Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

kennedy · Dec 3, 2004, 10:32 AM

Do any iBooks have dual-display capability?
(I don't mean video mirroring with same thing on both;
I mean dual display with different stuff on both.)

Or is that exclusive to PowerBooks?

Forte · Dec 3, 2004, 11:10 AM

There's a hack that will enable that feature on iBooks. If you search for "spanning hack" on the forums, you'll find some info about it.

Hi I'm Ben · Dec 3, 2004, 12:56 PM

isn't there some big risks with that hack?

Hi I'm Ben · 01:11 PM

http://www.rutemoeller.com/mp/ibook/ibook_e.html

i applied that program on the above link to my iBook, it's GREAT! 1600x1200 on my sony and side display on the iBOok

brickcam · Dec 8, 2004, 01:43 PM

If it were 1) easy and 2) safe to make iBooks drive dual-displays, it's my two cents that Apple would include and promote such a feature.

jmonty12 · Dec 8, 2004, 02:15 PM

I too have heard the multiple claims that running an iBook with the cover closed is a bad idea, but I really wonder if this is truly the case. One reason Apple might not want this feature in the iBook is because it is one of the small number of differences that is supposed to make the Powerbook better than the iBook. That along with support for dual displays (not mirrored) which most newer iBooks seem to be able to do without problems once they are modified to do so.

Yes, I understand that heat is reported to dissipate through the keyboard, but my iBook also has a vent on the side where the fan blows out hot air (I've only noticed a few times when I've pushed my iBook processor hard enough to cause the fan to come on.) Is this enough cooling ability? I doubt anyone on this forum *really* knows.

Personally I have no need to run my iBook with the cover closed, but I understand why someone would want to do this. I'd have to say that if your iBook is well within its warranty and you have Applecare, then go for it!

Hi I'm Ben · Dec 8, 2004, 04:17 PM

Well all i can say is that I love the spanning hack...

i used my PC monitor to put my iBook up to 1600x1200 on my CRT then on the iBook i used Microsoft remote desktop to display my PC. Now i can use 1 keyboard and mouse to control both.

anyway, the monitor spanning hasn't even started the fan on my iBook.

Forte · Dec 8, 2004, 06:49 PM

Originally posted by brickcam:
If it were 1) easy and 2) safe to make iBooks drive dual-displays, it's my two cents that Apple would include and promote such a feature.

Why would it be unsafe to have an iBook displaying different images on it's internal screen to what it's displaying on an external one? O_o;

The general concensus is that the feature is disabled in iBooks because it's something that differentiates them from the PowerBook line, as jmonty12 mentioned.

macaddict0001 · Dec 8, 2004, 07:52 PM

Originally posted by jmonty12:

Yes, I understand that heat is reported to dissipate through the keyboard, but my iBook also has a vent on the side where the fan blows out hot air (I've only noticed a few times when I've pushed my iBook processor hard enough to cause the fan to come on.) Is this enough cooling ability? I doubt anyone on this forum *really* knows.

The vent on the side is actually an intake, and the heat comes from a vent between the keyboard and the display. Clamshell mode will run hotter but should be fine because the vent works when the computer is open or closed.

MARINEOSX · Dec 8, 2004, 08:09 PM

The vent on the side is an intake this is correct. The iBook however is able and designed to run closed as well as opened as you can mirror to an external monitor. the vent on the back of it where the hinge is, is the vent. this is where the fan pushes the air out. The reason for this is more efficiant cooling concidering the proccessor is right there and that if it sucks air in it has to blow it out.

jmonty12 · Dec 10, 2004, 07:42 PM

Wow, I'm really surprised people are saying the vent on the side is for air coming in rather than going out. The only times I've noticed my iBook fan on, air seemed to be coming *out* of this vent. No, I never have tried to run my iBook with the display closed. Maybe my iBook is faulty....

tooki · Dec 11, 2004, 11:56 AM

Originally posted by brickcam:
If it were 1) easy and 2) safe to make iBooks drive dual-displays, it's my two cents that Apple would include and promote such a feature.

Apple actually took extra effort to disable the feature that the hardware already has. It's an artificial limitation. As others have said, the reason they do it is to differentiate the consumer and pro product lines.

tooki

HoOn · Dec 14, 2004, 02:57 PM

I'm really dissapointed with Apple trying to limit the iBook just to differentiate the Powerbook. If Bill Gates did that to Windows XP I wouldn't be surprised but from Apple? Tsk Tsk Tsk...

- John

Nodnarb · Dec 14, 2004, 05:34 PM

Originally posted by jmonty12:
I too have heard the multiple claims that running an iBook with the cover closed is a bad idea, but I really wonder if this is truly the case. One reason Apple might not want this feature in the iBook is because it is one of the small number of differences that is supposed to make the Powerbook better than the iBook. That along with support for dual displays (not mirrored) which most newer iBooks seem to be able to do without problems once they are modified to do so.

