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k2man · Apr 29, 2002, 02:40 PM

Now that the Ti can drive a Cinema Display, I have visions of using a Ti 800 as a true desktop replacement. I did a search in the forums, but couldn't quite get a straight answer to these questions. Any insight much appreciated:

1) When you plug in an external monitor under OS X, do you have to restart, or simply put the Book to sleep, to have the Book 'see' the display. Having to restart would probably nix my idea of driving an external monitor...

2) Can you indeed use previous Tis (starting with the 667, since the 800 will probably be similar) with the lid closed while driving an external single monitor? I take it you need a usb keyboard with a power button, but other than that, any other caveats, problems, etc?

3) Would love to hear people's general experiences driving external monitors from a Ti--ie, driving a monitor along with the Ti's display, or just driving a monitor with the Ti display closed. I'm interested in your overall impressions of how practical and convenient it really is, beyond what's technically possible.

Thanks!

craigthomas · Apr 29, 2002, 03:02 PM

1) I use my Ti with an older CRT Studio Display. I never shut my system down. Close the lid, go to work, plug in the monitor - usbs - power -ethernet etc, open the lid, then it knows what to do. I sudenly have a big screen and a second monitor (on the Ti). It's awsome. If you want, you can open the "Displays" preference in OSX and customize the location of menu and where you want the displays to reside (left or right).

2) I accedently set up the config with the lid closed once, so I'm sure it works that way intentionally.

3) My Ti is a rev A with only 8MB of video RAM. With the dual monitor set up I love I use "thousands of colors" instead of "millions" on the big screen to get faster redraw. I'll bet that with the faster ATI chip, millions will work perfectly with the larger display. I'm a graphic designer and for the most part thousands is enough.

The powerbook is a great machine for me. Especially with using the dual monitor setup. I love having email on the powerbook screen, and the app I'm running on the lager screen. Or pallets on on side and the app on the other. When I take my computer home, I still have access to all my files and email. Can't say enough about the setup. Even the 500 MHZ model runs applications like Photoshop 7 and OSX fast enough without an ounce of frustration. I'm chomping at the bit to get the new 800 MHz model and a Cinema Display.

Hope this helps,
Craig

[ 04-29-2002: Message edited by: craigthomas ]

tooki · Apr 29, 2002, 06:08 PM

1) When you plug in an external monitor under OS X, do you have to restart, or simply put the Book to sleep, to have the Book 'see' the display. Having to restart would probably nix my idea of driving an external monitor...

In Mac OS 9, you have to put the computer to sleep (or shut down/restart) to detect monitors. On OS X, on the VGA PowerBooks, there is a "Detect Monitors" button which will do it on the fly. However, it would not surprise me if this has been removed from the DVI PowerBooks, because unlike VGA and S-Video/Composite Video, which don't give a damn, DVI devices can be damaged by being hot-plugged. Although, come to think of it, Apple may have made the DVI port shut off except when it has already detected a screen, so I guess I give it 50/50 as to whether you have to put it to sleep or not.

2) Can you indeed use previous Tis (starting with the 667, since the 800 will probably be similar) with the lid closed while driving an external single monitor? I take it you need a usb keyboard with a power button, but other than that, any other caveats, problems, etc?

Absolutely. Just one tip: when you're done at the desk and want to take it with you, open the lid (the screen will remain dark), unplug all the USB devices (and FireWire ones, too, after properly unmounting any FW disks), and then use the PowerBook's internal keyboard and trackpad to put it to sleep. If you unplug USB devices after putting it to sleep, it WILL wake up, and may or may not return to sleep.

3) Would love to hear people's general experiences driving external monitors from a Ti--ie, driving a monitor along with the Ti's display, or just driving a monitor with the Ti display closed. I'm interested in your overall impressions of how practical and convenient it really is, beyond what's technically possible.

I just set up a 667 for a client, with a 21" CRT as dual-headed, using a BookEndz port replicator (against my recommendations). Aside from the BookEndz' extreme finickiness (in the time it takes to line that thing up, I could have inserted all the plugs manually twice over), and the aforementioned USB issue, it works perfectly, no different than a desktop Mac with dual screens.

If I were shopping for a new Mac now, I would definitely just get a PowerBook, since they now have fast graphics cards, fast hard drives, and very few limitations for the everyday kinds of things I do with my Macs.

tooki

craigthomas · Apr 29, 2002, 07:56 PM

For #1, i would never plug in a DVI or a VGA into any computer while it is awake. OS9 or X.

Agree with Tooki on Bookendz. Complete wast of money. Takes only a couple of seconds to plug in the cables.

oeyvind · Apr 30, 2002, 12:17 AM

works great... sleep your book and connect the display.

I like it in dual screen mode.

My Ti 667 with my SUNW GDM20E20 (includes ColorSync profiles), Pict: 1, 2.

maffioso · Apr 30, 2002, 04:26 AM

Can any one recommend a nice 15" LCD screen, i would be spending around the $500 mark, I would like to use it with the new PB...

