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bryan9
Junior Member
Joined: 26 Jun 2008
Posts: 20
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 Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 8:49 pm Post subject: Successful dual monitor installation with Mac Mini |
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I've successfully set up a dual-monitor system with a Mac Mini, despite the fact that it has only one video output.
My main display is a 24" Dell. The dual-monitor support is provided by an inexpensive USB adapter, the EVGA Plus - see http://www.evga.com/articles/409.asp . Go to Display Link to download the beta Mac OS support -- see http://www.displaylink.com/mac_beta_drivers.html. The USB video driver correctly detected my 19" Samsung monitor and handles it surprisingly well at 1280 x 1024 resolution, but you can't use it for anything that requires acceleration (like an iPhoto slide show). Display Link says it's working on this. But I don't care -- I use the second monitor mainly to display static data in Web pages, PDFs, or databases while I'm working in the main display. For this type of data, the USB display is not noticeably slower than the main display -- you'd think you had a second video card installed. So this solution is perfect for me, as it is. The USB-driven display is completely independent, although you can enable mirroring if you wish. The addition of the USB display driver seems to make no appreciable demand on the Mini's processor, which makes sense given the data transfer speed limitations of USB 2.0. In System Preferences, it looks like you have a "real" dual monitor display, with resolution and color options available separately for each monitor. I would not recommend this approach to anyone who wants to display slide shows, watch videos, or play games in the USB-driven monitor. |
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Maxime
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Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 86
Location: Montréal
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| Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 5:21 am Post subject: |
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No picture?
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Mac Mini / Core2Duo 2.0Ghz / 4GB / 64GB G.Skill Falcon SSD / OSX 10.6.0
Dell Mini 9 / Atom 1.6Ghz / 2GB / 32GB RunCore SSD / OSX 10.5.6 |
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fhall1
Member
Joined: 06 Dec 2007
Posts: 128
Location: Upstate NY
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| Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:39 am Post subject: |
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| yes....c'mon....we need pics! |
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JohnnyBoy
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Joined: 13 Jul 2007
Posts: 3954
Location: West Sussex, South-East England
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| Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:04 am Post subject: |
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If I were a gambling man, I'd wager good money that the OP is spam.
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Intel Mini 2.0GHz C2D (4GB/120GB/SuperDrive/10.5.8 ), 120GB WD Passport, Logitech ergo k/b
iPod Touch (32GB, 3rd gen), iPod Shuffle (512MB, 1st gen) |
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imola.zhp
Senior Member
Joined: 29 Feb 2008
Posts: 312
Location: Mud Island, TN
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| Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:13 pm Post subject: |
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^ x2
Look at the post count...
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--Marcus
Current
32g iPhone4; 13" MBP 2.4/4g Ram/250g hd; 1TB TC; 2 ATV2's; Airport Express
Previous
8g iPhone Edge; 32g iPhone 3gS
8g iPod Nano (2nd); 16g iPod Nano (6th)
Mini 2.0/4g Ram/120g hd |
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Bandit Bill
Veteran Member
Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 5804
Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:19 pm Post subject: |
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Sad  I was excited for a moment  |
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DonMateo51
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Joined: 31 Aug 2006
Posts: 66
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| Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:08 pm Post subject: |
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If that's spam it's a very well written spam post, I must say.
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Mac mini - 1.66 GHz Core Duo, 2GB RAM, Superdrive, 80GB, 120GB/500GB ext, Samsung 22" widescreen
Dell Dimension 2300 Music Server - 1.8 GHz Celeron, 512mb RAM, Windows XP, Bose surround sound
iPod touch - 1st gen, 16GB
iPod - 5th gen, 30GB, black |
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bryan9
Junior Member
Joined: 26 Jun 2008
Posts: 20
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DonMateo51
Member
Joined: 31 Aug 2006
Posts: 66
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 1:55 am Post subject: Re: Take heart, O ye of little faith! |
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Cool, so you're not spam? By the way does that MacBook Air superdrive work with the mini?
