Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adaptor

Reviews for Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adaptor

Customer Reviews and Ratings

3.0 out of 5 stars

Based on 186 reviews

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Connecting Macbook to HDTV

    • Written by from Brooklyn

    After reading the helpful reviews, i did alot of research before buying any cables to hook up my macbook to an HP HDTV. Hopefully the following will help others with connection issues:

    Investigate the PC input jack of your HDTV for 3 specifications:

    1) TYPE OF DVI INPUT JACK. Most newer models have DVI-I or DVI-D input jacks. there is a difference between the two. you can tell which one you have by referring to your manual. if you don't have the manual, look at the jack itself and compare to pictures (link isn't allowed here, but datapro had clear pictures)

    2) DUAL or SINGLE LINK. newer model HDTVs likely have the dual link inputs. refer to your manual or look at the jack and compare to pictures.

    3) MALE OR FEMALE. ihad assumed that because the apple mini-DVI to DVI cable had a FEMALE DVI connector end, then my TV must have a MALE input jack. not true. my TV has a FEMALE DVI jack. So by default, I needed an adaptor cable for the mini-DVI to DVI cable.

    after this, i determined that i had a DUALLINK DVI-I FEMALE input jack. NOTE that the mini-DVI to DVI cable, not pictured online at apple.com, has a FEMALE DUAL LINK DVI-D connector end.

    so I bought the apple mini-DVI to DVI cable & a DVI-D to DVI-D male/male connector cable, connected the cables to their respective hardware input jacks, and it all worked.

    FYI, i got the DVI-D to DVI-D male/male connector cable instead of a DVI-D to DVI-I male/male connector cable, because i couldn't find the latter. Luckily, because my TV had a FEMALE input jack, it could take a DVI-D male (just the way the input jacks are designed).

    Hope this helps.

    1951 of 2502 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    this is all very confusing...

    • Written by from New Haven

    Apple should put head-on pictures of the ENDS of these connectors with EACH ITEM. This would solve so much of the confusion associated with buying connectors. I bought this item thinking it would serve as a simple way to get around the fact that my old G4 MacBook Pro had a male DVI-D port, and came with a DVI-D to VGA converter so I could give presentations and such, and my new MacBook has this mini-DVI thing and didn't come with a converter so I figured a "mini-DVI to DVI" would be perfect. Unfortunately, it wasn't - now that I've done a little internet research, i see that what I bought was a mini-DVI to female DVI-I, and my existing converter is a male DVI-D to VGA connector. Unfortunately, the projector in my lab is old and does not have a DVI-I cable.

    If Apple would provide images with the ends of these products displayed, allowing us to see the arrangements of the pins both regular and flat, it would be incredibly helpful to figuring out if it's the right piece for us. Thanks.

    222 of 315 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Works great, poor quality cable though

    • Written by from Wayne

    I use this adapter to connect my 2008 MacBook to a "DVI to HDMI Adapter" which then connects to my HDTV. The product works great and I've never had a problem getting it to display everything properly on my TV. However, the connection from the "Mini DVI to DVI Adapter" to my MacBooks Mini DVI port is very poor (it's not a tight connection)...it can easily be knocked or pulled out. I just wish Apple would have made the connection more solid, other than that it works great.

    78 of 83 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Very Overpriced, but Works Great. Should be included Free with new Macs

    • Written by from Buford

    This adapter is much more expensive than it should be, but there's no real competition, so what can you do? If you need it, you need it. It should be included free with the purchase of a new Mac, if you ask me.

    Once connected to an external device, it is automatically detected and works flawlessly to produce a very high quality picture. It works very very well.

    154 of 249 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    It works but....

    • Written by from Winnipeg

    My only complaint is that the mini-dvi end does not "click" into place. the weight of the adapter and the large end of the monitor cable tends to pull it partially out. If I pick up my Macbook, it will usually fall out. Apple would be well served to put a locking mechanism onto cables of this type in the future. Even something along the lines of their magnetic power cable.

    56 of 64 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Be careful - will not work with Belkin Cable

    • Written by from Los Angeles

    This adapter's female DVI connector is missing the four holes for the analog signals.

    Unfortunately, the male DVI connectors on the Belkin 10-foot DVI Display cable (TC377LL/A) also sold on this website has prongs for these signals, so the two cable ends will not mate.

