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Is the 12" iBook fast enough to run movies?

L

LordJezo

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 4, 2005
9
0
I want to get a 12" iBook and hook it up to my TV and use it as a replacement for my DVD player. That way I can also get media files and what have you and be able to run them all directly on my big screen tv.

Is that possible or is the iBook too weak to do things like play xvid/divx files? I see it only has a 32 meg video card.

Can it do progressive scan / high def stuff?
 
To the best of my knowledge, unless you get a hack it'll only mirror your iBook (which is all you need) at 1024 x 768 meaning although it won't play high definition stuff, it'll play DVDs easily. I think an iBook would be fine for your needs because, even if you get the hack that allows you to span at higher resolutions (which I haven't personally used or found so I don't necessarily commend it), the GPU will still easily keep up. :)
 
With the hack spanning at 1280x1024, I've found dashboard to be the only choppy thing. Easy solution, don't use dashboard, while spanning!
 
DVD's? Yes
DVIX/XVID? Yes
High Def? NO

Playback of HD content requires a G5 processor, or at least a very fast Dual G4. The Intel Macs that will come out in a year should be able to play it back no problem, though.
 
Little Endian said:
ibook will have some problems with certain types of DivX Codecs. ibook will deffinitely not handle anything high definition either. Actually you should be able to run stuff at 852x480 (480p) but it will require every ounce of power the ibook can dish out. DVD playback will be fine with almost any ibook.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/hdgallery/recommendations.html

http://www.divx.com/hd/
Click to expand...


true, but if he uses VLC instead of QT + codecs it'll work no sweat. I have a PowerBook G4 800MHz, and it can run anything i throw at it in both quicktime and VLC (albeit that VLC gives smoother framerates). So basically, your new 1.7GHz G4 iBook will handle video with plenty of room to spare.
 
DVDs?! Yes for f*cks sake, do you think Apple put DVD drive on iBooks just for the heck of it?

divx I'll report when something doesn't play on this. Gzus, even pc laptops with shared vram (you know what vram is, right?) play divx!

dunno about others
 
Tahko said:
Gzus, even pc laptops with shared vram (you know what vram is, right?) play divx!
Click to expand...


Apparently, shared VRAM is about as capable, if not better than the 32MB cards iBooks have. I don't have any solid sources though, it's just what I've heard.
 
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