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MacBook came today! Startup questions. // External display?

S

samkupo

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2008
12
0
it finalllllllllllly arrived I'm been waiting for this for so long I ordered a White macbook 250GB / 2.4ghz / 2GB Leopard. and now ive got it I wondered what should I be doing to keep it running smoothly?

I read things about having to change fan speeds to ensure the battery doesn't loose its life? and maybe something for calibrating the screen for the same reasons?

also:

I want an external display for my macbook for when I'm editing photographs as I'm mainly going to be using it for my photography course. so which display would people suggest and what connector do I need?

apple display are way expensive but for £210 (almost half of apples price) I could get this wide dell lcd display

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=88221#Overview

would that be compatible with my macbook/work properly and everything.

I'm kinda new to this sorry for any dumb questions that may be obvious to you.

thanks for any help
 
richard.mac

richard.mac

macrumors 603
Feb 2, 2007
6,292
4
51.50024, -0.12662
congrats on the new MacBook its a good one.

hold up on the fan speeds at this moment. increasing the fans speeds will cause a drop in battery life. if your MacBook is getting too hot when you work then decide if you need to. calibrating the screen would be a good idea as youre photographer. i would recommend changing to 2.2 Television Gamma using Calibration Assistant (non extended mode) in Display preferences or choose the RBG colour profile as thats what most of the images on the internet use today. IMO the default "ColorLCD" colour profile sucks!

the competitor to the Apple Displays would be the Dell Ultrasharps which go for around $800. you linked the entry level displays which have TN panels and do not have as good colour accuracy (but have excellent response times for gaming). the Ultrasharps have TFT "S" panels which have excellent colour accuracy and would be more suited for your photography. the 24" has an S-PVA panel and the 30" has an S-IPS panel. all the Apple displays have S-IPS panels which have accurate colours and are great for design and photo work.

all displays these days are compatible with Macs. just remember with a MacBook you dont get the DVI-VGA adapater like the MacBook Pros do so if you get a VGA display you will have to purchase the adpater from the Apple store. also if you want to make the display your main screen i.e. have the menu bar and dock you can change it by turning off mirror mode and using extended desktop mode in Display preferences and then under the Arrangement tab drag the white bar 'menu bar' to the bigger screen.
 
S

samkupo

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2008
12
0
richthomas said:
congrats on the new MacBook its a good one.

hold up on the fan speeds at this moment. increasing the fans speeds will cause a drop in battery life. if your MacBook is getting too hot when you work then decide if you need to. calibrating the screen would be a good idea as youre photographer. i would recommend changing to 2.2 Television Gamma using Calibration Assistant (non extended mode) in Display preferences or choose the RBG colour profile as thats what most of the images on the internet use today. IMO the default "ColorLCD" colour profile sucks!

the competitor to the Apple Displays would be the Dell Ultrasharps which go for around $800. you linked the entry level displays which have TN panels and do not have as good colour accuracy (but have excellent response times for gaming). the Ultrasharps have TFT "S" panels which have excellent colour accuracy and would be more suited for your photography. the 24" has an S-PVA panel and the 30" has an S-IPS panel. all the Apple displays have S-IPS panels which have accurate colours and are great for design and photo work.

all displays these days are compatible with Macs. just remember with a MacBook you dont get the DVI-VGA adapater like the MacBook Pros do so if you get a VGA display you will have to purchase the adpater from the Apple store. also if you want to make the display your main screen i.e. have the menu bar and dock you can change it by turning off mirror mode and using extended desktop mode in Display preferences and then under the Arrangement tab drag the white bar 'menu bar' to the bigger screen.
Click to expand...

hey thanks for the info,
all that screen language means little to me @_@ but basically I should be getting a ultrasharp one instead? or the colours wont be accurate?
 
jackiecanev2

jackiecanev2

macrumors 65816
Jul 6, 2007
1,033
4
richthomas said:
IMO the default "ColorLCD" colour profile sucks!
Click to expand...

Agreed. Search the forum's for "David's color profile", it's the best I've seen yet.

Just remember with a MacBook you dont get the DVI-VGA adapater like the MacBook Pros do so if you get a VGA display you will have to purchase the adpater from the Apple store.
Click to expand...

This might be obvious, but depending on what kind of monitor you get (various inputs) and your desire for analog or digital output, buy the appropriate adapter (mini-dvi to DVI or mini-dvi to VGA).
 
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