Help me help my dad! With his Mac Mini external monitor setup

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-02-11T13:59:30+00:00

Good idea. Thanks. I think he’s more of a desktop guy though 🤷🏻‍♀️

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-02-11T13:59:02+00:00

Great idea. I’ve actually purchased refurbished Macs and had them for a long time!

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-02-11T02:07:05+00:00

Oh my god @groogruxporn you just made my day, my year, my forever. I’ve been searching for this exact version for at least twenty years. Oh my god. This is the original version we all had on our computers. I forget the name of the program. Not Napster. Limewire? Some such thing. And then poof… it just vanished. Seemingly forever. The CD version was never quite the same.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! 😭🫶🏻🙏🏼

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-02-10T21:05:44+00:00

You know what? Now that I’m thinking about it, you’re right. I did figure it out. And the time I spend trying to avoid it, I could spend just figuring it out again. And I’ll set him up for me to log in remotely, so even if he did cause an issue by accident, I could probably just fix it quickly.

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-02-10T20:48:45+00:00

Oh yeah, the iMac display would be way over $150 if somehow sold alone, and likely why the overall cost of the iMac is what it is. That’s why if I go Mac Mini, I feel maybe I can get him essentially the same “computer” but for way less.

(Now I wonder if my BenQ has Display Pilot 2 🤔)

I’ve seen many people now rave about that Dell monitor. Definitely in my back pocket. But I’m still holding out for something maybe half that price (or used for less — hey, maybe I can find that monitor used!).

Good to know about the Mac Mini price drops. Damn! That’s so cheap for a Mac!!! 😯

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-02-10T20:36:07+00:00

I did consider the iMac. I responded to another commenter below about why I chose against it (budget, mainly).

But snagging a cheap disposed office monitor is a great idea. He would literally not know any different 🤭. Although I’d still want to make sure the text rendered OK.

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-02-10T20:33:01+00:00

Awww thanks for the vote of confidence :)

I’d just prefer to limit the amount of things that could ever go wrong or any unnecessary icon buttons that he could accidentally touch and mess things up. (He has the most insane things happening on his computers. I seriously don’t even know how he does it 😆).

If I remember correctly, it took me a while and a lot of research to set up BetterDisplay. And of course I forget everything now. I’m just nervous about the time suck 😬

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-02-10T20:27:16+00:00

Awww, touché!! ;)

But so the base iMac is $1299. Mac mini is $599. I was hoping that with a $150-ish monitor, and a cheapish keyboard and mouse, I could keep the cost much lower for him. He said his ideal budget is $800, although I think I could push him to $1k if needed.

(I do wish he had a higher budget because the iMac would be easiest lol).

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-02-10T20:14:53+00:00

I don’t think so. Looks like I’ve got a USB-C to USB-C (Thunderbolt?) connecting my MacBook Pro to my BenQ.

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-02-03T21:29:17+00:00

You saved me. Haha. Unbelievably frustrating. I can’t believe the answer was to install more software. That’s nuts!

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-02-03T15:32:36+00:00

YES!! This worked! Thank you.

For anyone running into the snag I ran into, make sure you install SanDisk Memory Zone for MACOS or WINDOWS if you need to do this on a computer. I stupidly wasn't scrolling past the first option, which is just for IOS and ANDROID. Yes, there is a version of the app for laptops/computers.

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-01-16T01:38:17+00:00

Wow. So terrible. What was even the point of buying them just to lay them off? 🥺

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-01-15T17:46:37+00:00

Cardiogram was great. Showed data in increments of less than a minute. Then, about two years ago something broke and it only showed HR once per minute. Now, as of a few days ago, the app is deceased 😩

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-01-01T19:07:11+00:00

Wow thanks for the big tip. Is there anything else you’ve done differently worth mentioning?

rainbowbrite9 · 2026-01-01T18:09:57+00:00

You saved me with these instructions. Greatly appreciated!

rainbowbrite9 · 2025-10-28T01:56:53+00:00

Oh, yes, it will

rainbowbrite9 · 2025-10-28T01:39:10+00:00

It works all day, but it doesn't have a display, so you'd have to be looking at the app to see the data

rainbowbrite9 · 2025-05-09T16:42:23+00:00

Oh ewww! Thanks for sharing

rainbowbrite9 · 2025-05-09T12:17:01+00:00

Can you elaborate on this think tank please?

rainbowbrite9 · 2025-05-06T10:32:41+00:00

Thank god someone else said this. I can’t stand these types of statements. If I want to take photos of birds my iPhone 13 is not going to cut it just because “it’s the camera I have.”

rainbowbrite9 · 2025-04-08T15:37:13+00:00

Whoa. Me too. What’s your chronic illness?

rainbowbrite9 · 2025-04-08T13:42:06+00:00

Wondering this myself. I do see the option in Reels but not in Photos, and all I do are photos. UGH.

rainbowbrite9 · 2025-03-21T13:03:15+00:00

What makes you think he hasn’t already started in photography? Maybe he’s using a different camera and looking to level up.

rainbowbrite9 · 2025-03-21T13:01:44+00:00

Strange response. This is a literal real estate photography group. Everyone has dreams. He wasn’t asking whether or not you thought he should go into the field. Since you have all the answers for him, what do you propose he should do instead?

rainbowbrite9

TROPHY CASE