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External displays

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swadd1er

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 27, 2013
53
1
As some of you may be aware from my other thread, my MacBook Pro has developed a problem with the display. The cheapest method (and preferred method) would be to buy an external display, rather than getting a replacement LCD fitted by Apple themselves. Since my current MBP screen is only 15" I'd like to use 2 external monitors together rather than just the one. Since im not up to date with monitors, it would be much appreciated if people could recommend me a pair to use. If for whatever reason people would go against using 2 together, and just go for a similar sized single monitor, recommendations would be also be a great help.

I'm not looking for anything 'top of the range' for a ridiculous price, just something that's good value for money that's going to do the job. I do already have a mini display port to HDMI adapter.

My MacBook Pro spec is as follows:
-Early 2011
-2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 processor
-4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 memory
-Intel HD Graphics 3000

Cheers
 
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swadd1er

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 27, 2013
53
1
There's several options that I could go:

-Use my current MBP display and 1 either side to have a 3 screen display. The only problem with this initially is that my MBP has a 15" display and the monitors that i'd purchase will be atleast 22 so the transfer of windows and programs from one screen to another may be slightly weird at first.

-Use 2 external displays together and not bother with my current MBP display.

-Get one large external display and use it instead of my MBP display.

-Get one smaller external display and use it alongside my current.

As you can probably tell, I have no experience with multiple displays so any help would be much appreciated. I have seen on the photo gallery (Post your Mac setup) that a lot of people have multiple displays so they cant be too bad.

Note: My Macbook is an early 2011 15" and only has 1 thunderbolt port. If I wanted 2 external displays i'd have to get a USB to HDMI adapter or a thunderbolt hub such as the one from Elgato which converts the 1 thunderbolt to 2 thunderbolt connections. Am I correct in saying this?

Cheers
 
Last edited:
Apple fanboy

Apple fanboy

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Feb 21, 2012
55,259
53,018
Behind the Lens, UK
swadd1er said:
There's several options that I could go:

-Use my current MBP display and 1 either side to have a 3 screen display. The only problem with this initially is that my MBP has a 15" display and the monitors that i'd purchase will be atleast 22 so the transfer of windows and programs from one screen to another may be slightly weird at first.

-Use 2 external displays together and not bother with my current MBP display.

-Get one large external display and use it instead of my MBP display.

-Get one smaller external display and use it alongside my current.

As you can probably tell, I have no experience with multiple displays so any help would be much appreciated. I have seen on the photo gallery (Post your Mac setup) that a lot of people have multiple displays so they cant be too bad.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Setting up multiple screens on a Mac is very easy. I'm using an iMac and NEC Spectraview at the moment. Once you start, you'll be surprised how you ever managed without them.
Another option would be to look at some of the new ultra wide monitors that are coming onto the market.
My boss has this one
http://www.necdisplay.com/p/desktop-monitors/ea294wmi-bk
 
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swadd1er

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 27, 2013
53
1
Is my Macbook able to have more than 1 external display if I have one connected by a mini-display port to HDMI adapter and the other by a USB to HDMI adapter or would a thunderbolt hub be a better option? It's more money if the advantages aren't going to be noticable.
 
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swadd1er

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 27, 2013
53
1
Another option again would be to get a vertical docking station for my MBP. Use an external mouse, keyboard and 2 Dell U2414H monitors which I can purchase as a bundle with a MDS14 Dual Monitor Stand.

Since I only have 1 thunderbolt port, connecting 2 external screens would require a double adapter or something from the USB port. Could someone point me in the right direction for this.

Also if the lid of the MBP is shut in the dock (which it will be), will the Mac still run on the external monitors. Cheers
 
S

swadd1er

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 27, 2013
53
1
Decided on a dual Dell U2414H set up however, after seeing this review in the comments on Amazon would someone shed some light on this? I also have an early-2011 MBP 15".

"Despite giving this four stars for the quality of the monitor, I'm actually going to spend most of this review with a complaint and warning to others. I was told, incorrectly, that my early-2011 MacBook Pro 15" DisplayPort supported the DisplayPort 1.2 protocol. Turns out it doesn't. So when I enabled DisplayPort 1.2 the screen went blank, as the instructions said it might. No biggie, you'd think - just get the on-screen display (OSD) up again and either disable DisplayPort 1.2 or do a factory reset. Thing is, you can't get the OSD up until a source is correctly connected to the display. Which means that you can't reset the display, which you want to do because you can't connect correctly to the display, until you correctly connect a device to the display. And so on and so on."

Am I correct in saying if i'm connecting to the monitors via HDMI from my Thunderbolt port and USB I wont have any issues, it's only if you're connecting to the monitors Displayport.

Thanks
 
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smellalot

macrumors 6502
Dec 6, 2011
277
2
swadd1er said:
Decided on a dual Dell U2414H set up however, after seeing this review in the comments on Amazon would someone shed some light on this? I also have an early-2011 MBP 15".

"Despite giving this four stars for the quality of the monitor, I'm actually going to spend most of this review with a complaint and warning to others. I was told, incorrectly, that my early-2011 MacBook Pro 15" DisplayPort supported the DisplayPort 1.2 protocol. Turns out it doesn't. So when I enabled DisplayPort 1.2 the screen went blank, as the instructions said it might. No biggie, you'd think - just get the on-screen display (OSD) up again and either disable DisplayPort 1.2 or do a factory reset. Thing is, you can't get the OSD up until a source is correctly connected to the display. Which means that you can't reset the display, which you want to do because you can't connect correctly to the display, until you correctly connect a device to the display. And so on and so on."

Am I correct in saying if i'm connecting to the monitors via HDMI from my Thunderbolt port and USB I wont have any issues, it's only if you're connecting to the monitors Displayport.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Displayport 1.2 supports daisy-chaining of multiple displays off of one port. So yes, this should not bother you.
You should however have a look at the information provided on the display link drivers as they apparently have big problems under Yosemite when driving more than one display under Mac OS:
http://www.displaylink.com/support/mac_downloads.php
AFAIK all the USB-to-monitor adapters use the chipset+drivers from display link.
 
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swadd1er

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 27, 2013
53
1
smellalot said:
Have a look at monitors running WQHD-resolution or the LG 34UM95.
Click to expand...
Found one which looks to be extremely good value for money. It's the Hazro HZ29WiA. Has anyone had any experience with this monitor? If you haven't, but have knowledge on monitors, could you have a look at the following link and give me your opinion. At that price it looks a bargain.

http://www.hazro.com/products/hz29wi
 
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swadd1er

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 27, 2013
53
1
The cheapest I can find the LG 34UM95-P for is £659.99 on Amazon. That's £430 more than the Hazro HZ29WiA. Is it really worth that much more despite having a larger screen and better resolution? It's not as if I'm doing video/photo edits constantly.
 
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