Connecting an External Monitor

Visited the Apple store tonight. I spoke to a Mac genius about the macbook and he kept trying to push the macbook pro. As far as I understand, the midrange macbook should be able to run photoshop, illustrator, indesign, etc. just fine (especially if I add another gig of RAM).. what worries me now is whether the computer will run slower when connected to an external monitor (my external monitor runs at 1680x1050. What do you guys think? Have any of you guys had any experience with this? Thanks so much!

 

I haven't seen any real issues with a second monitor under photoshop or illustrator. anyone else?

 

I guess I'm wondering if the lack of the NVIDIA GeForce card would cause the computer to run slower when connected to an external monitor with higher resolution.

 

Okay.. now this worries me: "The maximum resolution supported on "Apple DVI displays" is 1920x1200 and 1600x1200 on VGA displays." What does it mean?

Source: http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...-core-2-duo-2.16-white-13-mid-2007-specs.html

 

That means if you connect your MacBook to an external display via DVI cable, then it can go up to 1920x1200 resolution; if you connect via VGA, then it can only go up to 1600x1200 (are you sure that's not 1680x1050?).

 

Thanks Sam. Yeah, that's what is reads according to www.everymac.com

Have you tried plugging your macbook into a higher resolution display? Does it feel slower? I'd be using it with Photoshop mostly to retouch photos as well as design work with InDesign and Illustrator.

 

I don't have an external display (or the Mini DVI to x adapters either) to plug into . I can't even afford another gig of RAM for my MacBook right now.

But Apple says the MacBook can power a 24-inch display fine, so I would say it should be fine.

 

codeoverride - I just purchased a 37" Vizio LCD TV and am using it as an external monitor for my MacBook. It is configured in a 1366x768 Resolution and looks absolutely perfect. Considering my TV has an HDMI port, I had to purchase a MiniDVI-->DVI Cord ($20) AND a DVI-->HDMI Cord ($20) to be able to link the two. It's been a great pair so far, i put the little Mirror option on in Display Settings so i can actually use my LCD TV as a computer monitor!

 

I use my Macbook with my external 20" LG at 1680x1050 via VGA and it's fine. I watch high definition content (720p and 1080i) on my external and it looks great. I have only used Adobe Flash on my external and have not had any issues running it.