    60 of 78 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    needs an adapter...usually

    • Written by from Encinitas

    unless you have a brand new apple monitor that will take DVI-D, you gotta buy an adapter. I found a great one for about 10 bucks, which connects the DVI-I of your monitor to the DVI-D of apple's adapter. annoying, but it works.

    it's called a DVI-D dual link male to DVI-I dual link female adapter. (i can't post the url on here for some reason).

    also, take care as to whether your plugs are dual link or single link (i.e. whether or not they have a gap in the pins or a full three rows of 8).

    many thanks to apple for the hours of confusion and adapter hunting.

    45 of 58 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Who is an expert then?

    • Written by from SOUTH FREMANTLE

    I can see what sort of connection sits on the side of my 12" Powerbook and I can see the connection on the Apple monitor that I want to connect to but as all these pictures do not show the actual connection image how is the average joe-blow to know which of the various adapters is the right one. We should not need rocket science - just some clear images to assist us along the way.

    33 of 53 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Thumbs down to Apple on this one, even though it works

    • Written by from Chicago

    Okay, it works, and works fine once I figured it out (four hours later and trips to five electronic stores). That’s not the point.

    1. This part is proprietary to Apple. You have to buy it from them, they're the only ones who make it.

    2. So if that's the case, why not make the whole cable? (the kid at the apple store called it an "adapter." Calling it an adapter doesn't help - it still is worthless absent more $$$)

    3. This cable is 4inches long and ends in a female DVI-D. As is, it is too short for any use, and ends in the wrong connector for the LCD monitor I bought anyway.

    4. If you want to actually use this piece, you need to buy a male > male DVI-D cable to go from the part to the monitor.

    5. So why not make this piece, except (a) about two feet long, and (b) ending in a male DVI-D?

    6. I had to buy this part for $20, and another cable for $30. It shouldn't cost me $50 to hook my Macbook up to a standard monitor.

    So thumbs down on this one.

    42 of 77 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    DVI to Video PAL

    • Written by from Tokoroa

    Picture is good to TV which accepts NTSC input.
    But New Zealand Australia Europe is on PAL TV system.
    I cannot play DVD from Macbook to such as Panasonic DVD recorder in PAL format.
    Therefore I cannot copy my home videos ,short recorded programs etc to Pal system as I cannot mix two systems.
    This is most upsetting as I cannot understand how Apple could be so arrogant, unthinking ?? etc to ignore rest of the world.
    If someone has advice as to how to change to PAL, great thanks.

    17 of 28 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Confusing

    • Written by from Sherburne

    For you folks who say that you can't convert this cable to VGA because it's a digital signal and VGA is analog:

    How come under Apple Accessories > Cables - there is a Mini DVI to VGA adapter right next to the Mini DVI to DVI adapter? From the product description:

    "The Apple Mini-DVI to VGA Adapter is designed for use with the iMac (Intel Core Duo), MacBook, and 12-inch PowerBook G4. Connect the adapter to the Mini-DVI port of the computer and the VGA end of the adapter to an external VGA monitor or projector."

    Apple did a shoddy job of describing the DVI adapter. That's all there is to it - as you obviously can convert the Mini DVI to VGA.

    26 of 47 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Not the best choice for Cinemadisplays

    • Written by from Lugano

    I bought this adapter to connect my macbook to a cinema display and technicalliy it works well. The only mess is that the cinema display cable has multiple connections (USB, FW, power, video) and i have to keep all those wires on my desk, along with the bulky power adapter. A solution could be a "long" Mini-DVI to DVI adapter cable...

    21 of 37 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    It works fine, go figure...

    • Written by from St. Thomas

    While it works fine - it irritates the heck out of me, that after having already paid a premium for buying a MacBook, I now have to bend over again and pay for the ability to connect an external monitor. To those that bought the wrong cable - RTFM!!

    27 of 50 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    3 stars is about right..

    • Written by from Pickering

    Cutting out support for DVI-I (with 9+9 pins + 4 extra pins above/below the blade at the left) was really a bad choice here. I have a monitor that tails out DVI-I (and the cable is hardwired to the monitor itself..) and there was no need to cut support for it by not providing 4 holes for the cable to actually fit into this adapter.

    My only choice is to use my (one and only) DVI-I to DVI-D adapter (which I just happened to have!) and I lucked out on this one, but again cutting out support for DVI-I was just unnecessary.

    5 of 7 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Too Short

    • Written by from Duncan

    I must have misunderstood, my monitor is a foot or so away and this is only 3 inches or so. I'm sure it would work if it would reach.

    44 of 89 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    at least half of it worked.

    • Written by from Conyers

    The picture quality worked great on my Mac OS X to my lcd flat screen television set. Except the sound output does not go through like the video feed does. I don't know why but.. this is a major disappointment.

    26 of 85 people found this useful

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