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Wondering how I can connect my Dreamcast to my MBP

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peppermints

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 9, 2007
17
0
I have a VGA adapter for my Sega Dreamcast, and I've recently had a renewed interest in playing it. I used to be able to connect it fine to my old LCD monitor, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to connect it to my MBP. The part from the VGA adapter that connects to the monitor cable is female, as is the end that should connect to the included adapter with the MBP. Is there anyway to connect it to a MBP?

Also, are there any solutions to achieving this with other consoles? I will be going to college in the fall and it would be nice to connect my Wii and PS2 to my MBP rather than having to have a TV in the small dorm room just to play games in those probably oh too often times when I will neglect studying for video games.. :p
 
Yeesh.. that seems like the ideal solution, but it was way out of my price range. Are there any alternatives?

I was under the assumption that my old LCD monitor had DVI as well, because I had to use an adapter to connect it to my PC's video card, which came with DVI connectors separate from the regular VGA ones. Am I totally wrong there?
 
peppermints said:
Yeesh.. that seems like the ideal solution, but it was way out of my price range. Are there any alternatives?

I was under the assumption that my old LCD monitor had DVI as well, because I had to use an adapter to connect it to my PC's video card, which came with DVI connectors separate from the regular VGA ones. Am I totally wrong there?
Click to expand...

No (there are no substantially cheaper alternatives) and yes, you're totally wrong here... the difference between your Macbook and your monitor is that YOUR MACBOOK IS NOT A MONITOR. ;)
 
^^ That's interesting! Is the lag low enough typically that it's usable for playing games, though? And how cheap could you find a firewire device that would work with it?
 
I'd recommend the Sony DVMC-DA1 Media Converter... But I just found out that it costs like $500 and is almost impossible to find.

I've used it a lot since my dad bought it a few years ago and it works WONDERS. Yeah, but I'd say go for the free/cheap stuff if possible.
 
Just get a TV/Monitor. At best, even with an EyeTV, it won't be as good as a good TV and will probably introduce a tiny bit of lag (well less than a second, but still) If you're getting a TV, make sure it's got a great scaler, like Sony's do, or SD content will look terrible, and make sure you use the best available connection, like VGA -> Component -> S-video -> Composite.

But yeah the EyeTV would be the cheapest, best route for doing this on your Mac.
 
mkrishnan said:
^^ That's interesting! Is the lag low enough typically that it's usable for playing games, though? And how cheap could you find a firewire device that would work with it?
Click to expand...

Been awhile since i've done it. It wasn't 100% lag free, but it worked. The cheapest Mini-DV camera or Dazzle bridge would work. I suppose you could find an old canon ZR on craigslist for ~$25. It's not the best solution, but it worked for me considering I already had the equipment.
 
marioman38 said:
Been awhile since i've done it. It wasn't 100% lag free, but it worked. The cheapest Mini-DV camera or Dazzle bridge would work. I suppose you could find an old canon ZR on craigslist for ~$25. It's not the best solution, but it worked for me considering I already had the equipment.
Click to expand...

That's interesting-a Dazzle bridge would have a Firewire output? What inputs does it have? What program do you use with it to actually display the audio and video? (And for that matter, does it go full screen)?

Adaptec's Gamebridge works decently on the Windows side, and is cheap (if you can still find it), but it dosen't work on OS X unfortunately.
 
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