemma... Having inherited a PowerMac G5 (Quad) to replace my ageing Dual G4 machine as a home server, I now can't connect my 17-inch LCD Apple Studio Display to it, without spending £70 on an adapter.

Now I've just noticed that Apple have updated their store and are no longer selling the adapter. It looks as though I could still possibly buy one through a third party, but it does leave me thinking, am I just 'throwing good money after bad'?

Obviously it would cost me quite a bit more to replace the monitor with something similarly specced. I am happy to buy second-hand, but I'm not sure what would be best to get around the £100 mark. I have put together some pros and cons, but wondered if anyone could help me make my decision:

Pros for keeping monitor: Cheaper, looks nice, size and shape work in the space I have available on my desk

Cons for keeping monitor: Spending money on old tech that may not last as long, quality of a newer monitor might be better, adapter doesn't allow function of power/brightness buttons anyway

Can anyone help me with my decision? I'd be very grateful

Thanks!

:-Joe

I would say sell the current monitor and see if you can by a newer second hand cinema display. Spending that much money on the adapter doesn't seem worth it.

 

[jowie]

Were I in your position, I'd save up and buy a new monitor. Looks like Best Buy UK has an LG 18.5 monitor for £90. I'm sure if you were to dig around a bit you could do much better.

Thanks... That's a good deal, but I'm trying to steer clear of the cheaper widescreen monitors, because they actually have a lower resolution than the 17-inch Studio Display. I guess if I get a new monitor I'll have to go for widescreen, but with limited desk space I'll need to move my speakers somewhere else...

Any good cheap monitors out there about the same size but with a higher resolution?

 

[jowie]

I would say sell the current monitor and see if you can by a newer second hand cinema display. Spending that much money on the adapter doesn't seem worth it.

It's stupidly expensive, isn't it, for what is basically a glorified power supply...

Having said that, I have noticed them exchanging hands on eBay for a lot less... I might explore that avenue while looking at new monitor options