when macs attack

July 25, 2007 5:27 PM

Joy of new Mac Mini spoiled by unforeseen monitor resolution issues! Please help?

My little brother effortlessly set up a Mac Mini with a widescreen LCD monitor and the configuration worked beautifully -- sharp resolution, bright colors. I steal the monitor from him, buy my own Mac Mini (a newer one at that, 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo) and attempt the same configuration but now the images on the monitor are distorted, stretched too wide. Where did I go wrong?

The monitor, a Viewsonic VA1912wb, pops up with messages asking me to change the resolution to 1440x900 but that resolution does not exist in the Mac Mini's list of system preferences! Seems like every other combination is available except 1440x900. My brother simply plugged in the monitor and the resolution was fine.

Does this problem have to do with the cable I'm using to connect the monitor to the mini? I lost the original cable and purchased a VGA replacement cable. It's hooked up to the Mini using the DVI-to-VGA adapter that came with the Mini. However, the monitor also has a DVI port. If I purchase a DVI cable, will that help the resolution problems?

Any help is appreciated!

posted by milkdropcoronet to computers & internet (7 comments total)

The DVI cable may indeed fix your problems.

I had a Mac Cube with DVI and I could never get it looking right with a vga -> dvi connector.
posted by PugAchev at 5:31 PM on July 25, 2007

The Mini (and OSX) is definitely capable of that resolution - the 17" iMacs and some of the Apple laptops run at 1440x900.
posted by mrbill at 5:47 PM on July 25, 2007

You might try something like SwitchResX.
posted by you at 5:50 PM on July 25, 2007

You absolutely need to be using a DVI cable.
posted by dmd at 8:06 PM on July 25, 2007

Thirding the DVI cable recommendation.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:40 PM on July 25, 2007

I have that monitor. Get the DVI cable.
posted by silly110671 at 5:15 AM on July 26, 2007

Why would a monitor not support its native resolution over a VGA cable?
posted by Caviar at 5:38 PM on July 27, 2007