[Allie]

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

 

[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.