Ok so I am totally wanting to make the switch to apple at work but there have been 3 factors that have prevented that from happening.
1.) the person who signs off on purchases HATES anything that is apple. I dont even think he would use an ipod. Yeah I know its dumb.
2.) I run and love my dual 17" displays and would not want to go back to a single display setup
3.) until 5 min ago I thought the only mac that could do dual displays was the mac pro which at a starting price of 2799 is cost prohibitive at almost 3x's the cost of a new dell.
Well I had this idea of how cool it would be if the IMAC's let you do a video out to a second or even third monitor. With a price tag of around 1300 for a 20" it would be a tough sell but one I thought I could pull off. I then got this super gushy feeling as the image of 17" 20" 17" displays danced in my head. SO much desktop real estate!!!! SO I decided to see if the apple store had a chat function to talk to a sales person. IT did and here is what I found out.
T: Hi, my name is Tomeca F. Welcome to Apple!
Good morning.
Would you like help with your shopping?
me:Hi Tomeca my name is Chris
I had a bit of a configuration question
im currently primarily a windows user that runs a dual monitor setup
T:I'm happy to assist with that.
Me:I LOVE MY DUAL MONITORS
the only real option I have seen in replicating this is the mac pro
or can you take an imac and use the video out to connect to another monitor
if so what is the limit
T:One moment while I research that for you.
Neither one support 2 displays.
Me:really
so the only mac that supports multiple displays is the mac pro
T:No.
It doesn't either.
Me:are you sure
b/c it lets you buy two displays in the apple store
for the Mac Pro
and it shows dual DVI ports on the back of it
T:That is what took me so long, I was double checking.
Me: "All Mac Pro graphics cards support two Apple displays, each up to 30 inches."
T:That is the older one.
Me:really
so the new ones dont support that out of the box
WOW
T:That is what my supervisor checked and found out.
Mr:ouch
so what do people do who want to run a dual or more display setup?
T:I don't know.
Me:hmm
well thank you very much
T:You're welcome.
Me:have a nice day
T:You too!
Thank you for visiting the Apple Store. We appreciate your business.
Thank you for choosing the Apple Store. If you have any additional questions, please chat us again.
Like WOW. She has to be Wrong. I think I might have to pay a visit to the apple store in November when I am in C'bus and see what the Genius bar comes up with.