Yes, I understand that heat is reported to dissipate through the keyboard, but my iBook also has a vent on the side where the fan blows out hot air (I've only noticed a few times when I've pushed my iBook processor hard enough to cause the fan to come on.) Is this enough cooling ability? I doubt anyone on this forum *really* knows.

Personally I have no need to run my iBook with the cover closed, but I understand why someone would want to do this. I'd have to say that if your iBook is well within its warranty and you have Applecare, then go for it!

I thought this too, but one night my sister shut her iBook as usual, and for some reason it didn't sleep. We didn't notice until the next morning, but I heard the fan running at full blast (I've never heard the fan at all before) and the iBook was hot as can be, and the screen had a bunch of condensation on it. Not good.

tooki · Dec 14, 2004, 05:50 PM

Condensation?!? That occurs from cold, not heat. Heat makes condensation go away.

tooki

Luca Rescigno · Dec 14, 2004, 06:20 PM

Originally posted by HoOn:
I'm really dissapointed with Apple trying to limit the iBook just to differentiate the Powerbook. If Bill Gates did that to Windows XP I wouldn't be surprised but from Apple? Tsk Tsk Tsk...

- John

I'm not surprised at all. It's in Apple's history to artificially hold back some of their products for whatever reason. They've disabled the ability to read and write certain formats on their DVD burners and restricted every one of their optical drives to a maximum read or write speed of 32x. Further back, they used less advanced B&W G3 motherboards in their low end PowerMac G4s back in 1999, they removed the ADB port (used to plug in a mouse before USB in case you're not familiar with it) from one of their cheaper laptops, and in one case they put an artificial RAM limit on a computer that forced you to buy more than would be recognized in order to get the maximum amount. That was the LC II, where the machine could only physically accept either 8 MB or 12 MB of RAM, but the motherboard was programmed to only see a maximum of 10 MB of RAM.

They're not as bad about it now, but I still think it's irritating when they hold back otherwise fine computers in ways that don't even save them any money.

Nodnarb · Dec 14, 2004, 08:54 PM

Originally posted by tooki:
Condensation?!? That occurs from cold, not heat. Heat makes condensation go away.

tooki

Your right. Well there was liquid on the screen, and thats the only word I could think of at the time.

tooki · Dec 14, 2004, 09:30 PM

Originally posted by Luca Rescigno:
...and in one case they put an artificial RAM limit on a computer that forced you to buy more than would be recognized in order to get the maximum amount. That was the LC II, where the machine could only physically accept either 8 MB or 12 MB of RAM, but the motherboard was programmed to only see a maximum of 10 MB of RAM.

Err... wrong. The LCII's memory controller couldn't address more than 10MB. It was a hardware limitation. The reason you can put in 12MB is because of the increments that RAM comes in.

tooki

brickcam · Dec 14, 2004, 09:41 PM

Thanks for the info guys. I was not aware of the 'common knowledge' that the inability of stock ibooks to span was a marketing issue, not a hardware one.

Well, given the info, I'm now very interested in the spanning hack. Does anyone have any reason why I SHOULDN'T use it? Any at all?

Hi I'm Ben · Dec 14, 2004, 09:42 PM

Originally posted by brickcam:
Thanks for the info guys. I was not aware of the 'common knowledge' that the inability of stock ibooks to span was a marketing issue, not a hardware one.

Well, given the info, I'm now very interested in the spanning hack. Does anyone have any reason why I SHOULDN'T use it? Any at all?

I use it with no trouble, I love it.

sine -''-..- · Dec 14, 2004, 10:52 PM

There is nothing lost by applying the hack-- and you can make it mirror like before using the displays panel.

MARINEOSX · Dec 14, 2004, 10:56 PM

I want to use it but need a monitor. Anyone have a good sugestions that are not super expensive?

brickcam · Dec 14, 2004, 11:07 PM

I've always bought used CRTs. Not fancy, not mint, very very economical for the screen size. I'm more concerned with size than resolution (I hear shouts of blasphemy!).

MARINEOSX · Dec 14, 2004, 11:29 PM

I agree I like size as well. But it has to look ok. I don't want to have resolution I can't use. I have to be able to get full potential out of it if possible.

brickcam · Dec 14, 2004, 11:35 PM

IMHO, all major CRT manufacturers make good and bad CRTS. I am currently using a pro-level HP monitor which I bought for $20. It's impressively sharp.

MARINEOSX · Dec 14, 2004, 11:38 PM

Thank you I will have to look into that. I have always been into the L.C.D. screens even as TV's. But several hundred dollars seems stupid for an extra screen.