[mcs37]

As a "mixer," I first thought my first purchase would be the 17" PB. But the more I think about it, the more I think the 12" will be more suitable for my needs. Even the 15" is too big for a constantly-on-the-move student. Therefore I want to get the 12".

OK, sounds fine so far. Here's the deal. I've got a PC (850 MHz P3) with an 18" TFT. I know that the Apple 12.1" PB supports VGA output, so I could hook up my TFT to my PB when I'm at home base (with a KVM switch to keep my PC functioning). My question comes to performance of output from the 12.1" PB. Does it support only mirroring or can my TFT act as a second monitor? Second, how well does the graphics card handle two monitors simultaneously on the 12.1"? Will I notice an obvious slowdown when I use (mirror|twomonitor) mode? I am a bit ignorant on this subject, and I don't like the idea of hauling my TFT into the apple store to test it out. Can anyone provide any experience on this, specifically with the 12.1" PB? I think it would be great to get back from class and hook up to my TFT and have a nice big monitor when I'm not on the move. The tiny size is great with the 12.1" PB but if it's going to be an all-nighter I might prefer to use my big LCD.

Thank you for your time.

[AssassyN]

Congrats on placing your eyes upon the new AlBook!

First off, the 12.1" AlBook supports external monitors via the VGA port beautifully; not only will it mirror, it will act as a second screen (screen mirroring) to make your useable desktop space that much larger. You can drag windows from your AlBook's screen to your external TFT just as if it were one huge screen. It'll also support external monitor only, such as if you'd like to watch a DVD on the external montior by itself. The 12" AlBook won't lag up or be sluggish when displaying to your external monitor, even in screen-spanning mode, and it supports some pretty high resolutions.

So it looks like the answer to your question is a resounding "yes", and it'll do exactly what you're wanting it to do with flying colors.

If you have any further questions, just post!

[mcs37]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
If you have any further questions, just post!

Heh, thanks AssassyN. I was at the Southpoint store the other day waiting in line behind some yahoo who was playing with the 17" Alubook. When we finally got there, the Apple reps said "You finally got to play with it! Enjoy!" It was a fun experience.

I really like the 17" but I don't need it for my last year of college. I think I'll go for the 12.1", 640 MB RAM, Airport Extreme. Maybe I should wait for a Rev A? Perhaps a 1 GHz model with L3 cache? I am thinking of holding off until I return to Cornell in August. Some serious **** will have gone down by then, namely Panther, a new iPod, and perhaps the PowerPC 970. Oh, maybe even a summer internship with Apple. (I hear back this week)

Thanks for your input on the 12.1"!

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by mcs37:
Heh, thanks AssassyN. I was at the Southpoint store the other day waiting in line behind some yahoo who was playing with the 17" Alubook. When we finally got there, the Apple reps said "You finally got to play with it! Enjoy!" It was a fun experience.

I really like the 17" but I don't need it for my last year of college. I think I'll go for the 12.1", 640 MB RAM, Airport Extreme. Maybe I should wait for a Rev A? Perhaps a 1 GHz model with L3 cache? I am thinking of holding off until I return to Cornell in August. Some serious **** will have gone down by then, namely Panther, a new iPod, and perhaps the PowerPC 970. Oh, maybe even a summer internship with Apple. (I hear back this week)

Thanks for your input on the 12.1"!

Hehe, so they've got a floor model of the 17" PB for people to play w/ now?! Cool deal!

And I'm certain the 12" AlBook would meet your needs now, but in all honesty, if there's anyway you could wait a good 6-9 months or so, I betcha you'll see some serious updates in the PowerBook line and you'll get yourself quite a bit more of a machine by then, but if you need it now, it's plenty powerful.

And best of luck w/ the internship with Apple! Wow, what a summer job!

[Mastrap]

I was thinking about waiting but heck, I want it now. I've finally made my mind up and the ability to hook up a second screen has clinched it for me.

I've whacked all my existing stuff on ebay (iBook, iMac, 2 scanners, printer, old USB drive, all of my OS9 software) and with a bit of luck it will pay for a top of the line 12".

Auction's finishing in a couple of hours and the result is good already.

Should something cool come out in a couple of months I'll just have to do the same again. I was thinking about getting the 15" but I love the portability of the 12". I usually show my work to potential clients on my iBook. It's great just whipping it out and showing full screen QT samples, it impresses the pants off them. Hopefully the new 12" will do the same, only more so.

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
I was thinking about waiting but heck, I want it now. I've finally made my mind up and the ability to hook up a second screen has clinched it for me.

I've whacked all my existing stuff on ebay (iBook, iMac, 2 scanners, printer, old USB drive, all of my OS9 software) and with a bit of luck it will pay for a top of the line 12".

Auction's finishing in a couple of hours and the result is good already.

Should something cool come out in a couple of months I'll just have to do the same again. I was thinking about getting the 15" but I love the portability of the 12". I usually show my work to potential clients on my iBook. It's great just whipping it out and showing full screen QT samples, it impresses the pants off them. Hopefully the new 12" will do the same, only more so.

