PB 17 to drive 20" cinema display

[StevenFW]

I was wondering if anyone knew if the new PB with its Nvidia graphics will be able to drive the new 20" cinema display? Now I know that the specs always say that it is capable of driving more than the 23" display (in terms of resolution), and any Apple rep will say "of course". I'm just curious if the screen will look as razor sharp as if it was being driven by the graphics on board the Power Macs...I know that 128 is not the same as 64 here, but that should only be a factor with high end video/graphics, right? I'm really just interested in the 20" looking exactly the same being driven by the PB as it would be driven by a Power Mac...this is going to help me decide whether or not to purchase the new cinema display because I would like the extra screen real estate at home.

Thanks

 

[tompatros]

While we're at it, what about the 15"?

I had the same question about the 15" PB powering a 20" display. I'll prolly be waiting for the PB 15.4" rev (whenever that happens), but I've been talking myself out of a 17" PB and taking myself into a 15" PB with 20" display...

Thoughts?

 

[JustAGuy]

They should do just fine since they both claim support for a second display for up to the following resolutions:

12": 1600x1200
15": 2048x1536
17": 2048x1536

see http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html

This is all above the 20"'s 1680x1050 (even the 12", whose 1600x1200 is 1.92 megapixels; the 20" is 1.76 megapixels, so it has the bandwidth to drive it).

All you need to do is get 10.2 so that the drivers support the new res.

 

[dabirdwell]

But we can't use a 12" with an Apple LCD can we?

I just bought a 20" Cinema for my fiance and if my new Powerbook can drive it I want to know how to make it happen.

If it can't, can I use the MDD's desktop from my book over our soon-to-be wireless network?

 

[JustAGuy]

Well, it looks like the 12" doesn't have a DVI out like the other models, so you'd have to use the included VGA adaptor and then a VGA to ADC adaptor (check Dr. Bott or Griffin for this kind of stuff).

Not quite sure what you're asking about the MDD over wireless, maybe you can clarify; you can't directly drive a display via a wireless connection, but you can indirectly do it w/ a setup like VNC (although it's clunky).