Thanks

seanyepez · Apr 30, 2002, 05:06 AM

Originally posted by maffioso:
Can any one recommend a nice 15" LCD screen, i would be spending around the $500 mark, I would like to use it with the new PB...

Thanks

It's common courtesy to other members to not post your question more than once. This way, responses can all be in a single topic rather than spread out across three or four different threads.

maffioso · Apr 30, 2002, 05:27 AM

Sorry seanyepez, il take that into consideration next time...

k2man · May 2, 2002, 09:05 PM

Thanks guys, for the feedback.

I also did some research with the Genius at the Apple Store--apparently, yes, if you want to hook the Powerbook to a DVI display, you need to power it down first. Shucks.

Still, I can see a 17 or 22" Cinema Display in my future.

bob_hearn · May 3, 2002, 09:03 AM

Wait - can you verify this? You have to POWER IT DOWN, not just put it to sleep? That is totally unacceptable. I was all set to sell my Ti500 and 21" CRT, and splurge on a new Ti800 and 22" or 23" Cinema display, but it sounds like I would be unable to use that setup. I disconnect my computer from my home monitor every day to take it in to work. Rebooting twice a day (to disconnect and to reconnect) is not something I will spend thousands for the privilege of enjoying.

Bob Hearn

Originally posted by k2man:
Thanks guys, for the feedback.

I also did some research with the Genius at the Apple Store--apparently, yes, if you want to hook the Powerbook to a DVI display, you need to power it down first. Shucks.

Still, I can see a 17 or 22" Cinema Display in my future.

H * � � · May 3, 2002, 10:16 AM

With the rev B <and rev C?> G4 PBs, and Mac OS X 10.1.3 or higher, you can't close the lid and still output to an external monitor. I hear that you can still do this with rev A, and I know you could do it with rev B and 10.1.2.

KellyHogan says that there is a trick to make this work in the 'Just got the PBG4 / 800' thread, but no details so far.

bob_hearn · May 3, 2002, 12:50 PM

Hopefully, the Apple "Genius" didn't know what he was talking about... I found this on Apple's PowerBook tech specs page:

"What is a DVI port? DVI stands for Digital Visual Interface ...
...
Using an external display with a PowerBook G4 is easy. After you connect the powered-on display to the system, it will automatically detect the presence of the display and instantly begin sending video to it."

This would seem to contradict the message you got at the Apple store.

Bob Hearn

Originally posted by k2man:
Thanks guys, for the feedback.

I also did some research with the Genius at the Apple Store--apparently, yes, if you want to hook the Powerbook to a DVI display, you need to power it down first. Shucks.

Still, I can see a 17 or 22" Cinema Display in my future.

Paso · May 3, 2002, 02:48 PM

Originally posted by craigthomas:
For #1, i would never plug in a DVI or a VGA into any computer while it is awake. OS9 or X.

Some further information or explanantion?

Apfhex · May 3, 2002, 11:31 PM

I'd also like some more info on this subject, because I'm going to be using my 19" VGA monitor with my brand new TiBook, and I'm not so sure about what's the best way to plugin/unplug the monitor.

sMACk · May 4, 2002, 01:35 AM

I just ordered a 800 Ti book to go with my ACD 22"

My question is how will my ACD handle displaying games like RTtCW? will it have the same refresh rate as the tibook screen?

Also heard rumor that in these tibooks games show up with black borders on all four sides leaving only a 12" square for the game to display. I couldn't find anything to support that claim but can anyone verify if that is or isn't the case? Thanks.

Chaaaosss · May 4, 2002, 01:50 AM

I'd also like to know specifically if you want to just use the external monitor, e.g. a 22" cinema display and ONLY the cinema display (no, I'm not crazy... I like the feel of a desktop... with the screen away from you and at eye level and the keyboard separated from the screen), and you close the Ti book, do you still need a damn power button on the external keyboard you use? You'd think they'd just do away with that, now especially that they're so heavily promoting this display + PowerBook deal (granted it *does* seem to lean toward dual displays). Of course I understand their reasoning maybe that they want users to buy both a desktop and a laptop and if they just let us use those wonderful pro keyboards, they wouldn't get another $5k from me. Any insight before I have time to track down a reputable Apple genius?

engage1000 · May 4, 2002, 09:43 AM

To connect a monitor to the Tibook, just connect a monitor and it will automatically detect, if not just hit APPLEButton+F2 to force detect or click on the monitor icon beside the time in OSX and click on "Detect Displays."

No need to power down anything at all. Just connect and go. Little things like this are why I didn't buy another PC.

Have fun... but beware of refresh rates on larger CRT monitors when driven by a PowerBook Rev. B or less (don't know about the new ones). They max out at like 72 or 75Hz for anything above 1024x768, making using my 19" very painful. LCD monitors won't be affected.

Have fun,

John