Combining Win7 PC, 27" iMac & Dell monitor

[-Rob-]

In my office at home I have a Windows 7 PC connected to 2 x Dell U2412M monitors. This setup fills the desk in my office so there is no room to add anything else.

My girlfriend has just moved in with me and brought her 27" iMac with her and she's been asking where it's going to go. There is no room for it to be set up separately in my office.

I was wondering is it possible to connect the Win7 PC, 27" iMac and a Dell U2412M together so that the PC uses the Del & iMac as dual monitors and the iMac would use its own screen and th Dell as second monitor?

I have never used an iMac so I've no idea what it's capable of.

 

[Chappers]

The Imac will accept an input via the mini display port. So at least you will need an adapter cable from the PC video output to mini display ( Have a look on the Belkin site) . Don't know if this would work, but I can't see any reason why not. The only problem may be if the resolution of the two screens are different. That may give some odd looking results. I've done what you are suggesting with a laptop and it works, but that was two macs talking to each other.

iMac to second monitor, again no problem. Again you'll need a suitable connector , from the mini display port ( or Thunderbolt if it's a recent iMac ). Go to System Preferences > Displays. and configure the second monitor. Again I've done this myself

I think you'll need to use mini display port cables rather than Thunderbolt ( They look identical unfortunately) as both the PC and the Dell monitor wont have Thunderbolt capabilities

 

[neil_g]

i believe you can only use the iMac as a monitor for another Apple machine, not a Windows machine.

edit: actually im wrong..

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT3924

"Can I use the iMac in TDM as a display for my gaming console, DVD player, or other device?
The Mini DisplayPort port on a supported iMac can receive DisplayPort compliant video and audio signals. Converters not made by Apple may provide options to convert other electrical, video, and audio protocols to Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt compliant signals. "

 

[JonathanRyan]

As it happens, I use a 27" iMac with 2 X 2312 screens. As the previous posters say, it should work but you're heading for a world of colour management pain. To put it simply, the 2412s will never match the iMac.

If you can fit them, I'd spin theDells do they are vertical (where they take up much less space) and leave your PC connected to the 2 Dells. You can add one or both Dells to the iMac too (you'll need a cheap adapter for the second). You'll have less width and more height, she'll have way more space and you can actually use both computers at once without swapping cables and stuff.