VGA Splitter

[polevault139]

I have finally convinced my mom to get a Mac. Whenever I wanted to use my iMac she was always on it, so I think it is time to get her own. She doesnt do that much intensive stuff so the mini would be good for her.

The only problem is that my dad isnt very good at change and refuses to even try my iMac, so we want to keep our 5 year old gateway. My mom doesnt want to buy another monitor and keyboard so is there such a thing as a VGA splitter that has 2 inputs and one output with a swith to go between the two?

I know we will have to get another keyboard but thats not really a problem. So if you guys have any ideas about the VGA thing or a totally different setup your help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jsw]

Yes, there are switches like that (look for "KVM" which stands for keyboard, video, mouse). And there are pure VGA switches, too.

But I'm confused... would they be getting a mini? Obviously, an iMac wouldn't use a monitor switch.

 

[ebouwman]

Yes, there are switches like that (look for "KVM" which stands for keyboard, video, mouse). And there are pure VGA switches, too.

But I'm confused... would they be getting a mini? Obviously, an iMac wouldn't use a monitor switch.

I think that the idea is for her to get a mini for her mom so that she's not on the iMac, so she wants to buy a mini and share a monitor with a PC.

 

[PatrickF]

A KVM switch would definitely be the best thing to use if you want to control more than one computer. That way you could also re-use your existing keyboard and mouse.

An alternative would be to install Windows on the mini with BootCamp and let your dad use that. It wouldn't really be different to the Gateway since he's still using Windows, except of course that you won't need to buy a KVM (and 2 sets of cables that they don't usually give you with them.)

 

[ebouwman]

A KVM switch would definitely be the best thing to use if you want to control more than one computer. That way you could also re-use your existing keyboard and mouse.

An alternative would be to install Windows on the mini with BootCamp and let your dad use that. It wouldn't really be different to the Gateway since he's still using Windows, except of course that you won't need to buy a KVM (and 2 sets of cables that they don't usually give you with them.)

if you do decide to use bootcamp it would be a good idea to wait until leopard us released

 

[Blubbert]

if you do decide to use bootcamp it would be a good idea to wait until leopard us released

Why? Bootcamp works perfectly fine right now. There is no reason to wait for Leopard just for the sake of installing windows on a Mac Mini.

 

[jsw]

Why? Bootcamp works perfectly fine right now. There is no reason to wait for Leopard just for the sake of installing windows on a Mac Mini.

True... but given that you'd get it (and all of Leopard) and iLife '07 included and all you'd have to do is wait a few weeks, I think it'd be silly not to.

 

[PatrickF]

True... but given that you'd get it (and all of Leopard) and iLife '07 included and all you'd have to do is wait a few weeks, I think it'd be silly not to.

Absolutely, although that argument stands even if you took BootCamp out of the equation.

Leopard should hopefully be out soon, so it's probably wise waiting at this point.

 

[ebouwman]

Why? Bootcamp works perfectly fine right now. There is no reason to wait for Leopard just for the sake of installing windows on a Mac Mini.

i remember hearing that a little bit after leopard is released the bootcamp released from the apple website won't be supported properly anymore, or that version won't be valid or something

It makes me hesitant to use bootcamp (that and the fact that i don't have a version of windows yet and don't want to go and buy XP when leopard is just around the corner 😛)

 

[PatrickF]

i remember hearing that a little bit after leopard is released the bootcamp released from the apple website won't be supported properly anymore, or that version won't be valid or something

It makes me hesitant to use bootcamp (that and the fact that i don't have a version of windows yet and don't want to go and buy XP when leopard is just around the corner 😛)

Just to clear things up here. All that BootCamp does is repartition your drive on the fly without loosing your data and burns a CD with Windows drivers for you.

Once you have partitioned your harddrive (which of course you can do by other means as well) BootCamp does nothing anymore.