I have no idea. It's a particularly pertinent question for the new LCD iMacs. Even though LCD's will be cheap in 3-4 years, a hack to let your iMac become a monitor for another computer would be a cool way to recycle it, especially that nice 17" TFT.
I imagine it could be easier on the FP iMacs since the DVI connector has to run up the neck. Someone who knows what they're doing could develop a nice KVM switch to sit low profile on the iMacs base, tap the DVi cable connector and switch the signal to an out side imput like turning a lamp on or off. Ideally, you'd even be able to boot up the old Mac and use it as a server, MP3 jukebox, to burn a disc in the background etc etc...
This is definitely possible with the rev. A iMac. I haven't opened any other CRT iMac but I strongly suspect they'll be similar.
One screw holds a base panel in place. Removing it allows access to the tray which holds the logic board, hard drive and CD drive. The monitor plugs into the base of this tray. The other connections are the IRDa cable (labelled "this is not a serial port") and power. The connector is a standard Mac connector: D type, 2 rows with 15 pins total.
You probably won't be able to use the CD drive as it is IDE, which can't be used as an external drive. Not sure about the speakers.
Comments
I have no idea. It's a particularly pertinent question for the new LCD iMacs. Even though LCD's will be cheap in 3-4 years, a hack to let your iMac become a monitor for another computer would be a cool way to recycle it, especially that nice 17" TFT.
I imagine it could be easier on the FP iMacs since the DVI connector has to run up the neck. Someone who knows what they're doing could develop a nice KVM switch to sit low profile on the iMacs base, tap the DVi cable connector and switch the signal to an out side imput like turning a lamp on or off. Ideally, you'd even be able to boot up the old Mac and use it as a server, MP3 jukebox, to burn a disc in the background etc etc...
One screw holds a base panel in place. Removing it allows access to the tray which holds the logic board, hard drive and CD drive. The monitor plugs into the base of this tray. The other connections are the IRDa cable (labelled "this is not a serial port") and power. The connector is a standard Mac connector: D type, 2 rows with 15 pins total.
You probably won't be able to use the CD drive as it is IDE, which can't be used as an external drive. Not sure about the speakers.