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I had a rev. B 12" powerbook (32 MB 5200go) powering a 20" Apple LCD for a few months, and it worked pretty well. It wasn't ideal - visual effects like expose did get a little "choppy" - but the monitor was very usable.
 
ITASOR said:

Soooo stupid. The 14" ibook has better battery life, a faster processor, and is easier on the eyes. I've owned both a 12" and a 14", and I do prefer the 12". But it's a total lie that the 14" looks "fuzzy" or "stretched;" it just doesn't.

I absolutely cannot understand the venom of 12" ibook owners towards the 14". One lb. really doesn't mean all that much to a lot of people, and some prefer that DVDs and other images be larger and easier to see. The 14" has been around a loooong time now, so clearly there's a market for it. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

I happen to think both the mini and the 17" powerbook are pretty stupid, but so what? I don't have to buy one, so why would I care if other people like it?
 
ITASOR said:
How do you think it will work at 1280x1024? Would it be better than your performance on the 2005FPW, with the new iBooks graphics card and all? Do you feel the iBook getting hot or anything. I'm going to be so scared to try this on a brand new computer. Hacks are something I like to do.

Like other people have said, an LCD will look bad at anything but it's native resolution. One of the caveats of LCD displays.

My iBook does seem to run a little hotter while connected to an external display but that could also be partly due to the fact that i'm running more on it now that it is my sole computer (upgrading at the moment and new parts haven't arrived yet).

QCassidy352 said:
Soooo stupid. The 14" ibook has better battery life, a faster processor, and is easier on the eyes. I've owned both a 12" and a 14", and I do prefer the 12". But it's a total lie that the 14" looks "fuzzy" or "stretched;" it just doesn't.

I didn't know the 14" had a better battery life than the 12". I didn't even know they used different battery's. I'll have to check up on that some day. I don't get the hatrid to the 14" either. For me personally it is a waste of money because it is the same resolution and bigger but for a lot of people (read: movie watchers, older or with bad vision) the bigger screen at that res is a massie bonus over all these new dells with their fancy high res (and also hard to read) screens.

I know a whole lot of people with high res dell laptops who turn down the resolution so they can read them. Which in turn looks worse than native on LCD screens. It's all well and good for us to say it's a waste of money for US but for some people that low res is a god send. How many times have you had to adjust the fonts for a relative so they could read the screen better? Or lower the resolution on older CRT's from a nice 1024x768 to 800x600 because they feel more comfortable. The iBook is for these people, the average laptop user. The power book is for POWER users, hence the name and the higher resolution screens, and the core image support and the screen spanning with no hacks and DVI out and better processors.

EDIT: Went off on a bit of a tangent there, that wasn't aimed at anyone here just something that has been bugging me about some posts about the new iBooks and Mac Mini's :S
 
Can the iBook be used in clamshell mode? That way the entire 32 MB of VRAM could be sent to the external monitor.

-bandit
 
banditf50 said:
Can the iBook be used in clamshell mode? That way the entire 32 MB of VRAM could be sent to the external monitor.

-bandit
NO!

Running an iBook in clamshell mode will do serious damage to your logic board due to heat.
 
dsharits said:
Running an iBook in clamshell mode will do serious damage to your logic board due to heat.
Thanks for the rather animated response :)

So what is it about the Powerbook that makes it safe for it to be used in clamshell mode?

-bandit
 
banditf50 said:
Thanks for the rather animated response :)

So what is it about the Powerbook that makes it safe for it to be used in clamshell mode?

-bandit
The PowerBook casing is made of aluminum, so the heat can be spread out and dissipated much more easily. The iBook has to dissipate much of it's heat through the palmrests and the keyboard. Blocking the main escape route for the heat will fry your logic board.
 
Very informative, thanks for the info. It is looking more and more like I am going to have to purchase a 12 inch Powerbook to meet my needs . . . .I was just hoping that I'd be able to use an iBook instead.

Thanks again,
bandit
 
Do you need to use clam shell mode? I kinda like having the little iBook screen on for programs that don't need a big screen. Adium chat lists and mail are two ideal examples. All i need now is a usb keyboard so i can perch the ibook up next to the monitor :)

BTW the ibook will always split the ram 50/50, even in clamshell mode so it's not worth the risk anyway. Also a powerbook might be better as it will let you use DVI on your lovely screen. I'm now debating selling my iBook and investing in a powerbook instead of buying a Mac Mini ... however i detest any 5x00** series nVidia graphics card :). Give me a 9550 any day :D (or a 9600 or a GeForce 6200)

**I've nothing against any other nVidia card, having owned a TNT, TNT2 ultra, GeForce 2GO and GeForce 6800GT. I also owned an FX5950Ultra which i hated :)

P.S. i think i'm regretting buying a MAC, once you pop you just can't stop ... :D
 
so would it be possible to watch dvds decently on the external display with screen spanning on a new ibook?
 
TBi said:
Like other people have said, an LCD will look bad at anything but it's native resolution. One of the caveats of LCD displays.

Yeah, I posted before but you must have missed it. :eek: I meant to say my LCD whose native res. IS 1280x1024. I was basically wondering if ANYONE used 1280x1024 with the iBook hack, and how it worked. I'm very scared to try this hack and probably will just end up getting rid of my LCD and using the iBook's screen.
 
ITASOR said:
Yeah, I posted before but you must have missed it. :eek: I meant to say my LCD whose native res. IS 1280x1024. I was basically wondering if ANYONE used 1280x1024 with the iBook hack, and how it worked. I'm very scared to try this hack and probably will just end up getting rid of my LCD and using the iBook's screen.
Don't be afraid to try it. As long as your iBook has a Radeon, it already has a dual-head video card, and it's well-equipped to run dual displays.
 
I'd love to know this info too! Anyone care to try powering a DVI monitor as soon as they get their new iBook for me!

Thanks for the screwthe14" site too... although its everything i knew, seeing it written down like that helped me. I so cannot afford a PowerBook, but I'm so tempted! Argh!
 
SpaceMagic said:
I'd love to know this info too! Anyone care to try powering a DVI monitor as soon as they get their new iBook for me!
How would they do that without DVI-out?
 
ITASOR said:
Yeah, I posted before but you must have missed it. :eek: I meant to say my LCD whose native res. IS 1280x1024. I was basically wondering if ANYONE used 1280x1024 with the iBook hack, and how it worked. I'm very scared to try this hack and probably will just end up getting rid of my LCD and using the iBook's screen.

I used my second monitor (1280x1024) yesterday with the apple and it worked fine.*

Just hooked it up now and it runs fine. Expose is a lot smoother at this resolution. So does the dashboard effect. Hmmm... actually everything seems a lot smoother at this res, but i prefer the 2005. Not as much screen real-estate :) **

*: Wrote this bit on dell 2005FPW at 1680x1050
**: Wrote this bit on my samsung 173T at 1280x1024. Could have just changed res but wheres the fun in that? :p
 
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