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Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

HUGE

Written by IO from San Francisco

Sep 22, 2005

This adapter is huge, contrary to Apple's pictures on this page the device takes up a massive amount of space. It is as big as the Mac Mini so kinda defeats the purpose of buying a nice little mac mini to save space and look good. All this results from Apple's dumb decision to go with ADC in the first place.

642 of 971 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

Beware, Mac Sleep Function Does Not Work

Written by KR from Kodak

Apr 7, 2007

I was also annoyed when I bought the top of the line studio display monitor and the top of the line G5 and then found I had to spend $100 to connect the two! After connecting I found the computer would no longer wake from sleep, then after a few minutes the fan in the G5 speeds up so loud I think it is going to explode. It does this every time I put the computer to sleep using this adaptor. Plug a different monitor up to it without this brick and the G5 works fine. After a year and a half of having to shut the computer down every day instead of sleep the power supply in my G5 just burned out. Thanks Apple.

641 of 973 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

Unitl now...

Written by HB from Boulder

Feb 7, 2008

I was happy to fork over for Apple products. Today, I was in real pinch...dug out my old $2000 Cinema disp expecting to plug into my $3500 Macbook pro. Haha, joke's on me. Are you kidding??? $100 for this adapter? I am so f'ing tired of being nickeled and dimed at every turn.

I'm sure the adapter works fine...yawn.

244 of 391 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

limited functionality for some systems

Written by JC

Feb 23, 2008

I bought my PowerMac G4 dual 1.42GHz back in 2003 when it first hit the market. I have continually upgraded it as new products became available that were still compatible with the system. I have the AGP 256MB ATI Radeon 9600 Pro Card, 2GB DDR SDRAM PC2700, Sonnet USB 2.0 4 port PCI Card, Sonnet FireWire 400 4 port PCI Card, Sonnet FireWire 800 3 port PCI Card, M-Audio 5.1 Revolution True 24bit Sound Card. I bought the DVI to ADC Display Adapter to use with my AGP 256MB ATI Radeon 9600 Pro Card.

I didn't have a problem with the price of the adaptor. I was thankful that Apple made a product that allowed an older system to work with newer technology. However, I do wish Apple would be HONEST and UPFRONT about the compatibility of the DVI to ADC Display Adapter.

If your PowerMac G4 looks anything like mine it WILL NOT SUPPORT THE SLEEP OR POWER FUNCTIONS OF YOUR APPLE 17inch Active Matrix Studio Display. YOU CAN DISABLE THE SLEEP FUNCTIONS UNDER SYSTEM PREFERENCES ENERGY SAVER. If you put your monitor to sleep IT WILL NOT WAKE UP and you WILL BE FORCED TO SHUT DOWN YOUR COMPUTER FROM THE TOWERS POWER BUTTON. IF I WERE YOU I WOULDN'T DO THAT VERY OFTEN. Apple should have designed a product that worked better than this. I am thankful and disappointed at the same time.

220 of 356 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

DON'T USE THE DISPLAY'S USB PORT!

Written by MG from Henderson

Feb 15, 2008

The adapter works OK with my 20" Cinema Display and my new MacPro. However,the displays' USB port was shaky under 10.5.1 but fails under 10.5.2. I had the keyboard and mouse attached and the mouse would freeze intermittently. I suggest that you do not use the displays' USB port, period.

197 of 322 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

Apple DVI to ADC Display Adapter

Written by NS from New York

Jan 30, 2008

I agree with the majority of responses here-- this is ridiculous. Despite using both PC's and Macs for years, I always considered myself a Mac person, and recently when my "vintage" G4 broke down I coughed up thousands of dollars for a Macbook Pro. Now I have to cough up another $100 just to connect it to my slightly older display? Not good, Apple.

A few years ago some PC people put together a video spoofing the Mac commercials of the time. One of the lines went to the tune of-- "Upgrading a Mac is easy; when I need to upgrade, I just pick it up, put in the trash, and buy a new one..." At the time I thought it was funny but didn't see any truth to it...however, it's moves like this ($100 for an ADAPTER???? Gimme a break!!!) that make me ponder if there's some truth to that sentiment after all.

109 of 157 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

Not all the facts...

Written by DH from Riverside

Jan 5, 2006

The description fails to mention that this product only works with the flat LCD displays, not their flat CRT displays (which were released at the same time). apparently the Genius' at the mac store and even the apple care techs weren't aware of this, and I had to dig through tons of support docs to realize this myself. THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS MENTION THIS IN THE DESCRIPTION!!! Plus if you buy one of these hulking $100 adapters after a "Genius" says you need one, they won't let you return it unless you bother making phone calls to corporate.

