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quick y/n ?: Will my powerbook run a 30" display?

princealfie said:
Man, that's horrible. Why are 23" ACD's so small? :mad:
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Huh? First, 23" isn't that small...and second, it's, well, 23"...I don't think 23" comes in any size other than 23" :rolleyes:

And it's not "scandalous" or a marketing trick...it's a technical limitation. Resolutions higher than 1920x1200 (the native res for the 23" ACD, the 24" Dell, and the 27" Dell) cannot be handled by the original DVI spec, and so require the newer "dual-link" DVI. I don't know why you're so shocked that a notebook that's several years old doesn't support the latest, largest monitors...technology moves fast.
 
mrogers said:
Huh? First, 23" isn't that small...and second, it's, well, 23"...I don't think 23" comes in any size other than 23" :rolleyes:

And it's not "scandalous" or a marketing trick...it's a technical limitation. Resolutions higher than 1920x1200 (the native res for the 23" ACD, the 24" Dell, and the 27" Dell) cannot be handled by the original DVI spec, and so require the newer "dual-link" DVI. I don't know why you're so shocked that a notebook that's several years old doesn't support the latest, largest monitors...technology moves fast.
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Yeah but whatever happened to legacy support? It's infuriating to keep on having to upgrade everything all the time.
 
Technically, all this has nothing to do with display size and everything to do with resolution.

Dual-link DVI (MacBook Pro, some 17" and 15" aluminum PowerBooks) will drive up to 2560x1600
DVI (older 17" and 15" aluminum PowerBooks) will drive up to 1920x1200
Mini DVI (MacBook, 12" PowerBook) will drive up to 1920x1200 with DVI-to-Mini-DVI adapter.

The iBook is a poor choice for external displays since it will only mirror its own 1024x768 display.
 
princealfie said:
Yeah but whatever happened to legacy support? It's infuriating to keep on having to upgrade everything all the time.
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Its not a matter of "legacy support". The DVI spec didn't include provisions for monitors of that high of resolution back then. They can't go back in time and change the hardware of an older laptop. That would be like asking why an old CD burner won't burn DVDs. The technology is physically different. If it was just a software issue, I'm sure it would have been updated.

Being able to drive a 23" ACD at 1920x1200 in full extended desktop mode is pretty damn good, if you ask me.

peace,
sam
 
Riiight...

princealfie said:
Yeah but whatever happened to legacy support? It's infuriating to keep on having to upgrade everything all the time.
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It has nothing to do with legacy software. The specs have just changed.

And hey, no one is FORCING you to upgrade. You make that choice.
 
The DL SuperDrive 15" and 17" PowerBooks released in October 2005 (the ones with the higher res screens) have 128MB graphics cards with dual-link DVI ports capable of driving the 30" display. Additionally, the immediately previous revision (January 2005) 17" PowerBooks (1.67GHz) have the 128MB graphics and dual-link DVI port standard. The 15" PowerBooks from that same revision (1.5GHz and 1.67GHz, also January 2005) had the 128MB graphics and dual-link DVI port as a BTO option, so you can find those but they aren't as common.
 
TheMasin9 said:
its only the powerbooks that have the dual link dvi, the vram has nothing to do with it. I have a 1.5 128 vram pb and since it does not have the dual link i can only run a 23 incher.
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Right, yours was from the 1.33/1.5GHz revision in 2004. Only the PowerBooks introduced in 2005 are capable, and only in the specs I listed above.

This is when apple-history.com is helpful. :)
 
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