[Rushpuppy]

I have a mac mini and love it, and I have a compac pc that I don't love so much. I have to enter financial info on line to my accountant and the program he uses isn't mac compatible. Nice eh? SO, I'm thinking that I might be able to hook up the pc to the monitor that I use for my mac and switch it from one to the other when I need to use the pc. Here's where I need your help. #1 does this sound possible? #2 If it is possible what would I need to purchase? #3 how could this be done as inexpensively as possible? Our business keeps costing me money and sanity. One is easier to come by than the other, your guess as to which one that is. Any help is appreciated.

 

[justine]

You should be able to do without buying anything. There should be a cable that you use to hook up your monitor to your Mac and you should be able to use that same cord to go from your PC to your monitor. I've used a Mac monitor with a PC before, so it's possible.

It should look something like this:

Now I'm not 100% sure, but the PC and the Mac might have different sized plugs where this cord needs to go in. I would check first.

So just turn off your Mac and PC, unplug this cord from the back of your Mac and plug it into the back of your PC. If it doesn't fit (wrong size, etc) then you might need a little converter thing or another cord. They are pretty cheap (under $20) so that might be the only thing you need.

 

[HersheyK's Dad]

$25.99 and Best Buy

I would check the connectors on both computers and pick up any adapter that might be needed at the same time, as was previously suggested. You only need this if you don't want to be transfering cables each time you switch computers.

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[kiddsmom]

or go to Goodwill and buy a cheap monitor.

 

[Allie]

dont get your cables at best buy, please. a $25 best buy cable will cost you $5 at a real computer/cables store.

 

[Rushpuppy]

dont get your cables at best buy, please. a $25 best buy cable will cost you $5 at a real computer/cables store.

I called 2 computer stores after reading this and one wanted $45 dollars for a switch and another one wanted $38 for cables. I have the cables for the computer, and the monitor I'm currently using is for that tower. This plain sucks.

 

[Allie]

Have you tried hooking up the monitor with the cable you use currently with the mac, as Justine suggested? How old is the compaq? You might need an analog cable for the compaq if it doesn't have the digital in that I assume the mac does. That should be a very inexpensive cable if the mac monitor has an analog output, which it may not.

 

[kiddsmom]

You could probably buy a monitor at Goodwill for $10...

 

[Denny]

http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp