01-28-2006, 09:10 PM

I am thinking about buying a Mac Mini and I don't really have the money for a screen, but I have a Sony Viao laptop and I was wondering if there was a way to take the screen from the laptop and connect it to the Mini. I was thinking about constructing or buying a used case for the Mini and making sort of a laptop out of it anyway. Is the connection to the laptop LCD possible? Thanks for any help I can get on this.

Also I know that it won't really be a laptop since it doesn't run on battery power, I was thinking about hooking it up to solar panels. Is that possible? Any thoughts on this would be apreciated.

Peace - Thaimex

01-28-2006, 09:14 PM

I do not believe its possible since soloar pannles could not possilby generate enough powere for that.. it also would be cheaper to buy a 12 inch ibook then to build that.

01-28-2006, 09:22 PM

Originally Posted by thaimex

Is the connection to the laptop LCD possible?

I am not going to say it is impossible but pretty close. It would definantly be more trouble than it would ever be worth.

01-28-2006, 09:23 PM

What about the first question? Thanks for your reply. - Thaimex

01-28-2006, 09:31 PM

Well, I'd like to try to connect the screen anyway if I can save some money, any ideas on where I can go to figure out what I need?

If I can't do the solar panels I will just have to live with plugging it in where ever I go. If I can get my screen from my laptop on it, it will be much cheaper than getting a laptop.

01-28-2006, 11:25 PM

i don't believe there will be instructions for this anywhere .. you will ahve to find the schematics for your screen and the mini and work it out yourself.. this is very dangerous and will void your warrentee.

01-29-2006, 12:02 AM

if you want the mini i say go ahead and get it. there are so many decent cheap CRT monitors out there. and if its that bad. after my last LCD went out, i didnt have the money for a new monitor so i went to the salvation army and bought a used dell crt for $15. it worked great! actually, im probably stupid for spending money on the lcd with it just sitting in the closet.

Originally Posted by thaimex

I am thinking about buying a Mac Mini and I don't really have the money for a screen, but I have a Sony Viao laptop and I was wondering if there was a way to take the screen from the laptop and connect it to the Mini. I was thinking about constructing or buying a used case for the Mini and making sort of a laptop out of it anyway. Is the connection to the laptop LCD possible? Thanks for any help I can get on this.

Also I know that it won't really be a laptop since it doesn't run on battery power, I was thinking about hooking it up to solar panels. Is that possible? Any thoughts on this would be apreciated.

Peace - Thaimex

01-29-2006, 12:46 AM

Sell the laptop on Ebay, even if it is broken I bet you can get enough for it to afford a new monitor. A lot of times just the LCD panel for laptops can get $100+ easy.

01-29-2006, 05:37 AM

Well, there would be no hookup to get to your laptop lcd, because it connects to your laptop motherboard via a non-vga or dvi plug.

01-29-2006, 06:03 AM

Originally Posted by alifab

Well, there would be no hookup to get to your laptop lcd, because it connects to your laptop motherboard via a non-vga or dvi plug.

Actually, it's doable (I've seen it, I don't actually know how to do it), just not easily.

02-13-2006, 09:46 PM

Hey I had no idea people were still posting to this thread. I appreciate everyone's help and comments. Still not sure what I will do about the screen but I'm pretty sure I'm getting the MacMini either way, hehe. I really don't want to get rid of the laptop I have, I wanted to save it for a back-up... I guess I just feel guilty getting rid of it since it's been so useful to me even though it is a little old, good for keeping in touch and all that. Anyway thanks a bunch.

02-14-2006, 01:49 AM

Originally Posted by thaimex

Hey I had no idea people were still posting to this thread. I appreciate everyone's help and comments. Still not sure what I will do about the screen but I'm pretty sure I'm getting the MacMini either way, hehe. I really don't want to get rid of the laptop I have, I wanted to save it for a back-up... I guess I just feel guilty getting rid of it since it's been so useful to me even though it is a little old, good for keeping in touch and all that. Anyway thanks a bunch.

You should probably get in touch with this guy