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13" MBP /w External Display?

RiCEADDiCTBOY

RiCEADDiCTBOY

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 26, 2007
699
1
How well does it perform with an external display?

I am caught between the 13" MBP and and the previous unibody 15" mbp. I don't require posts that say just get the 15". I am just trying to make a proper decision. The ONLY reason I would go the 15" route is because it would be around the same price as the high end 13" MBP. I favor the 13" MBP because of the screen real estate. I never had any trouble viewing and doing my photoshop and illustrator work on it. Thats what Spaces was for.

If I was to go with the 13" MBP (I honestly believe it would perform just fine with SL and the differences would be only truly be noticed running GPU intensive programs - hardcore gaming is not considered as Apple still needs improvement in that arena to consider any notebook they offer acceptable for a standalone gaming machine. For on the go and moderate gaming it is more than great for however IMO) How would it perform with a decent sized external display? Despite what many naysayers may believe...Apple knows the 13" MBP is going to be their biggest sellers and they wouldn't have their updated OSX being a bottleneck on them - as that would hurt their overal revenue. Beyond that is up for grabs.)

I appreciate the feedback in advance.
 
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The 13" will drive a 1920 display no problem. I've seen little lab from the mbs and mbas with the 9400 driving externals.
 
I have a Core Duo MacBook (the one with the GMA950) connected to a 24" display (1920*1200 via DVI) and it runs just fine. I've never noticed any graphical issues.
 
only reason i ask is because i read a few posts of some people complaining of lag on the external display... :confused:
 
I have seen problems with the 9400m running the 24" LED Cinema Display while watching a 1080p video and playing video games with high resolutions. 720p video and video games with mid-range resolutions run just fine.
 
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*lag
 
AmpCoder said:
I have seen problems with the 9400m running the 24" LED Cinema Display while watching a 1080p video and playing video games with high resolutions. 720p video and video games with mid-range resolutions run just fine.
Click to expand...

how bad of lag are we talking?
 
When watching 1080p movies in full screen it becomes very choppy and takes several seconds for the frame to refresh. When playing video games at high resolutions (even with very low video settings) it becomes very choppy as well.
 
AmpCoder said:
When watching 1080p movies in full screen it becomes very choppy and takes several seconds for the frame to refresh. When playing video games at high resolutions (even with very low video settings) it becomes very choppy as well.
Click to expand...

what resolution is the 24 inch screen?
 
Have 13" Unibody MB, Ordered 17" MBP

I have a 2.4Ghz Unibody Macbook with 4GB and 500GB 7200rpm HDD.

I use my Macbook almost exclusively in "clamshell" mode.

At home I use a 30" Apple Cinema Display using the mini-displayport to dual-link DVI adapter.
At work I use a 24" LED Apple Cinema Display.

While I have no real issues with the 24" (although I usually only use it for programming at work), the 30" has been a somewhat of a nightmare. For starters, screen flickering, etc (all stuff that has been bitched about over and over again on these forums) and I've gotten one dual-link adapter replacement already, though the flickering started immediately after plugging in my replacement.

My biggest issue and why I am moving to the 17" is memory. The 9400m uses a *minimum* of 256MB of main memory. I try to use Lightroom 2.x and Photoshop CS4 at the same time and my computer runs out of memory. Doing the same workflow on a PowerMac G5 or 1st generation Intel Macbook Pro with dedicated ATI X1600 with 256MB of VRAM, this doesn't happen. It also doesn't seem to happen if I work off the 13" screen. My only guess is the 30" display @ 2560x1600 is too much to handle along with lightroom and photoshop.

And forget 3D, something older like , Neverwinter Nights 2, plays @ about 30fps on the 13" screen. On the 30" screen, even @ lower resolution, between 0 and 5 fps.

And fullscreen 1080p on the 30" is questionable. Even Hulu's desktop at in fullscreen mode is somewhat of a issue, but Hulu's desktop is also only in beta and uses 100% CPU while playing, so those two maybe unrelated...
 
jedijoe said:
I have a 2.4Ghz Unibody Macbook with 4GB and 500GB 7200rpm HDD.

I use my Macbook almost exclusively in "clamshell" mode.

At home I use a 30" Apple Cinema Display using the mini-displayport to dual-link DVI adapter.
At work I use a 24" LED Apple Cinema Display.

While I have no real issues with the 24" (although I usually only use it for programming at work), the 30" has been a somewhat of a nightmare. For starters, screen flickering, etc (all stuff that has been bitched about over and over again on these forums) and I've gotten one dual-link adapter replacement already, though the flickering started immediately after plugging in my replacement.

My biggest issue and why I am moving to the 17" is memory. The 9400m uses a *minimum* of 256MB of main memory. I try to use Lightroom 2.x and Photoshop CS4 at the same time and my computer runs out of memory. Doing the same workflow on a PowerMac G5 or 1st generation Intel Macbook Pro with dedicated ATI X1600 with 256MB of VRAM, this doesn't happen. It also doesn't seem to happen if I work off the 13" screen. My only guess is the 30" display @ 2560x1600 is too much to handle along with lightroom and photoshop.

And forget 3D, something older like , Neverwinter Nights 2, plays @ about 30fps on the 13" screen. On the 30" screen, even @ lower resolution, between 0 and 5 fps.

And fullscreen 1080p on the 30" is questionable. Even Hulu's desktop at in fullscreen mode is somewhat of a issue, but Hulu's desktop is also only in beta and uses 100% CPU while playing, so those two maybe unrelated...
Click to expand...

so are you saying i should go with this then?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9107478&st=macbook+pro&type=product&id=1218024600809
 
RiCEADDiCTBOY said:
so are you saying i should go with this then?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9107478&st=macbook+pro&type=product&id=1218024600809
Click to expand...

I guess it depends what you do. The 9400m is great for low power, handles video just fine, but lacks 3D and the shared memory can be an issue if you use memory hungry apps like Lightroom, Aperture, or Photoshop. If you previously gotten by with a 13" apple laptop and photoshop ran fine, then I am sure the new 13" probably will too. For me, 21MP RAW images combined with lightroom and photoshop didn't work out as well as my previous setups.

The 13" is also much nicer to carry around and take on plane, both weight and size-wise. So you might consider that if you do lots of traveling or moving around.

To be honest, I getting rid of my 13" MB for 2 reasons. One is the video card. Two is lack of Firewire. The newest 13" MBP solved the firewire issue, but still lacked in the video department. If those were my only 2 options, I would go with the 15". If I could wait and save a little more, I definitely go with the newest $1999 15" MBP with dedicated graphics.
 
if you already have a unibody MB, why are you thinking of buying a 13" MBP? they are basically the same thing, except FW800 port and SD card slot...
 
jedijoe said:
if you already have a unibody MB, why are you thinking of buying a 13" MBP? they are basically the same thing, except FW800 port and SD card slot...
Click to expand...

i already got rid of it. and the added battery performance and actual ethernet port, firewire 800 was enough for me to justify and 100 dollars given back to me.
 
man...i dont know what to do anymore...i need a notebook now...cant keep going without one...

but, at the same time if im spending that much i wish there was a way to support usb 3.0 =/

technology sucks.
 
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