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External monitor on iBook/pBook question

S

Stallion

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 15, 2004
22
0
Waveland, MS
Ok, I'm considering buying an iBook after the new year. I was curious about external monitors. If you connect a monitor that is capable of a higher resolution than the iBook, will you be able to set the resolution to what the ext monitor is capable of?

Ok, now the same question, but for the power book. I'm assuming since the powerbook allows for a second monitor, and not just mirroring, that it will let you go to a higher resolution than the laptops monitor. But I wanted to be sure.

I'm leaning heavily toward the iBook, but it would be really really nice if we could hook up an additional monitor and have a larger desktop to work with. I'm afraid that the powerbook is the only way we would be able to do that, but I'm not sure I'm willing to spend the extra cash.

So any help would be greatly appriciated.
 
mfacey

mfacey

macrumors 65816
Feb 1, 2004
1,230
9
Netherlands
I have a titanium powerbook running on an external NEC 17inch LCD monitor. The max resolution on my powerbook is 1152x768.

My NEC LCD is running at 1280x(something bigger than 768) (not running it right now :D ).

Always works fine for me. I can imagine there is a limit to what the video card can handle but assuming you don't hook up a 23 inch cinema display you'll definitely be fine.

Not too sure about the ibook though!
 
S

Stallion

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 15, 2004
22
0
Waveland, MS
mfacey said:
I have a titanium powerbook running on an external NEC 17inch LCD monitor. The max resolution on my powerbook is 1152x768.

My NEC LCD is running at 1280x(something bigger than 768) (not running it right now :D ).

Always works fine for me. I can imagine there is a limit to what the video card can handle but assuming you don't hook up a 23 inch cinema display you'll definitely be fine.

Not too sure about the ibook though!
Click to expand...

Cool. Settles my question on the pBook. Thanks! Anyone know about iBooks?
 
S

Stallion

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 15, 2004
22
0
Waveland, MS
Cool. Ive heard about that before, but didn't know how safe it was (rumor was that it could perminantly harm your iBook). What exactly does it do, and what is the possible harm? It appears to change a value in (this is windows speak, I dont own a mac yet) a registry, and thats about it. Is this the case?

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm trying to learn as much as possible before I buy my new mac.
 
iShater

iShater

macrumors 604
Aug 13, 2002
7,026
470
Chicagoland
Stallion said:
Cool. Ive heard about that before, but didn't know how safe it was (rumor was that it could perminantly harm your iBook). What exactly does it do, and what is the possible harm? It appears to change a value in (this is windows speak, I dont own a mac yet) a registry, and thats about it. Is this the case?

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm trying to learn as much as possible before I buy my new mac.
Click to expand...

It is pretty safe. The iBooks already come in with the dual monitor support, however, Apple has chosen to disable it in firmware to distinguish the iBook and PowerBook lines. The script allows you to enable/disable the feature. No harm as far as I know (Been doing this for quite a few months.
 
E

efoto

macrumors 68030
Nov 16, 2004
2,624
0
Cloud 9 (-6)
Well as it has been stated above the iBook only does video mirroring whilst the PBook does video spanning, or dual monitors. My friend has multiple Macs, at least two of which he uses 'the hack' on and I have never heard anything negative from him about it. In fact, other than that he is using it, I have never heard anything at all from him which leads me to believe all is well...because he would definately bi**h if something went haywire.
If the iBook will do everything else you want, go with it and save your money. I am confident you'll be quite fine using this little bypass.
 
S

Stallion

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 15, 2004
22
0
Waveland, MS
efoto said:
I am confident you'll be quite fine using this little bypass.
Click to expand...

Yea, I think so too. I've never really owned a Mac, so I want to dip my toes first, if you take my meaning. The 12" iMac looks perfect for this, especially when I've been considering getting a small laptop for a while now. Sounds like the "hack" is a very straight forward thing, and shouldn't cause any real issues.

Thanks again for the advice guys. It's very helpfull. I like to get as much info on things before I buy. It's great to have a site that has so many people who are genuinly friendly to newbs. :)
 
Joeytpg

Joeytpg

macrumors 6502
Jul 1, 2004
467
0
Vienna, Austria
Stallion said:
Yea, I think so too. I've never really owned a Mac, so I want to dip my toes first, if you take my meaning. The 12" iMac looks perfect for this, especially when I've been considering getting a small laptop for a while now. Sounds like the "hack" is a very straight forward thing, and shouldn't cause any real issues.

Thanks again for the advice guys. It's very helpfull. I like to get as much info on things before I buy. It's great to have a site that has so many people who are genuinly friendly to newbs. :)
Click to expand...

That's the best thing you do buddy, get as much info as you can. Learn as much as you can, because at the end you'll be thankful.

i did the same thing. I knew i wanted a Mac, so i started to search and learn about Macs, and other Apple Technologies. my learning process lasted 6 month!........but at least when i got my mac i already new somethings about Macs. I was a pc user for a looong time and had never owned or used a Macintosh computer. but it's worth every peny! i love them!

i'll die with a Mac in my hands! :D

good luck with the ibook........they're great. even more now with the speed bump! :D
 
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