Macbook in clamshell as Desktop?

[LastLine]

So I'm still on my quest for the perfect uni computer for next year and the Macbook's caught my eye. With it's ability to operate lid down I'm thinking about investing in one of these and a nice 17" TFT monitor for my time at uni next year, the set up including the 1.83Ghz model would be nicely priced, but I have a few questions.

What's performance like on this model in clamshell?
Can it still use a BT keyboard/mouse in this mode
Can WinXP boot in this mode (need it for college work)


Opinions?

 

[yankeefan24]

1. I notice almost no difference (running with 2 GHz black, 1 GB RAM)
2. I believe so, although I haven't tried it.
3. Apple says you can, but from my experiences with a MBP, it is very hard. (The Windows CD corrupted itself, so I can't install it on my MB )

 

[LastLine]

WEll I guess for what little I'll actually be using XP (Bit of Access) it wouldn't matter too much if I had to run in lid open for that.

 

[mkrishnan]

If you can get it set up in a way that's ergonomically convenient, give spanning a try... two screens is nicer than one!

 

[yankeefan24]

The only function i was able to get on my MBP (as I said, windows somehow corrupted itself on the disk ), the only function you could get is video mirroring, not extended or clamshell, and i could only match the resolution on the smaller screen (in my case the MBPs), so you aren't getting the full resolution from your screen. As apple said, you could disable the internal screen, (and when I closed it from that it would go on standby…), I was always afraid that I would unplug it on travels, or something, and I wouldn't be able to get into windows because the screen was off. You could always have the screen almost down, but your video card is still powering two screens, and the max res is the internal, so…

 

[plinden]

What's performance like on this model in clamshell?
Can it still use a BT keyboard/mouse in this mode
Can WinXP boot in this mode (need it for college work)

I've set up my wife's MB like this

There's no difference in performance.

We're using a wireless mouse but not BT, but it works fine.

I'm not sure how clamshell mode would affect booting XP ... I can't try it because my wife isn't going to let me experiment with it. But I've always had difficulty in getting spanning/mirroring/external display working with any of the PC laptops I've used. I mean, it'll work, but I can't easily switch between the different modes. It's just "easier on the Mac"™

 

[mkrishnan]

The only function i was able to get on my MBP [...]

Yankeefan, your MBP may well be screwed up (did you try a firmware reset?). But this is NOT the way the MacBook and the MacBook Pro are supposed to work.

Both offer you three options:

1) Mirror (same resolution on both screens)
2) Span (two screens, different images, different screen resolutions possible)
3) Clamshell (one external screen, resolution depends only on the external display)

Unless you're talking about what happens when you're *IN* Windows? I have no idea about that.

 

[LastLine]

So this is looking a distinct possibility (it's far better value than the core duo mini at the minute by all accounts. The HE Edu price in the UK for the MB is £643. Anyone know of a way to further improve on that?

 

[TBi]

I ran both windows XP and OSX with dual screens on my MBP. Is OSX it's easy and in windows it ran in both clamshell and dual screen mode, however i had to reboot the computer from OSX with the lid closed to get XP to run in clamshell. That's mainly because there is no power button on the outside to turn it on. However even in clamshell mode in XP the MBP's screen was still on just with the backlight off.

If i were you i'd get parallels desktop and run windows in that for your excel work. It's VERY fast as it's using a whole 2GHz processor to run. Memory will be your only issue but since i had 2GB i never had a problem.

 

[LastLine]

Reassuring to know. I think for the uses I'm going to have I'm going to go for the 1.83 model with a gig of ram. Best suits budget and needs. Not sure where I'll get my ram from mind, the prices aren't outrageous for 1gb at the minute on Apple's store I don't think.