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Adding a second monitor

post #1 of 13
9/1/05 at 10:38am
Thread Starter 
I have an iMac G5 20" Rev B and want to add a second 20" monitor.

Will my current G5 run both monitors ok or do i need some additional hardware?

Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question. I'm fairly new to macs.

thanks for any help.
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post #2 of 13
9/3/05 at 1:37pm
Thread Starter 
Anyone?
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post #3 of 13
9/3/05 at 1:57pm
since it's saturday, the response here might be a little slow. I bet someone has more experience with this than me, but anyway;

The imac does not accept a second monitor out of the box. Only a mirroring of the display for use with a projector through the VGA port. Like the ibook. HOWEVER, the graphics card is strong enough to support a two monitor spanning, and there are hacks to make this happen on the net. Even some applications I think. So I believe you can get a secondary VGA display working with a little effort, but NOT a DVI display.

happy hunting.
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post #4 of 13
9/4/05 at 3:05pm
Screen Spanning Doctor
List of supported machines
Picture
Spanning forum
Just remember that it is an analog output when picking your second monitor.

reg
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post #5 of 13
9/5/05 at 2:32pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys!
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post #6 of 13
9/5/05 at 7:29pm
Why the hell does Apple cripple the iMac like this anyway. I mean, on the iBook it's understandable given the competition with the pb line, but on the iMac? It's like they don't want to sell monitors.
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post #7 of 13
9/6/05 at 1:58am
Quote:
Originally posted by mynamehere
Why the hell does Apple cripple the iMac like this anyway. I mean, on the iBook it's understandable given the competition with the pb line, but on the iMac? It's like they don't want to sell monitors.

It's the same thing. They don't want it to compete with the PowerMac line. Apple doesn't want to sell the iMac as a workstation. It's a bit stupid, but understandable from a marketing point of view.
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post #8 of 13
9/6/05 at 8:30am
Thread Starter 
But lots of home users, like myself, want a second monitor without turning it into a "work station".

Purposely crippling a computer just so users will buy the higher grade model is annoying.
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post #9 of 13
9/6/05 at 11:21am
Quote:
Originally posted by Tidelwav
But lots of home users, like myself, want a second monitor without turning it into a "work station".

Purposely crippling a computer just so users will buy the higher grade model is annoying.

Yeah, it's insulting for a $1500-1800 machine. The $999 iBook I can almost understand, but for 1800 bucks you should be able to get full use from a second monitor out of the box. That said, the spanning "hack" is very easy - just a couple of clicks - and works nicely.
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post #10 of 13
9/6/05 at 5:28pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah that's what i did and it seems to work nicely.

Thanks for the help guys.
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post #11 of 13
9/10/05 at 6:55pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Towel
Yeah, it's insulting for a $1500-1800 machine. The $999 iBook I can almost understand, but for 1800 bucks you should be able to get full use from a second monitor out of the box. That said, the spanning "hack" is very easy - just a couple of clicks - and works nicely.

Actually, it's an insulting limitation for a product line that ranges from $1000 to $1300 given that it costs twice as much as a basic notebook. I'd understand it if the iBook was priced at $600.
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post #12 of 13
9/10/05 at 7:47pm
well I suppose that they have to differentiate their product lines somehow; it's just disappointing that this is how they do it. I mean, we all know that their hardware is mostly, well, underfeatured, given the competition (especially laptops), but you'd think they could find better ways of differentiating rather than crippling the low end (and the iMac isn't even low end).
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post #13 of 13
9/10/05 at 8:31pm
It simply eliminates them having to support it. You won't get penalized for doing the hack as long as it does not ruin your hardware.
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