I'm heading off to college in the fall and know for sure that I will be getting a 15" MBP. However, I feel like I will have a hard time keeping all the peripherals (mouse, keyboard, speakers, external HD) organized and plugging them in and out will be a hassle. It seemed natural to me to buy a display and go for the traditional desktop setup which I have always worked on, but I don't know if a 20" or so display will be very useful with a 15" screen on the MBP. However, if I did buy the display I could hook the peripherals up to that and just have to plug the MBP's dvi into the display. Is the extra money for a display worth it or will I be fine with just the notebook's screen? Any alternative suggestions?
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Display with MBP at college?
- Thread starter crosekrans
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It depends on what you want to do. An external display is nice if you don't intend to bring a TV with you because you can watch movies on that.
A possible alternative is a docking station for the MBP, you leave all your peripherals attached to the dock and simply take the MBP when you leave. This may or may not be a good option for you though.
A possible alternative is a docking station for the MBP, you leave all your peripherals attached to the dock and simply take the MBP when you leave. This may or may not be a good option for you though.
plugging and unplugging peripherals is a nuisance, and having a second display is always nice.
I used my 15inch mbp all year with a second screen attached to external everything.
I did not have ports on my screen, and disconnecting stuff when i left was a semi nuisance, although the dvi port was the most annoying peripheral to connect/disconnect.
everything else wasn't that big an issue to plug/unplug.
if you want the extra screen space get one, but if you are fine with one screen I don't really think you need second display just to minimise plugging stuff int.
ALSO.
if you get a cinema display, and plan to plug usb and firewire into the display, remember that you will have to connect the display's usb and firewire cables to your computer in order for those ports to work.
I used my 15inch mbp all year with a second screen attached to external everything.
I did not have ports on my screen, and disconnecting stuff when i left was a semi nuisance, although the dvi port was the most annoying peripheral to connect/disconnect.
everything else wasn't that big an issue to plug/unplug.
if you want the extra screen space get one, but if you are fine with one screen I don't really think you need second display just to minimise plugging stuff int.
ALSO.
if you get a cinema display, and plan to plug usb and firewire into the display, remember that you will have to connect the display's usb and firewire cables to your computer in order for those ports to work.
Thnaks a lot. this is really helping me out.
How about this one?
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TQ872LL/A?fnode=home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/extras&mco=Njg3NzIz
How about this one?
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TQ872LL/A?fnode=home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/extras&mco=Njg3NzIz
That would work too. I personally hate the angle of that one, but it would work. You'd just have one USB port to plug and unplug with that.
