Power Mac G4 Cube to Color Classic

[mraroid]

Hi folks...

Looking around on ebay, I saw a inexpensive smaller Mac called a Power Mac G4 Cube.  It has no monitor.  I would only be interested in a mod using this if I could someone fire up a 10" CRT in my Color Classic.  I suspect the CRT in the CC would have to be pulled?  I do not like the look of a LCD or LED screen.  I prefer a CRT.

I suspect the electronics of taking video from the G4 Cube and matching them up to a 10" CRT that could display 640 X 480 are probably nill?

jack the new kid.

 

[unity]

I hate LED displays too. But I prefer LED backlit displays...

Anyway. The chipset supports 640x480. Just not sure if the cube itself will. I suspect it would though.

 

[mraroid]

Unity, are you saying the chipset in the G4 Cube support 640 X 480?

Yes, LED backlit is so much better then normal LED displays...

jack

 

[tanuki65]

G4 Cube in Colour Classic? It's funny because both machines have a sort of cult following (in a good way). I'm even thinking of making a Mystic...

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Both are also quite rare (fewer than 150,000 Cubes ever made)...I'm not going to lie; not the biggest fan of FrankenMac-ing the rare ones at this point.

 

[unity]

Has anyone ever used an LED display for a personal computer display?

Anyway, yes the chipset supports it. Just not sure if the Cube with OS X will. Best bet is to simply try.

 

[joewhk]

Somebody done that before (http://www.mac512.com/ccpmg4.htm), back when G4 cube was the smallest Mac available on the market. 

However, given that the Cube is such iconic and classic Mac, I'd prefer to keep it intact... Maybe put a Mac mini G4 if you really want to put a PPC Mac inside? 

 

[MinerAl]

Second vote for the G4-mini and 10" VGA tube (if you can find it). But if you're going to bother making it more modern, why go half way?  Drop a brand new Mac mini in there, or better yet, just make it a monitor with a hollow bottom half, so you can always use it with the latest-greatest-littlest Mac.

Issues:

1) CCs are really getting to be on the rare side.  If you have one with a good case, but a broken CRT, blown power supply, battery acid-eaten logic board, and a badger lived in it and ate all the wire insulation, then go ahead.  Otherwise, you should probably try to restore a CC.

2) Mac OS X has some dialog boxes and preference windows that are larger than 640x480, so 800x600 or 1024x768 is really preferable if possible, then scale up your icons and system fonts.  Think of it as a retina display

3) I think the Trinitron tubes had a unique curve to them, so even if you find a 10" CRT, if it ain't a Sony it may still not fit the bezel perfectly (and yet so much better than a literally flat-screen).

I'm a big proponent of "it's your property; do what you want," but fair warning: you're going to make some purists' heads explode and the flames will land all over your threads about a project like you're suggesting.

 

[Elfen]

3) I think the Trinitron tubes had a unique curve to them, so even if you find a 10" CRT, if it ain't a Sony it may still not fit the bezel perfectly (and yet so much better than a literally flat-screen).

Correct: The Trinitron CRT has a horizontal curve as they were cut from a cylinder (because as I remember, they were). Regular CRTs have both a vertical and horizontal curve on them as if they were cut from a sphere.

 

[Schmoburger]

Both are also quite rare (fewer than 150,000 Cubes ever made)...I'm not going to lie; not the biggest fan of FrankenMac-ing the rare ones at this point.

I agree with Falcon on this point... I'd leave the Cube a Cube and instead opt for a less rare machine to franken the CC with such as an early G4 Mini, which are twice as fast as a Cube anyway.

I'm not terribly comfortable with the idea of irreversibly franking a Colour Classic either but I guess if there is a really poor example out there that is electronically cactus, then it's probably a good way to re-use the machine.

 

[mraroid]

Schmoburger....


Point well taken.  I restore old vacuum tube motion picture amplifiers for a hobby 1930s-1950s equipment.  I keep them all original.  I would prefer to drop in a 575 logic board into my Color Classic and watch 640 X 480 on a CRT.  Not a LCD.  Not a LED.  Maybe a OLED, but I prefer a Sony Trinitron CRT.  My issue is that I am chicken to increase the voltage from 60V to around 68V when the CRT, flyback transformer and related parts were not designed for that voltage.  So I am looking for a work around.....

jack