eager to try "more RAM" / faster processor, I jumped
at the chance to get a newish computer... one of the
Dell minis.

(deep breath)

unfortunately, after unpacking and starting to set it
up, I discovered... oops... my vga/svga monitor will
not connect to the "vga" port on this computer !

The plug types are reversed... and... different...
my monitor has 15 pins, male... but... the computer
port is 9 pins also male. I have looked for converters
without a lot of luck, but am wondering if the older
monitors will even run with this newer type computer ?

Anyone have this experience / have an answer ?

thanks

That would be a serial port...

Modern machines will have DVI or HDMI, possibly even mini-HDMI. You can convert DVI to VGA with a simple adapter, HDMI to VGA is slightly more complicated (and expensive) as HDMI carries sound as well as video.

What it looks like...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-101-_-Product

You should be able to pick up an adapter almost anywhere. Just be sure that you have the combination of male(pins) and female(holes) that is right for your connection.

It has been a while since we got a new computer where I work, but the Dells we got only a couple years ago still included the adapter from their nonstandard DVI connector to a standard VGA. Look around the keyboard and manual packaging to see if you got that adapter.

You need to take a very good look at the display connector on your new computer. First you need to find it. As MS3FGX explained, that 9 pin thing you found was the serial port connector, not the display connector.

If you can identify the exact type of connector, the adapter from that to VGA is probably easy to get. But some of the non standard DVI connectors DELL has shipped look a lot like a standard DVI until you look very closely. The adapter won't work unless you get the right one.

Somewhere I saw a good web page with pictures of all the DVI connectors and DVI-like connectors. But I don't have the URL and don't know what keywords too google to find it.

That 9-pin connector is an old RS232 serial port, it has nothing to do with monitors.

Most computers now have DVI ports instead of VGA. If you want to connect a VGA monitor to it you need a converter. My video card came with a converter which I use for my secondary monitor that only has a VGA port, I am not sure if pre-built computers come with one.

If you don't have one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...to+vga&x=0&y=0

See if it looks like one of these...

The standard DVI variations are shown in this Wikipedia link. Hopefully yours looks like one of those illustrated.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

a little embarrassing... this was one of two ports
which resembled old style plugs at all... I wondered
what all those funny squares could be(!).

next to the |_|-> symbol (meaning display ?) Ive
got 24 squares with four squares at end, inside two
crossing lines... dunno if this is "dvi" or what.

OK, yes... thats what I have... 24 squares with 4
squares at end... a "dvi" female connection theyre
calling it.

I will look for converters for 15 pin monitor plug.

thanks for your tip

right... your office likely got the complete kit... mine
was used / repackaged, and, unfortunately, no nice cord.

No matter, thanks to you and the several others who
replied, I can now "look forward" (pun intended) to
watching all the action on my monitor, rather than on
the optical mouse, or whatever that serial port might
have connected to(!).

thanks again for your reply

Looks right for what all these replies have been
suggesting.

I ordered directly from your link !

thanks for your reply

actually you can hook a 'monitor' to a serial port but dont expect vga quality graphics or even a decent frame rate, hehe

but seriously such a 'monitor' would be called a 'terminal' and would be text only for the most part, i have one

you know, I thought I remembered "serial port / monitor" from
somewhere... this is how the old greenie monitor attached
to an early IBM-PC, wasn't it ?

thanks for replying

no that's CGA which is a 9 pin female plug
serial is a 9 pin male plug and it would be more like a wyse terminal, or the like which would also have it's own keyboard
the old pcs with green screens wouldnt have been barely powerful enough to run an os that could handle that, but there probably weren't any written at the time

I can't say they are really "monitors" by today's standards, AFAIK are actually ASCII text erminals.

Serial terminals are absolutely not monitors, they are their own input/output devices, and only do ASCII (and very slowly at that). I don't even know why they were brought up, they have nothing to do with this topic.