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2004G4 · Mar 18, 2005, 01:35 PM

Does anybody know what resolutions the 12" ibook graphics processor can drive through the external vga output?

I'm considering buying a Dell 24" widescreen LCD panel. It is far cheaper than apple's 23" at 1199 and also has better specs. Anyway, apple's 23" won't work with the ibook since it's DVI

The dell monitor supports WUXGA resolution (1920x1200). I'm wondering if the ibook can handle this? I don't care about 3d performance, just images (digital photos) and documents.

2004G4 · Mar 18, 2005, 01:53 PM

In case anyone is interested this is the monitor in question:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/P...l=en&cs=19

brother337 · Mar 18, 2005, 02:32 PM

I have an iBook G4/800 (same graphics cards as yours) running spanning hack with a scepter 17" widescreen at 1280x768.

So the spanning hack will allow for widescreen resolutions, but I personally couldn't vouch for whether or not it will go as high as you need.

BTW, just to cover my bases, you'd need the spanning hack to take advantage of an external monitor like that, otherwise you're just mirroring at 1024x768

iREZ · Mar 18, 2005, 02:47 PM

I'm sure it'll display just fine. I'm also sure that expose will lag big time. If I were you, I'd go with the 20" Dell.

But hey, there has to be a gunea pig sometime

.

Try checking the Peripherals forum, they have some discussions going on for both the 20" and 24" Dell displays.

2004G4 · Mar 30, 2005, 12:26 PM

Thanks for the help guys...I ordered a 20" widescreen Dell LCD panel and plan to try the video hack to drive this thing. I'll post an update and let you know how it works out

2004G4 · Apr 4, 2005, 12:24 PM

So for the record...the dell 20" widescreen is one sweet monitor. It looks great on my desk running OSX. The 12" ibook drives it fine at 1680x1050 with the spanning hack installed.

The only problem is I can not get "clamshell" mode to work properly..and the ibook doesn't have a lot of video ram (split in two in spanning mode)..since I'm using this at my desk and have another laptop..I think I'll sell the ibook and get a mac mini.

iREZ · Apr 5, 2005, 12:04 AM

Yeah that's a good idea, seeing how the iBook can't run in clamshell mode yet. It might even be a good idea to buy an older PB 1.33GHz or 1GHz model so you could still be mobile and be able to have clamshell when your not. Just a thought.

B Gallagher · Apr 6, 2005, 05:29 AM

hmm.. what's this spanning hack you're talking about? does it allow resolutions higher than 1024x768 on the iBook?

2004G4 · Apr 6, 2005, 11:30 AM

The spanning hack allows you to "span" your desktop to an external monitor. You can increase the resolution of the external monitor, but not the ibook's built-in display which is hardware limited.

iREZ · Apr 6, 2005, 11:31 AM

No not on the iBook itself. The spanning hack basically allows iBook users to span higher resolutions when connected to an external monitor and not just mirror the basic 1024 x 768. Which means your iBook stays at 1024 x 768 but if you had it connected to a 17" LCD, you'd be able to not only have the 1024 x 768 on the iBook but 1280 x 1024 on the 17" LCD as well.

I know none of what I wrote above is clear, but I'm tired.

B Gallagher · Apr 6, 2005, 06:18 PM

sounded pretty clear to me! thanks.