New TBD or not?

[nathanlloyd]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of maybe getting a TBD to work with my MBP.
A few questions:

1, Are there any cheaper alternatives that work well with macs?
2, Can the screen of my MBP be closed without it going asleep?

 

[johnhurley]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of maybe getting a TBD to work with my MBP.
A few questions:

1, Are there any cheaper alternatives that work well with macs?
2, Can the screen of my MBP be closed without it going asleep?

You can get a pretty decent 24 inch 1920 x 1080 monitor for $150 and up range.

You can use an mbp in clamshell mode with any usual external monitor.

If you have cash in your pocket that's burning a hole in it nothing wrong with TBD ... there is actually a lot right with it ... but I have a couple of ( comparatively speaking ) low budget acers at home/work that do just fine.

 

[alust2013]

Just about any monitor will work with your computer, although most nice 27" displays like the apple display are around the same price range.

 

[nathanlloyd]

Cool thanks John.

I'm guessing 'normal' monitors don't connect using Mini-display. If I get some kind of converter will the quality deteriorate?

----------

I've just realised there's little point in me getting a TBD if I have a MBP from last year with no Thunderbolt port. D'oh!

 

[alust2013]

Oops. You can still get the old cinema display online some places, but there are plenty of others that will work just as well. Adapters are fine, I use a mDP to DVI adapter and get perfectly good video quality.

 

[johnhurley]

Cool thanks John.
I'm guessing 'normal' monitors don't connect using Mini-display. If I get some kind of converter will the quality deteriorate?

The thunderbolt connection on the newer machines ( like my 2011 mba ) supports all the typical kind of external monitor connections.

I use a mini display to VGA adapter and it works just fine driving a 1920 x 1080 external unit. I cannot see any problem with it like that.

There are other options ( other connectors ) like mini display to HDMI and mini display to DVI but ( well as long as the external monitor has VGA input ) from what I can tell VGA works pretty good universally. At some high resolution maybe it fails to perform ok but I don't know where that is.

On your machine a mini display to VGA connector ( or whatever combo works best for you ) along with a 24 inch under 200 dollar monitor might be a good interim option.