Help hooking MBP up to monitor

[Traeger2591]

Ok so I'm going to be getting my 15" MBP soon and I'm thinking about buying the mdp to vga adapter (or possibly dvi). I was wondering if I have my mac hooked up to another monitor, do I still need to have the actual computer open? Can I just hook a keyboard and mouse up to it and close the laptop and just use the external monitor?

The reason I ask is because my brother has a white macbook that he hooks up to his TV via HDMI. He said he has to keep his open while watching movies etc or it just goes to sleep. He doesn't use the apple brand cable, this wouldn't seem to make a difference though.

Any advice on what it will be like? Will I need to have my laptop open if I hook it up to my computer monitor or tv? Thanks.

 

[gilbert1020]

Ok so I'm going to be getting my 15" MBP soon and I'm thinking about buying the mdp to vga adapter (or possibly dvi). I was wondering if I have my mac hooked up to another monitor, do I still need to have the actual computer open? Can I just hook a keyboard and mouse up to it and close the laptop and just use the external monitor?

The reason I ask is because my brother has a white macbook that he hooks up to his TV via HDMI. He said he has to keep his open while watching movies etc or it just goes to sleep. He doesn't use the apple brand cable, this wouldn't seem to make a difference though.

Any advice on what it will be like? Will I need to have my laptop open if I hook it up to my computer monitor or tv? Thanks.

It can be closed while you use your external display.
Simply plug in or connect mouse and keyboard and close the lid.
then plug in your cables for your monitor and press the space bar on your external keyboard or click your mouse

 

[Techhie]

Ok so I'm going to be getting my 15" MBP soon and I'm thinking about buying the mdp to vga adapter (or possibly dvi). I was wondering if I have my mac hooked up to another monitor, do I still need to have the actual computer open? Can I just hook a keyboard and mouse up to it and close the laptop and just use the external monitor?

The reason I ask is because my brother has a white macbook that he hooks up to his TV via HDMI. He said he has to keep his open while watching movies etc or it just goes to sleep. He doesn't use the apple brand cable, this wouldn't seem to make a difference though.

Any advice on what it will be like? Will I need to have my laptop open if I hook it up to my computer monitor or tv? Thanks.

With any cable you use, the computer will have to be open while you use the second monitor. If you close it, it will go to sleep, and the monitor will as well. A way to avoid this is to install "InsomiaX" to prevent it from sleeping, but even then, OS X provides to real way to use only the second monitor. If you are in Windows, that is no problem. However in boot camp you can't close the laptop as well, unless you happen to find some anti-sleep app for that too.

 

[Techhie]

It can be closed while you use your external display.
Simply plug in or connect mouse and keyboard and close the lid.
then plug in your cables for your monitor and press the space bar on your external keyboard or click your mouse

Hm, I guess that's why mine never worked like that. I always closed it after I had the cables plugged in. If this is true, disregard my previous post.

 

[Traeger2591]

It can be closed while you use your external display.
Simply plug in or connect mouse and keyboard and close the lid.
then plug in your cables for your monitor and press the space bar on your external keyboard or click your mouse

Ok so basically thats just like waking the computer up from sleep mode. Does that mean the screen on the laptop will come on even though it is closed?

 

[gilbert1020]

Ok so basically thats just like waking the computer up from sleep mode. Does that mean the screen on the laptop will come on even though it is closed?

no the screen on the laptop will not come on because it will automatically detect your mini display cable. Try it, its called clamshell mode.

 

[Traeger2591]

cool. This is what I was needing to know. Thanks for the quick help.

In the way of cables and adapters, do you know if I will suffer any quality loss going from mdp to dvi to hdmi? I would just get a mdp to hdmi but my computer monitor doesn't have hdmi on it (I guess I should just buy a new one )

 

[Unprocessed1]

cool. This is what I was needing to know. Thanks for the quick help.

In the way of cables and adapters, do you know if I will suffer any quality loss going from mdp to dvi to hdmi? I would just get a mdp to hdmi but my computer monitor doesn't have hdmi on it (I guess I should just buy a new one )

Tons of money saved.



http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=5311&seq=1&format=2

Note: it's only video, no audio. But for $8, you can't go wrong. Just hook up the MBP to speakers, or use the MBP speakers themselves and problem solved.

 

[gilbert1020]

cool. This is what I was needing to know. Thanks for the quick help.

In the way of cables and adapters, do you know if I will suffer any quality loss going from mdp to dvi to hdmi? I would just get a mdp to hdmi but my computer monitor doesn't have hdmi on it (I guess I should just buy a new one )

No the screen resolution will adjust to your monitor
I have my macbook on an hp 2009m 20" monitor
Looks great

 

[richard.mac]

just leave it open! it will keep the computer cooler and takes less fiddling.
unless you find the performance is suffering having the screen open (graphics memory split between two displays) or the available space forces you to close it.

to use an external screen with the MacBook shut you must have it plugged into power along with the display adapter and a keyboard or mouse. just shut it with these connected and wake using a keyboard/mouse. to do with with a bluetooth keyboard/mouse make sure you have Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer enabled in System Preferences.

 

[gilbert1020]

just leave it open! it will keep the computer cooler and takes less fiddling.
unless you find the performance is suffering having the screen open (graphics memory split between two displays) or the available space forces you to close it.

to use an external screen with the MacBook shut you must have it plugged into power along with the display adapter and a keyboard or mouse. just shut it with these connected and wake using a keyboard/mouse. to do with with a bluetooth keyboard/mouse make sure you have Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer enabled in System Preferences.

The graphics is not split between laptop screen and monitor
The picture is relyed to the monitor. The laptop does not get hotter
It runs at the same temp.

 

[richard.mac]

i thought the memory was split? im probably wrong but can you back this up?

and it does get a little hotter when in clamshell mode as i have experienced this. the top of the case above the keyboard gets really hot as thats where the top vent is above the heatsink. closing the lid will trap this top air and increase the temps a little bit. the MacBooks are designed to be run in clamshell mode but i just find my Core Duo MBP gets too hot.

 

[Traeger2591]

So if I was to get a new monitor, what would be better, a computer monitor that has a tv tuner or an actual tv that I can hook my macbook up to.

I wonder because I'll be using it in a college dorm and I would like to have one monitor and be able to use it for a larger computer screen and for tv. It seems to me that a computer monitor would be better because they have a higher resolution and they are better priced.