The monitor portion of my 5 year-old eMac crapped out over the weekend. My options are: replace the computer (no); have the monitor repaired (estimate $650, so, no); buy an external monitor (yes). I’m planning on stopping in an electronics place near work at the end of the day. What should I be looking for as I peruse the monitor section?
At Recycle Ann Arbor’s ReUse Center, they won’t even accept monitors more than five years old. If you have something similar near you, you might be able to get a decent older monitor really cheaply.
The only other advice I have is that my (Windows) laptop has a 1024X768 monitor, but the external VGA port does 1280X768, so don’t think you’re limited by your eMac resolution.
You’ll need to get a Mini-VGA to VGA adapter to connect an external monitor to your eMac. If you’ve got the ATI graphics version it’ll support up to 1280 by 960 pixels.
I don’t think I do; I don’t think I have that many USB ports. I wish I’d thought to jot down the serial number.
ETA: Well, now, looking at the picture I think maybe I do. Oh well, if I grab the wrong monitor I can always take it back.
Some thrifts may/should have some decent monitors for few bucks, but many will not accept CRT monitors as donations anymore because of involved disposal issues if they don’t sell . That’s the main reason I have several very nice 17 and 19 inch monitors cluttering up my house.
Even eBay is problematic because shipping costs are such a bitch for monitors and CRTs are easily damaged in transit. Since Madison WI is fairly sizeable you may want to use the ebay advanced search feature that lets you find vendors within 10 miles of so of your ZIP code location then look for monitors. If you find a reasonable deal you can usually arrange to pick it up and save the shipping.
I really don’t want to deal with the hassle of eBay (and have no real access to it without the monitor working; can’t really justify doing that much shopping at work). I don’t have any problem just stopping in to a store and picking one up. There’s a place in town with a couple of stores including one just up the street from my work and another up the street from my house. I have had good luck buying electronics from them in the past so I’ll just stop there after work and pick something up. I don’t mind paying retail to avoid hassle and I think they’re having the Memorial Day sale today.
Any VGA monitor should work, although your computer might not be able to support the highest resolution the monitor is capable of.
Here are the specs for the older eMac, it has the same max resolution, but at a slightly lower refresh rate (72Hz vs 75 Hz).
So I bought a Gateway HD1700 along with literally the last VGA-mini VGA adapter in the city of Madison, if not all of Wisconsin. The guy at the Apple Store I think found it at the bottom of a bin somewhere. Got it home, hooked it up, turned everything on and got this floating teal box reading “Frequency out of range.” I call Gateway (long distance, thanks a heap you cheap bitches) and they have no clue regarding Macs. I call the Apple Store and they have no clue either. I’m thoroughly disgusted and call my Mom to get her to convince me not to spend $1200 I don’t have on a new computer. The upshot is she’s going to lend me the money to buy a new computer so I’ll be heading back to the Apple Store again tomorrow after work (after returning the monitor) and pricing a new computer. I have no idea what’s even out there and I don’t need a lot of computer anyway. Pretty much all I do is surf these boards and Wikipedia and play podcasts from iTunes. I’m on my ancient iMac now (running OS 8.6!) so at least I’m not competely cut off from the online world in the interim. But after four trips to the Apple Store, what will be two trips to the store where I bought the monitor, innumerable phone calls, a gallon of sweat lugging this behemoth of a machine around and a near-panic attack in the middle of West Towne Mall, I just am not having any more of it.
If you’re set on getting a new machine, then good on you.
If you just want to fix what you’ve got: all that message means is that the refresh rate currently set on the eMac isn’t supported by the monitor. If you’ve got another machine handy, can you borrow its monitor long enough to adjust your settings to something compatible with the Gateway, then swap back?
It might even be as simple as cycling through the modes on the monitor. Page 14 of the manual lists the modes and their resolutions.
Thanks for your suggestions, but I wasn’t joking when I said I almost had a panic attack in the middle of the mall. In fact I would say that it was a panic attack. I was literally on my knees crouched over the eMac as I was hauling it to the store, hyperventilating and irrationally contemplating abandoning the computer and fleeing. I’ve had a lot of stress in my life this year and if I can avoid a stressor by buying a new machine then I’m going to do that.