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plasticman · Mar 28, 2005, 11:52 AM

I'm thinking of buying a 15" powerbook instead of a pc laptop, to replace my ageing (> 7 year old) Sony PC laptop. I used to have a widescreen Sony laptop and whenever I would make a presentation with it on a standard projector, I would have to change the video resolution to a standard 4:3 ratio (eg 800x600, 1024x768 or 1280x104, etc) rather than keep it on its native 1280x768 widescreen resolution, which was a pain. The Sony would only mirror rather than extend the desktop and I understand the powerbook can extend the desktop. I think newer PC laptops don't have this problem, but that's not the point!

If I attach the 15" powerbook to a VGA projector with a DVI to VGA converter, will I see the famous apple "it just works" in action, with the powerbook automatically configuring itself to work with the projector as a second screen, with an aspect ratio of 4:3 correctly configured and the (hopefully Keynotes) presentation correctly displaying on the projector, or will I have to set thinkgs up manually because it's going to be attached with a VGA connection?

Thanks

tooki · Mar 28, 2005, 12:28 PM

It'll work how you want. You can have it mirror if you need to, but the default is to do dual-screen. It'll remember your preference.

tooki

betasp · Mar 28, 2005, 01:26 PM

You will have to go into the system preferences/Displays and set the second display to be either Mirrored or Extended and the resolution (independant of the first display). After that will will be a matter of just plugging in.

Voch · Mar 28, 2005, 02:00 PM

Isn't this what the magical F7 key is for (mirror toggling)?

Voch

MacRand · Mar 28, 2005, 02:15 PM

Smart move to Apple OS X, and you are going to love a PowerBook. I moved to Mac in 1990 and have never wanted to go back to a PC or Windows...ever.

Timing.
If you are serious about buying a new 15" PowerBook soon, consider waiting until mid-June, when Apple is expected to announce numerous hardware upgrades for the same price as a G4 is now, including, hopefully, its first G5 PowerBook running the latest OS X 10.4 Tiger and recently upgraded iApp software. Reportedly, Apple is going to increase the quality & resolution of the screen, and double the amount of included RAM.
I'm waiting until JUNE to replace my G3 iBook, and can hardly stand the anticipation.

Although the current G4 PowerBook is excellent, you may regret

not waiting until June.

Projector.

If you are in the market for an excellent projector, I've just researched the market and discovered the PT-AE700U HD LCD Cinema Projector Panasonic as probably the best choice for under $2,000 with 16:9 widescreen native LCD chip, HD for TV, and displays Widescreen DVD discs at their best.
Canvas of projector reviews all seem to point to the Panasonic for value & peformance in that price range. Otherwise, InFocus projector with free screen at COSTCO for DVD quality (not HD) seems to be a good buy.

PT-AE700U HD LCD Cinema Projector $2,199 street ($3,000 list), less $200 Panasonic mail-in rebate thru May 31, 2005, net price of $1,999, which is hard to beat for HD TV. (No tax, free shipping if purchased online).
A Panasonic projector fulfills my desire for HD quality TV at home...
(smaller, lighter, and more compact, with huge screen, compared to cabinet models)
and need for occasional business presentations using Keynote with my Mac laptop. Perfect combination!

plasticman, share with us what you decide to do and then later - your reaction & findings after purchase. Good luck.

Voch, thanks for info on F7 Mirror Toggling.

plasticman · Mar 28, 2005, 04:08 PM

thanks for all the replies. I take it, it's a simple matter to tell the powerbook to do a full screen keynotes/powerpoint presentation on the second display as opposed to the laptop screen?

I'll definitely be waiting until OSX10.4 is released. I don't know if I can wait until June, tempting though the higher resolution and extra RAM would be! Whenever I've bought a new gadget, I always stop reading the web sites about the newer version, though I will go back for support (both delivery and requests!)

spiff72 · Mar 28, 2005, 05:11 PM

Originally posted by MacRand:
Smart move to Apple OS X, and you are going to love a PowerBook. I moved to Mac in 1990 and have never wanted to go back to a PC or Windows...ever.

Timing.
If you are serious about buying a new 15" PowerBook soon, consider waiting until mid-June, when Apple is expected to announce numerous hardware upgrades for the same price as a G4 is now, including, hopefully, its first G5 PowerBook running the latest OS X 10.4 Tiger and recently upgraded iApp software. Reportedly, Apple is going to increase the quality & resolution of the screen, and double the amount of included RAM.
I'm waiting until JUNE to replace my G3 iBook, and can hardly stand the anticipation.
Although the current G4 PowerBook is excellent, you may regret not waiting until June.

Projector.
If you are in the market for an excellent projector, I've just researched the market and discovered the PT-AE700U HD LCD Cinema Projector Panasonic as probably the best choice for under $2,000 with 16:9 widescreen native LCD chip, HD for TV, and displays Widescreen DVD discs at their best.
Canvas of projector reviews all seem to point to the Panasonic for value & peformance in that price range. Otherwise, InFocus projector with free screen at COSTCO for DVD quality (not HD) seems to be a good buy.

PT-AE700U HD LCD Cinema Projector $2,199 street ($3,000 list), less $200 Panasonic mail-in rebate thru May 31, 2005, net price of $1,999, which is hard to beat for HD TV. (No tax, free shipping if purchased online).
A Panasonic projector fulfills my desire for HD quality TV at home...
(smaller, lighter, and more compact, with huge screen, compared to cabinet models)
and need for occasional business presentations using Keynote with my Mac laptop. Perfect combination!

plasticman, share with us what you decide to do and then later - your reaction & findings after purchase. Good luck.

Voch, thanks for info on F7 Mirror Toggling.

MacRand,

I know that rumors always run rampant when it comes to Mac stuff, so I am wondering how reliable this info is? I have heard alot of info that seems to imply that the G5 powerbooks won't be out until later this year (maybe Christmastime). I was thinking of getting a 17", but the Tiger release and trackpad issues were stopping me (along with getting the wife to approve funding for it

). Do you think all of the sizes will be released at the same time? And that the resolutions will be better on the screens? I would go with a 15" if they bumped the resolution up to something like 1600x1000 or so. I was leaning toward the 17" just to get a higher res screen.

Thanks,
Jeff

cambro · Mar 28, 2005, 05:20 PM

As people have said...

Using a Powerbook with an LCD projector is just ELEGANT. It just works and works well. As mentioned, here are some tips:
[list=1]
Plug in the LCD with your computer on and awake. It works fine "hot." There is no need to sleep or restart.
F7 toggles between spanning and mirroring. This works instantly and is really handy.
If you do a lot of presentations, definitely place the monitor icon in your MENU BAR (in sys. prefs). This is so, so handy because it allows you to switch resolutions instantly without fuddling with display prefs panels.[/list=1]