Yes, just replace one. For now I just want 2 monitors, the Apple Cinema display as my primary for timeline and preview and use one of the 17" Samsungs for the mixer and other windows. I also do a lot of AutoCAD 2D drafting. I think I will go ahead and get the monitor, nothing to lose except the time to get it to work.

I inherited a couple of clear plastic cinema displays from a Mac we retired a while back. They work fine feeding into my ATI graphics card. Their standard Apple-wierd connector fits into a floor-wart that then converts them to DVI.

The main problem is that these are supposed to be software controlled through their USB ports, so you may not have any control over color or brightness. There is a software utility to give you a control panel to adjust these in Windows, but since I have two of these display the utility doesn't really work very well.

But they're free :-)

Rob

rmack\h, thanks for the reply.
I have the monitor in hand, it has a copyright of 2002, it's 23 inches diagonal. No power cable and the monitor cable does not fit my card. It does have one of those flat slot pins. Either way it would not plug into my video card with an adapter because the cable connection is too wide. So do you think I try Apple to find the floor wart adapter or someehere else. Does the floor wart adapter also power the monitor?
Jeff

Yes, you have the plexiglass kickstand model. You need an adapter for it. I think it's monitor cable carries USB, Power, and Signal.

Here's the first one I found via Google. Price is really steep but it gives you the right terminology to start searching
http://www.welovemacs.com/apcidiaddvto.html

You might want to make sure that the person you got the monitor from hasn't just forgotten about this thing.

Rob

hmm? she she said she plugged the moniter right into her G5, no power chord and the keyboard plugged into the USB in the back. The monitor cable is hardwired. It is the plexiglass kick stand version. Thanks for the help.

Yeah, that's how I thought they worked before Apple got religion on DVI connectors. It's an all in one cable on that monitor.

I don't know when or why we got the adapters. If they really cost $175.00, I'd consider just getting a comparable new monitor because these have a lot of limitations.

Rob

So I bought Apples $99. + tax DVI to ADC Adapter. My GeoForce 7600 GS control panel can adjust the various monitor settings but its clunky. I plugged in the adapters integral USB cable, not sure what it does. I am having a hard time getting the color and brightness the way I want it and I can not get a real pure white. I might put my vegas preview on my secondary 17" samsung. I really like the big timeline. Considering the monitor was free, its a decent improvement.

It's hard to adjust those monitors. There's a freeware utility that gives you basic brightness control through the USB cable. It adds another tab to the display control panel.

The NVIDIA control panel adjusts the output to the monitors, which is not exactly the same as adjusting the monitor itself, but ya work with what you've got. I have a pair of the kickstand monitors (the other is a 17" display) and I think they look fairly good unadjusted, but they don't match each other.

Congrats on the new monitor.

Rob