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Mac mini - 1.66 GHz Core Duo, 2GB RAM, Superdrive, 80GB, 120GB/500GB ext, Samsung 22" widescreen
Dell Dimension 2300 Music Server - 1.8 GHz Celeron, 512mb RAM, Windows XP, Bose surround sound
iPod touch - 1st gen, 16GB
iPod - 5th gen, 30GB, black |
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dungeon92
Veteran Member
Joined: 01 Mar 2006
Posts: 2403
Location: St. Louis/Rolla, MO
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 3:19 am Post subject: Re: Take heart, O ye of little faith! |
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| DonMateo51 wrote: |
Cool, so you're not spam? By the way does that MacBook Air superdrive work with the mini? |
No, no other computers are made to power it since it's proprietary protocol for delivering 1.5A, which is 3 times normal USB spec.
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"You must control your future by taking command of your present, and fixing and learning from your past."
"When history is forgotten people don't realize when it repeats."
Going to Missouri S&T!! |
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DonMateo51
Member
Joined: 31 Aug 2006
Posts: 66
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:21 am Post subject: Re: Take heart, O ye of little faith! |
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| dungeon92 wrote: | | DonMateo51 wrote: |
Cool, so you're not spam? By the way does that MacBook Air superdrive work with the mini? |
No, no other computers are made to power it since it's proprietary protocol for delivering 1.5A, which is 3 times normal USB spec. |
Yeah thought so, but he has one on top of his mini so what's he using it for?
_________________
Mac mini - 1.66 GHz Core Duo, 2GB RAM, Superdrive, 80GB, 120GB/500GB ext, Samsung 22" widescreen
Dell Dimension 2300 Music Server - 1.8 GHz Celeron, 512mb RAM, Windows XP, Bose surround sound
iPod touch - 1st gen, 16GB
iPod - 5th gen, 30GB, black |
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JohnnyBoy
Veteran Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2007
Posts: 3954
Location: West Sussex, South-East England
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:01 am Post subject: |
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| JohnnyBoy wrote: | | If I were a gambling man, I'd wager good money that the OP is spam. |
Hmmm. Looks like I'd have lost my money!  
Sorry, Bryan9. We recently had a spate of posts from new 'members' with a single post count. These posts would ask questions or give answers that strongly recommended a particular product - often designed to run on Windows.
Anyway, my mistake and welcome to the forum!
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Intel Mini 2.0GHz C2D (4GB/120GB/SuperDrive/10.5.8 ), 120GB WD Passport, Logitech ergo k/b
iPod Touch (32GB, 3rd gen), iPod Shuffle (512MB, 1st gen) |
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dungeon92
Veteran Member
Joined: 01 Mar 2006
Posts: 2403
Location: St. Louis/Rolla, MO
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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| JohnnyBoy wrote: | | JohnnyBoy wrote: | | If I were a gambling man, I'd wager good money that the OP is spam. |
Hmmm. Looks like I'd have lost my money!
Sorry, Bryan9. We recently had a spate of posts from new 'members' with a single post count. These posts would ask questions or give answers that strongly recommended a particular product - often designed to run on Windows.
Anyway, my mistake and welcome to the forum! |
I would have lost the same bet, the detail he went into was really good with links, but the lack of a posted email address was the only thing really seperating it from spam  .
_________________
"You must control your future by taking command of your present, and fixing and learning from your past."
"When history is forgotten people don't realize when it repeats."
Going to Missouri S&T!! |
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bryan9
Junior Member
Joined: 26 Jun 2008
Posts: 20
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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No need to apologize! But I really am not a spammer. Actually, I'm a university professor.
To answer a question in an earlier post, yes, that's the Superdrive from my Macbook Air on top of the stack. However, I haven't tested it yet. I can't see why it wouldn't work, though.
One other aspect of my setup that I'd like to recommend to others is the Griffen Firewave - see
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/firewave
It's designed to enable MacBook and Mac Mini users to make use of existing analog 5.1 surround systems. I had spent quite a lot of money on my Dell 5.1 system, so finding out about this unit was great. Plus, it's being discontinued, so Griffin has cut the price from $99 to $29.
I have tested this, and I'd say the results are mixed. I'm sure there are lots of superior sound solutions. But for anyone wanting to hang on to an existing analog 5.1 surround system, you can hardly go wrong for $29.
Best wishes
Bryan |
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ADent
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Sep 2007
Posts: 355
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