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    24" LED Cinema Display on non-Apple laptop

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by ekovalsky, Aug 11, 2009.

  1. ekovalsky

    ekovalsky Notebook Consultant

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    Would this female Mini-Displayport to male Displayport adapter work to connect the 24" LED Cinema Display to a non-Apple PC with standard Displayport connection ?

    My understanding is that the Minidisplayport and Displayport are electrically identically, with the difference being in the size of the connector and gauge of the cable. And that only Apple is using the Mini!

    I just bought a Dell Studio XPS 16 and the LED Cinema is on my short list for a desktop monitor. To my knowledge it is the only H-IPS panel with LED backlight available, excluding some extremely expensive professional displays.

    Dell is introducing a U2410 that also has a 24" H-IPS panel and Displayport connector. But unfortunately it keeps the CCFL backlighting, LED probably would have made the display too costly to compete with the HP L2475. I expect it to be about $600 and would be willing to pay the extra for the Apple. The XPS 16 has the RGBLED 1080p screen so I expect to be disappointed with the typical CCFL on 24" monitor...

    The adapter is cheap so I could always order it, and bring it with my Dell notebook to the Apple store. They'd probably let me give it a try. I know the captive cable also has a USB connector which will work without trouble. Obviously the power cable will not, although it would be interesting to replace the adapter with one that would fit the Dell :)
     
    ekovalsky, Aug 11, 2009
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  2. Xirurg

    Xirurg ORLY???

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    You won't be disappointing with professional CCFL, trust me! my samsung t244 made my friends m6400 look like cheap toy :p
     
    Xirurg, Aug 11, 2009
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  3. Budding

    Budding Notebook Virtuoso

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    That adaptor should work at converting the mini-displayport connector from the Cinema display to standard displayport. Be careful that there are some dodgy 3rd party connectors out there that degrade image quality, or result in a delay between the display and the computer. The one you listed should be fine, however.
     
    Budding, Aug 11, 2009
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  4. ekovalsky

    ekovalsky Notebook Consultant

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    No doubt. I'll probably wait until I can see the Dell U2410, if it lives up to its potential that may be the way to go.

    Since the adapter is likely to work, I may order it and try to use it on a LED Cinema Display at the local Apple store. I'll report back on how it functions. If it works as it should, it probably could be useful for a lot of folks without current MacBooks. It's cheap too.
     
    ekovalsky, Aug 11, 2009
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  5. WilliamG

    WilliamG Notebook Deity

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    I think you'll have problems with the Apple LED display on any non-Apple product or any Apple product without displayport. Even if it DOES work (which it probably won't), you'll have absolutely no way to adjust the brightness or turn the screen on/off, since there are absolutely no buttons on the Apple LED display.
     
    WilliamG, Aug 11, 2009
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