Mac Mini - Go With DVI
I purchased a Mac Mini 1.25 and a Benq FP931 19" LCD. I used the DVI-to-VGA adapter that Apple included and the image quality was fine ... sort of. It appeared perfect dead-on, but if I slightly moved to the side or looked at a particular solid color, the image had thousands of very tiny horitonal lines that were moving incredibly fast left to right. After 20 minutes, your eyes would naturally start to pickup the subtle movement on the screen. Considering I'm at a computer 9+ hours a day, this was very bad.
After ruling out the LCD by troubleshooting with BenQ on an HP tower and playing with the settings, I phoned Apple. The absolutely most rude and snarky woman refused to tell me which third-party monitors were support by the Mac Mini (wtf!!?) and said I had to connect the computer to an Apple display to determine if it was the Mini. I pointed out that no where on Mac Mini's hardware description, nor the FAQ's did it mention that not all "third party" VGA and DVI monitors would be supported by the computer. She referred me to page 32 of the owner's manual (apparently potential buyers are expected to search out, download and read the 105 page book.) It says, "For information about compatibillty with third party displays, see the documentationthat came with the display or contact the display's manufacturer." THANK GOD that's not a vague statement - it clearly says that despite the advertising on the site, having a DVI or VGA monitor does not mean it'll work with a Mac Mini.
The conversation with this woman was awful. At one point, I ended up saying, "Why are you being so short and rude to me? You've been short with me as soon as we starting talking. I'm at a 5/10 on this call and you're at an 11/10. You're raised your voice to me several times and you're trying to get me to respond - you're trying to get me mad. Have I somehow 'wronged' you today?"
After dropping the dead weight of that CSR and realizing that my LCD has both DVI and VGA, I decided to try a DVI connection. I picked up a DVI cord and connected it - the image is stunning. There's not only a huge improvement in brightness, text, color. etc., but the lines are gone.
Hope this helps someone out there. I also hope that my call was recorded for "training and quality purposes."
After ruling out the LCD by troubleshooting with BenQ on an HP tower and playing with the settings, I phoned Apple. The absolutely most rude and snarky woman refused to tell me which third-party monitors were support by the Mac Mini (wtf!!?) and said I had to connect the computer to an Apple display to determine if it was the Mini. I pointed out that no where on Mac Mini's hardware description, nor the FAQ's did it mention that not all "third party" VGA and DVI monitors would be supported by the computer. She referred me to page 32 of the owner's manual (apparently potential buyers are expected to search out, download and read the 105 page book.) It says, "For information about compatibillty with third party displays, see the documentationthat came with the display or contact the display's manufacturer." THANK GOD that's not a vague statement - it clearly says that despite the advertising on the site, having a DVI or VGA monitor does not mean it'll work with a Mac Mini.
The conversation with this woman was awful. At one point, I ended up saying, "Why are you being so short and rude to me? You've been short with me as soon as we starting talking. I'm at a 5/10 on this call and you're at an 11/10. You're raised your voice to me several times and you're trying to get me to respond - you're trying to get me mad. Have I somehow 'wronged' you today?"
After dropping the dead weight of that CSR and realizing that my LCD has both DVI and VGA, I decided to try a DVI connection. I picked up a DVI cord and connected it - the image is stunning. There's not only a huge improvement in brightness, text, color. etc., but the lines are gone.
Hope this helps someone out there. I also hope that my call was recorded for "training and quality purposes."
Comments
Also, with my Powerbook, when I had it connected to VGA LCD it had lines moving across the screen. That is why I bought the Apple Cinema Display. It seems the VGA output on some Macs is rather poor. However, the VGA out on my iBook was quite good, albeit being limited to 1024x768.
Originally posted by ibook911
However, the VGA out on my iBook was quite good, albeit being limited to 1024x768.
The screen spanning hack fixes that...
I am very pleased with the VGA output of my 12" iBook G4 to my Viewsonic 18" LCD @ 1280x1024.
She was a witch in the truest sense of the word, but it's hit and miss with any company's support team.
Sorry to hear about your bad experience with customer support.
I just won a mac mini from a contest I entered -- yes, these things do happen
I was planning on picking up a crt (most likely a Viewsonic 17") as I'm too cheap to fork over the extra few hundred bucks for an LCD. My advice to anyone thinking about purchasing a monitor for their mini is to make sure the store has a decent return policy.
Anyway, I'll post an update sometime this weekend.
CDP
Originally posted by mikef
The screen spanning hack fixes that...
I am very pleased with the VGA output of my 12" iBook G4 to my Viewsonic 18" LCD @ 1280x1024.
Yes, as I said, the VGA out on my 12" ibook was better than my Powerbook and Mac Mini. I wonder whats up with the newer machines?
Originally posted by ibook911
Yes, as I said, the VGA out on my 12" ibook was better than my Powerbook and Mac Mini. I wonder whats up with the newer machines?
i think it is because that the iBook is somehow 'natively' designed to outbook to VGA on the port on the iBook
whereas with the Mac Mini, it is 'natively' designed to output DVI. you use the DVI to VGA connector to connect to VGA
this is where i suspect things are not as pleasant
thanks for the warning, i think yes, if we go with a Mac Mini for my family a DVI widescreen 15" or 17" LCD (for watching movies/DVD) will be nice.
not worth the money buying an LCD and compromising the quality by using VGA instead of DVI.
to the dude hooking up a CRT to the Mac Mini via VGA, good luck and do tell us what happenz.
If you're debating, purchase from from a place that has a good return policy (like Best Buy.) Make sure you're 100% happy before the return policy ends and then you're on your way to many, many happy Mac years.
Good luck.
The mini itself is quite a revelation. It is whisper quiet!
CDP
Originally posted by interact
alliancep.s.i ... Owning any computer involves some troubleshooting. Overall, Macs (in my experience) are significantly less work than PCs.
If you're debating, purchase from from a place that has a good return policy (like Best Buy.) Make sure you're 100% happy before the return policy ends and then you're on your way to many, many happy Mac years.
Good luck.
if i got a mini i would need it customized with the extreme card for wireless, 512ram, superdrive best buy couldnt do that am i correct? and if it doesnt work then no return from apple store.
Is the problem with the Mac mini itself or the VGA adaptor?
Originally posted by alliancep.s.i
if i got a mini i would need it customized with the extreme card for wireless, 512ram, superdrive best buy couldnt do that am i correct? and if it doesnt work then no return from apple store.
dude no worries... you can order customized version through a bricks-and-mortar authorised apple reseller or bricks-and-mortar apple store... check their policies. shop around, and ask them, when i get it, what if it doesn't work, see what they say. authorised apple resellers and the official bricks-and-mortar apple store *have* to comply with the local/state fair trading policies.
if you say, pick it up in person at a physical Store/apple dealer, you could also ask them to hook it up to run some quick checks on DVI/VGA output, airport signal, etc...
keep the faith bro
I guess this is something we should try, if the included adapter doesn't work (or works, but has some artifacts or whatnot). Does anyone know how much these DVI->VGA adapters sell for?
Edit, I found some DVI->VGA adapters on Amazon ranging from $10 to $30. Seems like something to try, if you're not happy with Apple's adapter, when using your VGA display.