make ibook g4 work with studio display monitor?

November 16, 2005 10:21 PM

is it possible to make an ibook g4 (vga out) work with an apple studio display monitor (adc)? i hope so.

the guy at apple told me there was an adapter that would make this work. i haven't yet found it.

posted by viscountslim to computers & internet (9 comments total)

You want the overpriced $100 Apple ADC to DVI doohicky, and then get a $8-$15 Female DVI to 15 pin male VGA adapter. thats the only way to do it.
posted by sammich at 10:31 PM on November 16, 2005

I did this for a while, however I don't remember the the exact model# of the components. The company that can tell you exactly what you need is Gefen
A list of the converters is here You will need one box from Gefen and one from Apple. Good luck!
posted by Sagres at 10:35 PM on November 16, 2005

sammich: Unless something has changed, I was unable to use the DVI to VGA adapter. I had to purchase a signal coversion box from Gefen to make it work. Again, contact Gefen and they will be happy to tell you exactly what you need.
posted by Sagres at 10:38 PM on November 16, 2005

if you're okay with eBay, there are sellers with the Apple dongles - just do a search for ADC to DVI.
posted by heeeraldo at 10:59 PM on November 16, 2005

My 22" DVI Cinema display (pre-ADC, plastic) doesn't work with a VGA->DVI adapter. You probably need a VGA->DVI converter as well. I think those run about $200, so you are looking at $300 in converters. You should be able to get a very nice 17" LCD with VGA input for that.
posted by b1tr0t at 11:36 PM on November 16, 2005

Echoing Sagros and bitrot, you need an expensive VGA to DVI convertor box, then an expensive DVI to ADC convertor box. A simple VGA to DVI plug won't do what you need it to.

The Apple guy you spoke to was probably thinking of the Apple DVI to ADC box (for PowerBooks), but didn't realise it doesn't work with the iBook.
posted by cillit bang at 6:09 AM on November 17, 2005

(And even if you get that far, without hacks, the iBook can only output 1024x768)
posted by cillit bang at 6:24 AM on November 17, 2005

Okay, many thanks for the very helpful feedback. Judging by cillit bang's last comment, I may have to just eat it. So here's what I should have asked before I did anythng: What's the best big-display option for a G4 iBook?
posted by viscountslim at 11:32 AM on November 17, 2005

If you're man enough to install Screen Spanning Doctor (I have: takes two clicks and a restart, didn't do any damage, works great), you can use any monitor your heart desires, so long as it accepts a VGA input.
posted by cillit bang at 1:32 PM on November 17, 2005