63 of 74 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

Works - but with limited functionality

Written by DB from Berkeley

May 17, 2008

This adaptor does the basics: my old style 23" Cinema HD works with my new Mac Pro. Contrary to what some other users have reported, USB devices connected via the ports on the monitor are working OK for me. That's it for the good.

The bad:
The power button on the monitor no longer does any of the useful things it did when the monitor was connected directly to my G5:

It can't start up the computer. It can't put the system to sleep. It can't wake the computer from sleep. The light behind the button is either on or off. If the system is in sleep mode, the light is off (rather than doing the traditional, gentle, sleep pulse). When the system wakes up, the light goes back on.

When the computer shuts down, the power light on the monitor stays on. Does this meant that the monitor stays on when the computer is off? Probably. Unplugging the adaptor from the wall will do the trick, but shouldn't not wasting power be a little easier?

85 of 123 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

do your homework FIRST, buy and be happy!

Written by ME from Pittsburgh

Sep 18, 2007

1) re: sleep issue: READ THE COMPATIBILITY TABLE in support: Document No. 75286

Sleep and Power functions are supported through the monitor for G4 systems...the systems that were mostly around. Only the first genertion G5 owners (June 03) would've been in the overlap period of the LCD Cinema Displays with ADC connectors. The second generation G5 powermacs would've had the matching metal-edged DVI Displays (june 04)--for people buying new products. Otherwise, most people understand there are challenges/difficulties in matching generations of hardware. This isn't the fault of the monitor, nor the adapter.... from the G5 on Apple dropped its proprietary connectors and employed standard parts.

2) warmth of adapter: its a POWER SUPPLY. It is always on, even in sleep mode, to trickle to support the Power and Sleep buttons, as well as the USB ports. The unit means there is that much less drain on your computer's internal power supply, To the comment about his power supply "burning out" because he had to turn his computer off, that's a connection or conclusion that has quite alot of assumption and no proof.

3) Note the negative posts are typically talking about having to BUY the adapter, NOT HOW IT WORKS. It works quite well and provides a valuable tool to keep all those beautiful older ADC based monitors in service.

116 of 186 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

Works As Expected

Written by VD from Franklin

Apr 1, 2009

I replaced my workhorse PowerPC G5 with a MacPro Quad-Core which didn't support the ADC connector on my Cinema HD display. Since the display was working fine, I decided to spend the $100 to buy this adapter. Sure beats retiring a perfectly good display!

The first unit I received was defective, but the Apple Store shipped a replacement overnight, and supplied the free return shipping label.

The replacement unit is working fine. No problems with the USB port as reported in another review. No problems with sleeping or waking. Works for me as expected.

The unit is 5" x 5" x 1-1/4", but comes with long power, video and usb cables so it fits easily under my desk and easily reaches the display, computer, and power plugs.

44 of 45 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

Design and USB port problems.

Written by CS from BROOKLYN

Dec 6, 2005

I agree that this is huge and cumbersome with lots of loose cables, this goes against everything apple aims for in design. I had to buy this after I realized that our new Quad G5 power mac does not connect to our older 23 inch cinema display. Why they took away the one ADC connector off the new power macs when there are tens of thousands of adc displays is beyond me. Beyond these minor annoyances, when I booted up the new Power Mac with the adaptor and old display the USB ports on the display no longer work. Sigh. Now I will call Apple to see if this can be fixed. I recommend you ask someone accountable if you could have this same problem at the Apple Store before you purchase

54 of 68 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

what happened to plug and play?

Written by MM from SAINT HELENA ISLAND

Jan 18, 2008

Mac to Mac not compatible, say what! I am begginning to think that the cutting edge at Apple is now for the purpose of extracting the most dollars from loyal customers. I recently purchased a new mini and carelessly thought that it would work with my 23" HD Cinema display. But no it doesn't. Don't you think that someone would tell you, not at the Apple Store. Now after numerous calls to the customer care department and hours spent on hold they finally tell me about a new DVI to ADC adapter and guess what its only another $100.00 plus shipping. So I place the order and guess what they forgot to include a power cord. Well I am still on hold waiting for a product specialist to enlighten me as to the availability of a power cord.

101 of 164 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

Does as advertised, great product

Written by JS from Madison Heights

Jan 6, 2008

If you're dealing with the issue of making an older Apple Display work with your new machine, this is a great solution.

Although other people have talked about heat, etc - I notice none of those issues. It just lays happily on the floor under my desk, which is it's permanent home.

What some other reviewers do not calculate is that Apple Displays, I find, even the older ones, to be graphically superior to most of the displays out there, and even buying one and getting this device will be cheaper than getting an equivalent modern one with the quality and color. I have kept my old displays for years, and still find them very good.

