[phantomo]

Hi, my PowerBook 12" Rev B only has nVIDIA GeForece FX Go 5200 with 32MB VRAM, will it able to drive the Dell FPW2405 at native resolution of 1920x1200? e.g. clamshell mode or spanning. I seriously need to confirm before making the final decision but I couldn't find anything on the web.... may be my search and google skill is not up to par.

Thanks for your input.

[sworthy]

should be fine - it's the same resolution as the apple 23" - which the 12" can drive for sure.

[phantomo]

Thanks for your input. For those who are interested, I've finally found the techincal specs sheet and it say it will support up to 2048x1536. http://download.info.apple.com/Apple...L29912A_EN.pdf

[tooki]

Uh, you didn't need to dig for a PDF, it's right on the specs page http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html

Video and graphics support
NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 graphics processor with AGP 4X support and 64MB of DDR SDRAM video memory (12-inch models)

• Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports up to 1024 x 768 pixels on the built-in display and up to 2048 x 1536 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors (6)

Despite the difference in VRAM, this function was unchanged in the older version.

tooki

[mhuie]

Originally Posted by phantomo

Hi, my PowerBook 12" Rev B only has nVIDIA GeForece FX Go 5200 with 32MB VRAM, will it able to drive the Dell FPW2405 at native resolution of 1920x1200? e.g. clamshell mode or spanning. I seriously need to confirm before making the final decision but I couldn't find anything on the web.... may be my search and google skill is not up to par.

Thanks for your input.

I wouldn't bother. 32mb of VRAM is simply not enough for 1920x1200 on OS X, its barely enough to run the ACD 20" without a laggy UI.

[osxisfun]

besides the lack of vram (of which i agree it could be a problem.) what about your fan kicking up all the time? was there a thread on this? i think.

[action]

i had my 12 inch powerbook 1.5 ghz model hooked up to my 23 apple display and the fan ran constantly. i did not have the 12 inch in clamshell mode. i was afraid it would over heat. the 12 inch was also raised via podium pad.

it made me want to go and buy a mac mini till my g5 came back.

chung lee

[phantomo]

Hm... I've ordered it the moment I read it will support the resolution.

Since this monitor will be used with the PC and/or a future Mac upgrade, I guess it should be fine. Regarding internal fan, I have my PB running on a notebook stand with fan underneath anyway so it doesn't concern me that much (hopefully).

Thanks for everyone's comment and will surely report how it run after receiving the monitor.

[iREZ]

i use my dell 20" widescreen display all the time with my powerbook closed shut in clamshell mode and never have i experienced any problems. ive also ran it in clamshell on my cousins dell 24" displays and the UI isn't as bad as one would think. i didnt mind...but dont get it twisted, it's not close to as smooth as say an imac or emac for that example when it comes to expose, but for everything else it was cherry.

[budster101]

You sure your 12" Rev. B has only 32mb VRam?

$1,499.00
Estimated Ship: Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
12.1-inch TFT Display
1024x768 resolution
1.5GHz PowerPC G4
512MB DDR333 SDRAM
60GB Hard Drive
NVIDIA GeForce FX
Go5200 (64MB DDR)
Full size keyboard
10/100BASE-T Ethernet
FireWire 400
Analog audio in/out
Mini-DVI out

And it will drive an external monitor with a resolution up to 2048 x 1536.

[osxisfun]

i too ran my 20" on my 15" pb but i think the fan in the 12" is a totally different thing when it comes to driving big displays.

i would be very wary of hooking up a 12" toa 24" and not expecting the fan to run all the time... unless you have a well air conditioned office perhaps.

[phantomo]

iREZ, thanks for the reassurance. At long as normal operation is fine, I should be happy with the result.

budster101, yes, my PB Rev. B only has 32MB VRAM. It is Rev C & D that has 64MB VRAM. You quoted the Rev. D model (1.5GHz).

osxisfun, thanks for your reminder. Where I live has average ambient temperature of 26 deg C (79 deg F), the PB fan turns on most of the time anyway and that's why I have a notebook stand with fan underneath to keep it cool.

[SEkker]

You might want to switch the colors from millions to thousands -- it made my revA PB17 seem snappier running the same monitor (albeit in spanning mode).

[phantomo]

Just received the monitor, my PB can drive it without much trouble. Will millions colors, Expose and Dashboard is slower than the build-in LCD but still acceptable. SEkker's suggestion is good, it makes the GUI snappier. I tried to switch between millions to thousands color and don't see much difference under normal operations.

[iREZ]

nice lil setup ya got there...ive been wanting to dish out this powerbook for one with more vram (my only gripe), but now im waiting on the new intel books before making any brash decisions.

[phantomo]

Finally, got everything setup in tight space.