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Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter

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

Written by MP from Chicago

Aug 5, 2008

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.

36 of 71 people found this useful

Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter

this is all very confusing...

Written by YY from New Haven

May 26, 2008

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.

204 of 297 people found this useful

Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter

Too Short

Written by JS from Duncan

Apr 19, 2008

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.

38 of 83 people found this useful

Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter

Who is an expert then?

Written by JM from SOUTH FREMANTLE

Mar 28, 2008

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.

27 of 47 people found this useful

Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter

Confusing

Written by MW from Sherburne

Mar 26, 2008

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.

20 of 41 people found this useful

Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter

at least half of it worked.

Written by GW from Conyers

Feb 8, 2008

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.

20 of 79 people found this useful

Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter

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

Written by JS from Buford

Oct 30, 2007

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.

142 of 237 people found this useful

Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter

needs an adapter...usually

Written by WH from Encinitas

Jan 5, 2007

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.

38 of 51 people found this useful

Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter

It works fine, go figure...

Written by RH from St. Thomas

Dec 28, 2006

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!!

21 of 44 people found this useful

Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter

Not the best choice for Cinemadisplays

Written by AG from Lugano

Jul 4, 2006

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...

14 of 30 people found this useful

Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter

Connecting Macbook to HDTV

Written by DY from Brooklyn

Jun 25, 2006

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.

1511 of 2001 people found this useful