Reviews for Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adaptor

Output to my 22" Viewsonic is clear and crisp and setup with no effort. Seems to be of the same quality as the mini DVI to VGA adapter which I used everyday for a year with out incident on my old macbook. Should be priced in the 14.99 - 19.99 range.

1180 of 1460 people found this useful

In order to use this you should have a Macbook that has a Mini DisplayPort, always check the model of your Macbook before buying as you can easily end up buying the mini DVI to VGA adapter instead of this or have a mini DVI connector older gen Macbooks.

In terms of whether it's compatible with projectors and LCD TV, so far I used it on two LCD TVs, both work flawlessly (LG and Samsung). The trick here is MAKE SURE THE MAC BOOK IS OFF/SHUTDOWN, attach the adapter to the Macbook, follow by the VGA connector. Once those are ALL CONNECTED, switch ON your Macbook. The OS will detect the port and enable the external screen normally. It's an IMPORTANT step, if you miss it the screen WILL BE BLANK, trying to click on detect screens in preference probably wont work as well.

When it works, you might want to switch to mirror mode, you can configure that in the display preference. I use that for presentations as I have to get a view on what I was presenting every now and then in front of me. Best resolution in mirror mode probably is nearer to the 720p (1280 x 720), which is a HD standard resolution, less distortion for what you try to display on the TV/Projector.

On the technical side, the adapter contains a Digital to Analog signal convertor (that's why it's a bit long, there is a circuit board and ICs in it), which may only be enabled if it detects a screen attached during initial boot up.

Another note is that there is a mini Displayport to HDMI adapter available on (Check Apple/Amazon). These are digital links which will probably provide better compatibilities or resolution to any HDMI capable HD TV. Some will even allow audio on the TV via adapter.

My 2 cents is for Apple to provide simple picture/graphical guide for users (on package or at display) or ask Apple store staffs to guide buyers. This can be very frustrating for normal users who isn't aware of the (simple) startup procedures.

Thanks for reading! Hope it helps :-).




Cheers,
Zen

293 of 301 people found this useful

Appears lots of people are upset with the adapter not working with their samsung. I don't have the adapter but the reason for the "non-working" condition is based on the samsung vga implementation. It appears that samsung needs or wants to see all grounds connected in the vga connection coming into their monitor / tv. In vga land, there are 5 grounds (one for each color, sync signals and a shield / connector ground). IF these grounds are not connected together "in some form", then in my findings, your samsung display will not "highlight" the "pcmode" and as result, nothing will be displayable on the monitor (usually you will get "check cable" message). The reason for the "differences" that people are experiencing in results is that some vga cables are built with the grounds connected, some computers (eg. some PC's) are implemented to switch (connect) their grounds at the output port, and some different adapters (versions) have the grounds "hard-wired" together, some don't (this one?). Not sure why samsung choose their implementation, but these are my recent findings from my efforts to connect two pc and mac to a newly purchased samsung 61 HD TV. The "easiest" way around things (in my opinion) is to get a vga cable with all ground pins and sheath ground connected... if you already have a vga ("non-working") cable, then try buy a short "extension" cable with the described characteristic and use it as an intermediate cable (ie. between the samsung monitor and the "non-working" vga cable). Hope this is understandable and helps.

129 of 135 people found this useful

There is a trick to getting this adapter to work with bigger tv's. I have a 32 inch LCD samsung and my friend has a 42 inch plasma samsung and it worked with both of them. First connect the adapter to the VGA cable, the tv should then recognize there is a pc connected so select the pc input. Then plug the adapter into the mini displayport and enjoy.

132 of 151 people found this useful

Prior to january this year, I had never (10 years) had any problems with getting my Mac to recognize an external display. However, four weeks ago at a MAJOR presentation (research grant funding) my colleague's Macbook air failed to recognize the projector. Thank god we had brought my machine as a backup, and the presentation went fine. Today, the same thing happened to me at an important event. While we didn't lose money, it was _quite_ embarrassing to appear as a 10-year old who doesn't know how to connect a projector, and I had to give my presentation without slides (nobody else had Keynote '09 on a Mac). Apparently there are a number of people claiming this adapter either does not have all ground pins correctly connected, or that it has physical issues that prevents some VGA cables from sliding all the way in.

This is a major issue right now, since there are no other miniDP->VGA adapters out there. For now, I would not recommend anybody to trust a new Macbook for a critical presentation - the next critical time I will play it safe with Powerpoint, just in case...

109 of 117 people found this useful

I had it for a month and it worked fine then it began to short out. It would flicker and then it totally stopped working. I did not even use it often.

108 of 123 people found this useful

The problem with product reviews is most people who submit reviews are those with a problem. This products works fine. Plugged it in and it worked. A product this simple is not usually commented on because there is not much to go wrong. I read a few reviews before I bought it but I had no problems. Does what it is supposed to do.

119 of 151 people found this useful

I am surprised that this adapter does not live up to Apple's usual high standard of quality.

First, one wonders why a $30 device that is essential for almost all Mac Mini users is regarded as an option. It seems to be an underhanded attempt to gouge customers.

Second, a simple device such as this should be able to attach to a VGA cable correctly. It does not. The thumb screws on my VGA cable are not long enough to reach the corresponding sockets on this Apple adapter. This means that the VGA cable will work itself loose. (When it does get loose, by the way, the Mac Mini somehow forgets the correct resolution of my HP 1440 x 900 display. After hours of trying to reset the resolution, I accidentally stumbled on the cause when I touched this Apple VGA adapter. Now I have to use Scotch tape to hold the cable and adapter together!)

This is not the level of quality I have come to expect from Apple, and I have tempered my enthusiasm for the company's products accordingly.

96 of 107 people found this useful

It worked fine at first, then one day as I was disconnection it from the MiniDisplay port on my MacBook Pro, the plastic came apart from the wire slightly. It still works but now there are lines across my secondary monitor and when I first plug it in, I have to wiggle the wire around for a minute in order to get the other screen to turn on. If I bump into it on accident, the secondary monitor will lose signal and turn off momentarily.

Compared to other Apple products, this adapter is very low quality.

87 of 92 people found this useful

I have a Macbook Pro and had issues getting my Samsung T.V. to read the VGA adapter. After calling Apple, they walked me through resetting my laptop. When we did this, the t.v. was able to pick up the signal and it worked. If your adapter is not working, don't worry....it's just a communication issue between the laptop and the t.v. Apple will be able to help you with this. They will walk you through the whole process. I gave it 3 stars, because it should not be this difficult. Other than that, the adapter works great.

77 of 83 people found this useful