Sounds good!!! Hope the deal works out for you so you can get yourself a 12" AlBook! And just as a tip, if you're planning on ordering straight from Apple w/o an education or ADC Discount, check out www.powerbookcentral.com and keep an eye out for great Mac resellers having fully loaded refurb. 12" AlBook's at very good prices. They have the same warrenties, and you'd be saving yourself some cash. Good luck!

[mcs37]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
I was thinking about waiting but heck, I want it now. I've finally made my mind up and the ability to hook up a second screen has clinched it for me.

Yeah the second screen is really killer. I like the idea of watching a DVD on my 18" LCD while hacking away on the 12" LCD--all on the same computer. It's such a cool feature!

My deal is that I don't need a new one now. I think a Rev A 12" PB will hopefully have resolved some of the issues in the current 12", and perhaps they'll be generous enough to boost the processor to G4. Perhaps Panther will suck up less power than Jaguar, too. And L3 cache, anyone? I can always hope.

So I will hold off until mid-summer. For now, I'll have to lug my IBM thinkpad around.

[MacNStein]

There is a small problem with the new AlBooks... I can't sit in the Border's Cafe in peace without having someone walk up to my table saying, "wow! mind if I take a look at your PB?" or "Damn, that's beautiful!" or some chick saying, "wanna come back to my place and slip that G4 into something more comfortable?"

[imago dei]

Originally posted by mcs37:
Yeah the second screen is really killer. I like the idea of watching a DVD on my 18" LCD while hacking away on the 12" LCD--all on the same computer. It's such a cool feature!

Hi,

I would like to warn you that Apple's DVD player cannot display DVDs on the secondary display when the display is connected in a'extended desktop' or 'secondary monitor' setting. Apple's DVD player will only play on your external monitor if it is in mirroring mode, or the external monitor is the only active display (the powerbook lid is closed, with the monitor and an external mouse and keyboard attached). However, if you are comfortable using a 3rd party solution, VLC media player will be able to do this. That is the situation to the best of my understanding; if anyone else knows otherwise, please let us know!


-imago dei

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by mcs37:
Yeah the second screen is really killer. I like the idea of watching a DVD on my 18" LCD while hacking away on the 12" LCD--all on the same computer. It's such a cool feature!

My deal is that I don't need a new one now. I think a Rev A 12" PB will hopefully have resolved some of the issues in the current 12", and perhaps they'll be generous enough to boost the processor to G4. Perhaps Panther will suck up less power than Jaguar, too. And L3 cache, anyone? I can always hope.

So I will hold off until mid-summer. For now, I'll have to lug my IBM thinkpad around.

Just a couple of corrections here...the current 12" AlBook *IS* the Rev. A, because obviously "A" comes first. The NEXT revision will be the Rev. B, which is what you'd be waiting on.

Also, the processor *IS* a G4, it's just clocked to 867Mhz rather than 1Ghz. Also, the Rev. B 12" AlBook may have a faster G4 processor and may include L3 cache if they can cool the processor enough.

Good luck waiting!

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by imago dei:
Hi,

I would like to warn you that Apple's DVD player cannot display DVDs on the secondary display when the display is connected in a'extended desktop' or 'secondary monitor' setting. Apple's DVD player will only play on your external monitor if it is in mirroring mode, or the external monitor is the only active display (the powerbook lid is closed, with the monitor and an external mouse and keyboard attached). However, if you are comfortable using a 3rd party solution, VLC media player will be able to do this. That is the situation to the best of my understanding; if anyone else knows otherwise, please let us know!


-imago dei

This is very true. However, that VLC Media Player that he mentioned is a wonderful solution, and plays DivX movies as well.

[mcs37]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Just a couple of corrections here...the current 12" AlBook *IS* the Rev. A, because obviously "A" comes first. The NEXT revision will be the Rev. B, which is what you'd be waiting on.

Well, Rev is revision, right? So the first revision would be A, wouldn't it, and the first release would just be, the first? I heard that the 17" PB is Rev A (since they fixed a serious hardware problem that caused a big delay)

Also, the processor *IS* a G4, it's just clocked to 867Mhz rather than 1Ghz. Also, the Rev. B 12" AlBook may have a faster G4 processor and may include L3 cache if they can cool the processor enough.

Whoops I thought I wrote 1 GHz G4. I know it's a G4, I'm not that exhausted. I think if I could easily get a 1 GHz G4 w/ L3 in the 12" PB, I would jump for it.

Also why can't I play DVDs in the extended monitor mode? Or, AssassyN, did you mean that, by using VLC, I can avoid this problem entirely? Has anyone tried playing a DVD/Divx through VLC on a second VGA monitor in extended mode, and kept hacking away on the 12" PB?

