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Apfhex · Feb 19, 2006, 09:13 PM

Anyone know what the maximum resolution a PowerBook like mine can support for external displays (and would running in closed-lid mode make a difference)? Say if I wanted to hook up a Dell 2405FPW; I'm *guessing* that's too much monitor for the PB to handle, or at the best it would slow things down a lot. The graphics card is ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 with 32MB VRAM. (the backlight has been flickering a little recently and if it were to break, I'd rather buy a nice external LCD that will continue on for use when I upgrade later this year)

Voch · Feb 19, 2006, 09:32 PM

Just to try it with my work monitor (I never really do this), I'm running my TiBook 667/DVI on a Dell 2001FP 1600x1200 display right now as the primary monitor with the 1280x824 LCD as a secondary display (I can't get the TiBook to wake from keyboard when closed) and both screens are in "Millions." I'm using the all-digital DVI connector. So you can do at least THAT res...

Voch

Apfhex · Feb 19, 2006, 10:04 PM

Heh, thanks.

I am indeed particularly curious about that 1920x1200...

luvaboi217 · Feb 20, 2006, 12:12 AM

i actually used that exact setup for awhile. I had a pb g4 667, and ran it on a 2405fpw. It ran natively. It actually wasnt too bad performance wise.

Apfhex · Feb 20, 2006, 10:44 PM

Originally Posted by luvaboi217

i actually used that exact setup for awhile. I had a pb g4 667, and ran it on a 2405fpw. It ran natively. It actually wasnt too bad performance wise.

Sounds promising. I'm not planning to run any games, but I do use the Adobe Creative Suit a lot. Was there noticeable slowdown anywhere, like Exposé, etc. (really anything that the video card effects the performance of)?

luvaboi217 · Feb 20, 2006, 11:29 PM

I actually used creative suite 2 daily and of course expose. Expose actually wasnt any worse than running on the powerbook's screen, or at least not enough for me to ever notice, or get in the way. As far as CS2 running, the only major problem was zooming in and dragging images. Any slowdown was mostly from just using a 667 pb. My personal experience, was coming from a PB 667, the speed was almost as fast, with only the redraw slowdown in full screen mode. And that was when I would be photo retouching working in full screen mode.

The 2405 is so versatile though, I wouldnt give it up for the world. I used my powerbook with VLC and ran movies to it through dvi, and it looked great. And also have my Hdtv box hooked up to it. And also use it with my PC. Now if only I could get a macbook pro or powermac g5, id be in heaven

Apfhex · Feb 21, 2006, 02:46 AM

Great! Maybe I'll buy one of those monitors sooner than later.

I was able to find the proper support document on Apple's site and it seems that this PB can support "Millions of colors on the built-in display and on an external display at up to 2048 by 1536 pixels." Pretty good!