Sure, you can buy a run of the mill LCD for $100. But it will be useless for anything but web browsing and email. This takes something you can find for $100-$150 on e-Bay and makes a $250, awesome, large display with great resolution.

It's why I buy Apple - until six months ago, our firm still had laptops in service from 2002 - and they did the job. You pay more initially, but get much better life out of your machine.

88 of 138 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

It does the job

Written by SJ from Roskilde

Oct 6, 2008

I have an old Apple HD Cinema 23", and added a ned Mac Pro and the 20" Cinema display. The new screen works on my old G5 and off course the Mac Pro. Old HD screen only works on the G5.

My old HD Cinema screen still works brilliant, so I purchased this Adapter so I could use both screens on the new MacPro, through I had seen all the negative review stuff here.

I can now rapport that the converter works, without any flaws.

- Double screen functions works without any flaws.

- The screen saver function works okay, and does not introduce full fan motion as reported elsewhere.

- I can still bring the computer in sleep mode via the on/off function on my old HD Cinema 23"

Only difference is that to bring computer out of sleep function I now have to press esc. key on keyboard, whereas on the old G5 I could just touch the on/off function on the old HD Cinema screen.

Overall I am satisfied with this product, through it is a bit bulky (as is the converter for the MacPro screen).

43 of 49 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

Works with Mac Mini.

Written by SH from Redondo Beach

Apr 19, 2007

I have just purchased a new Mac Mini for my wife's birthday present. After dinner I gave it to her and we immediately went on to try it with her old Apple made display, mouse, and the keyboard. The display connector and the Mac mini connector did not fit, though they looked almost identical. It all worked before with her CUBE. We were disappointed for not being able to try out the new computer. This is what it said online for Mac mini at the Apple store when I was making a buying decision:

"Mac mini makes it easy to upgrade from an older system or set it up side-by-side with another computer. Just BYODKM — bring your own display, keyboard, and mouse."

The next morning we call the Apple customer service and they know exactly what we need. A $99 DVI to ADC display adapter. So much for BYODKM. $99 is in my opinion a lot for a piece that shouldn't be needed in the first place or should at best cost $19 and I feel that Apple mislead me with their marketing BYODKM slogan. Sorry guys, but you may have just lost me.

82 of 128 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

Where's the Power On function?

Written by RW from White Rock

Nov 22, 2006

I read a number of the reviews before posting, but my Power On function on my 20" Cinema Display no longer works with this adapter. The glowing "button" on the right lower corner of the screen just glows whenever the computer is on, and will not turn my MacPro on the way it did my G4.

Is this common? Apple surely didn't come up with an adapter unit this big and relatively expensive, and not include all the functions, did they?

58 of 80 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

Apple hits a triple.

Written by NW

Sep 25, 2005

This adapter lets me use my Apple older but excellent 23" display with an ATi card that doesn't support ADC monitors.

I can now drive two large monitors.

The adapter is compact and accurately depicted, if one realizes that the two displayed connectors are USB (the small one) and DVI (the larger one).

The Power Supply looks like the iBook, Power Book, and iPod AC adapters, this one is about 4.75 x 4.75 x 1.75.

There is a lot of cable on each side of the PSU, so it will fit anywhere you want, and still give you room to put the monitor where you what.

The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is that it doesn't let the display's Power button turn the computer on. This is a big disappointment. If this adapter doesn't support the display's Power button, then I'll swap it for the Dr. Bott DVIator, available at Apple Stores.

45 of 56 people found this useful

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter

I'm not complaining... quite content, actually

Written by SB from Dallas

Apr 18, 2009

Yes, we all know how annoying it is that video connectors seem to evolve every two years and require adapters to continue working with current workstations. That said, I'm pleased as punch that I can continue using my flawless 20-inch crystal-case ADC cinema display with my new(ish) macbook. At first, I choked a bit on the cost, but I've been using it for over a year now; both it and my cinema display have been chugging along happily. Because I did not have to plunk down double or triple the money on a credit card for a new display, is worth it to me.

In fact, I'm double-adapted: from mini-DVI on my MacBook to DVI, then to the DVI to ADC adapter. Not a single problem.

I'm not going to complain about the size of the power brick, either; remember ADC displays got their power from the computer's power supply, which is itself quite a bit bigger than the power brick people are complaining about. Your display has to get its power from somewhere. Get an under-desk cable tray, stash it up there, and forget about it.

No problems with sleep; no problems with USB pass-through.

One star denied in the rating, however, because although the price is not outrageous, I do think it's a bit steep.

Oh, and don't blame the product if it doesn't do what you want it to do when the fault is that you didn't do your homework beforehand.

35 of 42 people found this useful