Re: old G4, new monitor?

In article <prestwhich-7C3FEA.14401624122005@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Smitty Two <prestwhich@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> confess to not having learned much since I was using punch cards in
> the early 70's. I've got a friend with an older G4, single processor 400
> mhz. I'm sure it's a stock model with no video upgrade. Anyway, her old
> 17" CRT died and she wants to replace it with a new LCD monitor,
> preferably a 19" or 21".
>
> What kind of compatibility issues does she need to worry about? Are
> there only two types of interfaces now, VGA and DVI? So anything that's
> VGA will work? What about video power on larger monitors? Will her stock
> machine run a 21" monitor?
>
> Will she need additional video ram or some sort of video card? Cables?
> Adapters? Any brand/models to look at or avoid?
>
> Any and all help will be much appreciated. I don't think I know enough
> to even ask all the right questions.

We have exactly the same G4, I think, with the AGP graphics. We've used
a number of stock VGA monitors on it, including a filthy old Dell 15"
multiscan, and a slightly cleaner Optiquest 17", and one other that I
forget the name of.

Right now we're using an IBM P260, which is a lovely 21" Trinitron that
we bought for next to nothing because everyone's going LCD. It's plugged
into the VGA ports using the standard VGA cable that came with the it.
This monitor also has DVI, but those cables are brutally expensive, and
I'm not totally sure the DVI on the G4 is the same as the DVI on the
monitor.

Under 9.2.2, we get a nice 1600 x 1200 @ 75 Hz, and the same on 10.2.8,
although it's not as stable. With 10.4.3, we get a rock-solid 1600 x
1200 @ 90 Hz, although the Mac won't boot that resolution, i.e. if you
do a restart, and try to get at the boot options, you get a black
screen.

Basically, yes, any VGA monitor should work with the standard VGA cable;
you can play with the best resolutions in the System Preferences. That
G4 is a very upgradeable and respecable computer. Your friend could buy
a processor upgrade to 1.4 mHz or better:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/accelerators/OWC-Mercury-Extreme/

and she should put as much RAM into it as she can afford.

Merry Christmas!
--
W. Oates
"I thought I was the last son of Krypton,
but you people keep popping up." -- Clark Kent

.

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