New I mac questions. some new ones

Snowie

Hi I'm thinking of buying a I mac 21.5 inch
I don't really want to list of all the specs if its important then no problem.

But there's two questions I have,
can I run a duel screen set up of i mac screen and a secondary monitor and also has any one ever used the I mac as a monitor to play a playstation or x box 360 I realise the full 1080p is not acehavable but out of all pcs the I mac seems to be the most versatile for me.

I've done some research on booth but I never 100% believe what i read and I'm just looking for some strong foundations for proof

Padgeman

Snow-Monkey wrote: »

can I run a duel screen set up of i mac screen and a secondary monitor

Yep, of course. You might need a mini displayport adaptor to connect it to your display though.

Snow-Monkey wrote: »

also has any one ever used the I mac as a monitor to play a playstation or x box 360

Unfortunately you won't be able to do this at all. I did some looking, and it gets really confusing. I didn't find any story of someone actually making it work, but there's lots of people who have bought mad connectors and other boxes. Someone else might be able to answer this a bit better than I have, but as far as I know, you can't use your iMac as an external display for a games console.

milltown

I seem to remember stories (pre thunderbolt) of people buying what appeared to be the cable they needed off chinese sites, stuff like mini display port to composite leads, and asking why it didn't work. The leads were just the connectors at either end connected by a random bit of wire with no regard for pin outs or whether the sockets at either end were ever compatible with each other.

Snowie

Padgeman wrote: »

Yep, of course. You might need a mini displayport adaptor to connect it to your display though.



Unfortunately you won't be able to do this at all. I did some looking, and it gets really confusing. I didn't find any story of someone actually making it work, but there's lots of people who have bought mad connectors and other boxes. Someone else might be able to answer this a bit better than I have, but as far as I know, you can't use your iMac as an external display for a games console.

hey thanks I just wanted to be sure it would take a second screen.

on the hole hdmi to thunder bolt there's no clear answer on weather its possible which doesnt really matter as aftere a small search I found that I can use this On my second monitar which will have to do But thanks...

milltown wrote: »

I seem to remember stories (pre thunderbolt) of people buying what appeared to be the cable they needed off chinese sites, stuff like mini display port to composite leads, and asking why it didn't work. The leads were just the connectors at either end connected by a random bit of wire with no regard for pin outs or whether the sockets at either end were ever compatible with each other.

yep ive been searching you tube and mac rumors and googleing the answer and theres no clear answer so ...... Theres a number of companies making hdmi to thunder bolt converters for audio tho

54kroc

I thought that you could only use the 27" and not the 21.5" imac as a display for something else.

milltown

cork45 wrote: »

I thought that you could only use the 27" and not the 21.5" imac as a display for something else.

Before the recent refresh, yes. Only the 27" had the mini display port. The latest ones have all got thunderbolt ports which can act as a display port.

Snowie

milltown wrote: »

cork45 wrote: »

I thought that you could only use the 27" and not the 21.5" imac as a display for something else.

Before the recent refresh, yes. Only the 27" had the mini display port. The latest ones have all got thunderbolt ports which can act as a display port.

So does this mean it is possible ?

OctavarIan

Snow-Monkey wrote: »

So does this mean it is possible ?

It only works Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt. I'm not sure if you could put a Thunderbolt/HDMI adapter on an xbox360 or PS3 and have it work, I'd doubt it.

[edit] And just to clarify I'm referring to both the 27" and 21.5" iMacs, both only support display input from a Thunderbolt device.

Snowie

OctavarIan wrote: »

It only works Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt. I'm not sure if you could put a Thunderbolt/HDMI adapter on an xbox360 or PS3 and have it work, I'd doubt it.

[edit] And just to clarify I'm referring to both the 27" and 21.5" iMacs, both only support display input from a Thunderbolt device.

Thats what Ive read but on amzon this little gaget seems very interesting and I mac hasa thunderbolt input Im just wondering will it work on a 21.5inch set up I dont see why not.... Or is there another reason

heres a http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kanex-HDMIMDPGB-HDMI-Display-Converter/dp/B003T5OJKK/ref=sr_1_2?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1311163367&sr=1-2

Sad Professor

That won't work with the new iMacs.

My advice is to forget about trying to hook a game console up to an iMac. It's not worth the hassle and expense. Get a cheap HDTV instead.

Snowie

Hi guys thanks for your help I've got some more Questions.

Il manly be working on the following programs, Ilustrator, photoshop, flash, final cut and pro-tools

so I think my setup is vital to make sure im not getting the wrong stuff.

As I said above Im useing a 21.5 inch screen as I find the the 27 inch I macs a little to big for me If you think the 27 inch is better, please bye al means say why I will listen nothing set in stone

so heres what I'm thinking of getting

with The I-mac 21 inch with an external monitor

2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7

4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB

1TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive

AppleCare Protection Plan for iMac.

I realize that, there is only 4 gigs of ram on the plus side looking on http://www.crucial.com/ its cheeper to bye the upgraded ram from there apposed apple. and lastly is it easy to replace the ram ?

any one with any other advice please feel free to tell me what you think and is it really worth having an ssd drive?