PS3, PC and Mac

wedmonds

wedmonds

wedmonds

Associate
Joined
13 Nov 2007
Posts
231
Hi People,

I have a Dell Monitor with DVI and VGA connection.

I have have a PS3 with HDMI

Also have a Mac Book Pro

Anyone able to give me some advice on the easiest way of getting these all connected to the monitor. I assume its possible if you know what to look for but I dont :)

Currently only have PC connected to monitor but would be nice if I could get the PS3 and the Mac connected also. Perhaps on a switch box or clever cable. Dont think I would want them on at the same time and flip them over with the click of a button but open to suggestions.

Thanks all

wedmonds
 
Hi there, may I ask what video output connections your macbook pro has?

Assuming it has mini-DP out then I would suggest this:

- Get an apple mini DP to VGA adapter, connect macbook up to the VGA port on the monitor.
- Get an 2 port DVI switch box (not expensive)
- Get a HDMI to DVI adapter (like this) to connect between the PS3's HDMI cable and the switch box (or get a cable like this).
- Connect the PC's graphics card (via DVI) and the PS3's DVI adapter to the switch box
-Connect switch box to the monitors DVI video input.
 
Wow.... sounds like you have done that before.
How would I flip between the Mac, PS3 and PC?

Am i correct in saying that I need something for the sound to work? another clever cable?

Only got 1 DVI and 1 VGA on monitor so some sort of box/hub/switch required.

thanks for quick reply sir!
 
Aye a few times :)

With the above arrangement you can flip between the mac and PC/PS3 by changing the input device on the monitor (using the buttons on the front). To change between the PS3 and PC, you would change the input selection at the DVI switch.

As for the sound, things get even more complicated. May I ask what model number monitor you have and what type of speaker system do you have? Also do you want the mac to use the same speakers as the PS3/PC or use the onboard ones?
 
Monitor Dell TrueColour E248WFP 24" Widescreen LCD
Sound is a Logitech Z-2300 THX Certified 2.1 Speaker System (970118-0120)

er.... not really thought about sound on mac etc.

Dont mind throwing money at it though :) So lets assume that I want the sound to come out of the decent speakers.
 
Unfortunately that monitor and speaker system do not lend themselves very well to being used with multiple inputs.

Your best bet would be to get a PS3 AV Multi Out cable, a L/R phono (RCA) (female) to 3.5mm stereo (male) cable/adapter and a 3.5mm stereo two way (or three way if you want to hook up the mac too) switch box.

If you wanted to make it much simpler but spend much more money, then you could get a monitor with two HDMI inputs, one VGA input and a 3.5mm stereo audio out connection - like the samsung BX2450. This would allow you to hook the PC, PS3 and speakers directly up to the monitor and simply select between PC/PS3 image and audio using the monitor's input selection (assuming you have a graphics card that can send the PC audio over the HDMI connection). However, because the Macbook does not do HDMI then the sound and video signals will be seperate, so a simple 2 port 3.5mm stereo switch would be needed between the monitor and the speakers to select between PC/PS3 audio and mac audio.
 
Blimey what a total hassle :)
I will probably go with the cables/switch box but need to go away now and digest all that.

Thanks for the input cmndr_andi, its people like you that make this forum spot on.

Regards

wedmonds
 
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