Rev.A iMac as monitor for PowerMac

escherescher
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
My Rev.A iMac will be four years old tomorrow. Needless to say, it's getting old in the tooth. I want to replace it with a PowerMac and am tempted to go with the new low-end DP 867. I want an LCD but right now I am too cheap to shell out $600 for a lousy 15" 1024 LCD.



So, while I wait for Apple to introduce a stand-alone 17" widescreen to go with the PowerMacs, is there any way I could temporarily use my old iMac as a monitor for a new PowerMac? I remember seeing a regular display connector inside the iMac when I installed new memory.



I welcome any thoughts and suggestions (including "Escher, you're a cheap bastard").



Escher

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    sinfuldreamssinfuldreams Posts: 14member
    Escher

    You cheap Bastard!

    Apple has 17 inch Flat for $999

    But why not just network the New Dual to your Imac? That way you have best of both. You can run the New Mac off your iMac. OS X makes it even Ezer than with OS 9.

    There maybe some lag between the New Mac and what pops up on screen, but It wont be much I bet.

    Good luck!
  • Reply 2 of 4
    blueflameblueflame Posts: 89member
    I had similar thoughts about my Dad's aging Bondi Blue. It has the older type apple monitor connector in it, so I figure you could get an extension cable and sneak it through that small door with screws where all the ports are. However, the monitor is powered by the iMac as far as I can tell, so you'd have to turn on the iMac anyways to use the monitor. A good idea then would be to set it up so it has a barebones system and use it as file storage through ethernet while you commandeer the monitor. Take a look at the instructions for installing some of those cards that use the mezzanine slot. Some of them (I don't remember which) use a pass through cable on the monitor cable and would give you more information on exactly what kind of monitor connector is used. Basically, I haven't done it yet, but it seems totally doable as far as I can tell. If you give it a shot, tell us about it!



    Blueflame
  • Reply 3 of 4
    warpdwarpd Posts: 204member
    Pop the thing open, and you will see that it is just a standard (short) VGA cable to the system board. The problem you would have is not the VGA (just buy an extension)the problem will be powering the CRT, but not the system board in the iMac. I can't recall offhand, but think you will need to re-route the power. Bearing in mind that you can get a 15" CRT for about $50, and a 17" for about $120, short of mental masturbation, why would you want to do this?? <img src="confused.gif" border="0">



    [ 08-15-2002: Message edited by: warpd ]</p>
  • Reply 4 of 4
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    [quote]Originally posted by warpd:

    <strong>Bearing in mind that you can get a 15" CRT for about $50, and a 17" for about $120, short of mental masturbation, why would you want to do this?? :confused: </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Good point, warpd. Beyond the unwanted side effects of mental masturbation (I love that term, BTW, I use it to describe the purpose of personal websites), my eyes might not be happy continuing to look at the crappy iMac CRT either. Thank goodness the project is still mental...



    Escher



    [ 08-15-2002: Message edited by: Escher ]</p>
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