MDP Dual Link DVI & Dell U2711 & late '08 MBP

[yegon]

I have the above MBP and monitor, capable of 2560x1440. Although the Dell has a DisplayPort I've discovered it's a bit flakey*, much to my annoyance, so it looks like I'll have to get hold of the Dual Link DVI cable. On the Apple store, reviews seem to be 50/50 as to it's reliability - anyone care to contribute their experiences with it?

I'm currently running it at 1920x1080 via bog standard DVI. Doesn't look great, inevitably, as it isn't native res. Besides, I want the 1440p.

*I've a got a mdp-dp lead and, when it works, it's great. However, it sporadically doesn't resume the display from sleep and only a random combination of power cycling of the monitor makes it works. Impractical in the long term. I've discovered lots of others have experienced the same problem so it's not unique to my monitor, which I'm otherwise completely satisfied with.

 

[nunes013]

i use it on my mbp to my tv and have never had a problem with it. i also use it at my school on our projector in the concert hall and it works great too. apple released new firmware a while ago which was supposed to fix the problems. i also tend to notice that reviews on apples site are sometimes a bit lower than what the products are because people can be picky.

 

[yegon]

Thanks for the response.

I'm probably going to give one a go. If it does turn out to be flakey I'll just take it back.

 

[WUMPAMAN]

Full 1440 Res via Mini DP to DP - & 1 Question!?!?

Hey.
Not sure if already aware of this, but these guys sell the Mini-DisplayPort to DisplayPort Adaptor cable, costs AUD $19-29 depending on length. In Australia, but think they post all round.

www.macfixit.com.au

I have running from a MBP Thunderbolt 17' i7 to a Dell U2711, I get full 1440 resolution, outstanding colour - as a photographer, this all means awesome image quality which is good.

On another point - does anyone know how to get the USB ports and SD Card reader to work? As mentioned above, i have MBP 2011 running out to Dell U2711 with a Mini DP to DP cable.

Any ideas would be awesome, thanks
K

 

[xraydoc]

I wonder where the problem really lies, as I used to use a Dell 3008WFP via a mDP-DP cable when I had my aluminum MacBook. Worked great and never had any sleep related issues.

I still have the display (though no good use for it as it's been basically replaced by a 27" iMac), but I've plugged it in to my MacBook Air and it's run without a problem. Haven't extensively used it in this config but never noticed a problem when sleeping/waking the MBA when it was attached to this display.

I wonder if it's Dell's problem with their newer DisplayPort implementations or if Apple changed something recently. My guess is that it's probably both, which is why my new machine works fine with the old Dell.

 

[yegon]

Yeah, wouldn't surprise me. A lot of people report the same problem so it's clearly an issue, but it's interesting that you have no probs with newer macs.

I've got a 2011 MBA but the whole point of that is to relegate my 08 mbp to desktop duty, so I wont bother connecting it my u2711.

Anyway, I ordered the dual link cable a few hours ago, fingers crossed it works 'cos I'll be mightily annoyed if I have to continue at the non-native 1920x1080 on what is otherwise an excellent monitor. Mainly bought it for my windows gaming though, so it's still been a goo buy.