MacBook Pro dual monitor solutions

[GoMarquette]

Long time reader, first time poster...

I've almost convinced my boss to replace my Dell work laptop with a new MacBook Pro. However, one hang up I have is with the dual monitor setup I have at work. I dock my Dell and have one monitor connected to the docking station and have Kensington USB Dual Monitor Adapter connected to the other monitor. I get 1440x900 resolution on both. Really nice for the software development I need to do.

I've read elsewhere that the Kensington adapter may or may not work with on the MBP. Does anyone have any other suggestions so I can keep my dual monitor setup? Using the MBP's screen with one other monitor seems to be the only solution at this point, which would give me the resolution, but not the same monitor size (15" vs 19").

Thanks for the help!

 

[iamrobjr]

There are a few solutions that you can do. You can just use the macbook pro as a monitor and plug in a dvi cable or vga on the side to a monitor which would give you the computer as a monitor and then what ever other monitor you have. Or you could buy a matrox dual or triple monitor adapter(http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/dh2go/)

 

[Sneakz]

If the Kensington Adapter uses DisplayLink, it should have no problem working with a Mac in Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard. OS X drivers are available here.

 

[valvehead]

If I understand what you are saying, you have two 19" monitors, right? I assume that you want to connect both simultaneously to the MBP.

Check out the Graphics eXpansion Modules from Matrox. There are several choices depending on what types of connections you need. If you decide to get one, make sure you check the specs to get the one with the right connections. For instance, the only DualHead with a digital input is the DP version; the other two are VGA. The only one with DVI-D input is the TripleHead2Go Digital Edition (non-DP) It's best if you can keep your signal path all-digital.

I have the TripleHead2Go Digital Edition (not the DP version). I use it to connect my early '08 MBP (via DVI-D dual-link) to two 19" 1280x1024 monitors (via VGA). It works great. I went with the triple digital version because I plan to upgrade to two 24" 1920x1200 monitors at some point. I will be able to have an entirely digital signal path then.