It’s not a surprise that Apple’s replaced the iBook with the MacBook, but what is surprising is that they support external monitors both for mirroring and for extended desktops. In other words, you can use a MacBook as part of a twin-screen setup (albeit without much graphics horsepower: the MacBooks have on-board graphics). Prices start at £749.
The new MacBooks
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Yes, the horsepower angle will probably prevent serious use. I had an external 19″ hooked up to my PowerBook for awhile, but the slowdown got too annoying.
Dual-screen is fun, though. And I have my PC set up with Synergy, so I could move the mouse from the screen of the PowerBook on the left, over onto the 19″ in the middle, and then onto the PC’s 15″ LCD on the right.
I like the Cars screen on the MacBook: can’t wait for the movie’s release!
Funny, it sounds like you’ve got a similar setup to me. I’ve got the PB on the left, 17″ hooked up to it in the middle, 19″ attached to the Dell on the right and Synergy tying it all together. Which, for what I do, is fantastic.
> I had an external 19″ hooked up to my PowerBook for awhile, but the slowdown got too annoying.
It’s not something I’ve experienced with mine, but maybe that’s because I’m using a 17″ TFT rather than a 19″ one.
Great minds think alike!
I wish the 19″ was a TFT but it was a CRT, which was the other reason I got rid of it: I had about an inch of space left in front of the keyboard. Still, it probably ran at a higher res than your 17″. And my PB is pretty old: it’s certainly on the lower end of the Ghz scale (can’t remember exactly what though).
And to be completely honest: the slowdown was really only annoying when playing my favourite game, BZFlag. Even on the single screen, the PB still struggles if I have anything large open, like Photoshop. Or Firefox. Was there ever a bigger memory hog than Firefox?
Aye, I can see why games would be a problem. I just don’t bother playing computer games any more, because the kit you need to do it justice is wayyyyy over the top for everyday stuff. Hence the Xbox :)
> Was there ever a bigger memory hog than Firefox?
Firefox runs on Windows 95, amazingly. It takes about six minutes to start up, during which time attempting to start up any other application will crash the machine.
Fascinating story, I know.
Huh, WordPress doesn’t remember me!
Windows 95, now that was the pseudo-Windows that was actually DOS underneath, not so? Amazing.
The thing with BZFlag is that it’s a free, multiplayer-only game (has no single-player AI), that is very addictive, and will never appear on any game platform (because it’s free). Plus you can just have a quick game without firing up the games console etc (come to think of it that may be a negative, not a plus, from a time use perspective!) The graphics aren’t that demanding, because it’s just tanks, but still a bit more than an ageing PB can handle with ease.
> Windows 95, now that was the pseudo-Windows that was actually DOS underneath, not so?
“AppleMac 88,” we used to call it, back when it was new.