I'm curious whether the
Apple Mini-DVI to Video Adapter works with the Mini-DVI port of the new Mac Mini or whether it will suffer the same fate as the Jan 2009 Macbook.
I want to hook the new mini to a SD TV and my options are either S-Video or Composite. Of course there is always the option of buying a VGA adapter, then a VGA->S-Video converter but that's a lot of cables (and cost) for a fairly simple task.
Would highly appreciate it if someone who has the new mini and the Mini-DVI to video adapter could verify whether it works or not.
Macbook Pro,
Mac OS X (10.5.6),
Macbook Pro 15.4" R3.1
it seems like the answer to your question is "yes". i just got the mac mini & the mini-dvi to video cable does not work. I'm running software update & will remote into the box after to see if that works.
My Mac Mini, mini-DVI to VGA adapter and VGA to S Video adapter all arrived today. It's all hooked up and working well. The only issue I can see at this point is that the color needs a bit of adjusting. The reds and oranges seem a bit hot on the TV.
I bought the "VGA to RCA | S-VIDEO | VGA Converter" item #4724 from Monoprice.com. It came with all the cables needed, including a VGA cable. So, I can return the VGA cable I bought from Wal-Mart over the weekend. The converter gets it's power from a USB cable included as well.
I have the Mac Mini set up for screen sharing so I can control it from my Powerbook (this is helpful for reading webpages when the resolution isn't good enough). I also have Air Mouse installed so I can control it from my iPod Touch and I have an Apple remote that came with my iMac for Front Row. (I never used it on my iMac anyway.) It's all working great. Now to copy my iTunes video library to the Mini's hard drive and free up space on my PowerBook. It's a good day!
The DVDs play fine through Front Row. (In fact, we're watching one right now.) It looks good. BTW, I only run stereo sound, not surround. I think another benefit will be that I've noticed that DVDs with slight scratches skip less when played in a computer than on my stand-alone player.
Also, I adjusted the picture controls on the VGA/S-Video converter and the color looks much better now, too.
I too bought the monoprice vga-video (S-video/Composite) converter. The picture on SD crt via composite isn't too shabby. It has it's pros and cons compared to the older Mac Mini's DVI-video adapter. 640X480, 59.9 Hz (VGA) is much easier to read on a CRT with this VGA-Video converter compared to the similar resolution on my 2006 Mac Mini using the DVI-Video adapter (Composite). Colors are much more pronounced, and text is MUCH crisper with this VGA converter... but then again, we are talking about Mac Minis with completely different video cards. GMA-950 vs. Nvidia 9400M, so who knows if it is the converter/adapter or the video card that is making the big difference.
For the cons, I would have to say that I notice SD interlacing artifacts more with the VGA-Video adapter/converter. For instance, if I set my VGA display resolution to 640 X 480, 59.9 Hz, and I am watching a 640 X 480 SD interlaced (29.97 FPS) video, then everything is nice and smooth and in synch, with no visible combing effect (for the most part). But if I start to watch a video that is say...720 X 404 interlaced (29.97 FPS) and my display is still set to 640 x 480, then that throws off the display and I heavily notice the combing effect and other artifacts. Since 720 X 404 is not a supported resolution by this vga-video converter, there is not much I can do to fix that. That is my biggest gripe, but I think I will live with just de-interlacing everything with Handbrake in order to eliminate most combing.
Having this VGA converter take up a valuable USB port for power was a little frustrating, but I learned to deal with it. It seems as though there are too many cables coming and going into and out of my mac to get a simple composite video signal to appear on my tv screen. That is the one thing I am still learning to deal with.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have just bought an older intel mac mini that had native support for composite/s-video instead of jumping through all these third party hardware hoops to get analog out.
It is a fact though... analog is on it's last remaining legs, whether we like it or not. The mini is becoming more and more of a tool to get everyone on the same digital platform, instead of being a versatile little machine like it used to be. Apple is taking all the fun away from this machine. Control control control! Plug that analog hole! Mini Display Port... eck. Mini DVI-D... ugh.
I can foresee the next version of the mac mini being HDMI ONLY. When that happens, the Apple store gurus will probably still tell you that it will work with your old analog TV out of the box or that it may require you to purchase some expensive Apple cable, whatever it takes to make a sale. While they will be wrong about the out of the box compatibility, there will be someone who will find a way to convert that HDMI signal to analog with some small device and we will once again be ok. Unless it becomes illegal and punishable by death to own such a signal converter.
Bottom line... this VGA converter does work, it does do what it says it will do. For less than $30.00, yea, go for it.
Perhaps if you are noticing artifacts you really need to upgrade to a digital tv.
I am only using two of five available USB ports. One to power the converter and one with a short extension cable so that I can plug in my iPod touch or a thumb drive without having to reach behind the mini. The irony is that I have more available USB ports than my other macs and I have fewer devices connected.
I seriously considered buying a previous generation mini. When I brought the mini up to specs in terms of ram and storage, the cost was as high as a new one. I decided the new one was more forward compatible that than the older one. As I said above, I am really happy with this set up.
I recently helped my father set up and buy this new Mac Mini setup with 1tb external hd, upgraded memory, eyeTV etc., and bragged about how good, compatible and easy to understand Apple is.
Unfortunaly we've been frustrated for 1 month now since it cannot output s-video signals. It is good to see i am not the only one struggling with this lame issue. I was also told by an Apple employee the mini-dvi -> s-video converter would work perfectly, but now i understand Apple just stopped supporting analog output. Thanks for letting your clients down again, Apple. I thought you guys learned a lesson when you removed the Firewire 400 port from the Macbook 15"?
I don't have any of these products, but did research for a prospective purchase quite a bit. Posted comments seem to point to this combination working for your purpose:
Read the foregoing posts in this discussion, AND the "Knowledge Base" comments & reviews for each of the products on the Monoprice pages before you buy.
These seem to be the most cost-effective means to getting analog video out of a Mac Mini and into an analog TV.
If any of you are trying to order the above-mentioned adaptors+converters from Monoprice, your order may have been delayed, as mine has been as they move their warehouse. I wish I had known about this alternative...although the cable price is almost twice as much, with free ground shipping, I would have saved $2 and had my purchase now (ordered one week ago). The VGA to RCA/Composite converter appears to be the exact same product, but in a much more pleasant, Mac Mini-matching white:
I received my long-anticipated refurb Mac Mini 2.0gHz C2D/2GB/320GB yesterday, expecting the refurb BT KBD tomorrow, but won't get my adaptors until Tuesday earliest...can't even check whether the Mini is DOA or not, since I have no access to a digital monitor. Maybe I'll bring it into the Apple Store over the weekend.
