New MB with flashing red pixels; am I seeing things?

[GwoNegLa]

After my Dell laptop's battery kicked the bucket a few days ago, I used the failure as an excuse to go out and buy one of the new Macbooks. I bought the lower-end new MB for $1299.

I got an adapter to use DVI to hook up my MB to a Dell S2409W monitor that I bought a few months ago. When I hooked up the monitor, however, there was a random pattern of flashing red pixels; it looked like some sort of red static. When I shut my MB, there is significantly less static, but a few red pixels pop up from time to time. Is my MB capable of running 1920x1080? Do I have a problem with the GPU in my laptop? Is there something else going on?

From talking to the people at the Apple store, it sounded like I wouldn't have any problems running a 24" external monitor at 1920x1080, and AppleCare said it's probably a compatibility issue, but I don't know how that would explain the difference between running both screens and just the monitor.

 

[wywern209]

pull out the plug and blow out any dust on it and do the same for the ports and also try a restart with the ext. monitor plugged in on the macbook. it might just be adapter. ask for an exchange at the apple store for a different dvi adapter.

 

[GwoNegLa]

"Not compatible"

I went to the Apple store to see what they'd have to say. In short, they said it's not the Macbook's fault, it's just not a "compatible" monitor. I talked to them in quite a bit of detail why I thought there might be a different problem but in the end, they told me I could buy a new $800 cinema display that would definitely work. In short, if it works with an Apple monitor, then the laptop is not "defective."

 

[Roessnakhan]

Sounds like they're passing the blame.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

I went to the Apple store to see what they'd have to say. In short, they said it's not the Macbook's fault, it's just not a "compatible" monitor. I talked to them in quite a bit of detail why I thought there might be a different problem but in the end, they told me I could buy a new $800 cinema display that would definitely work. In short, if it works with an Apple monitor, then the laptop is not "defective."

I almost bought the same monitor. The resolution is 1920 x 1080, regular DVI is 1920 x 1200. You're asking for trouble by using the HDTV output. Most graphic cards don't support 1920 x 1080, rather 1920 x 1200.