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by mcs37:
[B]Well, Rev is revision, right? So the first revision would be A, wouldn't it, and the first release would just be, the first? I heard that the 17" PB is Rev A (since they fixed a serious hardware problem that caused a big delay)



Whoops I thought I wrote 1 GHz G4. I know it's a G4, I'm not that exhausted. I think if I could easily get a 1 GHz G4 w/ L3 in the 12" PB, I would jump for it.

Also why can't I play DVDs in the extended monitor mode? Or, AssassyN, did you mean that, by using VLC, I can avoid this problem entirely? Has anyone tried playing a DVD/Divx through VLC on a second VGA monitor in extended mode, and kept hacking away on the 12" PB?

Well, I see your point on the definition of "Revision", however it's not exactly looked at like that in this standpoint. The first model, regardless, is called "Rev A.", and second model of that same product is "Rev. B", etc.

Hehe, and I figured you knew what you were saying...I'd say that you'll probably see a 1Ghz G4 w/ L3 cache in a 12" AlBook just as soon as they can shove it in there *and* keep it cool...cooling will be the key issue to tackle.

Also, with using VLC you can play a DVD in a window and drag that window onto your external monitor and extend the edges to fit the screen, then you can continue to type or do whatever on the 12" PBs screen.

[mcs37]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Hehe, and I figured you knew what you were saying...I'd say that you'll probably see a 1Ghz G4 w/ L3 cache in a 12" AlBook just as soon as they can shove it in there *and* keep it cool...cooling will be the key issue to tackle.

That's what I'm hoping for. I'm sure they could find a way to keep it cool. There's gotta be a way!

Also, with using VLC you can play a DVD in a window and drag that window onto your external monitor and extend the edges to fit the screen, then you can continue to type or do whatever on the 12" PBs screen.

Giddy up. I'm sold!

[AssassyN]

Awesome man!!! Let us know when/if you make your purchase, and escp. how you like it when it arrives! And feel free to post any other questions you have!

[tooki]

Originally posted by imago dei:
Hi,

I would like to warn you that Apple's DVD player cannot display DVDs on the secondary display when the display is connected in a'extended desktop' or 'secondary monitor' setting. ...

Not exactly. Apple's DVD Player merely has the dumb limitation of only allowing the playback window to be on the screen that has the menu bar (the "main" screen). So move the menu bar to the external display, and the DVD window will move as well.

Also, Apple's DVD Player can't show the DVD on two mirrored displays. But it is smart enough to figure that if you have an external screen connected, you most likely wish to have the DVD play on it and not the internal display.

tooki

[mcs37]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Awesome man!!! Let us know when/if you make your purchase, and escp. how you like it when it arrives! And feel free to post any other questions you have!

AssassyN, I got an offer!!!!! Now I have to make a hard decision: IBM or Apple.

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by mcs37:
AssassyN, I got an offer!!!!! Now I have to make a hard decision: IBM or Apple.

An internship offer?! Wow!! Awesome to hear man! If I had to choose which place to itern, I agree, I'd have a terrible time deciding. All in all though, both places would be so much fun to work for, and thus I'd probably go where the money spoke the most, as I could see myself enjoying each equally. Best of luck bro, and do some serious researching into benefits and experience options before choosing! Keep us posted!

[mcs37]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
An internship offer?! Wow!! Awesome to hear man! If I had to choose which place to itern, I agree, I'd have a terrible time deciding. All in all though, both places would be so much fun to work for, and thus I'd probably go where the money spoke the most, as I could see myself enjoying each equally. Best of luck bro, and do some serious researching into benefits and experience options before choosing! Keep us posted!

Thanks bro. I'm thinking about it a lot. I am already at IBM in NC and I love it here, but how great would it be to have done IBM for 4.5 months and then Apple for 3 months afterward? The way the coops work at my school, you can't do that: it has to be the same company for all 28 weeks. At other schools like RIT you can switch between companies any time you want, so I would have no problems.

It would be sweet at Apple, but I am already settled here in NC. I'll hear their offer at least and see what they'd have me do. We'll see. I'll keep everyone informed. Fortunately, then I would get great discounts and get my 12" PB for dirt cheap. Unfortunately, I probably couldn't post here anymore, just observe.

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by mcs37:
Thanks bro. I'm thinking about it a lot. I am already at IBM in NC and I love it here, but how great would it be to have done IBM for 4.5 months and then Apple for 3 months afterward? The way the coops work at my school, you can't do that: it has to be the same company for all 28 weeks. At other schools like RIT you can switch between companies any time you want, so I would have no problems.

It would be sweet at Apple, but I am already settled here in NC. I'll hear their offer at least and see what they'd have me do. We'll see. I'll keep everyone informed. Fortunately, then I would get great discounts and get my 12" PB for dirt cheap. Unfortunately, I probably couldn't post here anymore, just observe.

Ahh I gotcha...well I would certainly take it all in w/ an open mind, and if Apple's benefits clearly outweigh IBM's, there may be reason enough to take them up on it. But there's absolutely nothing wrong w/ working at IBM, and if they can provide for you better, I'd stick with 'em. Best of luck man!