iMAC G5 Surprise

[manilaman2001]

My iMac G5 has arrived. Its getting burned-in as of this writting. Am clearing the table for the arrival tomorrow afternoon. That was until after this afternoon's discovery.

To give you a background, I have a G4 15" aluminum (beefed up), linked up to a brand new 20" cinema display. So I'm pretty used to having two screens when i work; shifting applications between screens, dragging them left and right, niffty! such a great feature, that actually separates the mac from the PC.....until i discovered that the new Imac G5 can't do this feature.............S__t. I am so disappointed. It can only MIRROR the iMac display.

I spoke to my supplier, and as of this writing, they are also still at a lost. No where in the apple site can they find a cable, or this feature discussed....WHY??????

I have posted this, hoping that some of you guys out there can dispell this. Bad trip.

Waiting................

//derick

ps. What worries me, Sensei Vic who i called can't offer me certainty of this query. Chances are, d talaga puwede.

[Edited on 11-25-2004 by manilaman2001]

[vicicasas]

Well, I took a look at the Apple site and it tends to confirm my suspicions: The Cinema Display is really meant to be used only for dual screen use only with professional-level computers like the PowerBooks and PowerMacs.

I don't think you can connect Cinema Displays to consumer-level Macs like the iBook and (unfortunately) the iMac. Can you? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

From the technical specifications of the 20" Cinema Display:

[Edited on 11-25-2004 by vicicasas]

[Pentel Pen]

Originally posted by manilaman2001
My iMac G5 has arrived. Its getting burned-in as of this writting. Am clearing the table for the arrival tomorrow afternoon. That was until after this afternoon's discovery.

To give you a background, I have a G4 15" aluminum (beefed up), linked up to a brand new 20" cinema display. So I'm pretty used to having two screens when i work; shifting applications between screens, dragging them left and right, niffty! such a great feature, that actually separates the mac from the PC.....until i discovered that the new Imac G5 can't do this feature.............F__k. I am so disappointed.

I spoke to my supplier, and as of this writing, they are also still at a lost. No where in the apple site can they find a cable, or this feature discussed....WHY??????

I have posted this, hoping that some of you guys out there can dispell this. Bad trip.

Waiting................

//derick

ps. What worries me, Sensei Vic who i called can't offer me certainty of this query. Chances are, d talaga puwede.

In defense of Apple, it's not their fault that this happened to you. You should have researched more before purchasing. Apple has a broad range of products to suit everyone's need. Every feature/specification was detailed comprehensively on their websie.

Where does it actually say that this can be done on an iMac? This is a consumer product and not part of the professional line (eg; Powerbook, Powermac).

[chu]

There is a third party firmware hack for the iMac G5, it enables spanning which the video card originally supports anyway and Apple disables to differentiate their consumer lines from the professional lines.


Screen Spanning Doctor




[Edited on 11-25-2004 by chu]

[Henjie]

Originally posted by manilaman2001
To give you a background, I have a G4 15" aluminum (beefed up), linked up to a brand new 20" cinema display. So I'm pretty used to having two screens when i work; shifting applications between screens, dragging them left and right, niffty! such a great feature, that actually separates the mac from the PC.....until i discovered that the new Imac G5 can't do this feature.............S__t. I am so disappointed. It can only MIRROR the iMac display.

I spoke to my supplier, and as of this writing, they are also still at a lost. No where in the apple site can they find a cable, or this feature discussed....WHY??????

Yup, mirroring only. It's actually mentioned in the iMac G5 tech specs page (Video section). Why? The iMac is a consumer product, much like the iBook.

UPDATE: turns out that the iBook screen spanning hack also works for the iMac G5 (as per Chu's post above).

To connect your iMac G5 to an external display or projector (both with VGA input), you need the optional Apple VGA Display Adapter.

To connect your iMac G5 to your 20" Cinema Display, you need the adapter and the uberexpensive Gefen VGA to DVI conversion box ($299). However, the iMac G5 can only output video at up to 1024x768 which is a bit of a problem since the 20" Cinema Display's native resolution is 1680x1050 and can only scale to 1280x800 or 1024x640.


~Henjie

[Edited on 11-25-2004 by Henjie]

[manilaman2001]

Vic,
Thank you for your technical reply. It seems to be that. Power Mac G5, here we come!!!!


Pentel,
Not a problem for me......just buy the bigger box then. Just throw more money at the problem, it seems to disappear................try it, works like magic!!!! :beer:


Manilaman pa rin!!!


HOLD IT! HOLD IT!! HOLD IT!!! Looks like there's a solution above!!!!. Thank you guys!!!

its the northern hemisphere wind..........no pun intended.

[Edited on 11-25-2004 by manilaman2001]

[Edited on 11-25-2004 by manilaman2001]

[vicicasas]

Originally posted by manilaman2001
Vic,
Thank you for your technical reply. It seems to be that. Power Mac G5, here we come!!!!

Akin na lang yung iMac mo ha.

[alia]

Is it just me or is it getting a bit windy in here?

[chu]

Reading the Mac Screen Spanning Forum it seems that using the hack the iMac will be able to drive the external monitors at higher resolutions as this example shows:

"I just got my 17" in the mail yesterday - and this hack works perfectly. It is driving the built-in 1440X900 and a Dell 2001FP at 1600X1200. I am using this machine mainly for web design and it looks to be a huge winner.

Here's a pic to show the spanning:




So I guess the only thing left is to purchase is the conversion box as Henjie mentions above. Another option is Dr. Bott's VGAtor but it sells for $299 as well. Still you may come out ahead by using the hack and the converter vs. buying a new Poweremac G5.

[manilaman2001]

Chu,

Aprub without thinking. If it works for you, then you just may have solved my concern, and saved me the effort of changing the iMac for a Power Mac.

Are you concern about the warning the site owner posted?

Love this community!

Manilamanarty:arty: