dvi or vga?

[cats89]

Thinking of picking up the new intel mini and hooking it into my Sony HDTV. The TV has one HDMI input as well as a VGA input. The HDMI input is already being used by my cable hd box. What will be the best way to hook my mini up to the tv now? Is the VGA interface just as good as the DVI/HDMI interface or should I get some kind of split wire that will allow me to use the sole HDMI input for both the cable box and the mini?

Thanks so much, I'm somewhat new to this and want to set it up the right abd optimal way.

[outlanderbz]

[ShaneHale]

I would agree with outlanderbz. If DVI/HDMI is an option go for it. The switchers aren't a bad price and with the remote option you can perhaps set up a macro to switch between the two. That would be ideal. IMHO

To bad your cable box/HDTV doesnt have a component input. That would be great as well and you wouldn't need a switch.

Shane
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[agruenebaum]

I haven`t had a chance to test the intel core duo so far. Instead I have hooked up my G5 dual 2 GHz with ATI X800 XT upgrade to my 50" Pioneer Plasma just for test reasons. The result: any DVD played back by DVI/HDMI (adapter) or eyetv (european cable version) output was superior to all what I have seen on my plasma screen before. Forgett any VGA conversion or what so ever. Even when playing back regular PAL-DVD or MPEG 2 Playback it was almost like HDV played back directly from my Sony HDV Handycam.

Note: This may be different when using other hardware as posted ahead. I have decided to wait for ordering my own Macmini until further reports have been posted on compatibility with HDV Video output devices.

[Bobajobbob]

Bare in mind that you may have resolution issues connecting using dvi/hdmi. I could nto get the mini to recognise the correct resolution of my TV using the hdmi port and had to revert to VGA in order to run at native res.

[miniFrench]

I was also debating that same question (DVI or VGA?) since my HDTV (Panasonic TH-42PHD8UK) can support both VGA and DVI (HDMI) inputs. However, VGA comes out of the box, while DVI connection requires an additional $150 card to insert in the TV... So, before I rushed to make that extra expense, I decided to "test" the VGA connection using a good quality cable between the Mini and the TV... and I've been quite happy with the result since then. The optimal resolution I'm getting is 1360x768 @ 85Hz and sharpness / colors look really nice to me as is.
So I don't think I'll invest in the HDMI card for a while... unless someone here convinces me that the difference is worth it.

PS: I also connected a multi-zone DVD player to my TV and also tested 2 types of connections, S-video and Component. Well, guess what, I don't see much of a difference either... so maybe my eyes are not worth spending money on expensive video technologies!
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Mac Mini G4 1.42Ghz - 512 Mb - 100 Gb